Chimp Sanctuary

I spent two days volunteering at a chimp sanctuary in a place called Chimfunshi. It's near the Congolese border in north-central Zambia, along the Kafue River.

I also spent part of a day at Chimfunshi's chimp orphanage, which is separate from the sanctuary. More on the orphanage later.

The morning after I arrived, I got a tour of the grounds from Albert, the second in command who lives at the volunteer site. During the rainy season, the land in these next two photos is flooded with water.


Each morning, I woke up early. By 7 or so, I was racing along a dirt road on the back of a truck to the chimps.

Most mornings, you walk around one of the enclosures to make sure the fence is intact. Enclosure 1, which houses 23 chimps, is 500 square acres. This is me walking with Iona, from Scotland. She was the lone official volunteer. Ahead of her is Joseph, one of two or three additional Zambians who help with the manual labor.
Here's a photo through the enclosure fence. Inside the main wire fence is electric wire. The chimps have a long history of escaping without much difficulty. For example, they climb a tree and jump over, or lean a log against the fence to cut off the electricity.