Dark Eden
“I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward.” -David Livingstone
In 1871, H.M. Stanley uttered the famous words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” in the town of Ujiji on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, two years after Stanley was hired by the New York Herald to track down the missing explorer. Livingstone had spent much of the past 30 years exploring the African continent, slogging through swamps, fighting off malaria and dysentery, and enduring a neverending onslaught of trials and tribulations that left him marked during much of his life as a failed expeditionary leader.
Despite all this, Livingstone doggedly refused to leave the continent to which he was always drawn, continuing to explore until his death from disease in 1873. Those who knew him were inspired by his determination, and his deference to local cultures and support for abolition gave him a different sort of legacy that paved the way for countless explorers and missionaries who would later bring schools and healthcare into central Africa.
My journey to that same shore was much less fraught with peril, ferried by plane and boat with ample supplies, a backpack full of medications, and about 20 pounds of electronics. Nevertheless, outside that bubble of safety provided by stable governance, tourist dollars and modern marvels, the land on which I found myself was much unchanged from that remote stretch of sand so famously written about by Stanley more than a century ago.
We stood blinking in the sand under the bright blue sky as our camp managers, Steve and Kiri, welcomed us to Greystoke Mahale by pressing a drink into our hands. Each group was shown to our banda- a open-fronted thatch hut overlooking the beach, and we had an hour to decompress before meeting in the main area for a briefing.
I took advantage of the hour to braid my bangs into 3 little cornrows, a thoroughly decadent waste of time I have never in my life had time to do, as I peered into the jungle behind us and wondered how far away the mischievous little chimps were at that moment.
I heard rustling in the distance, the merest soft rattling of leaves on branches, and walked out front to see if I could locate the source.
Yellow baboons, a troop of 20 or more, were marching down the beach by the bar area in search of afternoon tea. (This is the second answer I will accept for the giveaway.)
Back at the main area, we were given a briefing of the area and then, handed a waiver.
“You can swim here in the lake,” said Steve. “We have kayaks and snorkels. Just a few things to keep in mind:
There is a hippo colony, but they are to the south so as long as you stick to the north beach you’re fine.
The best snorkeling is over by the rocks. There are water cobras too, but they’re not aggressive.
There are crocodiles in the lake, but they’re scared of the boats so as long as you stay between the boats you’re fine. Oh, but do use the buddy system. And no swimming after 6 pm.
We used to let our guests keep the canvas curtains open at night, but there’s a leopard who roams the beach some nights and steals flip flops, so just keep the curtains closed and you’ll be fine. If there’s any problems, you all have an air horn in your room. And no walking alone after dark without an escort.
The rangers will go over the rules for chimpanzee trekking tonight before dinner! See you then!”
And then one brave person actually went swimming.
I elected to instead take a short hike into the jungle interior, having spent the vast majority of the previous 36 hours sitting down. We were accompanied by a Tanzanian National Park (Tanapa) ranger, Raymond, and our wonderful ranger Robert, on a leisurely walk to meet the jungle.
Nobody messes with Robert.
I peered and peeped in the overarching branches, hoping to hear a hoot or catch a colobus in action, but the chimps were several miles away at that point. We contented ourselves with walking through curtains of blue butterflies, sneaking a glimpse of a blue duiker, and peeping at hippo tracks. Yes, hippos walk as far as 15 km inland at times, trampling huge expanses of grassy reeds along the way. Note: stay away from the flattened reedy tracks at night.
