Eila in the Field: SETTING UP AT FILOHA Part II: The crew

I am hugely lucky to be working with a great team out in Ethiopia, without them the 44 degree (C) days would be unbearable!

This was our normal field crew in May and June. From left: Me, Alexis, Megan, Teklu, and Ali (one of our scouts).

Megan Cole is my first research assistant out here, she just graduated from Michigan in the spring and jumped right into this project. She is great at the job and relaxed about life in the bush (especially when she gets to soak her feet in the healing hot spring water...). I am so thankful to have her on the team!!

Alexis Amann is Larissa Swedell's new grad student and we are just about academic soul mates. She was only there for 6 weeks, but we got along great, were incredibly productive, and managed to have a great time! Hopefully she'll be back out next summer for some more fun :)

Teklu has been the senior research assistant on the Filoha project for 13 years. He knows the monkeys and the area like the back of his hand, he is our guide to the work and life at Filoha.

Demekech (pictured here with Alexis) is the heart and soul of Filoha camp. She is our life coach out here, who also happens to feed us the most delicious food imaginable at a field site. She also makes a legendary cup of coffee - couldn't live without her!

Next, the scouts - being in a national park in Ethiopia means we go no where without an armed scout keeping us safe from the potential dangers of lions, leopards, warthogs, and (some of you may have guessed it) snakes! They also act as guides when we are away from Teklu - so we can never get lost in the endless acacia scrub or forest.

Gezachew is the head scout at Filoha outpost. He's a great leader, full of adventurous stories, and an amazing dancer.

Ali has been a scout at this outpost for 5 yrs, he's very knowledgeable and always up for helping (or striking up a little naughty business - whichever mood seems to strike first!).

Mesresha (on the left) looks like a calm, gentle soul, but don't be fooled. He has killed 3 black mambas with his bare hands since I arrived in May! No need to state we are all thankful for him.

Some parts of life here are blissful, others are a bit of work. For example, we get our drinking water from the spring every day. Luckily it's a beautiful walk (and we're developing better balance by the day)!