Welcome back!

In 2009 we were blessed with early visits from some of the members of the ‘M’ group. In April they were rather scattered and we had several chimps travelling through camp to feed on the Lemon trees.

This year, after returning from our well deserved break, we heard the chimps were far South, feeding on the Mabula plum which seems to be fruiting early this year. John and Jenny, our fist visitors for the season, tested out their walking boots with their track’s ranging from five to seven hours to find the group.

They tracked south, with no luck, then between the northern and southern valleys as well as up Skyway and finally on day two managed to find the group. The remaining days gave them sufficient viewing time to make the trip worthwhile...Alofu showing off with charging displays, Pim and Kalunde grooming and even got to see the latest additions to the group, Fatuma had a baby recently and Vera also showed off her little one.

‘The group will be moving down soon’ Sixtus told us after returning to camp, and we hoped that when moving from south to north, they would take their usual route through camp.

Late that afternoon, we heard their calls coming from the forest and sure enough, there they were! We grabbed our cameras and headed out to the pathway behind camp. At first the forest was quiet, we thought they had passed already. Then we hear the tree branches breaking and know which way to head.

Once over the bridge we find Mitsuya, sitting quietly in the middle of the pathway, starting at us. A few feet behind her is Wakusi, Teddy and Zantip, relaxing in the afternoon shade of the trees. Wakusi points out something on the forest floor to Teddy, who then stares with interest. Mitsuya, enjoying the attention, gives a few turns for the camera. Zantip falls flat on her back, arms and legs stretched out... a lazy afternoon indeed.

Suddenly there is a call from further down the pathway, the females quickly gets up and moves into the trees. ‘The males are coming’ Sixtus said and after a few minutes Christmas comes strolling along the path, with Fanana following close behind him. They stop for a few seconds to finish off the lemons they have been holding, and then pass by close to us. Then Orion appeared, followed by Darwin, Michio and also Kalunde, who never seems to miss a visit to Kungwe.
Once all the males passed, the females came down and decided to join them and soon they continued on their route north...

Wakusi is the large, old female in the first picture, she is the mother of Alofu and sitting next to her is Teddy who is the daughter Toxi. Zantip, relaxing behind them, is the daughter of Christina and Mitsuya, the little one with the pose in the other pictures, is the daughter of Mia.