We left on a Friday, and drove for hours from Kigali, Rwanda, to an ecolodge overlooking tea plantations about an hour from the canopy walk we’d be doing at Nyungwe National Forest. A GPS search says it takes about 5 hours. There was much to see, and the long drive wasn’t a hardship. After an evening spent around a campfire, we headed to bed, then woke up and nervously waited for the results of our covid tests from the day before, which we needed in order to do the canopy walk. They hadn’t come through at nine o’clock, but as an act of faith, we headed for the National Forest hoping for the best.

This was the only time it felt like covid test results took forever (when we first arrived, we took the test on Sunday night and had the results by mid morning Monday).

We sat for hours at the welcome center at Nyungwe. I sewed. I took photos. I got annoyed with the group of what sounded like college students being loud and American.

Finally, around 11 a.m., the last of the four covid test results  came through and we were able to start the hike. We saw other hikers huffing and puffing as they came up the hill at the end of the trail we were about to go on.I started feeling a little nervous. I haven’t been the picture of physical fitness this summer – the 6 days/week walks I was taking last summer are more like 3 days/week this summer. But I’m just as competitive as I always was. I wasn’t eager to get out there and struggle publicly on a trail.

Also, whenever a trail says “easy,” I roll my eyes – what does even that mean? Wheelchair accessible? Stroller friendly? Good for elderly people with sturdy walking shoes? In my experience, it means none of the above. It means an experienced hiker did the trail, felt it was no big deal, and then was put in charge of the signage.I needn’t have worried. While the end of the trail was uphill, no part of it was super strenuous. I understand, though, if you worked from home throughout lockdown and didn’t exercise because your gym was closed, how it would be tough.

Our guide was attentive and knowledgeable, even getting out a guide book and looking up information about a question I asked that he didn’t know the answer to. We heard some interesting bird calls, but didn’t see any wildlife at all. In fact, we saw a ton of monkeys (with blue balls) on the road on the way there, but once we were on the forest hike, we heard noises (bird calls and primates communicating) but couldn’t see a thing.

Then, as we were stepping off the third stretch of canopy walk, with me in the lead, I spotted a large hairy thing cross the trail up ahead of us. Now, survival instinct would dictate that if you see something large and hairy, you DON’T go any closer, but for some reason curiosity got the better of me and I crept forward to look around the corner of the trail and see what it was.

Keep in mind, we had seen zero wildlife, and this was the first visual indication we were sharing the forest.

The next thing I knew, a second hairy creature was crossing the path up ahead, and in my memory, this one turned and screamed at me. I made a quick U-turn and ran like the dickens back to the canopy walk, gasping with fear and also a little delight.

I know from watching the video the Chaplain was filming behind me (I didn’t realize he caught it on video until later) that the chimp DID scream at me, but I’m no longer sure it was looking at me; that might have been an invented memory. It certainly felt like I was being chastised, though.

The guide confirmed what we’d seen were chimps, and that it was the first time they had been seen on that section of the trail. I felt pretty special to have been a witness.

I was also relieved the chimps hadn’t decided to use their legendary strength to break me in half.We made it back to the trailhead with no further wildlife sightings, but that moment remains one of the most exciting parts of the trip.