i have seen many references to this 'chongo' character - i guess it's an in-joke on this site - who or what is s/he? and why?

For me "chongo" is a code word for "the rest of this post is drivel". Whenever I see the word I move on to something more sensible. If it becomes clear that subsequent posters have descended to the chongo level, I abandon the thread and find something more interesting. I never open threads with titles that refer to chongo or chimps, apes, etc. It was much the same with references to William Shatner. Some here clearly see these in-jokes as hilariously funny but, for me, they are just a waste of bandwidth.

DC