Our guests John and Christine had a tough walk in the rain on Friday. Although they enjoyed themselves the Chimps had spread out in the forest and Mwiga our tracker was having a hard time finding a group that they could catch up to. They had to cross several streams which the rain had filled. On one crossing John slipped mid way and splashed into the water camera and all. At dinner we talked about how every day in forest is different, John admitted that they had come to Mahale not so much for the Chimpanzees but to relax at the end of their African Safari and were happy to just stroll in the forest.
On queue the Chimpanzees performed there magic on Saturday. After a short walk along the trail they found a large group of Chimpanzees including the highly ranked males. All of a sudden the males started hunting. With the lady Chimps, John and Christine watching from below the males shot up several trees at an incredible speed. Pimu the Alpha male pursued a young Red Colobus monkey through the canopy each jumping from branch to branch. Surprisingly the Colobus missed a branch and tumbled to the ground and into Christinas (Chimpanzee not guest) arms. Pimu shot down and grabbed his prize from Christina. Christina was desperate for a share and held onto Pimus leg for dear life and was rewarded with a small piece of the monkey. Unfortunately the action was to fast for a decent photo but judging by the look on John and Christines faces when they returned to camp I think they will remember this day for a long time.
