Editor’s note: This is the third post in quick succession from Samantha as she was able to travel from her little grass-roofed tent to meet up with Don Johanson and his travelers with a National Geographic trip that he is leading in Tanzania. The first two photos are of Samantha and Don—first with the NGS travelers, then with some Gombe staff members. The images after are some of the trap camera photographs that Samantha talked about in posting #4. She has gotten special permission to share these images with us.
Gombe staff member (unfortunately, Samantha didn't remember his name, but he was 7 years old when Jane first arrived and has been at Gombe ever since), Don Johanson, Deus Cyprian Mjungu (current director of chimpanzee research at Gombe), me, and Dr. Anthony Collins. Dr. Collins studies the baboons at Gombe and is a part of JGI (his official title is "senior representative at Gombe Stream Research Center); he also was a big help in getting me acquainted with Kigoma and helping me find a ride to my field site when I first arrived in Tanzania.
“Trap” cameras capture animals as they travel through the forest.
Click on the images below to see larger images in a slide show.
Do not repost, copy, or distribute these photos.
-
- Bush baby
-
- Blue duiker
-
- Blue duiker
-
- Bush pig
-
- Elephant shrew
-
- Female chimp with baby (you can see the little hand on her back)
-
- Genet
-
- Leopard
-
- Leopard at night
-
- Mom and baby chimp
-
- Porcupine
We very much enjoyed your comments and photos. Regret we could not be with Don on this trip to meet you and learn in person about the research you and others are doing. Our hope is to be able to do it one day.
Thanks so much for reading my blog and for the lovely comments! I’m sorry that I do not have time to provide a more detailed account of my time spent with Don and the National Geographic group, but it was truly fantastic. I met some wonderful people and we all really enjoyed getting to see the chimpanzees at Gombe.