BLOG #2 – 16^TH FEBRUARY 2013

By: Aileen Sweeny

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!

The rains have continued heavy and often throughout January and February which can be frustrating at times, but of course there’s always plenty of work to be done at camp…be it coding videos, updating documents or weighing faecal samples! All this rain, with intermittent sunshine, is causing the grass to grow fast and tall. In some areas there are already patches of grass taller than me (and I’m 5’9’’, so not exactly short!). It’s so easy to miss the baboons in the grass. Several times we have spotted one and presumed that we have reached the edge of the group, but after a few minutes of standing still we will notice that we have left 10 or 15 behind us and are in fact in the middle of the group! It’s great to see how habituated they are, but at times it would be helpful if they barked when they saw us, instead of continuing quietly at whatever they are doing, in order to alert us that we have encountered them!! 

The main road, flooded due to rainy season!

xx

Long grass and difficult to see roads: rainy season in Kasanka.

KINDA CAMP: YOUR LOCAL INTERNET CAFÉ!

There have been a lot of problems with phone signal at Kasanka for the last two weeks. Unfortunately I rely on signal for both my phone and also internet access, so when it’s gone I’m completely cut off from the outside world (of course, I still have radio contact with the rest of the park though!). It’s amazing and unbelievably peaceful to feel so utterly at one with nature when you can’t even send a text message if you want…but, like most things, the feeling starts to wear off eventually! Luckily for me though, signal has been coming back intermittently for a few hours at a time here at camp for the last week (while it has been completely gone from Wasa Lodge for the entire time). This has led to Kinda Camp being busier than ever as everyone comes to get signal here, which has been great as I get to see them all much more than usual. I’ve joked that I’m the new “Kasanka liaison officer” and that I should start charging them with all proceeds going to the project!! As soon as I hear “Kinda” being called on the radio, I know someone is checking if signal is available here or not. Hopefully it will improve soon though (18^th: It did! Wasa have signal again). 

Beautiful sky view from the camp’s hide, where I have spent a lot of time recently for signal.

SARAH DARLENE HOGLE SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Just a quick update on our sponsored student, Leah Mwamba. Leah will be starting high school this week and all arrangements money-wise have been put in place to make this happen for her. She seemed extremely excited when I met her last week to discuss everything and draw up a budget together. She will travel to Serenje for shopping on Monday (18^th) and then onto Mukando High School to begin her studies. Best of luck Leah!!

NEW BOOK CLUB

While I was in Lusaka (unsuccessfully) attempting to collect my work permit, I was able to collect books and journals that Anna had sent over for the Girls Conservation Club (along with peanut butter kitkats and cashew nuts for me- thanks Anna!!!). We had been discussing starting a book club for the girls before Liz left so it’s very exciting to now be able to start it up. The girls were delighted with the books (which they are allowed to keep) and we are starting out with Anne Frank. I will be reading along with them so that we can all discuss it during class. This famous story is a great book to start with and will give the girls (and me!) a perspective on a life completely different from theirs. They will be recording their thoughts and feelings about it in their new journals.

Abia, Victoria, Leah and Selina with their new books and journals as part of the Conservation Club’s new Book Club.

BABOON UPDATE

I have been here for almost 4 months now and the entire troop is still accounted for. I hope it remains that way for my entire stay as I have become attached to all the individuals already! Of course the reality is that it won’t though. We also still haven’t had any new males emigrate into the troop yet even though we well and truly need some as our adult male count is quite low. I realised this particularly when we encountered the “other” group recently (which numbers around 100 individuals) and I was really surprised by the number of adult males in the group. It seemed like every second baboon I looked at was an adult male! Marley has decided at least two males need to move from this troop to ours as “there is not enough fighting going on at the moment to help us find them in the long grass!” 

Lovely MJ with her gang of kids! Mowgli (L), Madonna (R) and little Macy (centre).

We are almost certain that Yoko is pregnant (Anna picked it up as soon as she saw her in December) and so she will be the first to give birth this year. I’m very excited about it! It will be her first infant and it means she became pregnant just after I arrived here (therefore I call dibs on Godmother!). The fact that Liz saw a grand total of 12 infants born last year means the number of possible mothers this year is much lower, so each and every birth will be extra special for me. I hope I will get to see every possible colour morph in the new infants; I’m still beyond fascinated by this unique Kinda characteristic. I also have a suspicion that Dolly may be pregnant, and I predict Frieda will be (or has been) the next to conceive. 

Yoko (who we believe is pregnant) and Short Tail, who have been spending increasing amounts of time together!

Dolly (also possibly pregnant) observing me observing her during a focal!

BLOG #1 – 10^TH JANUARY 2013

By Aileen Sweeny

A NEW YEAR AT KINDA BEGINS!

Happy New Year everyone! And so Kasanka Baboon Project enters another year. Here’s to 2013; let’s hope it’s filled with baboons, research, faecal samples(!), health and happiness here at Kinda!

Unfortunately it’s been extremely rainy here since January began (“Yes, it’s the rainy season…” is the response I get every time I complain how wet it is!), so much so that the solar battery drained due to lack of sunlight. Luckily I was able to ration charging items so we got through it just fine.

HELLO ANNA AND GOODBYE LIZ

                We have unfortunately said goodbye to Liz as I (Aileen) take over the position of Camp Manager. Liz has been exceptional, and while I was only with her for two of her 12 months here, I can easily see how much hard work she put in. Best of luck with all your future plans Liz; we will all miss you here at Kinda (especially me and Aretha!). Liz left a little memento for us to remember her by in the form of a beautiful sign she made for camp! 

We had an additional primate enthusiastic here at camp for a few weeks during December- of course it was Anna, the project director! It was so nice for me to finally meet her, and it was great that myself, Liz and Anna all got to spend time together. 3 generations of Kasanka Baboon Project ladies!

The new Kinda Camp sign designed and made by Liz.

SARAH DARLENE HOGLE SCHOLARSHIP FUND

                Anna’s visit coincided perfectly with the choosing of a girl to receive the Sarah Darlene Hogle Scholarship Fund, which will see her through high school. After narrowing down applicants, conducting interviews and giving the short-listed girls an exam, we had our girl! Congratulations to Leah Mwamba who will be receiving the scholarship. Leah excelled in all aspects of her application and we have no doubt she will excel in school. We are all very excited to be involved in assisting with Leah’s education. Anna, Liz and I were all able to meet her and have a discussion about the funding she will receive once she accepts a place in a school of her choice.

Aileen, Liz and Anna with Leah who will receive funding for her education from the Sarah Darlene Hogle Scholarship Fund

Anna, Liz and Aileen with the Girls Science Club members.

CHRISTMAS IN KASANKA

                All of a sudden December 25^th was upon us and it was Christmas at Kinda Camp! It was my first Christmas away from home, and while I knew I’d miss my family, I was excited about the new experience. Between us, Anna and I had brought decorations and so we put them up around camp. However, even with decorations and watching Christmas movies, it still didn’t feel fully like Christmas because of the weather!

The Kinda Camp Christmas tree!

On Christmas morning I had a package to open from my family which Anna had been kind enough to lug all the way over from the US for me. Such a lovely little surprise! We then began to make our way to Wasa for Christmas dinner with everyone, stopping to track the new zebra along to way (as you do on Christmas Day!!). We had a lovely afternoon with a total of 15 of us at dinner which included turkey and gammon! How amazing to experience eating Christmas dinner while overlooking Wasa Lake from the lodge, such a special experience.

Christmas dinner at Wasa Lodge with various staff, volunteers and visitors.

Two of the new zebra in the Park on Christmas morning.

ANIMALS, ANIMALS, ANIMALS

                There have been quite a few animal encounters recently. Firstly, I finally saw my first side-stripe jackal one morning while out with the baboons. Sure enough, when there’s one, there’s two, and I saw another one the following evening. On another day out in the field with Anna and Marley I suddenly noticed something large and dark moving quickly through the forest towards the plain (we were standing in the middle of the Wasa 3 plain). I told Anna and Marley and the next thing we knew, two stunning adult Sable antelope appeared out onto the plain. It’s difficult to describe how excited Anna and I were as this was the first time for both of us to see Sable! It was special for me; so for Anna, who has been in and around Kasanka for years now, it must have been amazing.

One of the two male Sable antelope we saw on the Wasa 3 plain.

 I also encountered elephants for the first time while cycling. I was on my way back from Wasa on January 1^st when I came across them. I must say I was quite nervous, but while I have no doubt they were fully aware of me, they didn’t let on that they’d seen me at all. I got to see my first hippo footprints, and it just so happened they were only a few metres from my tent. While I’m well aware of how large a hippo is, I was still very surprised by the size of the prints; they were huge! And all the rain had made the ground so soft that they were perfectly formed and quite deep in the mud. It’s thrilling to think how close I live to nature. Speaking of which, the night after I saw the prints by my tent I had to go back to the dining room as I’d forgotten my water bottle. My head-torch isn’t the strongest as its LED (but lasts for weeks without needing new batteries!) so before I knew it, I had nearly stepped on a python that was easily over 2m long! Of course, initially I got a huge fright and the adrenalin was definitely pumping, but I quickly recognised it as a python and knew the only way it was going to kill me was if it got hold of me and squeezed me to death! Yet another amazing animal encounter at Kinda Camp!

Hippo footprint on the track to the hide here at Kinda Camp.

~3m long python just outside the tent one night!

BABOON UPDATE

                Everything is going well in the troop and luckily we haven’t lost any members since I arrived two-and-a-half months ago (touch wood!). They were all unbelievably calm around Anna and I had some amazing close encounters with them while out in the field with her.  Hopefully some of Anna’s magic has rubbed off on me and they will continue to be as relaxed as they were when she was here. So far, so good it seems. The only time they’ve seemed strange with me was when I arrived on a bike one evening straight after a shower to check which sleeping site they were using. So I think between arriving on a bike (they really don’t seem to like bikes) and being fully clean, they didn’t initially recognise me!! 

Frieda being groomed by Muma while Floyd suckles.

Add caption