Meeting Jane Goodall
In March 1957, a 23-year-old Jane Goodall arrived in Kenya to stay with a friend and her family. Jane had always wanted to visit Africa, inspired by books like Tarzan and Dr. Dolittle, and her childhood experiences observing wildlife. She nurtured a dream of studying animals in their natural habitat, but that seemed impossible for a woman with no formal scientific background. Despite the challenges, she pursued her passion relentlessly. Without the opportunity to attend university, she worked as a secretary and waitress, saving money to fund her journey to Africa.
In March 2000, I stepped off a plane in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Like Jane, I had always loved Africa, inspired by my father's stories from his frequent work trips there. I had been fortunate enough to accompany him on a month-long journey through Zambia and Zimbabwe a few years earlier and had been counting the days until I could return. I had just completed my law degree and decided to take a gap year before continuing to law school. I saw this as my opportunity for one last big adventure before life got too serious.
Knowing of her love of animals, Jane’s friends in Kenya arranged for her to meet the famed anthropologist Louis Leakey. He offered her a job at the local natural history museum and later, as his assistant. He recognized her keen observational skills and took a bold step—choosing her, a woman without a degree, to lead an unprecedented study of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. Leakey believed Jane’s lack of formal academic training was an advantage, as she would not be biased by traditional thought and could study chimpanzees with an open mind.
For the first six months of my trip, I volunteered with Health Projects Abroad. Along with 13 others, I was dropped off in Mhuladede, a small village in the Tabora region. Our project was to build a school for the children of Mhuladede and surrounding villages. At the time, very few children in rural Tanzania had access to formal education. The nearest school was hours away by foot, meaning only a few boys were able to attend. By building a school in Mhuladede, hundreds of children—including girls—would be able to get a proper education for the first time.
In July 1960, Jane arrived by boat at the Gombe Stream Game Reserve on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. As a young woman, local officials would not allow her to stay alone, so her mother accompanied her. The rugged terrain and thick vegetation made moving around the reserve a challenge, and Jane often hiked miles without seeing a single chimpanzee. Even when she did, they would quickly flee. Finally, an older chimp, whom Jane named David Greybeard, began to allow her to watch him. As a high-ranking male of the chimpanzee community, his acceptance meant other members also allowed her to observe. Before long, this became Jane’s daily routine: hiking into the forest each morning and spending the day observing and recording chimp behavior, often not returning to camp until long after dark. Through these observations, Jane made groundbreaking discoveries that challenged conventional scientific ideas about animals, including witnessing chimps shaping and using tools—traits previously thought to be exclusive to humans.
In Mhuladede, the 13 other volunteers and I lived in a camp on the outskirts of the village. One of our jobs was breaking up rocks with hammers to make smaller stones that would be mixed with cement and shaped into large bricks, left to dry in the sun. This job turned out to be surprisingly fun, as many village women would join us, forming a large circle where we’d work and try to communicate. The villagers spoke no English and we spoke little Swahili, so we relied heavily on miming—resulting in lots of laughter and strong friendships. We learned how proud they were that the school was being built in their village and how excited they were that their daughters would finally be taught to read and write—something the women themselves had never learned. After work, we were often invited to their homes for meals, or they would visit our camp and laugh at our attempts to cook East African food over a campfire.
After 18 months at Gombe, and with Leakey’s encouragement, Jane began her doctoral program at Cambridge University—only the eighth person ever accepted without a bachelor’s degree. She quickly found herself at odds with senior scientists over her methods—naming chimpanzees instead of numbering them, and forming bonds that allowed her to observe their behavior closely. When she stated that chimps have emotions and personalities, her observations were dismissed as “unbound speculation.” But Jane never doubted her abilities. She refused to back down and told the esteemed scientists they were simply wrong. She further ruffled feathers by writing her first book, My Friends, the Wild Chimpanzees, aimed at the general public rather than an academic audience. The book was a hit, and her academic peers were outraged. Dr. Jane Goodall earned her Ph.D. in 1966 and continued her work at Gombe for the next twenty years.
After we finished our time in Mhuladede, I had two months to travel around Tanzania. I had become close friends with two other volunteers, Emma and Penny, who shared my admiration for Jane Goodall. Together, we decided to head west to Kigoma to see if there was any chance of visiting Gombe Stream—the place that had been Jane’s home and workplace for so many years. On our first night in Kigoma, we went to a small bar on the banks of Lake Tanganyika for dinner. There, we met a local man who asked why we were in Tanzania. He was excited to hear about our volunteer work and told us that he and his brother had been sent to live with an uncle to get an education, but their sisters still lived in their village and had never attended school. He was training to become an engineer, and his brother worked as a ranger at Gombe Stream!
The next morning, the man from the bar was waiting outside our hotel. He told us to grab our bags and meet him at the port—his brother, Jonathan, had invited us to visit Gombe for the day. We quickly packed and boarded a small boat transporting produce to the reserve. After a short ride across the calm, blue waters of Lake Tanganyika, we stepped onto the shore of the Gombe Stream Reserve.
At a primatology conference in 1986, Jane noticed every speaker mentioned deforestation at their study sites. While she had seen some signs of this near Gombe, she was shocked when she flew over the forest in a small plane and saw the scale of deforestation on the other side of the park. Jane knew she had to act. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation. Leaving her beloved research in the hands of trained scientists—many from local communities—she shifted to global environmental activism. Today, Jane Goodall is one of the world’s most prominent environmental advocates, tirelessly raising awareness about climate change, deforestation, and animal rights.
Jonathan and another ranger led us on a hike through Gombe’s rainforest. They told us we might not see any chimps, as modern technology allowed researchers to study them from afar, and most chimps were still completely wild and avoided humans. We did spot baboons and vervet monkeys, and eventually arrived at a beautiful waterfall that we ran under, laughing, while Jonathan watched amused. He told us it was one of Dr. Goodall’s favorite spots and that she visited it every time she returned to Gombe. Suddenly, Jonathan received a call on his radio, and we were told to follow him—quickly but quietly. Still dripping wet, we complied and made our way to a large clearing. On one side was a chimpanzee family. We joined a group of researchers at the opposite edge and watched in awe as five chimps groomed and played together. This was Flossi, daughter of Fifi, and her children. Fifi had been just an infant when Jane first arrived, and her mother, Flo, was one of the first chimps to feel comfortable around humans. Fifi continued this pattern, and as a result, Flossi allowed us to observe her family up close. We stayed over an hour, as the researchers pointed out various behaviors and vocalizations.
As Jane’s influence grew, she used her platform not only to advance science and fight for the environment but also to inspire future generations—especially young women. In 1991, she founded Roots & Shoots, a global youth movement encouraging young people, particularly girls, to take action for animals, people, and the planet. What began with 12 Tanzanian teens has grown into a movement involving over a million youth in nearly 100 countries. The Jane Goodall Institute remains a global leader in conservation and environmental education, working with governments, NGOs, and local communities to create long-term solutions. Now in her 90s, Jane still travels over 250 days a year, speaking to governments, businesses, and communities to rally support for conservation and habitat protection. She has become a symbol of female empowerment, proving that women can lead in science, challenge norms, and redefine entire fields.
After watching the chimps, Jonathan took us to the research center where we met several scientists who shared their current work. We then returned to the dock to await our boat back to Kigoma. As it pulled up, we stared in amazement—a tall, gray-haired woman stepped onto the deck. It was Jane Goodall herself! She laughed when she saw our stunned faces and came over to greet us. She knew of the Health Projects Abroad school initiatives and was pleased to hear we had been involved. She asked if we had seen chimps and was delighted when we shared stories about Flossi and her children. After just a few minutes, we had to board our boat, but we thanked her, said our goodbyes, and watched as she walked back into the Gombe Rainforest—toward the chimps and the work she so passionately began all those years ago.
Written by Lyndsay Bailey | Ottawa Ambassador
In a “now or never” moment in 2023 Lyndsay set out to hike the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu with Women Who Explore. That trip changed everything. It was there she learned about the community and many local chapters of Women Who Explore throughout the US and Canada. Inspired by their community and mission, she applied to become an Ambassador just two days after returning home. Since then, Lyndsay has dedicated herself to creating welcoming outdoor experiences that encourage women to connect, explore, and grow in nature.
When she’s not organizing hikes or events, Lyndsay enjoys baking, spending time with her dog, and getting lost in a good book. She believes every outdoor experience is a chance to refresh the mind, challenge limits, and build meaningful connections.
