Navy brings gift from Maritimes to West African chimps

Spending the day at a chimpanzee sanctuary in Sierra Leone isn't something you might expect to do in the Royal Canadian Navy.

But that's exactly where Cmdr. Daniel Rice and some of his crew found themselves earlier this month.

"It was one of those unique experiences," Rice said when reached by satellite phone on HMCS Goose Bay off the coast of Nigeria.

The crew of the coastal defence vessel are truly living out the old adage "Join the Navy, see the world," Rice said.

"It's a bit unusual for us, we're often supporting local schoolchildren," he said, usually by repairing buildings or making donations of needed supplies.

Rice said part of the navy's role in this three-month tour of West Africa is to reinforce diplomatic relations with the nations it visits, supporting the work of Global Affairs Canada.

Known as Operation Projection, the crews of HMCS Goose Bay and HMCS Moncton were invited to visit the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

At least, the visit on Valentine's Day started as just an invitation, but Rice said staff at the sanctuary had a followup question.

"You must have rope that isn't of any use?"

The sanctuary is home to hundreds of chimpanzees, Sierra Leone's national animal, and the play area for the most recent residents was in need of some TLC.

"As you can imagine, chimps can be pretty rough on things," Rice said.

As it happened, HMCS Oriole, a sailing vessel used for training that operates out of Halifax, the home port for both HMCS Goose Bay and HMCS Moncton, had just replaced all its rigging.

"So we were able to bring more than 350 feet of rope with us to Sierra Leone," Rice said.

The chance to visit the sanctuary was popular with his crew, but with strict COVID-19 protocols in place, the sanctuary could only allow 10 crew members to take part to protect the staff and the chimpanzees from illness.