Huddled in my tent. - July 21, 2011 – 6am

Elephants have been walking around my camp for the last several hours. I was able to fell back asleep for a few hours. When I awoke I assumed they had moved on. Nope, they are just a few meters away. I can hear the rumble in their bellies. Luckily I live in a sturdy safari tent that is covered by a very well made thatched roof. All of the tent flaps are closed and I like to think that the thick canvas prevents the elephants from smelling me.  I have to admit I am a bit nervous. In earlier posts I have mentioned that in the last three weeks my scouts have had to fire warning shots because the elephants came too close to our camp. Like any intelligent animal, I think elephants can learn quickly that the firing of a gun does not necessarily mean danger. On top of that they may begin to associate the smell of humans with these traumatic experiences.

I am a bit hungry and would love a cup of tea but I think I will stay where I am for a little while longer.

6:35 – I just returned to my tent after grabbing a mug, a tea bag and the thermos. I was able to briefly assess the damage. The elephants knocked down my rain gauge but the solar panel is still up. This is the first incidence of them destructing anything in camp. An elephant tossing my backpack in the air two weeks ago doesn’t technically count as it happened in the field.

Zambian Winters - Sleeping in a beanie with two hot water bottles - July 20, 2011

For the last several days it has been exceptionally cold here at Kasanka. Not cold by Minnesota standards but cold nonetheless.  The low has been in the high thirties (Fahrenheit). In a house with heat or at least proper insulation this would be no problem. Sleeping in a tent is a different issue. I have taken to sleeping with two hot water bottle, a beanie, and socks. According to my digital temperature monitor the lowest temperature occurs between 3 and 6am. At 3am my water bottles have become lukewarm. At 5am I have to get out of bed, and get dressed. By 6:30am I am with the baboons standing in the shade with frozen fingers and toes while they warm up in the sun. Needless to say it takes a few hours before I am thawed out. These temperatures only last a few weeks and the benefit is that the days are gorgeous, in the seventies, sunny, with a slight breeze. I think I can handle a few days of cold for this, especially because I know in just a few weeks I will be cursing the heat.

Kinda Football Club!

After discussions with my scouts George and Kingston, I have decided that the Kasanka Baboon Project will support a local football (soccer) team.  There are a number of teams in the surrounding area that play on the weekends. Kingston is going to arrange the team and I will get uniforms made. Go Kinda!

MJ, Mr. Wizard, Mowgs, and Madonna - July 17, 2011

Coming into this project I had decided that I would name the baboons after people I know. I usually used a nickname. I quickly realized that this was a bad idea when the baboons were mating inappropriately. A few of the baboons were already named so will remain with human counterparts. Two adult baboons seem to be following the monogamous mores of western (but not Utahan) culture, at least for the moment. MJ is an adult female baboon who has a male juvenile named Mowgly, a new infant named Madonna and a male “friend” named Mr. Wizard. I don’t actually know anyone named Mr. Wizard by the way. It is a nickname. Mr. Wizard is MJ’s constant companion. He follows her around, grooms her often, and when allowed grooms Madonna. Sometimes he is so clingy that MJ gets annoyed and tries to ditch him. MJ is a very attentive mother and Mr. Wizard is enamored with MJ, which makes them in an anthropomorphic way similar to their human counterparts.

Hell on Earth - July 2011

If I believed in hell ,my personal hell would be riding from Lusaka to Kasanka and back again over and over. In a Zambian bus. At night.

 I can’t figure out why they don’t play any music on the day buses but on the night buses as soon as the sun goes down they turn the music is turned all the way up. Loud Zambian gospel music!! This last ride was particularly comfortable as I was sitting on a broken seat that was tilting forward and the speaker above my head was malfunctioning so that the music wasn’t only deafening but it was crackling.

No one ever asks for them to turn it down. Am I the only one who hates this? Other people must want to sleep too, right? Why does everyone put up with it? Is it to keep the driver awake as he zooms in and out of lanes at 140 km/hour. Is it so we become so deaf and numb we don’t dare complain?

I will take day buses for the next several months ntil I forget how awful the night buses are and treat myself to the experience again.

Mouse Trap - July 11, 2011

Mice have found a way to our sweet potatoes in the last week. We are very careful about keeping all food contained in vermin-proof containers, however they are quite smart. As we are in a national park and can’t go about dealing with the mice like we would at home we have had to devise a humane trap, or rather Desmond has. It is quite ingenious. He has used a tin can, sticks, string and used tire. When the mouse goes in the can to eat peanuts attached to a string it snaps shut keeping it contained until Desmond can release it far away from camp. So far it seems to have worked. We don’t have any mice at the moment. Hopefully they aren’t devising a plan to work together to get to the nuts without getting trapped

Happy Anniversary!!!!! - July 12, 2011

Today it has been exactly one year since I formed the Kasanka Baboon Project and began my research. In some way it feels like a long time but in many other ways I feel like I have just begun. My scouts and I have made so much progress in the last year.  July 13^th, 2010 was our first day with the group. When we encountered them they ran and we lost them. Yesterday we spent several hours within a few meters of them as they rested, fed, groomed, and played. Every day brings a new discovery and another laugh. In addition, the project has established strong relations with the local community. I feel so lucky to get to follow my passion far into the future.