Magical natural diversity and magical encounters – my time on the chimpanzee island

Departure for Ngamba Island: A journey into the realm of the chimpanzees

The driver waited patiently for me with a name tag. The plane I was flying from Arusha to Entebbe after my two and a half week safari in Tanzania was slightly delayed, but that wasn't a problem. The Ngamba Office quickly booked me a room in a very pretty hotel for the first night, where marmosets frolicked in the trees and food was served overlooking an idyllic pond.

The next day I was informed again about the essentials in the office before I was driven to the harbor, from where I took the blue, wooden employee boat to the island in a journey of around one and a half hours. 

Even before I left the mainland, I was informed about the most important rules and conditions in the office. However, if anything is unclear during your stay on the island, contact by telephone is always possible.

A deep insight into the world of primates: my everyday work in the rainforest 

After a stormy night of thunderstorms, as is the norm here, work for the volunteers (there were two of us for two weeks and four for the last week) began at 6.30:95 a.m. cutting chimpanzee food. The chimpanzees were then released from the holding facility into the forest: XNUMX% of the island is practically untouched rainforest, which the chimpanzees can freely use.

The remaining 5% is demarcated with an electric fence: This area of ​​5 acres is the space that is accessible to employees, volunteers, researchers and, in some cases, visitors. When feeding the chimpanzees (four times a day) we threw freshly cut fruit and vegetables over the fence - no one goes into the chimpanzees' enclosure, after all, these animals are five times stronger than a full-grown man, which the males like to show off by rumbling and screaming place.

Animal care also included cleaning the holding facility every morning - by the way, the wheelbarrow is the only "vehicle" on the island (apart from the boats). 

In addition to the work that directly affected the chimpanzees, I offered my help here and there: whether it was raking with the gardener, cleaning the shop, helping in the kitchen, weeding the paths, helping out in the restaurant or answering questions from half-day visitors: answer inside – I didn’t get bored. 

Another aspect of working with chimpanzees is observing and recording their behavior, which is part of many years of research. And when a research study was underway, it was always very exciting to watch the experiments and marvel at the intelligence of the animals.

A life in harmony with nature

The building with the rooms for volunteers and researchers was right next to the holding facility where the chimpanzees slept at night (which is why you were sometimes woken up by monkeys screaming). The room has a bed, a closet and a water container with drinking water. The toilet and shower were in a separate building and were shared with the staff.

In the warm climate, most of life took place outside: the shower and the kitchen were only covered with a roof and you couldn't be disturbed if a small lizard or a fat black millipede suddenly climbed up the wall.

Completely to my taste!

I love African cuisine! Volunteers and employees always ate the delicious food that the chefs prepared together - so I got to know many typical African dishes such as ugali, chapati and matoke. And I was even allowed to help with the preparation - my favorite part was trying my hand at making chapatis, which I can now make at home in Switzerland. A highlight were the fruits that we sometimes picked directly from the trees: you can't have fresher avocados and papayas! 

Island adventures and cultural insights: leisure activities in paradise

Since you could only move around a small part of the island, a significant part of your free time was sitting and talking to people. If you needed a break, you could always be enchanted by the breathtaking views of the lake and nature without ever getting tired of it. Or for those interested in birds, there is an impressive variety of bird species that you can observe and whose songs accompany you everywhere.

During the three weeks that I spent on the island, we also went on trips to the neighboring islands and were shown the life of the local population. Among other things, we visited schools (the children were really happy about every visitor) and went on a hike through the rainforest. We circled the island by boat and fed the chimpanzees from the water - so we got pretty close to these impressive animals, even without a fence. In my eyes this was another highlight!

Unforgettable moments and deep gratitude

The whole three weeks on the island were special and incredibly valuable for me. It wasn't just the encounters with the chimpanzees (I especially fell in love with baby Silver, who was just a few months old), whose different characters I learned to distinguish and love over time, but also nature had something magical about it.

Every evening at sunset I sat on the shore of the lake and looked at the red-purple sky where hundreds of birds set out to find a place to spend the night. Sometimes one of the many monitor lizards would cross the sidewalk or simply lie around on the small stone wall that was built along the bank. 

I particularly appreciate the new friendships that I made during my time in Uganda. The people were all very nice and accommodating and we really had a good time together. 

What I also really appreciated was that I was also allowed to let my creativity run wild and new ideas were gratefully and supportively received by the island staff - and with a bit of luck maybe even make it onto the menu of the island's restaurant one day... 

After the three weeks as a volunteer, I spent another four days exploring the region around the island: went to the market with friends, went swimming on the beach, went on a shoebill sightseeing tour and visited a zoo. 

I will forever hold the six weeks I spent in Africa in my heart and I am incredibly grateful for everything I was able to learn and experience!