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How wonderful to see Gremlin, she must be approaching "grand old lady" status.

Remarkable footage!    That's the only book of hers that I have. She's been here to my home city Adelaide a couple of times because of her interest in our safari park creating a chimp habitat and exhibit.

I watched that documentary before we left! I had no idea that footage existed. I had just followed her work from reading her books from back in the day like In the Shadow of Man.

Our last morning, we decided to hike up to the old feeding station (no longer used, but important in the story of Jane Goodall's research at Gombe):   and waterfall (this is me with our guide Abbas):   And on the way back, we met (did you guess?) Gremlin and her boys on the path.   We followed them as they went searching for fruit.   Gremlin showed her kids how to bash the white mangoes against the rocks.   They tired but were less successful.   We followed them until they climbed up a tree (and a scared baboon quickly climbed down).   So we started by watching chimps in a tree and ended watching chimps in a tree. It was then time to say farewell to Gombe and we took the boat back to Kigoma (about 2 hours back) to catch our afternoon flight back to Dar es Salaam. One of the wagtails who was always hitching rides on our boat came to see us off.   I'll be back shortly with Nyerere.  

That afternoon we went snorkeling in Lake Tanganyika, from the deck of our tent, and saw lots of cichlids building bowers. I will have to try to find the cichlid photos! I think they may be on another computer. We then took a kayak along the shoreline. Hint if you ever go: the water got rougher in the later afternoon, around sunset, so don't leave it until too late.   The next day went very similarly, but without the chimps in camp: we went to go see F-family in the morning and went snorkeling and kayaking in the afternoon. One difference is that there were others out in search of chimps that morning: a government minister and his retinue were there, and the chimps weren't thrilled at having so many people around.   They spent most of their time up the trees or in the undergrowth, eating:   Mouth full:   The adults were fairly well-concealed by the undergrowth:   Eventually they took off into the forest. Fanni practically ran me over.   And the minister and his people left. We followed the chimps.   We found where they'd found themselves a quiet spot and had a quiet time watching them again.   They didn't mind us when it was just us.   So graceful:   This time the youngest wanted to nurse, and the little family stayed close together and cuddled and groomed.   Baby:   Baby being groomed:   Since we'd had such a successful couple of days with the chimps, we decided that tomorrow morning we'd walk up to the waterfall and old feeding station instead of going on another trek. So we said a fond farewell to the chimps of Gombe.   Or so we thought. . . .

After all that hiking to see chimps, we got back to camp and were heading to lunch and discovered . . . chimps, in camp! Gremlin (yes, the Gremlin, from Goodall's books, now in her 50s!) came into camp with her two boys. They were very interested, for some reason, in licking the ground outside the washrooms.   Well, Gremlin was more interested than the boys were.   They got bored.   And checked out the ladies room.   Then they wandered past us:   Here's me with a camera:   They'd spotted something else interesting: we'd given our laundry to the camp staff earlier and it was now hanging on the laundry line. They decided to try to steal my husband's shorts:   Team effort:   Fortunately, the staff had threaded a cord through the shorts, so they were unsuccessful, but one of the boys did steal a sheet and run off with it up a tree.   Up the tree:   We followed Gremlin and her boys until they took off into the forest.   I'm sure there aren't many people who can say that a chimpanzee has attempted to steal their shorts.

The next morning, we got word that the trackers had found us F-family, including Fanni and her offspring, which was very exciting. The reason we picked Gombe for chimp trekking as opposed to Mahale or somewhere in Uganda or etc. was that we'd read all of Goodall's books. We didn't want to just see chimps. We wanted to see Goodall's chimps! So we knew who Fanni was.   We took the boat a little further this time and walked a lot further, most of the walk uphill! But eventually we found them and it was all worth it. There were two adults (Fanni and her daughter) and three youngsters, who raced around the trees, playing games. We sat and watched them for our allotted hour before heading back for lunch. At least most of the walk back was downhill!   Fanni and infant   The older kid:     Older kid with infant:     Here's all three!   Playing follow the leader:   Through all the trees around us:   Stopping to chat:   Inspecting the fruit:   Hanging out:   Hanging on:   Having a snack:   You could really see the eyes in this lighting:

Nice work! I've long been interested in Gombe. Much to my delight a few years ago I came across a fairly new Nat Geo documentary, "Jane", which featured footage more than 50 years old which hadn't been used before. It covered much of her early days at Gombe, her life there with Hugo van Lawick and their son, and their chimp studies (including the mistakes they made). A very refreshing documentary. I'm looking forward to more of your TR.

After breakfast the next morning, the same driver picked us up to take us back to the Dar es Salaam airport, this time to the domestic Terminal 2, to catch an Air Tanzania flight to Kigoma. It was funny being on an older commercial plane: the seats were so much more comfortable and well-spaced than the international flight we'd just been on! Upon landing in Kigoma, we were met by Abbas, from We Cab Tours & Safaris, who took us to the Aqua Lodge Hostel, a small place with its own beach on Lake Tanganyika . . . although there wasn't much beach as the lake water was so high! Not a problem, we weren't there to sunbathe but to go scuba diving, which we could do right from the dock. Abbas had put us in touch with George, who supplied the boat and all the equipment, and we went diving with the cichlids.   The next morning, we caught another boat north to Gombe National Park. (It's a couple of hours away.) Abbas came with us and told us stories of life along the lake as we passed the small villages on the way to the park. We knew as soon as we'd reached the park: not only was there a sign along the water, there were olive baboons on the beach to welcome us. We saw a lot of the baboons while we were there.   If you didn't keep your tent padlocked, they'd unzip your tent and come in!   We were staying in the Kasakela tents on site. For such cheap accommodations – I think they were about $50 a night? – they were quite nice, with real beds and attached toilet and shower. They were right on the water and I really mean that: with the lake so high, we sometimes had only a foot or two of sand in between our deck and the water. We were lulled to sleep each night by the sound of the waves on Lake Tanganyika.   Abbas introduced us to Ahadi, the park ranger who would be our escort in the park, and after lunch, we set out in search of chimpanzees. There was a group not far from the camp, so we took the boat to a point along the shore and tried there, but they stubbornly stayed up a tree, eating fruit (and dropping their discards on us), most of the time we were there. We weren't disappointed: it was our first sighting of chimps in the wild. And we had three more treks planned. They moved off quickly into the forest after they came down, and we lost them, so we headed back to camp.   We did get to see trees of red colobus monkeys, from the boat.   I like this photo, even though it's not a clear face shot, because it shows just how red-headed they are:

We flew Air France from Toronto to Dar es Salaam, with a change of planes in Paris and a short stop in Zanzibar. We arrived just before midnight and got our visa on arrival, which was very quick. We were through the line before our luggage even came back.   We had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport – there's nothing better than getting off a long international flight and seeing someone standing there with a sign with your name on it – and transfer us to the Hotel Slipway, where we'd be staying for 2 nights .because the next morning was our anniversary, and we wanted a relaxing day. We slept well, had a leisurely breakfast, watched the crabs on the tidal flats . . .    . . . and caught the 10 am boat to Mbudya Island, one of the islands that make up the Dar es Salaam Marine Reserve.   We had brought our dive masks and snorkels to snorkel from the shore. The snorkeling was unexpectedly good for shore snorkeling so close to a large city, but we were the only people we saw snorkeling! (Sorry, we don't have a good underwater dive camera. One of us will have to get the other one a good dive camera for their birthday this year.)   The island is popular with locals, who showed up later that afternoon, to swim on the sandy side of the island and play music and eat and drink. They brought their own food and drink, as there's really not much on the island, especially for vegetarians. (They did have fish and chips and tropical drinks.)   We explored the island briefly and took photos of the adorable hermit crabs in the leaf litter while waiting for our return boat.   We went back for an anniversary dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant and enjoyed the atmosphere. There were a local of locals along the waterfront to watch the sunset and enjoy the evening.  

Hello! I'm new here but I wanted to join the fun and share a trip report. (Hope I'm doing it right!) This one is from our July 2024 trip to Tanzania, primarily visiting Gombe, Nyerere, and Ruaha National Parks before diving on Mafia. Disclaimer that we're very much tourists, not serious photographers.   Our itinerary: 1    Arriving Dar es Salaam at 22:20, transfer to Slipway Hotel 2    Day trip to Mbudya Island from Slipway Hotel 3    Air Tanzania flight to Kigoma, diving in Lake Tanganyika 4    Transfer by boat to Kasekela in Gombe NP, afternoon chimpanzee trek. 5    Morning chimpanzee trek, afternoon snorkelling and kayaking 6    Morning chimpanzee trek, afternoon snorkelling and kayaking 7    Morning chimpanzee trek, afternoon flight to Dar es Salaam, overnight at Blue Sapphire 8    Morning Coastal flight to Nyerere NP, game drive to Lake Manze camp, afternoon boat safari 9    Full day game drive in Nyerere 10    Full day game drive in Nyerere 11    Morning Coastal flight to Ruaha NP, full day game drive to Mdonya Old River camp 12    Full day game drive in Ruaha 13    Full day game drive in Ruaha 14    Full day game drive in Ruaha 15    Morning game drive, Coastal flight to Mafia via Dar es Salaam, staying at Big Blu Mafia 16    Diving + excursion to watch turtle hatching 17    Diving + snorkelling with whale sharks 18    Diving 19    Diving + excursion through mangroves to jellyfish lagoon 20    Morning snorkel, afternoon flight back to Dar es Salaam and then home  

Well done on such great logistics planning with the RV, it's always good when these arrangement s work out as expected. Great intro photos and I'm looking forward to more when you have time.

Last year was a non-Africa year for us but to make up for it, we visited Indian National Parks for Tigers. (See my trip report under “India”). We also planned an RV road trip up to Alaska to flee our hot and humid summer. Since Florida and Alaska are about as much apart from each other as is possible, we decided to ask a German couple to drive our RV up to Anchorage for free and six weeks later, we would meet them there. Amazingly, all went well and the whole somewhat complicated arrangement proved to be a win-win situation for both parties. They enjoyed wildlife and landscapes on the way up north and we saved driving one way which is about 10,000 miles from Florida to Anchorage. In the middle of July, we flew up with our two dogs, took over our RV and yes, it was still in great shape, and then started our own adventure. We got back to Florida beginning of October… just in time for Hurricane Helene and Milton. (No damage).  During the trip, we had quite a few highlights: fishing the Kenai river for salmon in Soldotna with our grown kids, visiting the bears at Brook Falls in Katmai NP, visiting Valdez, Seward, and Homer, driving Denali highway 8, visiting Denali NP, driving the Dempster highway in the Yukon, chasing the Northern  Lights around Yellowknife, NWT, and finally finishing this monster trip in the Canadian and US Rocky Mountains.  I hope you’ll enjoy our wildlife pictures and landscape photography.         

Birding at Cockscomb. Quite a few lifers despite below par guiding.  I especially loved the Jacamar.                                                           

We could only spend one and half a day at Tikal, which is a shame. I could have easily spent three days there. But the heat in late March was already approaching a very unpleasant level and I was so so thankful to Jeronie for providing the battery operated fans. We stayed at Tikal Inn and met the owner Roxy Ortiz who is a very well known guide too. They have installed solar on some cabins so they can have the fan in the night. The swimming pool was welcome. Then back to San Ignacio for a night and it was time to say goodbye to San Igancio and off we went to Cockscomb basin via the beautiful Hummingbird Highway. But not before a nice relaxing canoe trip on the Makal river. We did see a few kingfishers on the canoe ride and plenty of Iguanas and monkeys.  And I ate absolutely fabulous Tamales at  Bertha's roadside shop. Highly recommended.  I genuinely feel that Jeronie Tut was one of the best tour operators I have come across.  Our next destination was Cockscomb Basin jaguar sanctuary. Ninety-nine percent of the tourists stay outside the sanctuary and come on a day trip but I belong to that one percent. After much trouble I managed to book one of the cabins inside the park managed by Belize Audubon society. It was basic to say the least. I had also enlisted the services of a local guide called Gregorio Chan from the nearby village Maya Centre. He was supposed to provide us with a cooked dimmer and breakfast. The food was terrible for the money I paid.  He didn’t guide us but sent his brother Julio to guide us. Not the greatest guide in the world.  The situation was compounded by a really bad heat wave hitting Belize. Cockscomb is a basin , surrounded by Maya mountains and it traps heat. It was unbearable. We went on a night walk with Julio and after walking eight km we managed to see a spider, a turtle and a jaguar paw print !  Next morning's birding walk was a bit better but I should have stayed at a better resort outside and just come for day trips. I came to see the manikins and the society had closed the trails as they were doing research on manikins !  No Jaguar, but that I expected.  Overall, I think we could have skipped Cockscomb, but my views are possibly influenced by the unpleasant weather,  so-so guiding , closure of trails and lack of food.    Nice relaxing canoe ride on the Makal river            Miss Bertha's tamales.          Very scenic Hummingbird Highway