I’m sure the other shoe will drop.  In fact, I’m quite positive.  But currently, things seem pretty nifty.

After a 1.5 hour boat ride from the shores of Kigoma and, more specifically, the Jane Goodall Institute, a group of Tanzanian researchers and I were dropped unceremoniously on a non-descript beach on Lake Tanganyika’s edge (incidentally, the second deepest lake in the world, next to Lake Baikal).  I thought they were joking at first.  “How far were we going to walk?” I thought.  Did they not see how much crap I had, including the cheap Target suitcase (note to self: NEVER buy a cheap suitcase) that had lost both it’s wheels and mostly just tunneled through the dirt while I huffed and puffed?  But it turns out my humble accomodations, aptly (though not so much anymore, perhaps, given the changing of hands of the chimpanzee data) named “The Minnesota House”, were just a few steps up a small path into the jungle.  My room is big, spacious, with cupboards for my various belongings and a fresh coat of paint, courtesy of my past adviser, Anne Pusey.  The other bedroom is empty, but houses a large bookshelf full of books, spider-webby and eclectic, but some exciting choices nonetheless.  We also have solar lights, a refrigerator, and an electric tea kettle (all I can think of, sadly, is Ramen).  Frankly, the house is kind of ridiculously cozy and modern.  Hardly roughing it.

So, I nested for a bit, unpacking and arranging and occasionally stopping to watch geckos shimmy across the wall (it amazes me that something so big gets in and yet the small things don’t seem to…wishful thinking maybe?).  Then I visited the bathroom accomodations, these slightly more medieval, where, squatting, I was attacked by some sort of heinous wasp beast.  I prevailed.  Back in the house, I plunked down on the couch to gnaw a mango (they are blowing my mind at the moment), when I heard the shrieking of chimpanzees (not unlike the bizarre greeting Jane Goodall gave her bewildered staff after a special dinner held last night…I could barely hear her little speech, but definitely caught the simian mimicry she saved for the end).  “Cool,” I thought.  Then I decided to play my guitar.  They got louder.  At first, I was annoyed.  “Can’t you see that I am trying to play a rousing rendition of my favorite Decemberists’ tune?” I thought.  They persisted.  So, I went outside and the famed Frodo, an old, frankly quite mean geezer-of-a-chimp paraded by 15 feet away.  “Really cool,” I thought.  A few minutes later, I was standing beside a couple Tanzanian researchers exchanging names and watching a huge group of chimps picking nits off each other and lolling in the sun, the nearest one not 5 feet away.  I had been in Gombe exactly 3 hours.

Lot’s of things to be jealous about here.  Hope y’all can kind find something. 🙂