I went to the conference planning to carry on with my blissfully idyllic life out in the field, learning about these incredible beings, doing what I loved to do, doing some analysis of the data, a bit of lecturing. Perfect. I came out as an activist, because in that session on conservation, seeing right across Africa the destruction of habitat, seeing the beginning of the bushmeat trade, the commercial hunting of wild animals — including chimps — for food, the session on the secretly filmed footage in some of the medical research labs, utterly shocking. And now I have this new self-confidence, because of publishing that book and learning what I didn’t learn, know before. I came out as an activist. And since that day, I haven’t spent more than three weeks in any one place, except once when I tore the ligaments on both ankles and I needed an extra week or so to get better.