A night with fearless chimpanzees

I t all began when I heard that American Super model Marlina Moreno was visiting different sites including Ngamba Island on Lake Victoria. Though it was on short notice, I could not miss the chance to visit the chimp Island. The boat was leaving in 20 minutes. My colleague and I jumped on a boda boda from Kireka but failed to make it time on.

We persisted.
Fortunately, there was an engine boat that was still at the dock at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre waiting to ferry Chimpanzee food to the Island. The ferry operators told us the boat we missed takes only 40 minutes from Entebbe to Ngamba Island. Our alternative takes two hours to get to the island. The thought of spending two hours on water worsened my hydrophobia. I wanted to back out, but decided to be brave and give it a shot. The boat set off at 3pm
The journey
I was on tenterhooks throughout the journey. The wind and waves kept blowing so much that I thought the boat would capsize. Every time the waves hit the boat, water enough to fill a basin splashed on us.
Like we had been warned, it took us two hour to get to the island.
The sanctuary manager told us travelling on the boat from Entebbe to Ngamba Island, and back, costs $600 (about Shs1.7m). This is why we spent the night on the island.
There was an emergency assembly point near water because apes fear water. This is where all the residents of the Island ran to just in case a whistle is blown to alert us about a chimpanzee’s escape.
My room was next to the Chimpanzees’ cage. They kept making weird and scary noises. The chilly weather and back-and-forth noise from the shores did not make it any better.

Nature walk
In the morning like is the norm at the sanctuary, every tourist has to take a forest walk. All the Chimpanzees were locked up in a cage just so they don’t find us in their territory (forest).
We were three people in the forest, the guide inclusive. He showed us the chimps’ resting place. He also told us the forest has over 120 species of bird. It has fruit bats, and is almost the only place where one can find them in Uganda.
I became an easy when a guide asked us to leave the forest because it was the chimps’ playtime. Our guide said in case chimp escaped from the cage, we run toward the shore.
When it was time to leave the Island, we switched boats and used the fast speed boat, which took us 40 minutes to reach the dock at Waterfront beach in Entebbe.

Did you know?
Apart from Chimpanzees, Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary is home to other wildlife. The ecosystem at the sanctuary is conducive for other animals to breed and survive.
The forest on the Island has straw-coloured fruit bats. They roost at the island during the day and leave in the evening in search for food.
Bats roost in clusters of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 and these can be counted to determine the approximate number on the island.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, straw-coloured fruit bats are classified among the list of wild animals that are nearly threatened.
Some of the challenges fruit bats face include but are not limited to destruction of their habitat, being trapped for bush meat and being associated with misfortunes in some African cultures.

Source: www.ngambaisland.org