I went from selling flats in Paris to being alone in a cabin in Guinea looking after primates. It changed my life, but one relationship marked me like no other
I
n 2022, I had a job at an estate agents in Paris selling ridiculously expensive flats, and decided I needed to do something more meaningful with my life. I resigned, and six months later arrived in Guinea.
In hindsight I was a young kid, full of anger, not happy with his life. That 26-year-old is definitely not me now – and it was living with primates that changed my life.
I ended up at the Chimpanzee Conservation Centre, a five-hour drive from the nearest town in the middle of the jungle. I lived in a cabin surrounded by 66 chimpanzees and my job was to care for them. The chimps would constantly erupt with these “hoo hooo” noises in the night. One would start and then they’d all be at it. I miss that nightly racket now.
