CHIMPANZEEEEES

Hello from Rwanda! We are currently living the luxurious albeit expensive life in Kigali, but you'll have to wait for a future blog post to hear more about that. I am here to catch you all up on what we've been doing on the first half of our free travel (the beginning of this past week). After our rejuvenating retreat at Lake Nkuruba, we did a 180-degree turn away from relaxation and headed north to Budongo Forest Reserve, which is part of Murchinson Falls National Park in search of the elusive CHIMPANZEES!
Our adventure started with an exhilarating matatu drive (if you can classify a slightly terrifying ten-hours packed like sardines in matatu, at extreme speeds over bumpy roads as exhilarating).We had a few bumps in the road (literally) on our way there, but nevertheless pulled through and made it to our desired destination. We were all thrilled to be able to stretch our legs and go chimp trekking/tracking! We were incredibly lucky in this activity, not only because we saw chimps up close, but because in the few days before we arrived the chimps had been in hiding and none of the guides were able to find them! It just so happened that the day we showed up they decided to climb down from their nests and soak up a bit of sunshine. We had to stay at a distance of 30 ft away, and were not allowed to wear yellow or red clothing for fear that they might attack (the yellow and red simulate a flash of a camera which aggravates them). Fortunately, we had nothing but a safe and incredibly satisfying experience.
While the tracking took up the entire morning, we were still free for the afternoon and so decided to head to Murchison Falls to make our day complete. On our way there we saw baboons scampering on the sides of the roads and some buffalo in a watering hole, but they were nothing compared to the sight that awaited us. I think everyone in our group can agree that Murchinson Falls has been the most beautiful waterfall that we've seen in Africa, if not ever. It is a humongous roaring, rapid of a waterfall and we arrived at a perfect time: just as the sun was slowly sinking down and so formed perfect rainbows across the falls. We had a grand time soaking in the sight and the spray from the falls and taking photos.
The following day we headed back to Lake Nkuruba, to let our bums recover from the abuse they received during our matatu ride. We spent the day relaxing, doing laundry, journaling and finalizing more details for free travel. That evening the staff of the campsite performed a little farewell ceremony for us, which was genuinely heartfelt and entertaining. We all headed to bed fairly early that evening as we had to be up at 3:45 the next morning to start the next segment of our free travel!
--Kathryn