Getting to and from Afi Drill Ranch was quite a ride. Most vehicles that pass through would be 4WDs or motorbikes. Not massive trucks. What that meant for us was that branches would sweep through our windows, hitting anyone who hadn’t ducked after we’d called out ‘Heads!’
As a result, our truck became a real insect refuge – including caterpillars, ants, praying mantis’, grasshoppers, stink bugs, spiders, a red mite, and a cockroach. Whilst we didn’t enjoy the biting ant colony thatseemed to find a new home on Harry’s back, we did enjoy the brief company of Monty, the praying mantis, who climbed all over us and posed for some pics before we put him back on a passing tree.
We had two full days at the ranch, spending the first with the chimps and the highly-endangered drill monkeys (they are related to the less threatened mandrill). Drills are found only in Cross River State, Nigeria, South-Western Cameroon and on Bioko island, Equatorial Guinea. There entire range is less than 40,000km2, smaller than Switzerland, and their numbers have been declining as a result of illegal hunting, habitat destruction and human development. It is thought that only 3,000 now remain in the wild.
The chimps were being fed papayas
and the drills, bananas.
Evidently there was some competition for food, and a few outbursts occurred. One of the drills also took a liking to some of the girls in our group and pleasured himself three times!
On the second day, we walked over the rickety Kache Bano Canopy Walk-A-Way, looking around at the amazing green forest surrounding us,
and then ended up at a waterfall where we all went for a refreshing dip.
We also found out there was a resident civet, who was super-cute. If we could’ve, we’d have stolen him as our truck mascot!
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