African Animal Adventure!

Today Farmer Tantoh drove us to the Mefou Primate Sanctuary, located in a forested area outside of Yaounde. A primate is a classification of mammals that includes gorillas, monkeys and other similar animals, including humans! Hunters, also known as poachers, have tried to kill these animals and sell them. They leave the babies, who can’t survive on their own, so the sanctuary rescues them and takes care of them in this natural environment. There are about 400 animals here, including gorillas, monkeys, chimpanzees, mandrills, baboons and guenons (a type of monkey).
Do you see the HUGE tree we are standing by? The wood from this type of tree is used to build ships. There were many other types of trees in the forest. The people in Cameroon have discovered how to use the leaves and bark for medicine.
As we drove home from the sanctuary, we saw a man selling handmade African drums, so we stopped and each purchased one. We stopped by the market and purchased more bright-colored African cloth, and headed home for a delicious dinner of spaghetti with a fresh tomato sauce made with fish. We ended the evening receiving gifts of Kaba dresses from the man whose house we are staying in, and we sang and played drums together.