Eila in the Field: Primatologists in Paradise II

The last stop on our Ethiopian vacation (organized by our wonderful friend Tariku at Yama Tours) was Awassa. It is the capital of the Southern Ethiopia Nations described as a melting pot of over 50 distinct tribes all with their own traditions, languages, dress, dance, and culture. The city is located on Lake Awassa which has what is likely the highest diversity of birds in the country. We were only there for one night, but I got some great birding in over happy hour on the patio of our hotel:

A nice cold beer was very nice after the long dusty ride from Arba Minch

Cormorants and egrets on the dock

African pygmy geese

African cormorant

Egyptian geese

Malachite kingfisher

And you know a primatologists' happy hour would be incomplete without at least a little primate disturbance. This is one of many vervets that were roaming the restaurant patio in search of a quick and easy snack.

That night we enjoyed a candlelit dinner on the same patio, but the vervets were replaced by cats underfoot at all times. Sam was particularly smitten, the rest of us missed the monkeys.

The next morning we set out to the Awassa Fish Market. There were some roaming vendors of these bright baskets moving around the fish stalls.

Fishermen brought their boats right up on shore, cleaned their fish and transferred the fish to the stalls.

Meanwhile marabou storks swamped the lakeshore and the market begging for fish scraps.

Other birds were also scavenging at the market, including this beautiful little African jacana.

Rumor had it that there were some monkeys in the park next to the market. So what do the primatologists do? Head straight over and start sweeping the park in search of them! We quickly found more vervets. And later found some poorly behaved black and white colobus.