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National parks in Tanzania. Gombe is on the west border of the country, marked with a red dot.

This week I visited Gombe National Park, which is the site of Jane Goodall’s chimpanzee research

Gombe National Park is on Lake Tanganyika. The lake is the second deepest in the world. The far shore, on the other side of the lake, that you can see in this picture is the Democratic Republic of Congo.

project.  One of the professors in my department at the University of Minnesota, Anne

Reception at the park headquarters. Tourists pay $100 per day to visit the chimpanzees and a $10 fee for your guide. Few visitors come to the park each year, about 1000 people, but it is good to keep the number of visitors low.

Pusey, is now the head of research at this park.  Ms. Goodall now focuses on raising funds for conservation of the chimpanzees and their habitat.  The

Our hike out to see the chimpanzees was led by our guide, Felix. Here he is on the the big hill we had to climb. It took about 45 minutes to walk up this steep hill. Very hard work!

graduate students that do their research here are also my friends in Minnesota (we are in school together), so I am here to visit two of them, Emily Wroblewski

Felix is listening for chimpanzee calls in the forest. That way we can find them.

and Deus Mjungu, and to see the chimpanzees for the first time.  I will tell you about my visit in pictures…

Our first chimp sighting. A mother (Fanny) and baby (Familia) chimpanzee in a tree. The Swahili word for chimpanzee is sokwe.

Five member of the Kasekela community. "Community" is the word used for a group of chimpanzees.

Familia again, playing and climbing a vine.

Chimpanzee spend a lot of time grooming each other, meaning they cleaning each other's fur and take out bits of dirt and bugs. Grooming also builds and reinforces social relationships.

A young female, Flirt, grooming herself.

An 29 year old male, Gimbel, siting in a patch of sunlight.

A young male, Tarzan, resting on the path.

This young female, Flirt, is eating one of the chimpanzee's favorite foods, small fruits called budyankende.

An old female, Candy, with her baby, Cocoa.

The view from the top of the hill we climbed. Lake Tanganyika is below and the far shore is the country of Burundi.

Emily watching the chimps. She will spend all day with them collecting data on interactions. We were allowed to stay watching the groups of chimpanzees for only one hour. This is to limit the disturbance visitors might cause to the chimpanzees.

Boats like this one are the means of public transportation on the lake. People go to the larger town, Kigoma, for supplies and food. It costs 2000 Tanzanian shillings per trip, or about $2.

The living room of the Minnesota research house. This is where the graduate students and visiting professors stay when they are in the park. No running water, they swim in the lake to for baths, but they do have solar power.

One of the many geckos that hang around the research house. They are good for catching bugs, especially mosquitos!