Ngamba Island, 23 kms
off the shores of Entebbe, is part of the Ssese Islands –
a collection of 84 beautiful, untouched islands on Uganda’s
Lake Victoria. This 100-acre forested island is Uganda’s newest
sanctuary for displaced chimpanzees. Ngamba provides a safe haven
for 42 orphans, as well as chimps rescued from zoos, circuses and even
the cooking pot. They are now free to roam their island thanks to
the concerned organisations that raised funds for the project. For
visitors, it offers a unique opportunity for close viewing of chimpanzees
in their natural environment.
At the turn of the 20th century there were two million wild chimpanzees
in 25 African countries. They’re now extinct in four of those and there are fewer than 200 000 chimps today. Their natural forest habitat
is rapidly being destroyed to make way for cultivation and human
population growth. They are routinely trapped and slaughtered
for food, or captured and sold as illegal pets or circus performers.
Once they have been captured they become habituated to humans and
it is sometimes impossible to return them to the wild.
Untutored by their mothers in the ways of the forest, they are unable
to cope on their own. Ngamba Island offers them a veritable playground
of tangled vines and towering trees where they can live freely with
no threat from the outside world. As chimps don’t like
water, the island has a natural perimeter boundary. Visitors can
view the chimps at feeding times from a raised walkway that provides
excellent photographic opportunities. Although the island is rich
in vegetation there is not enough to sustain the whole chimp population
and their diet is supplemented with fruit. Watch them bound down
from the trees and gallop towards enticing piles of mushy bananas,
with long arms swinging and their legs doing that lolloping thing
so characteristic of chimpanzees.
The cheapest option of getting to Ngamba is by motorised Ssese
canoe from the pier at Entebbe. The boat takes 45 minutes each way
and the skipper will stop and offer you the opportunity to swim
over the equator. Once on the island, you get a 1 ½ hour
audience with the chimps. Alternatively, for those seeking a closer
encounter, stay overnight on the island in the Ngamba Island Tented
Camp to experience Ngamba’s newest activity - chimp walking!
After a pep talk on chimpanzee etiquette, three people at a time
can go an hour's stroll through the forest with some of the
partially habituated chimps, closely supervised by a keeper.
The walk is conducted only with juvenile chimps and be warned -
they play rough. Wear old clothes you were considering throwing
out anyway. Remember you need an up to date vaccination certificate
to get this close to the chimps.
|
 |
