We drove about two hours from ENI to the Forest. We took a packed lunch and a liter of water for each of us. Eight bottles of water in one backpack that we designated Levi to carry. We also took a first aid kit and all the boys had knives. Cozz got the prize for the biggest hunting knife I've ever seen. I forgot one thing though - the snake bite kit! We did however get a blessing from the paramount chief in the village that marks the beginning of the trail. We are all African enough to figure that was worth enough for the journey. If we did this again I would camp in the village and hike early the next morning.
Ashley was thrilled to see the canoe walking down the path in front of us. She really wanted to ride in a canoe like her Grammy down the many rivers in Liberia.
We walked for an hour through the buffer zone across many creeks and swamps.
At the Sinoe river we stopped for lunch before the canoe ride to the "Sapo Jungle".
Annabelle, Levi and Bess were the first in the canoe. We had two Forrest rangers with us for our hike.
I felt like Hepburn in the Movie "African Queen" crossing the river.
My bush babies. Notice Ashley, Annabelle and I all wore white shirts. They wanted us to change but it was all we had. They claim there is no white in the forest and the animals are afraid of the color. Oooops.
We hiked another hour over roots and through swamps to "Vera camp". The camp is named after a German lady who studied chimps for two years living here in the Sapo rainforest. I fell badly once but so did Bess and Vanndel who smacked his temple on a huge knotted root when he went down.
We were hot and sweaty and stinky. Levi sat on the bench above with Cozz and we heard a crack and looked up to see both of them crashing to the ground.
The guides were very knowledgable about the chimps in the area. That particular area had six chimp families. Next to the camp they showed the children where the chimps cracked their nuts using stones as tools. Chimps are very social animals and polite. They crack the nuts and pass them to their leader who keeps them until they are done and distributes them equally so they can all eat together. The movie "Chimpanzee" was filmed in this Forest that extends into Ivory Coast. I strongly suggest you rent the Disney movie and watch it. It's fascinating and you will see the Forest as we did.
Paul with our ranger guides Kollie Borlay and Augustine Nimely (beside Paul) and Annabelle.
A chimp nest high in the tree tops. Chimps never sleep in the same place two nights in a row.
Huge trees with mammoth roots we had to climb over.
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