Afi Mountain Drill Ranch, Nigeria

2019-08-18/20: Afi Mountain Drill Ranch: "Rettet den Drill"

En route to the Afi Mountain Drill Ranch.
We leave Ikom to get the asphalt road from Obudu. We find some checkpoints at the start of the road before it goes into the forest. It is not of very good quality on the first twenty or thirty kilometers with a lot of potholes but becomes much better thereafter.

Cocoa is trying to dry out in the villages.

The small road goes into the jungle.

Monument in the center of a village.

We cross a few villages which seem much nicer to us than Ikom for example and after 75 km covered in one hour three quarters we take, just before the village of Wula, a small paved road which leaves on the left. It is a narrow road that winds between small wooded hills first to the west and then to the south.

The small road to the ranch after Wula.

We cross another village, Olum, before reaching Baunchor after half an hour and 15 km, the last village before the ranch where the asphalt road stops and turns into a bad track for the last six kilometers.
The bridge which allowed to cross the small river at the exit of the village was washed away by the rain some time ago and has not yet been rebuilt. This forces us to make a detour to go for a ford 300 m upstream by a particularly narrow and uneven track. We are even afraid of tipping over in a particularly delicate place, I have to get out of the car to go and test the terrain.
The river is quite deep, about 50 cm, but does not pose a problem for us.

It does not pass, the bridge was washed away.

We have about 3 km of narrow and muddy track in places until the fork to the right for 700 meters to meander between the large trees of the forest (our car should not have been much wider). We finally arrive at the ranch after 6 km of bad track covered in 40 minutes.

The last kilometers of track in the jungle.

 
A white man welcomes us on our way to the "Car Parc". It's Pieter. He was notified of our arrival and was waiting for us. He is a little surprised by the size of our vehicle.
He show us the base camp with the central hut and its small kitchen, the two toilets and the shower in the middle of the forest.

The big hut.

At the edge of the camp.

I then sit under the hut of the base camp with my computer to write. The atmosphere is really "African jungle" as in the films of Tarzan or Dactari.

Night is falling. Pieter keeps me company and Christine joins us soon with the green beans to peel for the evening meal.
Pieter tells us how he got here. Arrived in Africa by Egypt about ten years ago it descended south by the east coast to southern Africa to go up by the west coast. As we are doing, but in reverse. A two-year trip that takes him through Nigeria which he intends to cross as quickly as possible, like everyone else. He stays there 6 months !!
For 3 years he has shared his life between this ranch and another center in Cameroon.
We return to our camper and while the Provencal beans are cooking we are going to take our shower in the forest. A hot shower by the way. Which has been a luxury for us since we have been in Africa.

The Drill Ranch and the monkeys.

Pieter will explain the objectives of this project by showing us around the ranch facilities.
This sanctuary was created in May 2000 but the “Drill Ranch” project for the rehabilitation and reproduction of drills was launched in 1991 in Calabar with 5 monkeys. Today around 600 monkeys live in semi-captivity in Afi Mountain (here) and in Calabar. The monkeys come from private donations or confiscations (poaching, hunting ....).
The goal is to get them used to freedom, which after years of captivity requires a lot of time, with the firm intention of being able to release them into the wildness one day or another. The 5th monkey generation is now living in the ranch.
It is estimated between 2000 and 4000 the number of free drills in the world. Their survival is extremely threatened, it is one of the most endangered species. This is explained by several factors, the most important of which is of course hunting. Their flesh is very appreciated and they are animals easy to hunt because they live mainly on the ground, only climbing trees in the night to sleep. The second most important factor is natural: their area of ​​habitat is very small, barely 40,000 km², in Nigeria, Cameroon and on Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea.
Pieter leads us to one of the 5 drills ranch (a sixth one is in Calabar). It is the largest, there are around 200 monkeys here while on average the enclosures only give shelter to about forty monkeys. We can observe there a very beautiful male, the chief apparently, and the attempts of a female to seduce him. This one does not react because the female is not "ready" for a productive coupling, those which are, are recognizable with a big pink protuberance at the bottom of the back. This is called sex appeal.

The dominant male.

A female.

Drills

As it starts to rain again we go back to the camper to get our waterproof jackets.
We then go to an enclosure specially dedicated to chimpanzees. Originally the ranch had no intention of dealing with chimpanzees. But too many chimpanzees live in captivity in conditions of terrible inhuman isolation for highly sociable animals. It is for this reason that the ranch is helping to re-socialize these orphans in a group. Their reproduction is not encouraged or desired because the space here is limited. These animals have no chance of finding their freedom one day because they are too dependent on humans and would not survive in the wild. Worse still, they would represent a real danger for the villages.

The chimpanzee enclosure.

Their enclosure here at the ranch is approximately 8 hectares and is protected by a high electrical barrier of 7000 V. After Tarzan and Dactari we are now at "Jurassic Parc". Here live only the adult chimpanzees (between 7 and 28 years old), there are about forty. A nursery for the youngest is located in Calabar.
We return around 10:00 to the base, because Pieter must make a radio call with the HQ of Calabar. There is no GSM coverage here and of course no landline phone either. The only means of communication is radio.
Twenty minutes later we leave for a walk of just over an hour and a half in the forest. In the real virgin forest where Pieter has to make a machete passage on the path overgrown with vegetation.

We take this opportunity to go around the chimpanzees enclosure. Some of them will accompany us for a time on the other side of the electric fence.

We are back at the motorhome at just 1:00 p.m. After a short break to restore our health, because the extreme humidity is very trying, we nibble in the motorhome. We haven't had our coffee yet when Pieter comes back around 1:30 p.m. It's time for the distribution of coconuts to the chimpanzees and it seems to be a spectacle not to be missed.
So we quickly put on pants to go to the enclosure. We find around twenty chimpanzees sitting in the grass patiently awaiting distribution. Now that we are here, it can begin. A ranch employee goes to get the wheelbarrow full of coconuts. The monkeys understand right away and it's an explosion of joy that takes hold of the small group. They all start screaming, kissing, shaking hands, and gossiping. It's impressive. It looks like street-viewing during the soccer world cup when the national team scores a goal.

Distribution of coconuts.

Once the wheelbarrow is ready at the foot of the fence, they usually stand on the other side, reaching out to claim their ration. They are rather disciplined, waiting their turn and without fighting. I think they were trained for that, because I don't feel like it's in their nature! Once served the rule is that the monkey will move away from the fence with his coconut to make room for the others.The employee reminds them if they forget, showing them his slingshot!
The similarity of behavior and expression with humans is really impressive. The genomes of humans and chimpanzees are app. 98% identical, it is undeniable!
We will still be watching them for a long time because the show is not over. Now they first need to open the nuts to drink the contents before eating the pulp. The techniques are varied. Some manage to open them by peeling them, others will hammer them on a hard object, usually a tree trunk, until they crack. Once the hole is made they use twigs to get the juice and the flesh. If the hole is big enough just pass a finger through it.


An amazing show !!!

And there was more than only drills and chimps to observe:

Read-eared guenon

Oshogbo, Nigeria

2019-08-13: Oshogbo. The unreal sculptures of the Osun Sacred Grove.

Oshogbu has always been the artistic center of Nigeria and underwent a huge renaissance in the 1950s and 1960s with the arrival of foreign artists, the most important of whom was Susanne Wenger. An Austrian sculptor arrived in 1960 who was immediately fascinated by the Yoruba culture. So much so that one can say that she herself became a Yoruba. She was initiated into religion and ended up being enthroned priestess of the worship of Osun and Abatala, two of the main deities of the Yoruba. With a few local artists, she enhanced the site of the sacred forest of Osun by creating countless sculptures, as strange than interesting, dedicated to the various deities of the Yoruba religion.
The forest covers 75 ha and is surprisingly well preserved although entirely "besieged" by the city. We walk to the reception center by a wide alley lined with multiple sculptures giving us a first impression of what we will find later.

Oshogbo. In the sacred forest of Osun. Driveway to the reception center.

The great gateway to the sacred forest of Ossun.

In front of the entrance, the forest monkeys come to get the bananas that visitors do not fail to buy from street vendors. They are mona monkeys (cercopithecus mona). We are of course enjoying the show.

Mona monkey

 

The guided forest tour costs 500 nairas (1.26 €) per person plus 2000 naira for photo rights (5.03 €). Our guide, Shade, leads us to the first palace by the river. Along the way, she describes some of the sculptures that line it.

Christine and Shade, our guide in the sacred forest.

Statues along the path that leads to the palace.

Statue dedicated to the goddess of fertility.

We come across two Nigerian families returning from the site visit. The scenes that follow are unique because everyone wants to be photographed with us, the oyibos (name given to whites in Nigeria). First all together, then one by one or in small groups. The kids are crowding around us hoping to shake hands with us or, best of all, for one of us to hug them. It reminds us a bit of what we experienced in Iran, another country where European tourists are rare and therefore a real attraction.

Photo shooting with a large Nigerian family in the sacred forest of Osun.

Here is one who no longer wants to let go of his happiness!

Photo shooting with a second family

 
We descend by wide steps to the palace and the river. It is the main sacred place of the forest and it is here that thousands of followers meet during the Osun festival in mid-August.

The entrance porch into the palace park.

The Palace

A statue of Osun is erected in the shade of a large tree, feet in the river, arms wide open to signify that everyone is welcome, whatever their origins and religion.

A small statue in the sacred river.

 
We take an admiring glance at the beautiful wooden sculptures of the palace. We will get to know a colorful character, Kasali Akangbe-Ogun, one of Susanne's adopted sons. The wooden sculptures are by him. He talks about Susanne as an idol. Susanne Wenger, born in Graz in 1905, died at the age of 94 in 2009 here in Oshogbo.

The wooden sculptures of the palace.

Shade, Christine, Kasali Akangbe-Ogun and Thierry.

Shade then leads us to an ancient steel suspension bridge built by the British in 1936. It has nothing to do with the sculptures and the mausoleums but allows, from its middle, to discover pretty views of the Osun river.

By a path that winds its way through the forest we arrive in a small park a little away. We find gigantic sculptures there, several meters high. For example that of Obaluaye, a messenger from Osun, with an extraterrestrial head with big eyes, multiple sprawling legs and his praying mantis arms.

By sinking into the forest.

Statue of Obaluaye.

 

The statue of Ela, half-woman, half-man, straight and 20 m high with her arms stretched towards the sky.

Ela

And then perhaps the most spectacular and imposing of all: the statue of Iya Mapo, the goddess of feminine strength and fertility. It is represented with three pairs of arms symbolizing advice, blessing and regret, meaning that if you follow the right advice you will be blessed, otherwise you will regret it.

The statue of Iya Mapo.

Idowu, our driver, Christine and Shade.

We finish the ride at the visitor center, taking a look at the jewelry in the store. Shade is entitled to a tip of 700 naira (€ 1.76) before leaving the park. Christine is going to buy a few bananas (100 naira) for the mona monkeys that we like to photograph.

Mona monkeys are fond of bananas.

Visit at the Artists Village

Before joining the car we make a detour through the Artists Village. A kind of big workshop that serves as a learning ground for young students. A small group of 4 or 5 artists is present. They present their works to us: paintings, sculptures, batiks, etc.

They are going to give us an interesting demonstration of batik. First the design of the patterns with black wax passed with a foam "pencil", then the preparation of the dye (it will be black, but always with a very small touch of white to reinforce the black - yes! it's really true: white to make the black more black!), they add caustic soda for conservation, once the operation is complete they must dissolve the wax in a boiling water bath immediately followed by a very fast bath of cold water to solidify it, it only remains to fish it on the surface to reuse it (not more than 5 times because then it no longer has the required qualities).

Batik demonstration. Application of wax.

Preparation for dyeing.

Preparation of the dye.

Dyeing.

The remaining wax will be removed with boiling water.

The wax is removed…

…. and here's the result.

We don't buy anything because we really don't have room but I leave 1000 naira for the manager, Adeogun, for the workshop. We end with a photo-shooting session with the four young artists: Quenn, Esther and Timothy, a very nice little troupe.

With young artists: Quenn, Adeogun, Esther and Timothy.