Alexa: Holidays

After 12 months of hard work, Carmen was off home to Spain for a well deserved rest. Coopera had arranged for another Spanish vet, Pablo, to take charge whilst she was gone. He is very experienced with primates as he works with them in Spain so was well suited to the task of looking after everything at Lwiro for 6 weeks. Pablo settled in well and workers and animals loved him. He organised a party for the workers the weekend before Christmas. We bought a goat, lots of spaghetti (they love spaghetti here!!) and beer and invited all the workers to the house after work. It was great fun! Everybody was up dancing and singing the sanctuaries ‘Sheriff and gentil’ song, even before the beer was opened. They wore their best clothes and smiles! The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Alexa: Noel

One day the rangers from Kahuzi Biega national park arrived with a young owl face monkey. They had taken him off someone keeping him as a pet. He seem friendly as he was being carried in someone’s arms. He had old scars around his waist from a cord, but the new cord around him was loose and plastic. He was very hungry and devoured a huge banana straight away. As he is quite young he doesn’t have his white stripe on his face yet, but his eyes are very big and he is very cute! As it was only a few days until Christmas we thought a suitable name for him would be Noel, and the keepers approved. He was put into a cage for quarantine and settling down, but because he is so friendly he gets lots of tickles and attention everyday.

Update on Kongo and Lume

Kongo has now finally settled in with the Kalume group. He is playing especially much with Flora and Clara. It took quite a long time for him to get back to the happy playful Kongo from the quarantine cage, but now he seem to realise that he is a chimpanzee and it’s fun to have someone to appreciate his rough games. For example pulling Clara by one finger down the concrete steps, and she can’t stop laughing!! Lume settled in a lot quicker as he is used to chimpanzees. He likes especially to play with Youngesa and Alsace.

Group photo

Today we took a group photo of everyone working at the moment at Lwiro. This is how one of the best ones turned out.

Move to the sanctuary

Today was the day for moving Kongo and Lume to the sanctuary. We decided that Kongo would move into Kalumes group and Lume in with the babies. Carmen managed to anesthetize Lume by hand and he was put in a cage and moved up to the sanctuary to the babies bedroom so that he could get to know them through the bars for a few hours before he was let in. It was harder with Kongo. He had been anesthetized by Carmen ones before and she was not allowed to come anywhere near him with the needle, and not anyone else either! Pablo, a wildlife vet from Spain, arrived yesterday to relive Carmen, so she could go on holiday for a month. He got an exiting first day, when he had to dart Kongo with his blowpipe. Poor Kongo had never seen one of them before so was easily fooled. And then he was a sleep as well, and could be moved up to the sanctuary. He was put in the empty room next to Kalume groups room and then we waited till he woke up. He was very scared when he did and saw all these strange chimpanzees looking curiously in at him. Luckily we had made a sliding door between this room and Kalumes room so we could introduce them safely. We decided only to let a couple in at firs to get him used to them over night before putting the whole group in tomorrow. Shege and Lubutu was let in and it went well, but Kongo didn’t want much to do with them, still very scared.
Lume was let in with the babies, and it went much better with him, because he knows how to handle chimpanzees. It was a bit much at times because everyone wanted to play with the newcomer at ones, but then he had Kaleshe there to comfort him.

Alexa: Kavumu and Bukavu

One evening we received a new arrival, a male red tail monkey who had been confiscated that day. He arrived at the house in a bag and was obviously distressed. Carmen and Balume took him out and we could see he had a cord around his stomach that was so tight his skin had grown over it at the sides of his waist. We took him into the bathroom and managed to easily remove the cord, but the smell was awful. Carmen cleaned him up and we put him in a cage in the house to keep a close eye on him. He had come from a village called Kavumu, so that was to be his new name. In only a few days, with regular treatment from Carmen, his wounds healed well and he was taken to the sanctuary.
The next week another male red tail monkey arrived. He had been found in Bukavu, and of course we named him Bukavu! He was in a much better condition but very hungry, all day you could hear him munching on something! He went straight to the sanctuary and was placed in a cage next to Kavumu so they could get used to each other. After a week we introduced them with no problems at all, and they’ve been great friends ever since.

Alexa: Monkey move

So, one of the new monkey enclosures was eventually finished. The day came for some of the monkeys to move into their new home. We decided the 3 mitis (Simon, Si and Haviari), 4 owl faces (Sydney, Melbourne, Vienna and lippy) and 2 l’oestis (Santa and Tippy) should live together. They had been living in small cages for a while and we were all very excited to see them climbing trees and running around. Although they were all quite confused at first, having to make new friends and investigate their new surroundings, the move was very successful. Surprisingly, the big Miti Simon, was very friendly with everyone and it was the female owl faces who caused a bit of mischief! However, within the first week everything had settled down and they seemed very content grooming each other and loved the views out to the hills.

A bit more about Kongo and Lume

We have had big difficulty getting Lume happy in his new environment. At first he was very stressed, then he got a bad flu, and was coughing a lot. He hardly wanted to play with Kongo, finding him very annoying. Kongo did not understand this… Even if Lume was screaming in anger and biting him so that he had cuts all over, he was just laughing still wanting to play. So for some days we put Kongo back in a little cage within the enclosure so Lume could recover from his cold. He eventually did, but was still very depressed. And we got more and more convinced that this was a wild chimp. We have now learned Lumes story and it is something like this.
A group of chimpanzees in a forest reserve near Beni in North-Kivu was raiding crops. The farmers got very angry and decided to capture a chimpanzee as evidence. And Lume seems to have been the unlucky one… The photo above was probably taken just after he was captured and is the photo we got when we first heard of him. Lume is a 5-6 year old chimpanzee that have probably just been weaned from his mother, bur are still very dependent on his family. Normally chimpanzees are captured between 1-2 years of age when they are babies. And these little chimps adapts much easier to a life with humans if they get proper love and care. Lume is a bit too old… Like it’s much harder for a 6 year old human child to loose his family, than it is for a 1 year old. But Lume is finally getting better now, with the help from Kongo which after all is a chimpanzee, just a very strange behaving one from Lumes point of view! Kongo is maybe about ten, and we have a feeling he has been someone’s baby. He is very humanized, and don’t know a lot about how a chimp should behave. But he is very nice and happy, which is two things that is very good for Lume!

New chimp keeper

Kaleshe has been sentinel for the house for many months and has proven to be a good worker. When Kongo and Lume arrived to the garden he proved to love the chimps and they loved him. So today he was promoted and started his career as chimp keeper in the quarantine cage with Kongo and Lume.

New home

Today we let Kongo and Lume out in the quarantine cage. Kongo was the happiest chimp you have ever seen swinging around on the ropes. But Lume was very nervous and scared… Kongo wanted to play with him, but Lume was not in the mood. He was staring out into this strange new world he had come to, and he got very stressed every time someone was yelling on the road.

Kongo and Lume to Lwiro

Yesterday we spent the day getting to know Kongo and Lume. Kongo did not brake out of his cage he’s got a bad cold, but has a good appetite and is generally quite happy. Lume don’t eat as much and is very stressed.
This morning we finally started the move to Lwiro. Early in the morning a pick up from ICCN came and got the chimps and us and drove us down to the boat. We got them loaded on to our little space, which was not very big as they had also put a car in the space we were suppose to have… We hung a tarp in front of us and sat on top of the cages. There were a lot of people outside and they kept pulling the tarp down to se what was behind, very annoying. After about an hour the boat departed and things calmed down a bit. Kongo and Lume were coping incredible well with all the noise and movement. After about 7 hours we finally arrived in Bukavu. The car that the ICCN had sent to transport us to Lwiro turned out to be way too small, and we had to hire another one. Luckily there was a truck in the area that we could hire, and finally off we went to Lwiro. We arrived very tired, and a lot poorer, late in the afternoon, and decided to wait until the morning with moving them in to the quarantine cage.

Kongo and Lume

We’ve been hearing about some chimps near Beni, which is a town far north of Goma for a while now. First it was one, then it was two, then it was three, then back down to one… But they finally got two of them confiscated and got them driven down to Goma, we paid for the transport… But one of them managed to brake out of his cage so they could bring them no further, and we had to come and get them in Goma. All along we had heard that they were about 1 and 2 years old. But then the night before me and Carmen was leaving for Goma, they called again and this time said that one of them was 20kg! We left the next morning for Bukavu and the boat for Goma. We had booked tickets for the fast boat and hoped to be there in the afternoon the same day, but no… They sold our tickets to someone else... We found one that was going in the afternoon and would take all night to get to Goma. No choice so we bought some first class tickets, which was still a lot cheaper than the fast boat. It was a nice cabin on the top of the boat, but as time went on it filled up with quite a lot of people. And it was over filled by the time we left Bukavu… Incredibly we managed to get some sleep though. And the next morning after 13 hours on the boat we arrived in Goma. People from the ICCN met us and we drove straight to DFGF International where the chimps were kept.
The two chimps were Kongo and Lume. Kongo was chained to a cement post, and he was big, but the nicest personality. He gave both me and Carmen big hugs and was very happy to meet us. We guess he’s about 8 years old, maybe older and closer to 30kg!
Lume was in a cage, very traumatised and scared, and he bites. We think he’s about 5-6 years old. Carmen managed to find a cage and reinforced it so that it hopefully will keep Kongo inside, and she anesthetized him and we put him in the cage.
We managed to find a boat that will take us with the chimps, but it leaves the day after tomorrow, so we have to spend tomorrow here. At least then they will get to know us a bit, and we’ll see if the cage will hold Kongo inside!

Baby Lwiro

First baby ever, was born at Lwiro today. A baby vervet monkey. He is of course going to be called Lwiro. Don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl yet. Mummy is very proud, and got better and better at handeling him throughout the day.

No new arrivals yet

Everything happens slowly here in Congo... The two chimps that are coming have now become three and they might come next weekend, maybe... hopefully, poor things...

Everything is well here, the monkeyenclosure is as good as finished so hopefully next week we can move some monkeyes in there. The nursery cage, originally for gorillas, is almost finished only missing a little roof, and we have to build an other one as soon as possible, as the gorillas might be coming soon as well as the chimps...

The kids are all doing well, cheeky as ever :)

New arrivals

A little update again here from Lwiro. We have once again braved the internet, because it may be very long until next time. There is two baby chimps coming in probably a couple of days which will need a lot of care. We've seen photos of one of them and it does look in bad condition. They are already confiscated in North Kivu so it's just a question of getting them here... Which is not just that easy in Congo... But hopefully in a few days...

The monkey cage is not quite finished yet, maybe next week, we hope. And the nursery cage in the garden will also finish next week, and will be needed!!

The kids

They are still building the monkey enclosure, very slowly… But it should be finished next week sometime. The nursery cage in the back garden is almost finished already although they’ve only been working on that for a few days! It will be used for the quarantine period for new arrivals, and if the baby gorillas come, they will live there for a while. There is a new sentinel in the forest, he is a pygmy and is very good at looking after the forest. For now it’s mainly to avoid people doing kaka and peepee there! He has already caught a couple of people! Very funny J But sadly we won’t be able to take the chimps out there yet, because some researchers has decided to put several bee hives there! Very annoying… But hopefully we will have money to build dormitory and an electric fence around it soon, and then they’ll have to move the bee hives.
All the kids are doing well. Kamituga is still a bully, which just seems the way he is. He also bully the other chimps when he is in that mood, walking up and biting or slapping them for no reason. And that’s how he acts with us as well, so we always have to look out for him when we are in there, as he might take a dive at our heads! The others are more manageable. Yonguesa seems to be the boss, at least when she wants to! If she wants my attention she chases away the others including Kamituga. The only one that is persistent enough to stay is Pablo! So Yongusea and Pablo get their fair share of attention! But the others sneak in as well, when she is not there or when she is not bothered. Baheny, Irangi and Muhungu want hugs. Kanabiro wants to see what’s in my pockets (always make sure there is nothing there) and she is very good with zips. Gari wants to pull my hair. Felixta, Alsace, Kama and Kenya wants to be tickled and play!

Slightly bruised

Yesterday I finally finished my quarantine period. So I could finally meet all the chimps and monkeys up close. They are all adorable. I also got to go in with the baby group which was a very good but exhausting experience. They are 12 and are very hungry for attention. Which in the case of especially Felisita and Kamituga, meant biting my legs and arm. So I had Felixta and Kamituga biting my legs, while Kenya, Pablo, Irangi and others wanted a hug. And now and again some of them jumped on me from above. My back is a bit sore today and my arms and legs a bit bruised. It did quiet down eventually, when they got their food. And after that they were very full and quite tired, and were happy to sit next to me and be groomed. I was in today aswell, I felt it went a bit better. Felixta had calmed down, but Kamituga was still biting. It’s very tiring, but loads of fun :)

The roof over the corridor is now finished and they are doing the other side of the house. They’ve also started to get ready to make the foundation of the new monkey enclosure. That’s good because some of the monkeys are still in way to small cages. This enclosure will be for the blue monkeys, th L'hoestis and the owl faced monkeys.

New roof

Finally Carmen was able to start the work to change the roof on the babies’ corridor. The money from Chester Zoo and Bush gardens, didn’t get to Carmen’s hands until last week, so the last couple of months nothing much has happened with construction. But now we’re going to build lots! First change the roof, for two reasons. It’s leaking and to let some light in for the babies. So that job was started today and should be finished in a few days, if it doesn’t start raining… After that we are starting the bigger enclosures for the monkeys. And then we have to make a little gorilla enclosure in the garden here because we are probably getting two baby gorillas soon.

Short update on some chimps and monkeys

I’m sure there are some people that wonder how Pablo is so here is an update on him. He is doing very well; he is now a fully integrated member of the baby group. He can really stick up for himself, sometimes even biting the others. But he is very cute and the others also like to carry him around. Clara the newest chimp I have not been able to see yet. She integrated very well into Kalumes group after her month in quarantine, and Carmen says she is very happy to be with other chimps again. All the Goma chimps are doing well Kanabiro, Gari and Yongesa in the baby group and Shege with the Kalume group. I’ll update you more when I get to know them better. There are 28 chimps.

There are now 29 monkeys. The newest one arrived about a month ago, a young red-tailed monkey, David, about Kidogos age (the baby redtail monkey), and they have moved in together and are best friends! Very cute.

Shaking start

I arrived here at Lwiro yesterday afternoon. Carmen met me at the UN airport after a short flight from Entebbe in Uganda. There is also one other volunteer here, her name is Rachel and she is from Australia.
At about one-two in the morning last night we woke up from the house shaking, a lot.
It was an earthquake! Apparently it had its centre at the Kahuzi volcano not very far from here. Quite scary really, the ground is not supposed to move! But nobody was hurt and the house is still standing so that’s good. But the roof had fallen down in one of the rooms at the guesthouse, but luckily the person inside managed to get out…(Turns out it was in Arusha in Tanzania, volcanic eruption, haven't seen any news so you probably know more than me, and it was at 6 on the ritchers scale here!)
Nothing broke in our house or at the sanctuary, maybe apart from some roof tiles falling down, so it’s all good.
I’m in quarantine until Wednesday, so I’m sitting at the steps of the sanctuary, overlooking the corridor where the chimps baby group live. Trying to tell them all apart! There are 12 chimps in the group aged between 1,5 and 4-5 years.

Test post

Hello everyone,

I'm Hildegunn Johannesen and I'm a new volunteer at Lwiro. I'll hopfully be there in 3 weeks time, and hopefully I can give you lots of updates on what's happening at Lwiro then.

I thought I might aswell use this test-post for something usefull so if you happen to be norwegian you should go to www.dyreparken.com to buy one of these lovely paintings painted by the chimp Julius :) All money from the sales going to Lwiro. If you're not norwegian you can help Lwiro and Aware by donating on our website: www.aware-africa.org!

New Arrival

A new chimp has arrived, 5 years old called Clara from the local town, Bukavu. She has wounds from being in a small cage, but i have no idea how bad because i can't see her because i'm not there! Boo hoo!

Tess: Farewell....

Sorry it's been a while, things have been a bit hectic and not much time since a certain girl from Germnay deserted us! But now I've gone and done the same... Carmen is now all alone to cope by herself. I left 2 days ago, I'm staying in Bunia for 2 weeks with Piere the Little Fish before i return home in 3 WEEKS! i can't believe it. I am happy but sad, i miss Pablo peeing and cacking in my bed already...
And a bad time to leave it was... Carmen had been at a meeting in Kigali for a week, and with the doc off with the broken leg, it was down to Dr Tess and Dr Balume if anything went wrong! Only a few bruises and scrapes so all was well. Carmen returned on the monday i left... thank the lord. All hell flippin let loose! The red tails had a fight, 4 got bitten, a couple needing stitches, and then one of the buggers escaped! All before Carmen arrived, so she had a nice time of it as soon as she got back. After she stitched up 2 monkeys and was one her way to the 3rd, i had to leave in the taxi so all was a bit emtotional! Fingers crossed she is doing ok!
Anybody fancy going to the Congo for a while? The next volunteer isn't coming until end of August, i think Carmen might not survive until then!

Tess: So it wasn't Brad but we got some!

Got us some dollar we have! Thank you Chester Zoo, and thank you Bush Gardens. Given us a heap load a dollar they have! Enough to get all the monkeys out of their cack cages, a non-leaking, half transparent roof for the Goma corridor (a couple of them are going a little bald from the lack of sun!), and to start with electric fence in the forest! All is looking up!

Tess: Our Pablo

Pablo has made massive improvements since his arrival. He is no longer the colour of Casper the friendly ghost, he has sharply gained the oh so common buddah belly of the babies, and cacks like a trooper! The first day we saw him laugh was a day to remember and brought a lasting smile to all our faces. No longer clinging (quite as much) to mama Carmen, he is becoming used to his environment and opening up. He had his first adventure inside with the Goma group, with the protection of Balume of course! Think he was a little overwhelmed but when he finally joins I’m sure he’ll be grand! His eating is great, first his favourite was zinziber (red things that taste like ginger), then cabbage and now he’s on to tomatoes! He’s caused a few problems in the amount of washing powder we use with his expertise in nappy removal at night just before he cacks, his intense ability to suck the blood from your veins every time you turn over in your sleep, and his darn teeth when he sees Carmen but can’t get to her! He’s got a nasty little bite when he wants! At least he’ll be able to look after himself when he joins the others!His innate masculine ways are revealing themselves already…. The idea was our gentle, princess Kanibiro would become his adopted mother, as she has done with Muhungu. A trip to the forest with the pair revealed Pablo had other ideas…. Jiggy jiggy was his first response to contact with Kanibiro! And worryingly he has also begun the same with the petite Kidigo…. At least it’s better than him trying to eat her brains I guess!

Tess: Privacy at Last

No more people! No more staring! We finally have the wooden fence across the front of the premises, so we don’t have the locals sitting outside and causing unrest to us and the chimps all day long! It is relief long awaited. And the nursery for Kanibiro and Pablo is on it’s way to being completed, adjacent to the Goma corridor, giving Pablo full contact with mama/girlfriend Kanibiro and restricted contact with the other more rough and touble youngsters.

Tess: A couple more things

Other things i can vaguely remember happening....

Mama finally shook off her traditional Congolese attire and donned her well awaited overalls and wellies. She was oh so excited! And since Pablapito arrived, Mama Bea has been given the role of chimp mum during the day, and we have a new mama, Irene who does the cooking.

Our first meal in our lovely new house was lovely rost chicken! Even with apple sauce!

Finally after days without power at the end of April (due to a broken electricity wire) the old German guy that has lived in Lwiro for… ever I think, came back from Bukavu and paid for the repairs, so power returned directly!

Ozzie boys... you are both the proud name sakes of Balume's recently born son.... he's called him Simon! (wiz zi accent of zi French, Seemon!)