by Aurora Dunlop
Today started with a delightful breakfast buffet served on the hotel’s rooftop balcony with lovely views over Lake Victoria. Soon after, we travelled to the port, where we were greeted by two boats ready to embark on the 2 hour long journey out to Ngamba Island, which is a dedicated sanctuary for rescued chimpanzees. Reuben and Lydia, who work at the sanctuary, were our knowledgeable guides on the island, introducing all of us to the fascinating world of chimps. Chimps are one of our closest animal relatives, sharing 98.7% of our DNA, and therefore display many similar behaviours. For safety we could only admire them from afar, but we had a wonderful time feeding them and watching them interact in such a familiar and intelligent way. We refuelled with another buffet full of traditional Ugandan foods, and then, after a final goodbye to the chimps, set off once again on our long voyage back to Entebbe on the mainland.
Once back at the hotel, a bit of downtime was enjoyed before dinner, which was another lovely African buffet. At dinner we sang happy birthday to Chloe, followed by a brief team meeting outlining plans for our journey tomorrow which will take us to our first school in Kamuzinda. We spent the remainder of the evening preparing for our early departure from Hotel Santa Maria tomorrow morning, when we’ll travel by bus via the Equator.
