Chimpanzee Travels: On and Off the Road in Africa

In 1990 and 1991, the author made extended trips to Africa in search of chimpanzees to study. Peterson, coauthor with Jane Goodall of Visions of Caliban, covered nine countries, using local transportation to reach remote places. He found chimps in reserves, zoos, private homes and rehabilitation camps. This exhilarating account of his travels describes the Ndoki Forest Reserve in northern Congo republic as ``Paradise.'' Traveling there with a Bantu guide and four marijuana-smoking pygmies, he encountered gorillas, giant forest hogs and chimpanzees. He went to the Baboon Islands of Gambia to observe research animals brought there for rehabilitation. At the Lope-Okanda Forest Reserve in Gabon, the animals are protected from hunters, but permits have been issued for logging. Peterson writes as well about fellow travelers--bored European tourists, Peace Corps workers, researchers--in this absorbing adventure-nature story. (Feb.)