Lucky nr 7

Chimpanzees do visit Greystoke Camp itself too, as I hope you have come across on one of our blogs. Though most of the time when they visit, the M-group members decide to stay within the forested areas of the camp. The fruit bearing trees are obviously more of an attraction to the chimpanzees than our stunning beach front.

Orion; crossing the path to the beach at room nr 7.

Spotting chimpanzees from your room veranda therefore is a special and rare event.

Lucky us!

As we were taking measurements in room 7 we heard leaves and branches cracking. Like someone was approaching from the right. And sure enough here came Orion, silently leading Tani and her son Teto along the beach front.

Orion waiting for Tani and Teto to follow him.

Interestingly that morning, Orion – as part of the M group – tried to mate with Tani but was denied in favor of the much younger Teddy. Now taking Tani and her little son Teto on a private walkabout away from the rest of the M group, sure enough Orion increased his chances on copulation. 

Tooth Talk

Chimpanzees have 32 teeth. And although chimpanzees have much larger canine teeth than humans, their nr of teeth and their round jaws corresponds to ours. Like us, chimpanzees have no teeth at birth.

Chimpanzee have four types of teeth; incisors, canines, premolars and molars. And when in the forest this Saturday afternoon, Ceasar gave as the full insight into chimpanzee teeth. As he yawned we could spot every single tooth in his impressive mouth.

Ceasar , 13 years, yawning

But if you have such an array of beautiful teeth, how do you keep them in good condition?

In Mahale Mountains NP research has shown that chimpanzees of the M group chew on the bark of the Pignantas Angolensis. Not only does the bark clean their teeth, it also contains a salt they crave. In addition to that our guide Mwiga recently saw chimpanzee Xantip – 14 years – cleaning her teeth by chewing the bark of Azanza Garkceana.

The forest is full of surprises. But I’ll stick to my Oral B.

Mangoes..!

What if you were a chimpanzee and knew that Greystoke has two fruiting mango trees? Right, you would head out to the beach and enjoy the juicy, fresh mangoes.

A group of chimpanzees led by Darwin (3rd ranking male) walks into camp, heading for the mango tree.

Greystoke mango supply is plentiful at the moment. Of the two trees fruiting, one tree is less than 10 mts away from the mess building and carries smaller and greener mangoes. The other tree, standing close to room 7, is similar in size but carries bigger and more ripened mangoes.

Darwin had his pick and walks away.

Accessing the mango tree goes in strict hierarchal order. Others wait while higher ranking males and females pick the first fruits.

Ceasar, a lower ranking male, had his pick after a long wait.

But when you then finally get your hands on a tree, you try to stock up a bit.

Little Tito eating mangoes near the tree.

With refreshing showers in the region, more trees in and around camp will start fruiting. 

Also Cecy had a taste of the mangoes. 

So Imagine the fantastic chimpanzee life in and around camp.

Cecy's mother, Cynthia.

And while Cecy enjoys mangoes up in the tree, mother Cynthia lays relaxed under the tree enjoying the freshly picked fruits.

Thanks a lot Mfaume & Hadija !!

For a long time he was looking forward to it. Mfaume – our Greystoke kitchen chef – had long ago proposed to marry his beautiful wife Hadija. This weekend finally was the day and in all Mfaume’s enthusiasm he invited not only the Greystoke staff, but all of our guests too! 

It’s not every day that you have the chance to go to a traditional Tongwe wedding. All of us were so excited. Everybody dressed up and together with Eric, Dick, Rod, Munira, Thomas and Caroline we set sail to Katumbi Village, a 2 hr boat ride from Greystoke Mahale. 

The Katumbi welcoming committee. 

Traditional and truly Tanzanian, this lakeshore village is worth a visit anytime. Reached only by the water, no roads connect Katumbi to the rest of Tanzania. We could already spot the festivities from water! As we boarded the shore within seconds a children’s  committee welcomed us. Like in all rural places in Tanzania, any visitor gets the treatment of a true guest. Super welcoming and full of joy, the news of us setting foot ashore rapidly spread through the village.

Crowds around the house of the newlyweds.

As we walked down to the house where the wedding was about to take place, the crowds became thicker and thicker. The whole social side of village life quickly became apparent to us. So fantastically colorful and so warm a reception we were given, we felt humbled by it all.

Seats lined up in front of Mfaume.

For us a number of seats had been lined up right in front of the house of Mfaume. The newlyweds were about to come out of the door straight across from us and in between us a big dance floor was created. 

The wedding music system.

To one side a huge set of boxes was playing local and Tanzanian songs. Mixed by a DJ and played at a super loud volume, Mfaume and Hadija were praised at every possible option in between.

Once the couple came out of the front door they initiated the dancing. Everybody – in the mean time a 150 to 200 strong crowd – erupted in a loud cheer! 

Finally Mfaume and Hadija came out and danced!

Hadija and Mfaume danced and danced, having the whole dance floor to themselves. Once they had intitiated the dancing others joined and the place was brimming with joy. All the children watched in awe how one day this also would be part of their lives. Even the surrounding trees were full of people, climbing up in the hope to catch a share of the action!

The cake ceremony 

Then came the cake ceremony. Little pieces of cake were cut off and fed to guests by the bride under loud cheering of the crowd. The experience for all of us – being invited to be even part of the cake ceremony – was just too good to be true!! 

Thomas ready to bite a piece of cake!

Dancing, laughing and full of positivity the new bride fed al her guests pieces of the cake.

Suzanne cheering with Mfaume and Hadija after a bite of the cake

After that people danced to particular songs that were dedicated to the couple. As we all couldn’t believe it was time for us to leave for camp again, all of us would have loved to stay around to the late hours. The evening program was watched and participated in by most of our staff from Greystoke, until the very late hours!

Trees filled with spectators in the back!

Getting out of camp and experiencing what Tanzanian life really is all about should be part of everybody’s itinerary. What a true Tanzanian experience it was for all of us.

Thanks Mfaume, thanks Hadija! And good luck to you!

Mfaume and Hadija 

Butterfly times

Within in a period just a little over two weeks, Mahale Mountains NP is brimming with butterflies again. The little rain showers we had were enough to create the explosion in butterflies so common for this time of the year. 

Mating of Acraea Igola

Announcing the change into the wet time of the year, the butterflies are going to stay with us for a while now. Everywhere you walk different beauties fly around. 

A stunning Iolaus species

A short walk is enough to run into many of them. Photograph what’s out there, look at them flying around, it’s truly so cool to experience. What is certainly more challenging than we thought is setting the (sub) species apart from another.

The Acraea Petraea

But alot of fun it is and with the butterfly season soon in full swing – lasting all the way into April – we should have plenty of time to become specialists!

The real daily Jump

When Matt and Jennifer Hinsley came on their honeymoon to Greystoke Mahale, they brought along a little mission. On initiative of her sister Holly the two made jumps in always different places and photographed them. The reason being simple: to inject fun and athleticism into the everyday life.

And into the clear water of the lake...

With possibilities for jumping being endless, all of us at Greystoke really felt being part of the jump. And so we sailed out far onto the lake to make an awesome jump. With the sun going down slowly, we put away our cool drinks and prepared to 1, 2, 3… JUMP!

Baby beauty

You can read a book or a magazine, watch a documentary or research the net. Any preparation for your trip into the Mahale Mountains is exciting and fun. But how close we really are to our nearest living relative we found hard to imagine from the comfort of a chair. Nothing in the world could have prepared us for the intensity of a real life chimpanzee encounter. 

Kalunde, Ako & her young daughter

Fortunate as we are to visit the M group regular, yesterday again was a mind blowing experience. As we hiked for an hour and half along the foothills of the mountains, we came across Ako, Kalunde and Ako’s 1 year old daughter. As we sat quietly on the forest floor with our group of 4, it was the daughter of Ako that stole our hearts completely. 

Ako's daughter climbing her mothers back

And we are sure she will steal yours too...

Ako's daughter

Although still unnamed – M group chimpanzees are only named when they reach three years due to common infant mortality – Ako’s daughter is so full of life and so full of character. 

Laying in her mother's lab

As the larger part of the M group had moved on, Kalunde and Ako were quietly sitting together exchanging little sensitivities. Where females with baby's are generally a little more shy, Kalunde and Ako where at total peace. 

Ako’s daughter carefully explored the surroundings and her mother’s back, leaving us to share with them some unique moments.