With words and narration by Jane Goodall

I remember I was struck by the harmony of color in the forest

Shades of yellow and green

Deepening to the browns and purples

And the way the vines curled up through the trees

Clinging to twigs and branches

The gentle breeze rustled the leaves so that the shining stars of light gleamed and winked

I was keenly aware of secret movements in the trees

I looked into his large and lustrous eyes

They seemed somehow to express his entire personality

His serene self-assurance

What an amazing privilege it was

To be utterly accepted thus by a wild, free animal

I lay there part of the forest

And experienced again that magical enhancement of sound

That added richness of perception

I was awed by the beauty

And I found myself thinking, this is where I belong

Together the chimpanzees and the baboons and the monkeys

The birds and insects

The teeming life of the the vibrant forest

The stirrings of the never still waters of the great lake

Formed one whole

All one

Hello Gombe.

Hello world.

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Created in partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute Learn more at JaneGoodall.org

Audio read by Jane Goodall from Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey by Jane Goodall with Phillip Berman Copyright © 1999 by Soko Publications Ltd. and Phillip Berman. Used by permission of Hachette Audio. All rights reserved worldwide.