Mahale Chimpanzee Safari

Tanzania is blessed with an abundance of wildlife and host of national parks that draws visitors from around the globe to marvel at its spectacular showcase of living creatures. Visitors are spoilt for choice with evocative names such as the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Selous, Ruaha and so on. Yet on its western boundary there is an enchanting range of forested hills that descend down to the 600km ribbon of water, known as Lake Tangyika. The Mahale Mountains are a spectacular backdrop to the lake but aside from their imposing beauty it is home, like its fabled sister park Gombe Stream, to some truly remarkable beings and our closest relatives the chimpanzees.Back in November 2007 I had, much to Will’s envy, the pleasure of paying a visit to this out of the way corner of Tanzania which only receives a few keen visitors every year who come to see its habituated chimpanzees. As I would later reflect Mahale National Park is, in my view at least, a castaway paradise with the ultimate wildlife experience – close encounters of the ape kind (but I would say that!) Why more visitors don’t strike out this way I can’t fathom but for now for those lucky few who do it is a paradise to share with our cousins the chimpanzees of Mahale.My journey to Mahale started by boarding a Cessna Caravan at the Arusha airstrip. As we trundled down the bare earth runway and left the towering peak of Mount Meru behind I was Mahale bound but as I soon discovered from the pilot by a rather curious route. First stop Kleins Camp in the Northern Serengeti, then it was down to Tabora (central Tanzania) to refuel, next stop Katavi before finally heading northwest again for Lake Tanganyika and the Mahale Mountains National Park. No wonder it took 5 hours but I was travelling in the ‘green season’ when there are only a handful of travellers and it makes sense for charter flights to combine as many pick-ups and drop-offs as they can. Normally it’s a straight flight there with an exciting bush landing at Katavi to break the journey.My first glimpse of the Mahale Range was through broken cloud and I hardly had time to admire its green cloaked mountains before we started our descent to an unseen airstrip. As Lake Tanganiyka loomed ever larger directly in front of us we swooped over a few shambas (small farm holdings) before touching down just short of the shoreline. There had obviously been a recent down pour as the airstrip was somewhat water logged, so for a moment I thought I might end up having an early bath!My home for the next few days was to be Nomad’s intriguingly named ‘Greystoke’ Camp. After a warm welcome by some of the camp crew we set off by dhow on the final leg of this odyssey. Gliding over the clear waters of Lake Tangayika we headed south along its eastern shore, the dark forested and mysterious shoreline of the incongruously named Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) peering on the not so distant horizon to the west. Passing the last village before the park a silver sheen carpeted its beach in patches. As I wondered what on earth it was Kabeth, our guide, explained that it was the sardine-sized fish locally known as Daga that the villagers had left out to dry. More like rot, by the smell of it, in this hot and humid air. Cruising ever southwards as I gazed in awe at the lush green hills that rose to jutting peaks (which I gather in the dry season take on more brown hues) I got a sense of why ‘Greystoke’ was so named. As after rounding a headland the camps grand and exotic castaway lodge came in to view. Then I was reminded of childhood memories of a certain British film, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel Tarzan of the Apes. Well that’s my theory anyway.The Greystoke Camp is a barefoot luxury lodge perched on a white sandy beach with its curious dhow-wood bandas stretched in amongst the tree line. With the forested slopes of the Mahale Mountains rising behind it and Lake Tanganyika stretching out in front words can not really convey the magic and enchantment of the place. You just have to be there. There are other options for a very comfortable stay in the area but Greystoke does offer an easy going and very special castaway experience with the added bonus of being able to see Mahale’s famed chimpanzees.Mahale is about 200km south of Gombe the world renowned site of Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking research in to chimpanzees. Not long after she started her research at Gombe Prof. Toshisada Nishida from the Kyoto University in Japan came in 1965 to study the chimpanzees of Mahale. His legacy is the habituated and much researched (still on-going) group of eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii - recently re-classified as Pan t. marungensis).There are estimated to be over 1000 chimpanzees living wild in Mahale but it is the habituated ‘M group’ of almost 60 individual chimps that visitors have the privilege of coming to see. Each day the lucky few set out in the morning to trek and find the roving chimps. Guided in by experienced trackers who set out beforehand you will hear them long before you see them. I certainly did. Hearing their hoots, screams, grunts and other vocalisations quickens your pace and the chase is one of eager excitement. I was fortunate to track them twice during my stay in Mahale and my second encounter was an experience I will cherish forever.My first sighting of the day was of Orion a 16 year old adult male wandering by himself before he selected a suitable tree to swiftly shimmy up. Sitting on a branch surrounded by lush vegetation he selected a croquet ball size fruit known locally as Isakama (Myrianthus arboreus). This was obviously a prised treat that he nosily munched on using his hands, teeth, lips, and feet to get at the juicy flesh underneath its pineapple like skin. After watching him for a while Sefu my guide tugged on my arm and said we should hurry to another part of the forest as he had just received news on the radio of a large gathering of chimps. As we scurried off to I could hear their ‘pant hoots’ and shrieks, tantalisingly close. Suddenly as we came to a small village green of a crossroad in the forest; there calmly grooming each other was a small knot of 3 chimpanzees.Pimu, Chritstina and Fanana who were soon joined by Alofu, Kalunde and Primus.As I watched in awe, Sefu quietly gave me a commentary on the names, status, relationships and characters of each of the chimps gathered before us. Pimu was the current alpha male. A brutish dictator by all accounts and he looked the part with a menacing and brooding look. Fanana was a previous alpha male who had recently return to the M community after a period of enforced exile. Christina a middle aged female was in oestrous and the cause of this gathering of powerful males. As I soon learnt Christina had been a favourite companion for Alofu, so was there still a special relationship between them? Although Alofu had been recently deposed as the alpha male by Pimu, he didn’t seem to submit to his authority in the customary manner by pant-hooting when they meet. Then in to the scene strolls Kalunde ‘The King-Maker’; always at the centre of chimpanzee politics and looking every bit the mandarin who is said to be ‘sharply intelligent, immoral but very successful’ in his Machiavellian style of making and break contenders and holders of the alpha male throne. Just sitting in the wings was Primus the young (only 16 years old) and popular (with other members of the M community) contender to the top spot. This calm and collected youngster didn’t even flinch when Pimu, in an outburst of rage, thrashed about the bushes threatening all around. Pimu’s display of raw aggression was certainly enough to trigger my flee response as I tried to remind myself that staying put and then backing away slowly was meant to be the best response! My time with the chimps of Mahale was over all too quickly but it was like being part of the audience for a trilling and dramatic TV Soap Opera, which left you longing to witness the next episode.There is a serious side to tracking the chimpanzees with strict rules and guidelines that visitors must follow. They have been devised to solely protect the chimpanzees, since the greatest threat to their health and existence is us! No more than 6 visitors are allowed to be in the vicinity of a group of chimpanzees at any onetime (a maximum of 3 groups of 6 people set out in to the forest in search of the chimps each day). The time spent with the chimps is also strictly limited to 1 hour, to minimise the impact on their normal daily behaviour. Visitors are also meant to keep at least 10 metres away from the chimps but seeing as the chimpanzees have previously been followed very closely (often in touching distance) this more difficult to adhere to. Yet it is this infringement of the 10m rule (a combination of researchers and visitors desire to get closer as well as the curious and confident nature the chimps themselves, especially young males) that potentially poses the greatest threat to their existence.Recent research has indicated that a series of increasingly frequent outbreaks of diseases in the chimp populations in both Gombe and Mahale may be the result of disease transmission between humans and the chimps. In June 2006 a respiratory disease affected the Mahale chimps and 13 died due to the disease which, most probably, came from people. These out breaks have tended to occur in June/July at the height of the visitor season it is believed that such outbreaks resulted in the M chimpanzee community decreasing from over 100 in 1988 to only 52 in 2006.Thankfully the park authorities in conjunction with the safari camps in Mahale are far more vigilant about human to chimp disease transmissions. As a result, along with more rigorous enforcement of the chimp viewing rules, visitors now have to wear face masks when they are near to the chimpanzees. Having donned my mask when I was trekking I hardly noticed it apart from my glasses steaming up every now and then – the excitement of it all! A small price to pay in my mind. I was also very encouraged to see that all the park guides, rangers and researchers were also all wearing masks. Hopefully such a simple precaution can help to ensure the survival of our forest cousins. The number of M group members is now back up to due to several recent births.My time in Mahale was brief but it really was a truly memorable experience. Aside from my close encounters with the chimps; Greystoke was a delightful place to unwind and relax. I even managed to squeeze in some snorkelling, kayaking and a spot of fishing. The thrill of reeling in your own catch of the day, even if it was just a tiddler which the camp crew then used to catch the big’uns, just added to the castaway feel. As I tasted our freshly catch kuhay (a local fish delicacy) prepared as the most delightful sashimi I had tasted I vowed to return.My heartfelt thanks must go to all the good people of Greystoke Camp and Mahale for such a memorable stay. In particular I would like to thank Doug, Magdalene, Jules, Safu (Safe), Kabeth and all the camp crew at Greystoke.Asante sana