Monkey Monday!

The last of the monkey species we'd see in Panama.

Geoffroys Tamarin.

We spotted them a short walk from where our ride got stuck.

The fellow in the pink shirt was the driver that got us stuck. Our guide was able, after the original driver could not, to free the truck. It would have been a long walk back to camp.

Of the three species we saw, these are the only one that does not have a prehensile tail.

And unlike the others we saw these only this one time. But like the others they were curious about us.

Monkey Monday!

The sounds of this creature were ubiquitous during our visit.

The Mantled Howler Monkey.

Given the dense foliage of the rainforest, they were more often heard than seen. But this group was right off the road on Boxing Day last year.

It was especially cool to see the youngsters, who seemed to be just as curious about us.

The howling is a low roar. At times I thought it was an aircraft flying over only to realize I wasn't in New Jersey, duh! I tried, with rather limited success, to record the howling. But in the end my phone was just not up to the task. It didn't help that people would the talking and moving about whenever I tried.

🐒🐒🐒🐒🐒

I've written before about watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom as a kid. And dreaming that I could see all the wonderous creatures highlighted in that program (but even as a kid I could do without the hokey insurance references). It is so cool and I am so fortunate to be able to live that dream.

Monkey Monday!

We spotted this fellow spotting us at breakfast time at our lodge in Panama. On Christmas morning.

A White-headed Capuchin monkey. One of a small group on the grounds of the lodge. And one of three monkey species we saw on our trip.

It seemed as fascinated with us as we were with it.

Or maybe it just was surprised we were there between it and the fruit on the bird feeders.

This was our first morning there, and it was no doubt thinking, "where did all these people come from!"

A nice Christmas present from mother nature (to us, not it!).

Bye-bye!

L'Hoest's Monkey

After our Chimpanzee adventure we headed to the park offices to drop off our local guide and avail ourselves of the restrooms and small snack bar (I had a soda).

These monkeys apparently had the same idea.

And whereas we had to pay for our snacks, they found them for free.

In special receptacles set up at the park (this fellow is sitting on one).

So while it is verboten to feed the animals, one can discard food in the rubbish bins, and thus indirectly feed them. Bringing them in for excellent photo ops.

Not that we would do such at thing (but only because we didn't think of it at the time; besides, we had given away all of our extra food to the villagers where we began our chimp trek).

Bananas are clearly a favorite.

But any fruit would do.

While we watched they came down one hill, across the highway through the park, and then over to the park office area.

We spotted one. And then another. And then another. One by one they made their way across.

They kept coming and coming. Up the hill to where we were waiting with cameras in hand.

They were wary but not afraid of us. And if we weren't vigilant they would have been in our luggage.

Note the two plastic bags in the back window. These were the only two plastic bags we would see in Rwanda, and we brought them in. Plastic bags are banned. And this is one of the main reasons Rwanda is such a clean country. We saw very little trash anywhere. Contrast this with Kenya where there was trash everywhere. Rwanda has a culture of cleanliness. And it shows.

But they were easily chased away. Our encounter was a nice way to end our time in Nyungwe National Park. We all agreed that it would have been nice to have another day here. But we were off to the Mara ...

Chimps!

Our last full day in Rwanda was spent in a quest to see the other great ape that calls that country home, the Common Chimpanzee.

And as you can see in this image we were successful.

The chimp is right there in the center of the image. See?

Ok, so that shot is reminiscent of one you'd see in a story on Bigfoot. Here's a (slightly) better one.

I did say slightly.

One more try.

The chimps were walking up the path that we had just walked down. Had we remained on that section of the trail they would have walked right past us. But we, on the advice of the trackers, were rushing up and down the trail. Unlike with he Golden Monkeys or the Gorillas, we had to work for our time with the chimps.

And I was glad I engaged a porter on this trip as we had to bushwhack a hundred plus meters up the side of a hill after they turned off the path. We did have a lead guide with a machete whacking some of the bush, but it was a strenuous climb in spots. Too strenuous for our tour guide ... more on that later.

Once up the hill we did get good, albeit somewhat distant, looks at the apes.

They were gorging on figs (the round fruits in this and the following images).

Once up the hill we found a path that led to the trail we had been on. It made for an easier trip down. And would have made for an easier trip up had we known where the chimps were headed.

As with he gorillas we had an hour to spend watching these creatures. We watched as they munched on figs, playing with their food. We saw several scramble down trees, surprisingly quick and agile for such large animals.

In all we saw six or so different individuals, on the path, in trees, and noisily moving through the forest.

And our tour guide? He stayed down on the path and had several walk right on by.

Jungle Gym

The little guys were having great fun. Faces of pure joy.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

Oblivious the the clicking shutters. Lost in play. Incredibly silent.

Magical.

It's a Jungle Out There

Literally.

And that is why the silverback male spent his time sleeping during our visit.

If you look closely at the image above (click to bigafy!) you can see a rather nasty wound on his arm. When he did stir during our visit, it was mainly to clean out this wound.

Which is no doubt why we didn't see any bugs on or about the wound.

Our park guide explained that the trackers had witnessed an encounter between this male and a lone silverback. A fight. In which this wound was suffered.

As with most such tussles between male gorillas, it was over women. The lone silverback wants some. This guy doesn't want to share. As per the trackers, it seems that this male was injured in more ways than one. Two female members of the troop have not been seen with it since the fight. This may be because they went off with the other male. But they may be with the troop but not visible. The group we visited has over twenty members. And while we had great looks in a nice open area we saw only fifteen or so members of the troop. And even if they did leave with the other male it does not mean that they will stay with him.

This wasn't his only wound as he had a cut on his foot as well.

The park guide and trackers were less sure of the origins of this wound. It has the appearance of the snare cut, not a fight injury.

Regardless of the origins both wounds had to be taxing to him. And thus his desire to rest and let them be. And hopefully heal without complications.

Gorillas!

As with the Golden Monkeys, Gorilla tours are also available at Volcanos National Park. Advance planing is required as the visits are limited and quite popular, although there are eight habituated groups versus two for the monkeys. Again limited to eight people per tour and for one hour with the beasts.

And as with the monkeys, one begins the day at the park headquarters, entertained by the same dance troop (I wonder if it is always the same or if it varies; and as we visited on back to back days we saw the same dancers?). After the introductory talk we were off.

We started in the same village. Here we arranged for porters to carry our gear. I engaged a porter on both days, although as it turned out I probably did not need one on either. But even if I had known that I still would have taken one. The fee was a small one for me, US$10 per person, but a significant sum for them.  Furthermore it forges a positive link between the villagers and the wildlife in the park (the park fees also find their way back to the villages).

We walked through the same farm fields as the day before up until the last half mile or so. We entered the park west of where we saw the monkeys via a different gate into he park wall. I wonder if the two species avoid each other? Again we had an armed guard but we did not see any elephants or buffalo. Nor were we ever afraid while in the presence of the gorillas. And again there were trackers who were out bright and early to find the troop and direct us to our encounter.

And again luck was with us as not far into the park we came upon this sight.

A gorilla in the wild!

It had found a spot to rest, a mid morning siesta, as it would turn out just a few meters from the rest of the group. Thus just around the bend ...

... the main part of the troop were sprawled out relaxing, including one curious youngster who took a few steps toward us before heading off to play (more on him or her later).

But for the most part the troop was just lying about, paying us no never mind.

Some just resting.

Some scratching.

Some snacking, like this one up in a tree.

And several grooming together ...

... or alone.

The rule was that we had to be seven meters away from the gorillas, in part to prevent disease transmission from us to them (we have doctors while they do not). But they had no such rule to follow. And we had to move back once or twice as they approached. One even walked up from behind the our group, unbeknownst to us, and stepped on the foot of the person next to me as it passed on by.

The troop's silverback spent most of the time seemingly asleep.

Despite occasional stirrings he never stood up, dashing our hopes of a full view of this magnificent being. More on this in a subsequent post.

About that youngster I noted above, well there two young gorillas, one a year old and one but nine months.

And they spent the entire hour we were with them playing.

Quite ruff and tumble.

But surprisingly, all the time silent. They easily stole the show.

I had mentioned earlier that our luck held. The gorillas could have been anywhere on the slopes of the volcano. And while they were not quite as close as the monkeys the day before, our hike once inside the park was a mere half hour to forty-five minutes. And this included rest stops for some steeps bits for which we needed to catch our breath. How lucky were we? The day before the trek to this troop was three hours up the volcano side. And then three hours back.

We were also very lucky that they had chosen a spot out in the open. They could have just as easily been scattered amongst the vegetation, with us seeing a head here and a butt there. Instead we were treated to group interactions right before us. Magical.

You can see these and more gorilla images in my SmugMug gallery. Enjoy!