My arrival in Mahale
by: Hugh Webster on 11/08/2009 (greystoke mahale)
My first impression of Greystoke’s setting is that it is more beautiful even than the dozen or so pictures of the place I have checked out on the internet before I resolved to come. Mount Nkungwe is imposing, looming up out of the forested hills behind the camp, its long and sheer spiny ridges emerging out of a mess of green ribs.
On the beach the already familiar winged shape of the Mess building looks for all the world as if some implausibly lost Vikings had washed up on this African inland shore and built themselves a tropical Valhalla. Nestled further back, mostly hidden in amongst the beach’s fringe of spiky palms, I can see hints of the camp’s elegant guest accommodation.
Only three weeks previously I had written a catch-up email to some friends, Peter and Nicola, Nomad’s managers at Chada Katavi and carelessly revealed myself to be at a loose end. I’d just finished my PhD, four years of following African wild dogs around the Okavango Delta and was looking for a new challenge. When they wrote back, telling me about the
manager’s job vacancy at Greystoke, it only took me a moment to make up my mind. Now, such a short time later, the dhow that has transported me from the airstrip just outside the park is swinging round in the surf, rotating around
the anchor dropped from its bow, as the boatman skillfully backs us up onto the gentle slope of the white sand beach of this hidden away paradise.
The friendly faces of the gathered ranks of the camp staff greet this arrival before Brendan and Petra lead me back from the beach into the bustling heart of camp. In a clearing stands the camp’s kitchen, with curls of wispy grey smoke from its antique wood-burning oven drifting through
green leaves above, shot through with shafts of sunlight. A crack and crunch betrays the camp’s resident warthog contentedly munching palm nuts and a yellow-rumped tinker bird drills busily in a brittle branch. Washing hangs in lines behind the kitchen and further back again voices from the camp’s staff quarters resonate merrily.
Later, walking to my new discreet tented lodging at the beach’s end, along a forest path strewn with crackling senescent yellowed leaves, broken here and there by the emerging rumps of mottled rocks, I am alerted to the presence of monkeys overhead crashing through rattling branches. They are red-tailed monkeys and their characteristic long rusty red tails are luxuriant fluffy streamers, following their dark compact bodies on ricocheting trajectories through the canopy. They peer back at me now, accidentally comic white faces inquisitive but cautious as they utter their high alarm calls, the squeak of rubber-soled shoes on a polished gym floor. Deeper in the forest the track widens to a ribbon of hardened dark earth, furrowed along its edges to crumbly cake by the rootings of bush pigs while a pygmy kingfisher flashes ahead of me in sudden, dense explosions of colour.
At the multi-decked bar perched over the tumble down rocks at the beach’s northern tip, I steal a moment in the evening to look out west towards the Congo and watch the sun beginning to dip into the horizon’s smoky haze. Lying on my back I watch a dozen Madagascar bee-eaters hawking overhead in a loose, looping flock, their soft whistling call burbling through the air, their green chests contrasting with chestnut under wings. At ten to seven the sky mysteriously fills with dragonflies,aerial jousters engaging in a furious dogfight in pursuit of tiny insect prey. Then in the cloaking darkness of nightfall, as the guides gather to give their introductory talk on Mahale’s great apes, the evening quiet is rent by the unmistakable hooting calls of roosting chimpanzees.
The next morning this welcome committee emerges onto the beach. I watch, unexpectedly affected by the sight of our close animal cousins as they walk upright along this remote African beach, some dragging bits of wood, and I glimpse an outline of our hominid ancestors. Someone remarks that it is not just the immediately familiar anatomy of these animals that so engages the imagination, but the similarity of gesture. Monkeys after all have broadly the same anatomy, but these apes living so close to the birthplace of
mankind betray our shared DNA with a more profound commonality. Small wonder that local people long thought them humans that had gone off to live in the forest.
Over the lake a few days later a mixed flock of swifts whirls in a high vortex of spinning birds, drifting across the water as if trapped in an invisible water spout. The swifts briefly mob a passing osprey until the raptor’s long raggedy wings lift it away from the cheeky tormentors. I wonder if this osprey has like me traveled down from the UK, and if at Easter we sat at some point on the shores of the same loch high up in the Cairngorms, finding ourselves now neighbours once more, thousands of miles to the south. I watch the osprey cruise from view and look out over the placid lake. I reflect that I think I will like it here in Mahale.
Greystoke Mahale diary - July 2009
by: Greystoke Mahale on 30/06/2009 (greystoke mahale)
Dear all
It’s the end of June. Greystoke re-opened after the off- season a month ago. There has been very little rain over the last 2 months and the forest is dry, the mountains tinged with the burnished browns of dying leaves. Around the country, and on the other side of the lake, fires are burning and even here on this immense lake the effects can be seen. Each day the sun set is a vivid ball of pink, a sign of the smoke in the atmosphere, and our usual view of the mountains in the DRC are all but obscured.
The start of the new season has been fairly eventful, and went off in great style. We came back to a brand new mess hall - the old one having been replaced with a slightly bigger version of the original. The renovation was carried out during the one and a half months that the camp was closed. Brendan (Bowles) re-worked the design and oversaw the work done by a small team of local builders, with the finishing touches put in by the Greystoke staff. It looks fantastic, with new extensive seating areas on both levels, and the addition of a funky bar downstairs.
At this time of year the chimpanzees are fairly scattered. Due to the lack of rain their food sources are scarce and they are forced to travel long distances and often move high up into the mountains into difficult terrain to forage. This has made tracking and locating them for viewing especially difficult. Our very first guests, Kathleen and her son Garrett, had a very challenging couple of days hiking for up to 8 hours per day to some of the highest points we have ever known the chimps to have reached. Thanks to their energy and determination they finally got a good sighting the second day. They also had luck with fishing and Garrett came back with a record 40-pound Tanganyika perch (pictured above being carried by our watchmen Mabwena).
Since then the chimping has continued to be challenging but rewarding, with all our guests(bar one group) seeing the chimps at least once. Thankfully for us in the last week they have begun to move back down to lower grounds. We heard a wonderful account yesterday from a neighboring camp about one of their visitors, an 88-year-old man. He couldn’t walk unaided and the chances of his climbing the mountains to see the chimps were pretty remote. So the chimps, who lately have been so relentlessly reclusive and hard to find, came down to him. He sat in a chair, five minutes from camp, and photographed a small group for some twenty minutes or so!
In the first week of June we were honoured to host 8 VIP guests for the night - the Deputy Minister for Natural Resources, the EU and Japanese Ambassadors to Tanzania, the Assistant Director of Tanzania National Parks, and other regional leaders and national park representatives.
They were visiting Mahale for both the official opening of the new accommodation built in Kasiha for local and visiting researchers, and for the closing of the Mahale Ecosystem Management Project (MEMP).
MEMP was a 5-year European Commission funded project jointly executed and co-financed by Tanzania National Parks and the Frankfurt Zoological Society. It worked toward the conservation of the Mahale Ecosystem’s biodiversity as well as strengthening the livelihoods and environmental security of the surrounding communities.
Following the opening ceremony at Kasiha a dinner reception for 24 guests was held here on the beach, by the campfire, at the longest table Greystoke has ever seen! The evening was a great success and it was a real honour for Nomad to be able to participate in this special event.
Since then it has been business as usual with great fishing, great chimping and a lot of laughs. Sadly for us Brendan, who has been managing Greystoke since March last year, will be moving on from Mahale mid-July and heading back to Nairobi to start work as a medical herbalist. His warmth and great humour will be much missed by us all.
Coming in to replace him will be Hugh Webster, an Englishman with a life-long passion for African wildlife. He has just finished a PhD on African wild dogs and is looking forward to a new life in the Mahale Mountains.
Best wishes
from all of us at Greystoke Mahale.
Greystoke Mahale diary - March 09
by: Brendan & Petra on 18/03/2009 (greystoke mahale)
Dear all
February has seen a real start to the rains in Mahale …… for the past few weeks we have had some of the most dramatic storms with thunder cracking, roaring and tearing loud, lightening splitting the skies and showing up the mountains across the lake. The tremendous rain storms clear to heavenly sunsets and for the most part starry nights. There hasn’t been a night yet where we haven’t been able to enjoy a post dinner drink around the camp fire.
This weekend however we had day after day of beautiful sunshine and still waters, perfect weather for walking and fishing. A small group of us took a long hike through the forest which is lush with a thousand greens, hiking up high where the views of the lake are magnificent. We crossed 3 streams swollen from recent rains, carefully treading the mossy boulders, catching glimpses of the waterfalls above us. Walking through this forest is truly magical.
Earlier in the month an adventurous group of ladies walked to one of the larger waterfalls. It was a good hour and a half walk up stream, literally shoes off and wading through the water, taking paths where we could, finally clambering up steep fern covered rocks to be rewarded first with the cool perfect pools lying deep in the forest, and then finally to the waterfall itself. It was a challenging walk, best done in the dry season, but still agreed by all to have been well worth the effort!
This weekend, walking near the lake shore we heard the alarm call of the red colobus in a canopy of leaves above us. Looking up we saw a large male who mock charged us, aggressively shaking branches trying to scare us off. There was a frenzy of movement as a couple of colobus leapt away from us, flying astonishing distances from tree to tree. The male stayed where he was and we had an incredible 20 minutes or so observing him. We were very lucky as usually you only get to see them fleetingly.
The chimpanzees are very scattered at the moment since food is spread out and scarce. They tend to be found in smaller groups and are not vocalising much, making our trackers’ work that much harder each morning. Yet all our visitors have been able to see them nonetheless. Yesterday and today we actually had chimps passing right through the camp, taking the back path behind the guest bandas, foraging as they walked, looking back at us every now and again not at all perturbed by our presence. The baboons down by room number seven went very quiet indeed and quietly slipped away as the chimps moved through.
The leopard has been around a lot over the last few weeks, calling in the early hours as he passes through the camp, often coming right up to the rooms. Last month his tracks were seen in the mess tent! Obama the bushbuck is still to be seen around the camp, and has with him a lady friend these days. The two courting warthogs have been on honeymoon next door, making only occasional appearances chez nous!
The season is drawing to a close and by mid March camp will be closed. It has been a great start to the year in Mahale and we are already looking forward to the start of next season with a renovated mess to come back to!
All best wishes from Greystoke.
August Diary
by: Anna on 06/09/2008 (greystoke mahale)
Dear all
Yesterday, we all went to the village of Katumbi. It is a lovely little village on the shore of the lake, sheltered by hundreds of palm nut trees. The Watongwe people used to live in the Mahale Mountains themselves, but were moved to this village in the 1980s when the area became a national park. When we arrive in the village, there is no-one there trying to sell us things, the villagers are not used to tourists and they smile at us, welcoming us warmly in Swahili “Karibuni sana wageni”.
First of all we visit a Mama who is preparing ‘Mawase’ oil. This oil comes from the nuts of the palm trees; it is extracted and sold at the local market. The market, under a bit Mango tree, is so colourful and attractive, and we all want to stay for hours. The women wear bright Kangas and Kitenge (the local material they use for clothes); they shout loudly to each other, and our presence does not seem to disturb them at all. There are Dagaa (small sardines) drying on the ground, and children play around the fruits, and the elderly men,“Wazee” gather in groups under the trees to discuss the latest news.
Then we carry on to the outskirts of the village, where we visit some of the traditional houses. The Watongwe show us how to grain the maize, how to dry rice, how they cook the cassava and sweet potatoes, and then the welcome us for some ‘chai’, a cup of tea. Life at Kabumbi carries on at its slow pace, and I truly believe that all the people living along Lake Tanganyika know what Life means – just take it easy, and enjoy.
It's the 20th of August and somewhere far away from our little lakeshore paradise in the south of France, people are playing 'Petanque'. I can just see them with their 'Berets', their Pastis and plenty of white wine in the shade of the trees, away from the Mediterranean heat.And here we are, in Mahale doing something similar. We are playing ‘Boules’, They roll, they roll, hit a few palm nuts, avoid a few roots and finally get next to the ‘Cochonnet’ We’re having fun, and the irregularity of the ground just adds to our amusement. My boules keep disappearing into the jungle. Some Vervet monkeys observe us from high up the palm trees, a waiter brings us glasses of white wine, stares at the boules lying on the ground, then at us, and bursts into laughter. He leaves, and we can hear him giggling with his colleagues. How funny.
It's a hot afternoon, the leaves are drying quickly and fall around us in patches of red oranges and brown, the sand is hot, the cicadas reminds us that, yes, here as well, it's the dry season, and it feels like holidays, perfect holidays.
Greystoke Mahale diary - July 2008
by: on 29/07/2008 (greystoke mahale)
Dear All
July has been the hide and seek month at Mahale. Traditionally, the chimpanzees are high on the mountain during this time of year, as there are few fruiting trees on the lower levels. This year, however, the M group have been popping up literally all over the place. Guests have been walking only 15 minutes one day before bumping into a group of sixteen chimpanzees, including Pimu, Alofu, Darwin and Gwekulo. The next day they had to hike a grueling eight hours to see the same individuals. Even that hike was deemed very much worth it by the guests, sitting on what felt like the top of the world, watching the chimpanzees grooming each other.
Exciting news this month is the birth of Christina’s baby. Currently only about two weeks old, the baby has been sighted several times clutched tightly to her mother’s chest. Infant mortality is fairly high, so Christina’s baby won’t gain a name for another two years. The honour of naming all the chimps falls to Professor Nishida, who began the chimpanzee research in Mahale Mountains more than forty years ago.
Though lobbying continues in the USA for presidential elections, Mahale has its own unique set of politics. Pimu, the alpha male of the M Group since October last year, has been challenged several times by Alofu, the previous alpha male. Unsuccessful so far, Alofu may just be waiting for the right time, or more support from the other chimpanzees. Pimu has traditionally been viewed as a pretty nasty chimp, with all kinds of innuendo flying around the camp about him. But one wonders, has this all been part of a propaganda campaign set in action by Alofu supporters? It now appears that Pimu is exceptionally kind to the female chimps of M Group, and protective of his group overall. Is he looking for the female vote to keep him in power?
Animal sightings in camp took an all-time high this month, when we went to investigate why thick-tailed bushbabies were shouting so much behind a guest banda one evening. We were stunned to see a leopard, teetering on top of a palm tree, looking very much like an overgrown kitten waiting for rescue. All the guests managed to have a quick look at this extremely shy animal before we left it in relative peace. Relative, because all the other trees surrounding the palm tree were infested with baboons, who were shouting at the leopard. Considering that the baboons continued shouting till 4am, we suspect the leopard was ‘stuck’ up the tree until then, when it finally made a dash down the tree, though the ranks of baboons, and off to a much more peaceful neighbourhood. This was such a rare sighting, with no other guests previously having seen leopard in Mahale, that it was well worth the noisy night.
Meanwhile, on the lake, fishing competitions have been pretty fierce amongst the guests, with ‘first-timers’ on the hand-lines usually beating the fishing rod ‘professionals’. Everyone has been very magnanimous at the end, and shared out their catch for dinner, or for sashimi in the bar before dinner. Keen swimmers have also contributed fresh-water mussels to the evening meal, for a perfect dinner on the beach.
Hope to see you here soon,
All of us at Greystoke Mahale
Greystoke Mahale - Feb 2008
by: Anna on 29/02/2008 (greystoke mahale)
Its raining in Mahale. Where has the dry season gone?
All is wet, drops are falling from leaves, to leaves down to the ground; even the trees themselves seem to rain. Water is everywhere. Streams are now formidable rivers flowing from the top of the mountains and, looking back from the lake, giant waterfalls look like tiny scars cutting the escarpment.
The vegetation is so thick that the forest looks completely impenetrable from the shore. Who could think that so much is happening now, right now, in this fortress. Creepers crawl up in strange shapes around the trunks strangling the trees and vines are falling down from the top of the trees right to the roots.
The atmosphere is probably as magical as it have ever been, probably even more. Its now when you discover what else this magical forest has to offer. No sound or movement can be predicted. What you think is a tree, ends up being a huge vine when you get close. The word jungle as we imagine from our children books is reality here, not just something from our imagination. Mahale is in essence the 'lush tropical jungle'. And when the forest allows the sunshine to come through its shelter in streams of light, it appears even more magical.
Greystoke Mahale - December 07
by: Anna and all at Mahale on 11/12/2007 (greystoke mahale)
Mahale woke up this morning without a sound. All the birds that usually wake us up with the first light coming from behind the mountains were not to be heard, where had they all gone? This morning, there was nothing, not a sound. It was so quiet, and I just lay in bed listening to...nothing.
Then the birds started singing again, and I recognized the trumpeter hornbill, afterwards the monkeys woke up. Slowly, very slowly they came down their trees, not too noisily as though they didn't want to spoil the peace of the moment. I saw vervet monkeys, yellow baboons and a red- tailed monkey right by my room.
This morning the lake was as flat as glass and the mountains on the other side looked much closer than the 50km that separates us. We even saw what looked like smoke coming up from villages. Whilst enjoying a good cup of tea and some delicious muffins just out of the oven, we waited for news of the chimpanzees... Would they be close today? The news came in over the radio - our trackers found them next to Sinsiba, just an hour walk away
The forest was still wet from the recent rain, and throughout floated a delicious scent of jasmine. The walk took us more than an hour, as we could not help but stop every 10 minutes to look at butterflies. Never in my life have I seen so many different sorts as those you find in Mahale, all colours, all shapes, all sizes, and some as big as my 2 hands joined!
We finally heard the first chimpanzee. Now it is an hour of a dream, an hour that goes so fast we wish we could stretch the time. So many things happen in an hour, far too much for me to describe now. Time is suspended, but at the same time it flies.
On our way back to the camp, everybody was quiet. No-one dared to disturb the thoughts. When we arrived back on the beach, the sun was already high, and the clouds warned us that a shower might be imminent. Only now, around a fresh and exotic meal can we speak about the hour spent among the
chimpanzees. Everybody is already dreaming about tomorrow morning.
Wishing you all a wonderful day, Anna