Here are a few new tales to catch you up:
Babettes settle in
We have settled right into a routine with this new crew. We’ve been working hard, but leaving plenty of time for fun as well. Kate has continued training Leah in the field and we’ve gotten tons of data work done at home. Those two are getting along wonderfully, they even got matching moo moos and have taught themselves how to bake bread!
Corinna’s honey, Dr. Andrew Somerville, came to visit and hang out with the babs. Andrew fit right in as he's also an anthropologist and Miss Corinna was very glad to have him around for a whole month!
While Andrew was here we had a wonderful sundowner on a ridge called Geoffrey's Lookout:
Getting all primate in a beautiful fig tree on Geoffrey's Lookout.
It's been great to get back into the swing of things, but you know our luck couldn't always be that good...
Traumatized by Trix
As with most field trucks that are constantly required to drive over rough roads (when there are roads...), our truck Trix demands regular maintenance and (sadly) even more regular repair. Even as field trucks go, Trix has always been a handful. Since we got her she has struggled up hills and was slow to accelerate under all circumstances. We have had numerous electrical issues and (of course) tires going flat from any sharp rock or acacia thorn we come across at the correct angle.
Trix became close to non-functional early this year, she couldn't even make it up a small hill in first gear with the accelerator completely depressed. So, Megan and Kate sent Trix down to Nairobi to see the big mechanics with fancy computer diagnostic machines and decades of experience. After several weeks Trix seemed to be on the mend and was sent back out into the field.
Things went well for a while, but she started to go downhill again, and in early August I drove her down to Nairobi to try to fix her again. Looking back, it was probably a bad omen that the trip started out with us leaking half a tank of diesel on our way into Nairobi because one of our fuel lines had split in to en route. Twenty days, 3 mechanics, an electrician, a fuel injector fundi (expert), and a horrifically violent stomach bug later, I was finally heading back up to the field. It turns out that somewhere along the way (before it was our truck) someone had put the incorrect fuel injector into the truck and the engine was being starved for fuel. Go figure.
There I was, FINALLY heading home after my longest stay in Nairobi ever. And then the battery came loose not 20 minutes into my drive. At least this problem I could fix with a little wire for the period of the drive - that's right, I have mad field skills that allow me to wire my truck battery in place for a 4 hr drive :) So I did finally get home and the mystery of Trix's low energy has finally been solved!
Water Woes
Unfortunately we have been short on rain here all year. By
early August we had had less than half our normal cumulative rains. Despite our
very conservative water use practices, our rain catchments don’t last all that
long in a drought with all the extra folks we’ve had at camp this summer. When
we run out of rainwater we have to order a water truck to deliver river water
from Nanyuki (about 50km away). The last time this happened things went very smoothly. In fact, I left for the baboons in the morning and when I returned midday, the tanks were full and we were good to go. This was not the case one fateful Saturday night in the middle of August.
Kate, Leah and I had gone to Nanyuki - always an exhausting day of errands and rushing to get things done. We were a bit late heading home, but we arrived a little before dark, just 15 minutes after the water truck arrived. Several obstacles arose: First, the truck had lost one of it's pipes (for pumping from the truck into the catchments) on the road somewhere,I'm not totally clear how they sorted that out, but it was (and I'm not one to question the solution to any problem). Second, in order to save a frog in one of the catchment tanks it was turned over and inadvertently cracked. This little detail was not discovered until it held a slowly dwindling 2000 liters. Third, the water pump stopped functioning properly so we could no longer pump the water back into the truck, but only out into the remaining tanks. So, where did that leave us? That's right, hauling 2000L of water by bucket from one tank to another. We had folks up on each tank handing buckets back and forth to the runners delivering it. Did I mention it was dark at this point? As tired as Kate, Leah, and I were, we were already moving in kind of a daze, stumbling in the dark was not as fun as it sounds (I know, it sounded like the cherry on top, right?). Eventually we got all the water out of the busted tank and the truck into good tanks. The truck left and we all collapsed with a glass of wine :)
And, as is our luck, 2 days after we had the traumatic
bucket experience it poured each afternoon for 3 days straight. It was perfect. At least we did get to see many of our favorite giraffe neighbors and a breathtaking view of Mt Kenya as a result. I'm going for silver lining here....
Pouring rain...I took this photo so I would be able to appreciate the beauty after letting go of my resentment.
Mt. Kenya near Nanyuki.
Rainbows lessen the blow. But only slightly.
Invasion of the Abderholdens!
Maybe invasion is a strong word, but we quadrupled our
Abderholdens for a few days in early September when Kate’s family came to visit
and it was a blast! Lunch at Trout Tree, the tree house restaurant outside of Nanyuki, playing Cards Against Humanity and Celebrity, sundowners and endless laughs. What a great visit!
Sue, Liz, Kate, and Frank - have you seen a more coordinated fam?
Harrowing Hyenas
This past Sunday I awoke around 3 to the sounds of chewing
outside my hut. This pretty much always means I have to go out and scare away
whatever wildlife is dining on the vegetation around my hut before I can pee (which I 100% have to do anytime any animal is outside, just one of those things). That night I got up, got my brightest torch and went to the front window to shine some light on the situation. And there, on my porch, was a hyena. Eating my shoe.
This beautiful young spotted hyena was in the middle of a pathetic meal comprised of my leather-thonged flip flops and hiking boots (which I don't normally leave outside....). It jumped off the porch after a minute of light, sniffed around the shoes that had been scattered around in front of the hut and began chewing on another one. Adamantly ignoring my shouts that went something like "My shoes!" "Drop that this minute!" and "That is NOT yours!", the hyena (later named Huckleberry by Leah) went about the business of destroying my footwear. Not until I was wailing on the door did Huck decide it was time for an exit, but not without take-away. Huck grabbed the more complete of my hiking boots and took off towards the back of the yard, looking over his shoulder the whole time. Once Huck was about 20m out from the porch he just stopped and stood. I went out and collected the remains of my shoes and then was finally able to pee. Huckleberry watched my every movement, not threatening in any way, but simply curious that I was taking his delicious meal away (I thought about leaving them, but the plastic in the most of the shoes made me nervous). This was certainly my closest encounter with a wild hyena.
As it was way too dark to get photos that night, Leah helped me reconstruct the crime scene and events:
The crime scene photos:
When all was said and done, I was down 3 pairs of shoes and 1 pair of my favorite socks. Luckily I had back up boots and another pair of flip flops available.
Huck has been hanging around and Leah got a few good shots:
Field life is never boring, but this has certainly been a run of adventures. Hope you enjoyed my tales!
