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