Rainy Season Has Arrived

It seems that the rainy season has officially begun. For the past few days it has poured rain for an hour or so in the afternoon. It has been a welcome respite from the blistering heat, even though I got absolutely soaked. So far, the rain comes in the afternoon for just a bit, but I have been assured that in a few weeks, when I’m out in the bush all day, the rains will continue for hours and even days at a time. Not 100% looking forward to that, but such is life in the bush!

Pre-release observations are going well.  I’m pretty confident now in identifying them/knowing their names. We did carried out some Predator Awareness Assessment the other day, which involved hiding (as best as we could) a paper-mache leopard in the forest outside the baboon enclosure and then recording their responses. We want to make sure they know what to do when they see predators in the wild. They have done this assessment before with the leopard and also with a fake snake. Responses were okay. The baboons alarm called and quickly climbed the trees. Now I know what they will sound like should we see a real one in the bush, and I’ll be sure to also climb a tree. I definitely don’t want to be the last one on the ground! It was a quick but fun and new exercise for me and baboons! Hopefully they’ll do just as well in the wild, or else someone will have to learn the hard way.

We’re almost in the final stretch here, which is exciting and nerve-racking! The release is scheduled for the first week of January, so just after Christmas will be a big time for catching and checking and final preparations for the big move. Speaking of the big move, I found out some things last week about the living conditions out in Kasungu. There’s limited electricity because there is only one solar panel. Considering it’s the rainy season now, and solar power doesn’t work much without the sun, there will be even less power. They don’t even have enough power to run a refrigerator. So goodbye everything cold! But I’ll have my own big tent with what looks like a great view. Apparently there is decent cell and 3G service there (again, all dependent on solar power) but no wifi. So basically, it’s very rustic. Not sure what I’m going to be eating there! Or when I’ll be able to be in touch!

But until then, I’m still her at the centre. I’m enjoying continuing to get to know my baboons! Two nights ago, after the first rains, winged termites hatched. I got to see the baboons do something I haven’t seen them do before, which is always exciting for me. In the evening they were jumping feet in the air, super goofily, to catch these flying insects and eat them. They were all so excited and grabbing the termites out of thin air for a nice protein-rich snack. Last night there were even more termites so there was less jumping to catch them. I hope they come out again tonight! I love seeing baboons do something new! I got some good video of it, but I’m not sure about the wifi’s ability to upload it.

Tomorrow is my day off and a few friends and I are renting a car and going to drive to a nearby town on Lake Malawi! I’m stoked to see this lake and just relax on the beach. And hopefully to practice some of my manual driving. I will hopefully post some pictures of that in the next couple of days. I’m trying to take advantage of some of the luxuries of civilization and people while I’m still here before I go off into the bush for months and months.