The Luckiest Day

This was the dawn seen while waiting to pick up the Ranger (who was having a little sleep in) who would guide us to the chimps. It is looking over the Nyungwe National Park. We had woken up at 4 am for a 4.30 departure from the lodge. When we had collected him we then headed down a dirt steep track to the part of the forest where the chimps were but unfortunately we broke a spring on the landcruiser which meant waiting while the driver ran after the other vehicle which had gone ahead. The plus side of this is a huge olive backed male baboon Raoul - uuuuugh (that was the noise he was making), came and checked us out. Eventually the other car came back for us and we were taken to the forest. Not more than five minutes in we had to cross a creek and Jim slipped and fell dropping his 7D and 100 - 400 lens into the creek. He pulled it out pretty quickly but there was still water sloshing around under the lens filter and the camera appeared to be completely soaked. Trudging up and down the forest we eventually came to the chimps. They were eating in the dark undergrowth and it was very hard to catch them. They would melt away so quickly then swing through the trees we really had very little chance of getting a good sighting. They had us running around in circles. Back to the village where we had started from and there were no cars. These villagers don't often see white people and we were strange visitors for them. Consequently, we had a mass of children and others staring at us for about 3 hours while we were waiting for the cars to come. They had to go to get the mechanic who was working on the spring and then the welder. We eventually got back to the lodge at around 4 pm. John discovered some Euros and about US$120 had been taken from his wallet. We think it was while the car was being repaired and someone went through his bag. Time for a quick shower and then out again taking shots of the tea pickers. The lodge is set in a tea plantation. Then dinner, washing, and then sleep because we had an early rise. Also some problems with the internet hence no posting. Ian called it his luckiest day because nothing had happened to him but I am not so sure about that.