Ellies!

This afternoon, my friend Mary and I took our kids, Orion, Awesome, and her baby girl Ellie down to the river so they could play on the beach. Awesome stops playing all of sudden and I realize he is looking up at some birds. A few minutes later, he stops again and I wonder "what are you looking at this time, Awesome, more birds?" Nope! ELEPHANTS! A herd of 15 elephants were just across the river. Mary and I were overjoyed. The herd moved along the river, then stopped to drink, then crossed it! Mary and I followed their progress on our side of the beach, but then quickly retreated once we saw them crossing. There was no danger though because they turned to walk away from us, sadly. Just one of those afternoons when I love being in Africa.

October already?!

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Things have been pretty standard around here for the past couple of weeks. Orion and Awesome are doing really really well. Orion is gaining loads of wait, and looks huge and feels so much heavier than he used to. He’s got quite the tummy on him now. Awesome is slowly catching up. Both boys are changing colors rapidly. Their brows are turning yellow, (well Awesome’s was always neon yellow), their faces are getting darker, and their forearms are now a silvery, yellow color. They’re acting more like brothers now, playing together all day.

In fact, yesterday Orion didn’t’ even want to leave the hok in the morning, so I left him there without me! When I went back to deliver some food, Awesome stayed as well. So now both boys play in the hok without me all morning with no problem! I didn’t think that would happen for another few weeks, but these baboons really tell you when they’re ready to move forward. I was feeling a bit unloved and empty without them on me all morning until I realized I could finally go back in with the Tiny Dancer Troop and see my old friend Toughie. They were the kids I raised last year when I was here for three months. Toughie and I grew close then, were close when I visited in February, and were getting close again this trip, until I got a baby. Babies are highly valued to baboons so only the higher ranking ones, and usually just the females, crowd around me every time I’m near, so Toughie isn’t allowed to come near me. But without my bows in tow, Toughie came right to me, snuggled under my shirt, and fell asleep within seconds. Just like old times. It was SO GREAT! I also used an hour in the afternoon to go running, which felt nice. Soon, or in a few weeks’ time maybe, Awesome and Orion will be able to stay and play all day in the hok and I’ll be able to resume a somewhat normal schedule around here.

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This morning we moved Weirdos Troop, baboons are about three years old, to a new hok. Since they are getting older they were a bit hard to catch and carry, but it was pretty fun to watch.  A few days ago a large rock tortoise wandered its way into CARE. Their shells are so pretty! We picked it up and moved it farther away so that it wouldn’t get run over by any trucks. It’s always nice to see some other wildlife.

Not much else is new here, just trying to keep my boys happy!

Awesome (asleep) and Orion