CHIMPANZEES

"Ok, Leigh Anna! Shut up already! We want to hear about the chimps!!!!"

Oh! My bad :-). Lemme tell you about some chimps I've met.

There are 9. ONLY NINE! Three were lost in September... And no one knows where they are...

Fana was probably born around 1956. She has a huge son named Foaf who is 10 years older than me. Foaf used to be the alpha male. Fana also has a daughter named Fanle. Fanle has two sons- Flanle and Fanwa. Flanle is 7... And he is a little RASCAL! Fanwa is a little over 2 years old.... Oh lord have mercy he is SO ADORABLE. I want to hold him and love him. But he is completely dependent on and attached to his mother. Also, we aren't allowed to snuggle the chimps. Jire was born around 1958 and has a big 12 year old son name Jeje. Jeje is the alpha male!! Velu and Yo are the two old ladies. They were born in 1959 and 1961 respectively. I have yet to see these two ladies.

They have two outdoor "laboratories" here in Bossou. One is a flat 5 minute walk from home and is called the Salon. The Salon is great because it is extra natural. The water hole in the tree is natural, and there are palm trees hovering above that would be providing nuts anyway. Plus, you can witness 4 different types of tool use there- nut cracking, water scooping, pestle pounding, and possibly ant dipping! The other site is a (tough) 20 minute hike up a mountain. This is the most popular site for the chimps to come to. It's called the Bureau. I'm there now! The Bureau is smack-dab in the middle of the chimps' territory; an ideal location for secret experiments! Typically, we will wait at either of these locations behind a makeshift palm frond wall for the chimps to stroll on up and start crackin'!

The first time I ever saw wild chimps was about two days ago. We were at the Salon. Lots of conference attendees were with us. I had my new binoculars out. And we waited. 40 minutes went by.... And then- BOOM! Seven chimps walked in! I peaked through my hole in the palm wall with my binoculars to see their faces up close. Magnificent! They the nuts were scattered in piles in the bare-soil area we made for them. Cautiously, they all came out into the open. 

They were so much bigger than all my capuchin friends! And slower! Their grunts and pant-hoots are wild. Chimpanzees are literally cavemen. Not the Geiko commercial fake-cavemen. REAL cavemen. The way they chose their stone tools was prehistoric. The way they used their tools was ancient. Such a wild site! 

Flanle, the 7 year old boy, was raising a ruckus. He was being so obnoxious! But not really, lol, he just wanted to play! He would run up to an adult and pretend to throw a rock at them! Then, he actually DID throw a rock at an adult! I thought it was so amazing that the grown ups would actually get up and leave their nuts to pretend to chase Flanle around. They would walk, and Flanle would run away! Never did they actually get upset with the young boy. The atmosphere was so relaxed.

Fanwa, the little infant, was constantly clinging to his mother. It was such a cute sight to see. Sometimes he would walk a few steps away... Jump around a little bit... And then run right back to his momma. One time, as his mother was cracking nuts, little Fanwa stood up on his two feet and began to swing his left arm up and down so fast! As if he were cracking nuts! With no stones or nuts, of course.... But still, I wondered if he was mimicking his mother. I wish I had good video of this. Maybe Cat does! 

One fun fact about these crackin' chimps is that they all prefer a certain hand to crack with. The chimps here have been almost 50% left-handed and 50% right-handed. And there is no correlation between a mother and her baby's preferred hand! And in fact, some of the grown ups have actually had to switch hands throughout the years due to injuries! This switch seems to be seamless and therefore demonstrates one of the many differences between us and them! 

So far, I have seen the chimps crack no more than 5 times. And every time, they have finished all of the nuts we gave them! That's about 60 nuts per chimp! I think if Jatoba, our alpha capuchin in Brazil, ate 60 nuts... His little belly would burst. 

When the chimps aren't here- we just wait. This is much easier than our work this summer. The guides nap. And I read/write.

Ok, I'll be honest. I napped in the forest yesterday. This is funny because one day Allison and I agreed that "we don't sleep in the woods." That's actually only what I THOUGHT she said. She actually said that she "can't sleep in the woods." Well, regardless- I can and I will. 

My internet is extremely limited. Please bare with me. Love you all.