2013- A New Year At Kinda Camp!

I need to start with how I’ve just noticed the date and the fact I’ll be 24 in a month. Where are the years going?! I waited so long for 18 and now they are flying by!

Speaking of time flying by, I can’t believe we have almost completed 2 months of 2013 already.

Male puku in the long grass now covering Chinyangali Plain

The New Year started out with another amazing encounter for me. I had spent New Year’s Eve at Wasa and as there wasn’t really anyone around the following morning, I figured I’d just cycle the 7km back to camp by myself. I had a feeling almost as soon as I left that I’d meet the elephants (despite cycling many times with other people and never once seeing them). Sure enough about halfway along, I noticed a juvenile elephant in the middle of Wasa 3 plain with some others further back in the forest. The road passed quite close to them so I had to make a snap decision. I went with the logic that they are highly intelligent creatures and would just know that I wasn’t out to cause trouble. I cycled past with no problem, in fact they didn’t even seem to notice me (although, of course they were aware I was there). Having said that though, I did still make it back to camp in record time!

Camp haircut!

Bye bye little plait

I spent a few days at camp, either having some time off or working on the laptop/in the lab. It’s both strange and lovely to have camp to myself now. I got up one morning and decided that, after joking about doing it for weeks, I was going to cut my hair. Having long hair just isn’t practical in the bush, and from all the layers that had been cut, it had become very thin at the end. So out came the kitchen scissors and I literally cut half my French plait off! And then continued to try to even it up as much as possible. I was shocked to see that even with taking 20cm off it, it was still below my shoulders! I’m slightly ashamed to admit I trimmed my fringe with a pair of nail clippers as it just wasn’t happening with the big scissors!! The things isolation will drive you to do. I think it’s turned out quite even, but I’ll still probably visit a hair dresser when I go home next month!

Waiting for a hitch

It’s a known fact in Zambia that hitching is one of the safest forms of transport. So when I planned a shopping trip to Lusaka in the middle of January, I decided I was going to hitch down rather than get the night bus as I really don’t like it (and it seems everyone was right about the bus being so dangerous with the news that made world headlines about the bus that crashed near Lusaka killing 53 people). I had been teaching the girls the day before (we’ve been doing Excel tutorials recently) so I stayed the night at Mulaushi and then walked the 2km to the gate at 5.45am the following morning and officially started hitching at 6.05am. I was finally collected at 7.45am by a truck driver who was en route to Ndola and could take me as far as Kapiri (about halfway). It took nearly 5 hours to get to Kapiri. Trucks are slow evidently. But I feel much safer in a slow moving truck than in a small speeding vehicle (when Liz and I got a lift from Serenje back to Kasanka with a German guy, he was driving at about 150km per hour, it was ridiculous).

Hitching with locals

I had some food (chicken and chips- heaven after being in the bush!!) at Kapiri and then started hitching again. Unfortunately Kapiri is a million times busier than the Kasanka gate, so I had the usual harassment from Zambian men that us female “muzungus” (white people) receive. They just insist on greeting you and shouting at you all the time, even when they’ve witnessed so many being shot down before them. Many are blind drunk, even in the mornings. It’s fine and mildly amusing the first few times, they are always just being friendly and I truly love Zambian people, but I quickly start to lose my patience with “Yeah mummy, where are you going? Ndola? Lusaka?” every 30 seconds. They also have no problem staring whatsoever; I think I had about 50 people (women and children too, not just men!) all watching me at one point. Anyway, I had about 15 men insisting on helping me to hitch which was equally as frustrating as they stood around me all waving down vehicles too and when one pulled in they’d all run to start bartering for me. I had to shout out “I don’t have ANY money to give ANY of you” a few times, but they still kept trying. Eventually, while they were all distracted with a truck that had pulled over for me, I quickly flagged down another passing truck and jumped in once we agreed on a price to Lusaka. I was joined by a lovely Zambian woman called Diana who had limited English, but we shared a packet of biscuits and laughed at policemen together. She gave me blessings for sharing the biscuits and told me she was my new auntie. I didn’t realise that it was illegal for truck drivers to carry passengers but it soon become evident when they wanted to arrest the driver at a police road block! Luckily between me smiling innocently and Diana’s recently deceased husband apparently being well enough known that the police knew his name and gave her their condolences, we got away with it and they didn’t even make us get out! At three more road blocks they wanted to arrest him, but each time with my smiling and Diana’s name dropping, we got away with it. It was lucky for us on the day, but scary to witness how easily swayed the Zambian police are…

These cuties walked on the road with me one day

After Lusaka- loads of fresh fruit and veg!

I had a lovely two days in Lusaka relaxing, supply shopping and meeting up with friends. As usual, I spent way more than I was meant to, but the lure of almost any food you want is just too much too resist! Meat, cheese and cold juice- I have the same craving each time I go to Lusaka now. I visited the Irish Bar with Erik and Erica, and of course had to have a can of Guinness! Seems like a lovely place and I’m a little disappointed that I won’t be in Zambia for Paddy’s Day now. I ended up returning to Lusaka for a day trip on Valentine’s Day (which I hadn’t clicked at all until I went for breakfast and was asked by the waiter was a waiting for someone, which I found odd, until I noticed all the heart balloons and couples! The baboons are my Valentines this year :D) under the pretence that my work permit “should” be ready. Seeing as I knew two people who had recently received theirs, I figured mine must be ready too. Well I was right, it was ready, but apparently immigration had misplaced it. It has been approved and ready since the start of December. I even have the number of my permit now, just not the booklet. And immigration are out of booklets, can you believe that?! They’ve run out of them and don’t know when they’ll have more...TIA!!!! I have to continue renewing my visa each month now; apparently my work permit number isn’t enough proof. And they refused to renew my visa there and then, so I have to return to Serenje again when it runs out. All very, very frustrating. But I guess at least it wasn’t refused! On a side note, on the night bus down to Lusaka when we stopped at Kapiri for a toilet break at 1am, I ran into Diana in the take away shop!! She nearly crushed me with her hug! It was lovely to see her again, to see a familiar face (even though I’d only met her once before!).

MJ with her kids and Mr Wizard & Dolly behind

Another awesome chameleon

Work-wise things have been going well! Despite the rain and ever-growing grass trying their best to hamper our efforts. 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 great 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! I’ve still had no incidents with them. Marley, one of our scouts, asked me the other days “How long have we been working together now?” and I answered I’d been here since October so he worked out almost 4 months. “Why, is it 4 months too long?!” I joked and he replied “No, no, I’m just wondering how long it’s been that the baboons have never tried to attack you”. A funny way to put it, but it made me smile knowing that he has also noticed they are ok around me.

Dolly

Pretty snake

Hippo tracks at camp

Common Duiker

I don’t really expect anyone to fully understand this, and I realise it makes me sound a little crazy…but I had an amazing experience with the baboons a couple of weeks ago. I truly trust and respect these animals and I don’t fear them. I really believe they reciprocate what they sense from you. I know if I do something silly (like spook one of them) that there will be consequences, but I’m confident they don’t want to randomly torment me. I’ve been working on being as close to them as possible since Anna and Liz left and it’s been going well. I’ve had a few great close encounters, but that morning was extra special. They were coming down from their sleeping site (a patch of forest) and were moving into a plain of long grass. I’d already had a close encounter with a juvenile male, Derek, who purposely came over to a tree I was standing under and sat maybe 5m above me watching me. So I decided I’d move across into the plain and stand in it, as such moving directly into the majority of the baboons’ paths as they were coming out of the forest on almost three sides around me. Normally, they would begin to avoid me and all move off to one side further away. But I could feel something was different, perhaps it was because my scout was around the other side of the trees so it was just me by myself. Firstly two females, Yoko and Aretha, moved quite obviously towards me while foraging for grass seeds and then sat maybe 5m away from me. Before long there were about 10 of them all feeding, grooming and playing around me within 10m, and maybe 25 in total on the ground. It was incredible. There I was standing in the middle of the troop. And what did I do? I started crying. From sheer happiness! These undoubtedly wild baboons, which freak out and run away when they see other people or bikes or vehicles, appeared to have completely accepted me (on that morning at least!) and were happily going about their business with me smack bang in the middle sniffling like an idiot! Perhaps it won’t happen like that again for a while, or maybe not at all. But that one experience confirmed for me that I am right where I need to be in life right now. Of course, I’d left my camera in my bag which was about 30m away, but I probably wouldn’t have used it anyway, I was too immersed with the baboons!

Python at camp!

Python 

Mr Vervet stealing form the bin

The Main Road?!

There’s been plenty of elephant action (including one destroying the guys shower at the next camp!) and even rumours of a lion in the park! I’ve added a few more species to my “Kasanka” list, but still have many more I hope to see. I’ve had a hippo turn the path to our hide into a hippo track and I’ve found fresh tracks on 3 different mornings now. I can see that it moves passed my tent within maybe 10m, and yet I’ve never heard it at night?! Incredible. I also almost stepped on a python one night while returning to the dining room n’saka to collect my water. After the initial fright, it was amazing to watch this huge snake (over 3m long!) move through camp on its way to hunt for the night. It’s so easy to forget I’m in an unfenced camp in a National Park…Kinda Camp is my little safe haven and it’s so easy to presume animals will avoid it, but of course they don’t! I’ve seen several jackals recently after not seeing any for ages. We also got to listen to a bush pig give birth for hours one morning (the guys went to check what the noise was). I was convinced it was the “lion” or else a leopard, so I was completely surprised to hear a bush pig could make such noises! I also got to visit the Kasanka river for a “sundowner” (a drink at sunset) and sat about 20m up the river bank from over 20 hippos in the river all watching us. It was amazing as there was a storm on the horizon so there was rain falling and lighting flashing in the distance, along with a beautiful sunset, hippos, crocodiles and antelope and even fireflies once the sun had set. I will never tire of Africa’s beauty. 

I spy with my little eye!

Hippos and sunet- stunning

I was also excited to hear that a new snake species for the Park was found from my photos on Facebook! Bastiaan noticed a photo I had put up and thought he hadn’t seen the snake before (which I had thought was a worm snake). After checking with Frank (the park ecologist) and then Frank checking with an expert, it was confirmed that it was in fact a species of blind snake that’s never been recorded in Kasanka before! Liz also “found” a new species of legless lizard through people noticing it in her photos. So needless to say, I’m constantly on the lookout for reptiles now!

The new species of blind snake at Kinda Camp

I’m on the final countdown for my visit home during my month off already (25 days to go!). I can’t believe it has come around so fast and that it will mark almost 5 months of being here. I imagined the other night that I was going home for good and almost freaked out…definitely haven’t been here long enough yet! What can I say- Africa is in my blood now.

We've started a book club for the girls in the Conservation Club.

Snakes, Sables, Malaria and Orange Truffle Baileys!

Once again this is being posted much later than planned. The rains have caused signal to vanish and solar power to drain so not much time for being online recently!

At the entrance sign for Kasanka

December has come around so quickly! It’s difficult to believe that it’s December when it’s so hot here; every time I go to record the date I have to stop and think about it.

Having a picnic lunch at the checkpoint

The "Chinese Road" outside Kasanka

The month started out with a shopping trip down to Lusaka to stock up on supplies as we were getting low and the Project Director Anna is arriving around the 12^th for a visit. It coincides nicely with Christmas as well as Liz leaving and me taking over as Camp Manager. I must say the night buses aren’t my favourite way to travel, but when there’s really no alternative, what else can you do?!

Kids from a local village

Liz and I with rabbits at the village

When we got back to Kasanka, we stayed in Mulaushi (the Conservation Centre) as we conducted interviews on the 4^th December for The Sarah Darlene Hogle Scholarship Fund under which the project supports a girl through her upper secondary education. While we were there we decided to visit Jesse (a Peace Corps volunteer) at his village and spend the night. We had a picnic at the Park’s gate and then hitched the 10km to the village. It was so lovely to get to experience Zambian village life. The kids followed us around and showed us the new rabbits and bee hive, which are both part of Jesse’s projects here. They brought us a bowl of musuku (fruit that grow wild here) to eat and we had fun taking photos with them. Jesse’s life is so basic that it makes camp life seem like luxury! So apparently you can survive with even less than what we do! We cooked rice and potatoes for dinner and followed the sun to bed as we always do here.

Myself with the kids (all dressed up for us!)

We headed back to Mulaushi to teach the girls on the 5^th and Liz gave the all presents as it was her last lesson. We stayed the night at Wasa which was incredibly busy! We got to meet entomologists who had been working in the Park for the last few days taking insect samples. They were self-described “species-hunters” who conduct expeditions to different parts of Africa searching for new insects. So that kind of job really does still exist!! I must admit I think both Liz and I were a little jealous, even though entomology is definitely not one of my interests! They are pretty confident they will have found new species here in Kasanka so I’ve decided to keep my eye out for the next year! Even better- they gave us some Terry’s Chocolate Orange which was amazing. They also brought us down to their light trap which was set up by the lake to show us how they catch the insects.

Later in the evening, Jesse arrived at the lodge with a crew from Malaria No More (an NGO founded by Ashton Kutcher apparently!). They are travelling Zambia filming stories of people who have survived malaria because they got treatment on time. As one of the little girls I met at Jesse’s village survived it, they had been filming at his village (just after Liz and I left to teach, argh!) and had come to Kasanka to see the bats. We got to speak to them for a while too which was great. Later still, Alex arrived in holding his arm in the air saying he’d just been bitten by a snake! He had tried to pick it up (!!!) and it bit him. Cue the next hour of worrying and phone calls and snake books and discussing what to do. Luckily, it turned out there was a retired doctor staying at Wasa that night. He had a look and said he had experienced many snake bites while working in Zambia and he felt the risk of death from driving at night in Zambia was higher than the risk of death from the bite (really says a lot about the night buses…!). So all in all, it was an unbelievably busy and dramatic night at the normally peaceful Wasa. (By the way, Alex is fine! Well fine health-wise anyway, I can’t say the same for the appearance of his finger though!)

Stunning chameleon

Back to camp and back to work after almost a full week away. One of the days we “ran into” an elephant out in the forest. Luckily Liz was looking further ahead than the usual metre or so that we scan (for baboons tracks and also holes/rocks/branches, anything that will trip us up- which happens more frequently than I care to admit). It didn’t appear to notice us, although I have no doubt it knew we were there, so we turned and slowly walked away. We also came across two chameleons fighting one afternoon which resulted in 30 minutes of Aileen and Liz taking photos and watching them (and Marley our scout staying well back as locals don’t like chameleons and are in fact scared of them). This was so great to see as I’d never even seen a chameleon in the wild, never mind two fighting!

Scout Marley with some huge mushrooms!

There are still flowers popping up everywhere; it’s so beautiful to see the succession of different species in the same area, gradually different flowers replace each other as the weeks creep by. The plain has now started to change from green to a sea of yellow or white depending on which part you’re at. The vegetation is so dynamic, even in a matter of 24 hours it can change now that it’s mushroom season. I’ve seen some of the largest mushrooms I’ve ever seen here. Some of them are edible and they’re really delicious! The baboons agree too.

Carpet of yellow flowers in Chinyangali Plain

Around the 10^th I started to feel unwell- just very lethargic and dizzy. I continued to work as much as I could but by the 13^th when I started to gets aches all over, Liz made the call for me to start malaria treatment. The fact that I’m already taking anti-malarial medication means that it makes the case milder and suppressing the symptoms somewhat. The fact that I was still disproving after 4 days meant there really wasn’t much else it could be. I was sceptical as even though I know had the headaches and aches, I hadn’t experienced any fevers which, in my mind, were the main symptom. In fact I’d experienced the opposite; chills, I was completely unable to stay warm. Still, I’d imagined malaria to come at you like death! Not relatively mildly like this. Sure enough though within 12 hours of starting treatment, I felt vastly better! The exhaustion stayed with me for about a week but I was able to work again. And I got to join the Malaria Club here as everyone has had it, whether talking medication for it or not. Strangely, my symptoms started 9 days after first arriving in Lusaka so it seems I’m yet another person to get malaria there (including Liz and Anna) despite so many guide books saying Lusaka is malaria free?!? So be warned!

KBP ladies- Anna, Liz and I

Anna arrived at camp (with my replacement iPhone, yay!!) right as I started my treatment for malaria. I felt terrible being in bed when my boss arrived, but she knows only too well what malaria is like! It was so great to meet her and have all three of us “baboon ladies” together. There few things in life nicer than getting to spend time doing what you love with like-minded people who understand your joy in all of it, rather than thinking you’re a little crazy!

We travelled to Mulaushi to meet with Leah, the girl we chose to award the scholarship to. Anna was very happy with the decision, and it falls on me now to organise everything for her over the next year. The girls from the club all arrived as well to say hi to Anna and bye one last time to Liz.

With the Science Club girls

With Leah the scholarship recipient 

Desmond and Victor

And so with the arrival of Anna began the mass exodus of people, who have become great friends, from Kasanka, starting with Liz. On her final day of research while we were walking back to camp, we saw a side-striped jackal (Canis adustus) which is another new species for me! We had a sundowner (a drink at sunset) at the bats one last time to say bye to Liz and it was lovely to have (almost) everyone together one last time. And with that, she left for home- I’m really going to miss her! After Liz left, I also had to say bye to Alex who’s off for more adventures elsewhere. Then it was the Shrike researchers, Monique and Jorrit, who left much earlier than they were supposed to and I only found out the day before that they were leaving. Then our camp attendant Desmond left, he’s off to study in Lusaka so I’m very happy for him. And finally I had to say bye to Anna on the 30^th! Even the bats have left me at this stage as the migration comes to an end. So new year, new start! I’m going to miss everyone so much, but I’ve made such great new friends!

Liz's goodbye drinks at the bats

Cash, Clover and Nona

Cash

Before Anna left though, I got to spend time with her in the field which was really good. She’s very confident with the baboons and they are just so relaxed around her. I really hope will be able to be as confident with them as she is! I think I will, as I’m not afraid of them and I know they aren’t going to randomly try to maul me. But if I make a mistake, they will let me know it, and that’s ok. They have come so close with Anna around, it’s amazing to see. They literally walk towards us, as opposed to usually moving away from us. I had both Godiva and Roseanne come within a few metres of me, and also two of the adult males, Muma and Mr. Cookies, passed within maybe 5 metres of me. It was surreal to think they are completely wild animals and I found myself standing there grinning like a fool about it all! I still love seeming them when they encounter other people, especially staff on bikes, as they alarm call and run and generally get very disturbed and yet they are so calm around us. It reminds me of how that’s the reaction we should be receiving, but we don’t. Truly habituated animals are not meant to interact with the observer in any way, either positive or negative, they are just meant to ignore you, and this is definitely the case with the troop (well, the adults anyway, the infants and juveniles are still usually intrigued by us and love to practice threatening us!) Sometimes I worry that they haven’t seen me and are going to get startled when they pass so near, but they always glance around and make no indication of seeing me, instead they seem to look straight through me- exactly what you want with habituated animals!

Short Tail and Leppard grooming

Snake!

We saw what we think was a vine snake one of the days. We heard a noise that just sounded like another branch falling to the ground near us, but Marley said “snake”. I have no idea how he could hear from the noise that it was a snake and not a branch, but sure enough when we looked there was a snake. And not only a snake, but a snake eating a frog! Unfortunately my reactions were delayed due to experiencing both fright and wonder at once, so I didn’t manage to get a photo of him with two frog legs sticking out his mouth, but I did manage a photo once he was done. In other animal sighting news- we saw Sable antelope! We were following the baboons in one of the plains, and – Anna tells it well – apparently I said “Ummm, there’s something big and black running towards us form the forest…!” and sure enough two huge male Sables appeared out from the forest and into the plain. They mustn’t have smelt us and they certainly didn’t see us even though we were standing smack bang in the middle of the plain! Anna and I were so excited because we’ve both never seen them before and they are rare antelope. In 3 years of wanting to see them here, Anna never has, despite even going on drives specifically to try and find them! I definitely think me finding a 4 leaf clover only hours before had something to do with it…luck of the Irish and what not, diddly ay!

Sable antelope

Goodies form home!

Tracking zebra on Christmas

And then all of a sudden it was Christmas Eve and I was facing into my first Christmas away from my family. We decorated camp and watched Christmas movies and drank mulled wine, but the warm weather just seemed so unnatural for the time of year (and this coming from someone who has still spent more than half of her life living in Australia!). On Christmas Day I got to open a parcel my parents had sent over for me with Anna. Chocolates, tea, batteries, a sun hat, books and…a Kindle Fire! I was so surprised and I’m absolutely addicted to it, reading at every spare moment I have. We then were collected to go to Wasa for dinner and on the way decided to check for the zebra. So off we went walking through the Park in our dresses (I actually remembered my camera this time!) and sure enough we found them. Such a lovely way to spend Christmas! It was then off to the lodge for an amazing dinner (including gammon and a turkey!) with everyone while overlooking Wasa Lake. We had a brilliant night; I could think of worse ways to spend Christmas! At one point Anna produced a bottle of Orange Truffle flavoured Baileys she’d brought from the duty free in Heathrow which tasted exactly like liquid Terry’s Chocolate Orange. It was really a lovely last “hurrah” for me before almost everyone leaves the Park and I take over at Kinda Camp officially as Camp Manager.

Pyjama lilies on Christmas

The Kinda Camp Christmas tree!

Christmas dinner at Wasa Lodge

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

November in Kasanka

 November Update

Yes, it’s almost the end of December and I’m only posting this now, but I’m really battling with the internet here!! I wrote this a few weeks ago:

Baboons at play! It doesn't always appear very gentle!

Things have been going great- I’m slowly but surely learning all the baboons. I’m quite confident with all the adult males now and I’m getting there with the adult females. These are the most important individuals to learn as the research is very much focused on them at present (especially their interactions). I’m already starting to form my favourites, and my least favourites! They all seem to be ok with me; there haven’t been any serious or aggressive incidents so far (touch wood!!)

Bat season sign

One of our lovely signs as a gentle
reminder to tourists

This isn't the bats in the morning,
but rather the evening from Fibwe Hide.

   



Alex and I finally made it up the BBC hide to watch the bats come in one morning, it was literally indescribable. The stunning dawn sky only added to the whole experience. It’s one thing to watch them fly out in all directions from one place in the evening, but to see them come from all directions back to that one spot of forest is just spectacular. 

Elephants outside camp (smelling us!)

Elephant outside camp!

On my last night alone at camp while Liz was away, I was awoken around midnight by some noise outside my tent. It sounded like something taking a huge breath and it took me a few seconds to realise it was an elephant! I was scared, but definitely equally, if not more, excited. I don’t think I’ve ever lay as still as I did then! It stayed at my tent for about 15 minutes and even touched it a few times. I’m amazed by how silently they can move; when it left I didn’t hear anything bar the sound of its breathing gradually moving away and the occasional twig snap. So even though I’d been within metres of an elephant, I couldn’t technically say I’d seen one here yet. However, the herd did move passed camp about 2 weeks later so I finally got a sighting! The camp attendant from the scout camp came to tell us they were near and we got to see around 15 of them crossing the road outside our camp. Incredible to think we live with them!! I also got to see them all again crossing the Chinyangali Plain, which was amazing, but not as special as having them right on our doorstep! 

The herd crossing the Chinyangali Plain

The river at Pieter's farm

I got to visit a local farm owned by a South African man named Pieter. He is very much into organic farming and has started tobacco farming. It was lovely to visit the farm and see everything, especially his orchard and garden which were full of fruit and vegetables (which are a real treat when you live in the bush!). A beautiful river runs through his property and we went down to see it joking that there was going to be a crocodile (as many people swim there) and sure enough there was a 2m long croc near the river bank! Crazily, Pieter still went for a swim! 

Liz taking measurements of the dead baboon

Unfortunately, a baboon got trapped in a snare on Pieter’s farm (obviously Pieter didn’t set it!) and died before he could rescue it. While this is sad and further proof of the poaching problems here, it did have a benefit in that Liz and I were able to take biometric measurements from the body (it was a sub-adult male). We buried the body in the hope of retrieving our first full Kinda baboon skeleton once decomposition is complete. 

We also had a barn swallow fly into the dining room one night and perch near us- a sure sign something was wrong. Sure enough the poor little creature was dead the following morning, but once again it wasn’t without a benefit! It turned out the swallow had been ringed in Cape Town in 2008 and we were able to contact the University and pass on the GPS co-ordinates of where it died. 

The swallow in our dining room

The rains have finally arrived in Kasanka. Torrential
rain from inside the dining room!

Rainy season has finally started in Kasanka. After threatening since I got here, we hear thunder and receive at least a bit of rain almost every day now. Plus there’s the occasional full-blown, amazing thunderstorm. And with the rain has come a new lease of life in the park. Everything is green now! When I arrived only a few weeks ago, the landscape looked dead and brown, but now there’s luscious green everywhere. Edible mushrooms have started to appear on anthills; these are absolutely delicious fried with butter and garlic! We also came across a rare and stunning Black Lily (Amorphophallus abyssinicus), as well as a tortoise (who was kind enough to quickly pose for photos with us!). While it’s lovely to see everything come to life and flowers appear everywhere, heavy rain does hamper our research. But there’s also work to be done on the computers so time is never wasted here at Kinda Camp! 

Me with Mr Tortoise

Edible mushrooms fresh from the forest (safely ID'd by our scout!!)

The beautiful Black Lily (Black Arum)

I got to travel to the nearest town Serenje (about an our and a half drive away) twice this month. Firstly, I went with Liz to pick up some shopping and also just so she could show me around the town. I then had to return on the 27^th November as my Business Visa was expiring and I needed an extension as my Work Permit has yet to come through. Zambia only gives month long visas, and even though as an Irish citizen I don’t actually require a visa, I still need a stamp every month while I’m waiting for my work permit. Serenje is a small and typically African town, but you can buy a cold drink, fruit & vegetables and, most importantly, chocolate! There’s not much more you need really.

A view of Serenje market

With the Conservation Club Girls; Charity,
Selina, Agness & Victoria
(Photo by Elizabeth Winterton)

I also got to meet the girls who are members of the Girls Maths, Science and Conservation Club which Kasanka Baboon Project coordinates. They come to the Conservation Centre just outside the park and receive lessons in (obviously!) maths, science and conservation, as well as computers and life skills. They seem like a lovely group and I can’t wait to work with them over the next year. I feel so privileged that not only do I get to conduct research on primates, but I also get to be involved with the community and have a whole new range of experiences. I couldn’t have wished for a better job; it ticks every box for me! Feeling very lucky and looking forward to December, Christmas (!) and 2013! 

Oh Africa!