Life in the Cameroon rainforest - Gorillas and Chimpanzee conservation

My shower for the trip

Life in the rainforest is exhausting in the best possible way. You trek for hours under the shade of the trees recording the signs of animal movement, feeding, etc and the effect of the human population, in challenging terrain - sometimes I thought the forest was actively trying to trip me up. However you know that you are helping an endangered species and feel like you've achieved something, that you've pushed yourself further than expected each day.

Every morning I would get up, have coffee and cornflakes (in the same cup. That's a thing here), trek for hours and come back to the camp exhausted and head to the stream for a wash in the cool, but not cold, crystal clear water. You feel that you are really challenging yourself and getting the best out of your abilities.

Capturing data about the animals was fascinating as I learned, amongst other things, how to identify a Gorilla nest, which is large, well constructed and no higher up than 15m, from a chimpanzee nest. I also learned how

Gorilla nest about 10 meters above ground on one side

to judge the age of signs through looking at any broken vegetation, degradation of footsteps, etc. I could also identify primary forest and the type of plant growth from secondary forest. I got really good at it an by the end was able to do it without help. 

The data collection showed just how varied the wildlife is. Alongside the Gorilla and Chimpanzee signs, we see tiger feeding signs, a bush baby, a Bannermans Koraco (an endangered bird), a tree snake a huge millipede and a praying mantis, not to mention countless types of beautiful butterflies and dragonflies of every colour under the sun. The only thing that creeped me out were the ants, a few were fine, but when you see thousands of huge ants in one massive weaving line, it makes the skin crawl. I was glad I had my trousers tucked into my socks, though some even got through that! 

Sadly hunting is still rife

We also sadly saw signs of human activity, this included cocoa, plantain, banana and other farms that were dotted here and there cutting up the rainforest into tiny uninhabitable sections. There were also a lot of fun shells. While poaching Gorillas and Chimpanzees is illegal, hunters will come to the rainforest for other animals including porcupine, blue da at (a type of bird) and bush babies. The hunting activity obvious scares the Gorillas and Chimpanzees, with recent data showing that the loans Gorillas have been forced to leave their homes and venture further up into the rainforest.

I don't mind that I didn't see any Gorillas or Chimpanzees, as I knew it was unlikely, what with all the farms and hunting, plus I know that the data I collected will be used for ongoing work in protecting these amazing animals. I did however go to Limbe wildlife park which rescues Gorillas from the pet and bush meat trades, both of which are illegal. There I also saw chimpanzees, drills and other primates.

Being in the rainforest was everything I had hoped for and more. Completely cut off from technology, amongst the wild life, cooking on a fire, etc. It was an amazing and humbling experience. It has also reinforced my belief that we should do all we can to save the rainforest as well as its inhabitants and work with the local community to give them alternatives to farming and hunting in the rainforest. It's an important issue, with less than 300 Nigerian Cameroon Cross River Gorillas left in the wild, the species is classified as being critically endangered and could become extinct in the next five to ten years!