It’s been a while since I was here, it feels like it’s been forever but that is because I received an email from this guy;
It read, come quick we need a re-write, we need to tell our own stories.
I replied but I have never written any stories about animals.
He replied, try us.
That’s how I ended up at this pier
At the Water Front Club waiting for the boat that was taking me to the pant hooting Kingdom of Ngamba Island.
On arrival this guy was waiting for me,
I received quite the chimp welcome as I entered the most coveted tourist destination in the world.
This path here leads to the feeding platform so off we went chimp viewing
This here is the feeding platform where Care Givers stand and feed the Chimpanzees while tourists watch the chimpanzees and their behaviour.
Anyway word went out so quick about my arrival and these guys here convened to discuss how to utilize my skills.
When we finally met, they decided to show me the evolution of Ngamba Island Chimpanzees according to rank
Later my chimp friends allowed me to interact with the Care Givers at the evening feeding
…and this is how the evening feeding looks like
Anyway enough about my first day at Ngamba Island, this is how I ended up there;
So in January I met Lilly Ajarova, the Executive Director of Chimpanzee Trust (Ngamba Island) and we got to talk a bit about what I do. She was fascinated with my work and asked me if it would be possible for me to re-brand the chimpanzee brand through story telling.
So I said yes but we didn’t agree on a date or month so in early February, I realized the opportunity would be great for me since I have never written any animal stories from a personal perspective. It was a great learning curve for me.
I decided to take up Lily’s offer that is how I ended up at Ngamba Island for two weeks. I got to do the same thing everyday, I used to wake up watch the morning Chimp feeding, the mid morning feeding, the afternoon feeding and the evening feeding. Sounds mundane right? But not until you see this at noon.
…and you get to see this at sunset
or this sunset with a baby chimp watching it
or get to spend time with this baby Chimp
Watching the sunset every evening on this bench most days
Going for boat rides to the near by Islands and seeing these fisher men cast their nets
Meeting this girl fetching water at the beach in Myende Island. Funny story when her mother saw me taking her picture she constantly called out her name. She was scared of the stranger huh!
Visiting Kimi Island for the first time and never wanting to go back again because of the slum set up. The most agonizing part was seeing naked men bathing by the beach and being told the lake is their everything, their bathroom, toilet, source of water and food. You should have seen my face, I had already stepped in the water 🙁
Over all my experience was amazing but not as amazing as taking on my first re-branding/blogging Job. Yes you heard me right! I bet my first blogging check is going to feel a whole lot like this
…and I will definitely go to this saloon to plait my hair
God knows I fell in love with this Island and I made so many genuine friends, one of them is this guy
…and I also found this guy, the love of my life
For this one I’m going all out, I am adopting him. It only costs $50 approximately 150,000/= ugx to make sure he gets some fruits and eggs on time. I love him to heaven and back.
Anyway expect to read most of the chimp stories on http://www.ngambaisland.org and I believe they will be sharing them this month of June.
For now enjoy the pictures and also watch out for Robinah Nansubuga’s story tomorrow and more startup CEO’s to come.
Ps. the blog crushed so the theme you are reading this post in is a basic theme I am using while I figure out what went wrong in the old theme.
Love
N.sarah
