We Meet Dr. Jane's Sokwe (Chimpanzees)

Jane’s Sokwe! (Video from Gabriel at bottom of this posting. Check it out. And, Happy Birthday to Gabriel today...)

Well, we all had the most amazing experience of our lives yesterday. We took the slow boat to Gombe (so much fun with the kids), and hiked up into the jungle to look for Jane’s Chimpanzees. Andy is going to write about it in detail, but just know that we did find them, and that they played and preened in front of us for 45 minutes. We were supposed to stay 10 meters away, but it was near impossible as they followed us and walked RIGHT in front of us. We respected their space by pushing back into the undergrowth, but there were moments when they were not six inches from us. It was, for me, the most amazing moment of my life. It was magical. We met Frodo, Freud, Apollo, Tarzan, and about eight others. Tarzan was taking the opportunity to show off (at the right time) in front of others in his bid to move up the chain of command. He hung from the tree in front of us and made his statement. We feel so honored to have met Jane’s Sokwe (forgive me JGI if I get this wrong), but I think Frodo was born in 1971.

It was so wonderful to watch the kids filming the Sokwe with their Flip video cameras. They were, of course, thrilled.

Look for Andy’s blog tonight (we’re super busy helping the kids with their movies).

Wow.

Erik