A Trip to Africa

By Lucas

On July 1st, 1960 my Aunt, Jane Goodall, invited my mom, dad, and me to go with her to Africa to observe chimpanzees. I’d wanted to go to Africa all of my life which wasn’t long of course because I was only 11 years old. So, on July 9th, 1960we set out for the Gombe Stream reserve in Africa. When we got there the guides showed us a nice place to set up camp. I got the best task of all, in my opinion. I got to start the fire. For the next hour or so we set up camp. The very next day we went searching for chimpanzees. I was the first to spot the chimps. They were foraging for food in the undergrowth. Then, we silently crept up to get a better look at the chimps. But, the chimps fled when we got 500 yards away. Although, we didn’t give up.

The next couple of days we tried getting closer, but the closest we got was 440 yards away. The next few days went on like this. But we were getting closer each day. But, we were still about to give up and go home. Of course we didn’t want to go home, so we gave it another week.

The very next day Jane came up with this wonderful idea that if we made ourselves appealing to the chimps, they wouldn’t flee. We were very excited to try her idea. So, in the after noon we found the group again started giving them food. More like throwing it to them! That time we got 30 yards away before they fled. What an improvement! So, we went back to camp pleased with ourselves that day. So, every day we got closer and closer to the chimps until they let us come right up to them without fleeing. We found out a lot about chimps while observing them. I definitely had a blast while observing them. We left Africa on July 30th, 1960, I felt sad while leaving, but I guess all trips have to end eventually.

We learned a lot on the trip. It was an experience we would all never forget. Also, Jane sent the information t Louis Leaky, her boss. Years later, Jane Goodall was an expert on primates, and a very respected scientist. Finally, we all still observe primates today.

THE END