#079 Your trail to the PB137km & PB270km - Part 5

In this, the last part of our 'Your trail to' series, we share further course details and highlights from the Settle checkpoint to finish at Kirkby Stephen.

For PB137 participants, Settle is your mid-course checkpoint, where you have access to your drop bag.
http://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/pb137-pennine-bridleway-trail-challenge/

For PB270 participants, Settle is your third indoor checkpoint location and drop bag access.
http://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/pb270/

At Settle, there will be showers, toilets and floorspace for sleeping. We'll also be cooking up tasty hot meals, dessert and anytime 'breakfast'. So you're rested, refreshed and ready to re-join the trail. There will also be hot drinks, soft drinks and snacks.

Pasta in a creamy sauce with mushrooms, courgette
and extra mature cheddar cheese.

As much as we're super proud of our hospitality and food offerings, it's the trail that is the star of the show, so we'll chat more about the route...

Just after you pass through the village of Stainforth and cross a narrow stone bridge, Stainforth Force waterfall is on your left side. Admittedly, this is not the best vantage point as the 2.5 metre cascade is 50 metres downstream. But worth a visit if you're on a route recce, or looking for a nice location for a mid race mini-break.

At Austwick there is a short deviation from the Pennine Bridleway, cutting through the village and avoiding a longer on-road section. The village itself has been a settlement since the Bronze Age with archeological finds in the area dating back 4000 years.

Following the Twaite Lane and Long Lane tracks, your journey into remote Dales country, threading a line across the limestone moors between Ingleborough and Horton-In-Ribbesdale. Then you join the Pennine Way, for an ascent up to Cam End and on to Kidhow, then breaking away westward to Gayle Moor. 

The route over Cam Fell is a Roman Road, so although easy to follow, this section can feel very exposed in extremes of poor or hot weather. I can attest to this, having journeyed over this route in mid- summer. While sipping from my water bottle in the meagre 10 inches of shade offered by a stone wall, I thought the only reason why the Romans had built a road this high and far from decent resupply, was that no rebellious Celtic tribe could be arsed to hike up and attack it!

North, over Dent Fell and Garsdale Common. At Garsdale railway station is the statue of Ruswarp, a collie dog with a remarkable story...

"Ruswarp belonged to Graham Nuttall, the first Secretary of the Friends of the Settle–Carlisle Line, which was formed to campaign against the proposed closure of the line. The line was finally saved in 1989. In January 1990 Nuttall and Ruswarp went missing in the Welsh mountains. On 7 April 1990 a lone walker found Nuttall's body, by a mountain stream. Nearby was Ruswarp, so weak that the 14-year-old dog had to be carried off the mountain. He had stayed with his master's body for 11 winter weeks. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals awarded Ruswarp their Animal Medallion and collar for 'vigilance' and their Animal Plaque for 'intelligence and courage'. He survived long enough to attend Nuttall's funeral" (source wikipedia)

After the Moorcock Inn, the PBW joins The High Way.

Facilities at Stennerskeugh, the current PBW finish are somewhat limited. So on reaching The Thrang, you carry on northward, where the Pennine Jouney trail handrails the River Eden. You'll pass the ruin of Pendragon Castle, according to legend, built by Uther Pendragon father of King Arthur. 

Focused on the finish

Although, at this point, you'll likely be much more focused upon the final 6km to the finish.

Finishers' bedrooms in hostel

At Kirkby Stephen we have a really treat for you with exclusive use of the hostel. Included in your entry is a bed for the night, celebratory meal and all our usual hospitality. Your drop bag will be ready, so you can freshen up and change into your going home clothes. 

Relaxing space in hostel lounge 

After being presented with your eco-coaster-medal, there's lots of indoor communal space where you can relax into an armchair and relive the adventure with fellow finishers. Also, we've specially commissioned Matt Clayton Cider House Oak trophies for the fastest lady and man in both the PB137 and PB270.

Matt Clayton, Cider House Oak, Winners Trophies
in Pennine Bridleway waymark style

Although we'll have tasty home cooked dinner for you in the hostel, within a minute's walk are local pubs and restaurants for a little extra celebratory libation. You'll be well served for choice in town if you have a particular post-race craving for curry, oriental or traditional pub grub. 

One of our specialties: East African mwali na maharage
(rice & beans with avocado and sautéed banana)

Having completed the Ranger Ultras' Pennine Bridleway trail challenge, no doubt there will be many uplifting, perhaps even transformational, memories for you to savour.

The PB137 & PB270 are held in April, so you can enjoy a balance of longer daylight hours, with weather which slots between the extreme cold of winter and heat of mid-summer. As can be seen from the kit list, we still want you to be sensibly prepared for the changeable British weather.

The Pennine Bridleway is an epic national trail. Having read this blog series and watched our recce videos, we hope you too can see that it offers superb trail running, gorgeous scenery and relatively straightforward navigation, aided by a lot of recently refurbished fixed waymarking.

It's time not to think of the Pennine Bridleway as solely for mountain bikes and horses. Indeed, as regular trail users, we see few of either. It is a quiet route that could have been made for trail running. Trails where you can lift your head, soak in the scenery and find your running 'flow'. 

Both the PB137 and PB270 are meant to be challenging races and we've designed them to be that way. However, they are also accessible to participants new to multi-day trail running as well as more experienced runners. So, even if you aspire to more extreme events, these are quality races in their own right, where you can hone your skills and race craft.

“A multi day race experience that is comparable to some of the big ones out there” 

With generous timings and online resources to help you prepare, our races offer a realistic chance of finishing. Which gives you the best possible value for your entry and time on the trail. 

At Ranger Ultras, we're all about sharing adventures, facilitating success and celebrating achievement, from the winner to the lanterne rouge finisher.

Come and grab yourself a large slice of multi-day trail running action...

Click 'here' to enter the Ranger Ultras PB137

Click 'here' to enter the Ranger Ultras PB270

#078 Your trail to the PB137km & PB270km - Part 4

Ranger Ultras' PB137km Pennine Bridleway Trail Running Challenge
Ranger Ultras' PB270km Pennine Bridleway Trail Running Challenge

Hebden Hey to Settle 

In this edition of 'Your trail to' we welcome PB137km participants to the Ranger Ultras trail running party.

At Hebden Hey, PB137 participants gather on the Wednesday evening for race registration, kit check, number & tracker issue, evening meal and bunkroom bed for the night. There aren't many convenient options for private accommodation nearby to Hebden Hey, hence the all-inclusive bed, dinner and breakfast. Which ensures everyone is on-site and ready for the PB137 start early on Thursday morning.

(Note: PB270 participants have a much wider variety of accessible, private accommodation, choices and hearty pub / restaurant meals in and around Hayfield for their Tuesday evening registration & overnight).

The fastest PB270 runners may arrive at the Hebden Hey checkpoint before the PB137 start. This is fine, we'll have a hot meal ready, sleeping and shower facilities available for you. From 2022 timings, we anticipate the the majority of PB270 runners will arrive during the Thursday and evening.

Out of Hebden Hey, participants will retrace their inbound route the 2.5km back to the Pennine Bridleway.

The course to Settle is truly superb. A scenic feast for the eyes and trails which keep on giving.

The varied surfaces invite you to make forward positive progress. Rarely on the Pennine Bridleway will you be mired in a boggy suffer-fest. 

The following recce report takes a deep dive into Hebden Hey to Wycoller...

http://stuwestfield.blogspot.com/2022/03/062-hebden-to-wycoller-recce-ranger.html

Plus, here's John Figiel's accompanying short film...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14R4wZcsQ-o

At Wycoller, there are public toilets and a picnic area with benches, making this a ideal location to pause for a mini-break. The ruins are the 16th Century Wycoller Hall, believed to be the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Charlotte Bronte's Jayne Eyre.

Opposite is a 15th Century, twin arched, packhorse bridge. Scenes from The Railway Children (1970 version) were filmed here. Underneath flows Wycoller Beck, which is your companion on the approach to the hamlet. You'll also see the Clam Bridge, a simple rock slab spanning the beck, thought to be more than 1000 years old. Closer to Wycoller Hall is a late 18th Century clapper bridge.

You'll circle around Gisburn, a village mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book. If you think the name sounds familiar, Guy of Gisburn, of Robin Hood fame, was said to have been born here.

The Pennine Bridleway continues through the magnificent Yorkshire Dales, passing through small villages and hamlets on route. In the next edition, we journey from Settle to the finish in Kirkby Stephen.

If you like your trails experience uplifting, a feast for the eyes and full of enjoyment then our Ranger Ultras PB race series is for you. We've strived to include so many facilities all along the route: From the start, to providing beds to rest and meal after you've finished, at a price which offers great value. All our events reach out as broadly as we can to the trail running community. 

We look forward to welcoming you to this special multi-day adventure...

Click 'here' to enter the PB137

Click 'here' to enter the PB270

#077 Your trail to the PB270 - Part 3

Ranger Ultras' Pennine Bridleway PB270km multi-day, trail running, adventure

In this installment of our tour of the PB270 course highlights we journey from Hayfield to Hebden Hey checkpoints.

This section starts with a tree lined avenue along the course of the old New Mills to Hayfield branch line, which was axed by the government in 1970. After a couple of kilometers, you turn off the Sett Valley Trail and begin your ascent to Lantern Pike. If you still have daylight at this point and the Spring weather is kind, the view across to Cracken Edge and Kinder Scout is likely to be beautifully lit by the late afternoon sun.

Soon after, more dramatic scenery is on show at Crown Edge Rocks. Here we use some of the designated walkers alternative Pennine Bridleway route (check the online course notes and for confirmed entries your GPX files). This route avoids walking along busy roads, or roads with not pavement, as much as possible. Also, we recommend the new Harvey map Pennine Bridleway XT40, which covers the whole of the Pennine Bridleway and the walkers alternatives (plus loops and extensions which are not part of our linear course).

You'll see signs for Melandra Fort around Glossop. The earthworks are evidence of Roman settlement in the area up to the mid 2nd Century. A perusal of wider coverage Peak District map will show several Roman roads still used as public rights of way. And of course, the nearby town of Buxton was famed for its health giving spa water and Roman baths as far back as AD80.

Lots more description, navigation tips and pictures of the walkers alternative section are covered in our recce blog report...

http://stuwestfield.blogspot.com/2022/01/061-glossop-recce-ranger-ultras-pennine.html

Further onward. The reservoirs, woodland and moorland around Stalybridge Country Park share elements of the Thameside Trail. The glinting light on the Longendale Valley reservoirs are a reminder of how water powered the many cotton mills down in the lower valleys during the industrial revolution.
Save your climbing legs for the long ascents and wild moorland trails as you close the distance to Hebden Bridge.

With the Stoodley Pike monument looming large, you'll join a section of the Mary Townley Loop, which is well signed. Just make sure you follow the MTL in an anti-clockwise direction, otherwise you'll be in for a whole day's extra distance...We might actually give you a call on your mobile before your tracker heads 'too-far' in the wrong direction!

Speaking of trackers, we use the excellent Legends Tracking. Ranger Ultras' have long standing happy collaborations with the folks at Legends, helping evolve safety procedures for their iconic Belgium Ardennes LT250/500 and mentoring Legends Safety Team Coordinators.

Our race ethos is to allow participants to enjoy the 'full experience' of their trail adventure. If you do go off course, we'll not necessarily be immediately calling your mobile to correct errors. You'll have every opportunity to independently route-find and to own your race experience. Although, we will intervene with a friendly nudge, if you're significantly off-course, walking along roads not on the designated course, or heading towards other hazards. 

That said, the Pennine Bridleway is especially well waymarked, with lots of recently renewed signage (our donations to the National Trails Authority, over the years, may well have funded a few of them). 
So, if you're observant and checking your GPX or map, you shouldn't be desperately challenged by the route.

For participants familiar with the Pennine Way, this trail and the Pennine Bridleway converge and cross over on the approach to the second PB270 checkpoint at Hebden Hey. Here's another reminder to check your course notes / GPX file, as we use an approach to and exit from Hebden Hey which avoids walking along the Slack Road.

At Hebden Hey there are bunkbeds and showers for you to rest, refresh and reset. Also, a range of hot & cold drinks and snacks. Plus, we'll serve one of our 'trademark' hot home cooked meals, followed by dessert. After your rest, you can tuck into breakfast, at any time of day, before returning your drop bag to the checkpoint team for it to be transported up to the next checkpoint at Settle. 

You're then ready to head out onto the trail for the next part of your adventure.

In the next installment of this series, we'll offer you the highlights and top tips for Hebden Hey to Settle which is the third section of the course for PB270 participants.
But also, it's the first section for Pennine Bridleway PB137 participants, who start at Hebden Hey.

PB137 - Race info & Entry...

https://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/pb137-pennine-bridleway-trail-challenge/

PB270 - Race info & Entry

https://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/pb270/

For both the PB137 and PB270, we've strived to combine great-value, facilities, service and low impact sustainability. Culminating in iconic, supported multi-day trail running, expedition style, adventures, that are as independent as you want them to be. 

Our PB races are accessible as excellent introductions to multi-day trail running. The route is a satisfying combination of well defined trails (allowing you to soak in the superb views) with occasional points which require a little thought and concentration. 

The PB137 and PB270 are certainly not 'soft-soap' multi-day ultras.

These traverse big sky country, where your efforts are readily rewarded with runnable moorland trails which deliver bucket loads of wilderness and adventure.

Brought to you from an organisation which is focused on quality, value and aspirational trail experiences. 

'This race is certainly going to be a classic, that’ll soon be on many racers year planner'. - Al Pepper (Ranger Ultras Safety Team)

#076 Your trail to the PB270 - Part 2

In the first part of Your trail to the PB270 we reported on the inaugural Ranger Ultras Pennine Bridleway 270km in 100hours trail running challenge. We also shared our ongoing vision for our Pennine Bridleway trail running series: low-key, big-enjoyment, great-value, adventure

https://stuwestfield.blogspot.com/2022/06/067-your-trail-to-pb270-part-1.html

In this second part we'll chat more about this premiere National Trail which is steeped in history and delivers a wonderful palette of big county terrain. We'll also describe our checkpoint and race facilities which help make your race a super multi-day trail running, expedition style, adventure. Along with the camaraderie of fellow trail runners and a friendly, experienced event safety team. Who are eager to celebrate your success.

From our prior local experience, we knew the Pennine Bridleway offered some great trail running. On race panning recces, our high expectations of the trail were exceeded, such that we frequently stopped to enjoy the views with beaming smiles. 

"The Pennine Bridleway is a tremendously satisfying route. Not only does it traverse a great variety of landscapes, it also explores some pretty remote areas of the country. But is well signposted and much is easily followed."  - Sue Vickers, Pennine Bridleway, Pub. National Trails

Middleton Top to Hayfield

The Pennine Bridleway starts at Middleton Top on the High Peak Trail, on the course of the old Cromford & High Peak railway, which was dismantled in 1967.

Middleton Top is also the race turn for our Ranger Ultras High Peak Ultra100km, one of our Pennine Bridleway trail running series. Further up the trail, at Friden, is the race turn for the 70km High Peak Ultra.

High Peak 70/100km Ultra - Race info & Entry

https://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/high-peak-100km-ultra/

The start of the PB270 is a gentle introduction, broad and mostly level, albeit with steady 'railway' inclines. There are many scenic highlights. Sense the nostalgia of times gone by as you pass through cuttings, hewn by the picks of navvies and a few sticks of dynamite.

Or, even more ancient, the Minninglow Neolithic chambered tomb, sited on a small tree topped hill, close to the trail. Going much further back in time, the White Peak limestone was laid down 300 million year ago when the Peak District was a shallow tropical sea and the earth's landmasses were clustered together in the Pangea supercontinent.

At Parsley Hay is a popular takeaway refreshments kiosk, selling sweet and savoury snacks, sandwiches, hot and cold drinks. There are public toilets on site too. At the trailside is a corbelled roof stone shelter which provides a nice refuge in which to eat lunch.

After the rolling landscape, the spectacular Chee Dale gorge gives your legs and lungs a first real test. As you catch a few breaths, take a moment to enjoy the light glinting off the River Wye as it flows below magnificent limestone buttresses. If you're lucky, you might catch a glimpse of a dipper, or even a kingfisher.

The turning point for our Ranger Ultras PB55 trail race is near to the A6 and so includes Chee Dale. From here to Hayfield covers the entire PB55 course.

PB55km - Race info & Entry
https://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/pb55-ultra/

Cross the minor road at Wormhill, a settlement mentioned in the Domesday Book. There's limestone grassland and the last of the Derbyshire Dales to enjoy. The quiet old road between Peak Forest and Perryfoot feels like it has stood still in time for many years.

The Dark Peak beckons.

At Rushup Edge you'll pass the race turn for our Ranger Ultras PB18 trail race. From here to Hayfield covers the entire PB18 course.

PB18km - Race info & Entry
https://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/pb18-trail/

"Although it is only 9km to Hayfield the route is spectacular" - Sue Vickers, Pennine Bridleway, Pub. National Trails

Gritstone is now underfoot, which rises to the conical mound of South Head. If you're out reccying the course and have the time and motivation, I highly recommend making the steep 50 metre ascent to enjoy big-sky views across the to the Kinder plateau and around in all directions. On race day, stay on the main trail to thread the saddle between South Head and Mount Famine.

Onwards, all the hard hill work is done for this section of the course. Descend, with care, down to and around the fringe of Elle Bank woods. In the valley bottom you meet the River Sett, fed by the River Kinder. Handrail the river downstream into the historic village of Hayfield.

Check your course notes & GPX to find your way to Checkpoint 1. Our Ranger Ultras Safety Team (RUSTies) will be ready to serve hot, home cooked dinner, drinks, snacks and dessert. You'll also have access to your drop bag and showers. If you wish, you can roll out your sleeping mat for a power nap. Then, refreshed and refueled, head onwards.

Before leaving Hayfield, there are a couple of village stores for a snacks resupply.

In the next installment of this series, we'll offer you the highlights and top tips for Hayfield to the next checkpoint at Hebden Hey. And then after this, we'll also include the same info share for Pennine Bridleway PB137 participants.

PB137 - Race info & Entry...
https://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/pb137-pennine-bridleway-trail-challenge/

For both the PB137 and PB270, we've strived to combine great-value, facilities, service and low impact sustainability. Culminating in iconic, supported multi-day trail running, expedition style, adventures, that are as independent as you want them to be. We've capped participant numbers so that trail is never overloaded and local communities aren't inundated with participants. We're not saying you couldn't do it cheaper on your own, but with all the above, there's a lot of great value to enjoy here.

PB270 - Race info & Entry

https://rangerultras.co.uk/index.php/pb270/

#075 Chimp trekking in Kyambura

Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda
August 2012

UWA Ranger, chimpanzee tracking

Ten years ago, chimpanzee tracking activities for tourists were a relatively niche experience. Thanks to television documentaries and public recognition given to the work of primatologists like Dr. Jane Goodall; locations such as Gombe Stream, in Tanzania and Kibale Forest, in Uganda, have become popular destinations for guided primate experiences.

Jane Goodall - Nat Geo doc trailer

By comparison, commercial gorilla encounters were already well established in the Virunga Volcanoes, Rwanda and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda due to the 1988 film Gorillas In The Mist telling the story of Dr. Dian Fossey. 

Gorillas In The Mist Trailer

But, the most iconic moment of all was in episode 12 of the 1979 series, Life On Earth. When David Attenborough gave that famous piece to camera, while sitting among mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Those few minutes of film have perhaps done more for gorilla conservation and garnering goodwill for conservation issues in general, than any other, before or since.

David Attenborough with gorillas in 1979

Kyambura Gorge

While leading an expedition through Rwanda and into Uganda, I became aware of a small community of chimpanzee which, through geography and human encroachment, had become isolated in a riparian gorge.

We'd completed our mountain treks in the Rwenzori and had made camp at Mweya in Queen Elizabeth National Park, for a few days of rest and safari. The adjacent lodge had an elevated view over the Kazinga channel. So, after our game drives, we'd frequented the terrace for coffee and biscuits. We'd seen lion, defassa waterbuck, hippo and the ubiquitous Uganda kob in their natural environment. But not much in the way of behaviour. 

Mweya overlooking the Kasinga Channel

I asked a few more questions about Kyambura and was able to book my group onto an afternoon's chimpanzee tracking for just $25 each. Which was a bargain compared to advertised prices at the more mainstream locations. So, with a promise that guides would be waiting, the following day we boarded our coaster bus for the ride across to the opposite side of the national park.

The meeting point was a thatched shelter next to a platform with an impressive vista over the gorge. Nobody was there. It was so quiet, I thought we might have the wrong location. We were just a little early. I encouraged the group to take a few pictures while we waited. Sure enough, our Ranger guide, wearing the the forest green UWA uniform and carrying an AK-47, arrived on foot with two assistants.

Kyambura Gorge

Introductions made, we descended from the sunbaked grassland plain into the Maramagambo Forest. Our eyes soon adjusted to the diminished light under the canopy. There was a humid stillness to the air. Every snap of twig or crunch of leaves seemed amplified.

On the gorge floor a slim unvegetated earth trail snaked though the trees. Overhead a crash of leaves. Our guide identified a vervet monkey as it put some distance between us. We soon came upon the first of several river crossings. The water not particularly wide, three metres or so. Neither was it fast flowing, it appeared still but not stagnant. A fallen tree was the first bridge. It's girth large and dry enough for a uneventful walk across, although I took care to put my camera away in its waterproof bag.

A little further on we could all hear crashing in the undergrowth some way ahead. The ranger and one of the assistants went on to investigate, while we waited. A loud trumpet broke the tranquility, followed by more breaking of vegetation.

They returned. "Elephant. But they're heading away from where we are going. We'll continue."

Deeper into the gorge, the trail varied between dry and slippery mud depending upon how close we were to the overflow of the river. Then just ahead, a dark form, partly hidden by leaves. The ranger pointed, securing our attention, as whispers and intake of breath flowed through the group. We had found the chimps. Some words of advice were given as to how we should present ourselves and to keep a minimum distance in order to protect the chimps from communicable diseases. We walked forward, slowly, not stalking, deliberately advertising our presence.

The Kyambura chimps are habituated to human visitors, though they are still completely wild animals with defensive behaviour when feeling ambushed or threatened. None of us wanted to cross that line, to do so would have been very wrong and disrespectful. 

I was then aware that there were many chimps lounging in the greenery, on the ground and branches. One sat while being groomed by another. A young sub-adult curled itself into a ball and rolled around. Then they lay on its back, arms and legs akimbo, looking up to the canopy. It was an amazing and joyful sight, we took photos and watched with delight.

Over to the edge of the group, sat an adult male, delicately chewing individual leaves from a stem. I commented on his apparent separation to the ranger, who confirmed that this male had mounted a unsuccessful challenge to the alpha and was now keeping his head down out of trouble. Still on the trail and keeping the proper distance, the guide said we may approach a little further. 

"Since his fight with the alpha, this one has become more timid. But right now he's relaxed."

Without looking directly into his eyes, to avoid being perceived as a challenge, I sat down onto my heels. I looked sideways and the chimp looked back, the dappled light twinkling in his eyes as he continued to chew his leaves. It wasn't quite Attenborough rolling around with the gorillas, but it was a tender moment.

We retraced our steps in the opposite direction, back towards the others in our group. Then, above and behind us a sudden screech. As our heads turned, the atmosphere suddenly changed. The air was filled with loud vocalisations, whoops, scream and cries. Branches whipped and cracked, leaves crashed together and fell to the ground. The chimps leapt and darted from tree to tree, with lightning agility.

"They've seen the red-tailed monkey. Over there!"

The ranger pointed to a flash of red ochre zig zagging away from us. The monkey had come too close to the chimp clan and they were giving chase with intent. Chimps are known to be omnivores and hunt other primates for meat. This really was nature in all its manifestations. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the whooping stopped and the chimps settled in the branches.

"He's got away."
"That's one lucky monkey." I replied. It was such a incredible display of behaviour, yet still, I was just a bit glad that he had escaped, for today. Our group expressed similar sentiments.

Then, from above, something small landed beside us. Then again, this time hitting one of us on the shoulder. 

"What's that?" someone asked. More items seemingly falling from above.
"It's fruit!"

Having failed in their hunt, the chimps were now chewing on tree fruit and spitting the piths out. More fruit rained down, this time unchewed. Were they deliberately throwing it at us? Either for fun or because they'd had enough of us hanging around.

"It's time to go" said the ranger, nodding with a smile.
"They're telling us to." We laughed.

Our hour with the chimps of Kyambura had passed as if it was ten minutes. We had been so lucky to see so many aspects of their nature, behaviour and environment. We completed the last river crossings over boardwalks and around muddy pools, then ascended back out of the gorge. Talk among the group relived the moments with enthusiasm. This had been such a special experience, I knew I would remember it for the the rest of my life.

Back in the warm sunshine, it was time to say thank you to our guides. As well as a grateful handshake, we offered a tip to the ranger and his two assistants. While the group thanked the assistants before they headed home, the ranger discretely spoke.

"Thank you for remembering our assistants. Many guests forget about them."
"With pleasure." I replied "You've all been superb."

The coaster bus arrived in a cloud of red dust to take us and the Ranger back to Mweya. 
After five minutes on the track, the driver slammed on the brakes.
"Leopard!" He exclaimed, as the white tip of a 'follow-me" tail disappeared into the bush.
It was my second leopard sighting, in exactly the same circumstances at the first when on the way to Bwindi to go gorilla trekking. 

Today had been a good day. 

No. Today had been a great day.

Stu Westfield
Ranger Expeditions