the Jane Goodall Institute

At a dinner party, the guest of honor Dr. Goodall was admiring a painting by artist Joan Solomon and expressed a personal connection to the work. She spoke of a favorite place in Gombe, Tanzania – a lush ravine and waterfall, where she had spent many hours observing her beloved chimps where they often stand and rock, sometimes tossing stones in the water as a gesture of offering, signifying what primatologists believe may be a form of religious awe. Dr. Goodall considers it a sacred place, and told of nature spirits revealing themselves to her in the foliage, the water and the rocks. She was curious whether Joan Solomon, far away in America, would see them too if presented with an image of the falls.