1
July 2012
I
saw a tenrec today. Bark Bark the KAFS dog brought it in but we were
able to rescue it and it seemed unharmed. It was a three striped
tenrec, with soft spines like a hedgehog and a long narrow snout with
whiskers. The whole animal looked kind of improbable somehow, like it
was made from a bunch of random parts. We set it free in the bushes
with a good head start from the dog.
It
gets dark early in the tropical winter, maybe 5:30 or 6. There is no
electricity so you have a choice of candles, head torches, or
darkness. There is often a card game by candlelight after dinner but
people rarely stay up much past eight. It is just as well, since we
have to get up early to leave by 6:30.
We
spent most of the afternoon playing Uno. It is a very complicated
game and you need great reflexes to play your card before someone
else beats you to it. We agreed that it was such a stressful and
competitive game that you need a rest afterwards. I hope I can get
people to play spades again. That was the last fad and it might be
the most fun card game I know.
It
is Saturday night and Wednesday and Saturday are supposed to be pasta
night. We were all waiting eagerly for the best meal of the week,
spagetti topped with oil, carrots, and green beans. I bought a jar of
real tomato sauce last time I was in Fianarantsoa and it was going to
be a real feast. Everyone looked so disappointed when the cook
brought out plates of rice and salty carrots. I was warned the food
was mostly rice and beans andd veg, but the beans are all too rare
and the rice is invariably burned. We have quite reasonable
ingredients and I could make a good meal with what we have, but we
seldom get anything palatable. We were too disappointed to even feel
like playing cards after dinner.
There
are two little shops within a five minute walk and I'm sure the KAFS
volunteers are a big source of revenue for them. You can get little
packets of crunchy corn-based rings called Cracky. Sometimes they
have Saltos, which may be the world's best soda crackers, or maybe I
have just never been so hungry. We went into Kianjavato last night
for Sheila's birthday and we got rum and coke and the hotel's entire
supply of Saltos. We always thought that it was 4km to Kianjavato,
but somebody recently told us it is only 3km, so the walk home from
the bar is now one third shorter.
Prolemur
simus is very cute but not very active. One day last week we followed
the same animal all day. We found him just before 8 and sat down
under his tree. Five hours later we got up and walked back to the
road to get picked up. For all I know he might still be in the same
tree. Yes, we are sure he is not dead: he was grooming himself
briefly.
One
of our animals unfortunately is dead though. It was probably killed
by a fosa. We found the body easily because the radio collar was
still working. There was not much left but part of the skull and some
bedraggled fur and the big fluffy tail. That is nature for you but if
I met that fosa I would like to punch it in the face. I was pretty
mad that the stupid fosa picked the only animal in that group whose
radio collar still worked. Now we can't find that group anymore
without searching their entire terrritory, and unless we get very
lucky that will take days of grueling effort. The upside is that the
boss finally took notice of the deteriorating radio collar situation
that we have been asking about for months. The dart team should be
coming out to tranquilize some of the animals and replace the collars
in July.
2
July 2012
Today
was the first serious rain we have had since I got here. Drizzle and
showers have been pretty common but today was the first real
downpour. The animals tend not to move very much when it rains so we
stood there and got soaked while they slept. I was told it would be
hot here so I packed for hot rainy weather, but not much for cold
rainy weather. Nothing dries properly here and it is really going to
suck putting on my wet clothes tomorrow morning when it is about ten
degrees outside. At least dinner was good.
It's
weird: here I am in the Madagascar rainforest, this exotic place that
I have always wanted to see, spending my days with one of the world's
most endangered primates, but most of my thoughts revolve around
food. It is a topic we can discuss every single day and we keep
finding more to say. Rice pudding featured prominently today, not on
the menu of course but in conversation. You can make a fair
substitute by putting sweetened condensed milk and nutmeg on the
breakfast rice. My Grandad talks about his field work, and having
only spam and strawberry jam to eat. Those are luxury items here,
totally worth the five hour taxi brousse ride to Fianarantsoa.
7
July 2012
We
left early this morning for Fianar and got the fastest taxi brousse
ever, about three and a half hours. The guy drove safely too, he just
didn't keep stopping all the time. We got here in time for lunch and
I have eaten a double cheeseburger, fresh pineapple smoothie,
chocolate cake, lemon ice cream, processed cheese, mint candies, and half a custard bun.
Dinner is in an hour or two so I have to stop and make room. I got
sweet chili sauce and jam to put on the rice back at camp, probably
not together. It is a good day.
