Field Work on Monday

Yesterday I went out into the field with Mireille Johnson, the elephant specialist, and Martin Ombenontori Eréré and Guy-Roger Mihindou (pronounced Gee-roj-ay) who are local guides. They're all very sweet people and I like them a lot. Lots of rapid French that goes over my head unless they speak directly to me, but that's cool. Learning experience. Anyways here's a miniature photo essay of the day. I also took some videos but I'm not even going to get into that because this internet already drives me up the wall trying to upload things.

Anyways they have set up camera traps around six different plantations in the area in order to start identifying them and incorporating them into the database that only has the Yenzi elephants at the moment. The images will complement the genetic work that Mireille is doing with collecting dung around the plantations. So yesterday we were checking the camera traps and talking with the plantation owners. Elephant raids are a big problem here because even if they don't raid the area frequently, their size just demolishes the crops and there isn't a lot to do about it because they can't kill or deter them. At the plantation pictured below there were a few empty oil barrels turned on their side with the ends hacked off, which the plantation workers bang with a big stick to scare the elephants away. Other than that the only real method was to tie a thick metal cable around some trees at about neck level where they know the elephants come out of the forest and into the plantation. Clearly not fool-proof methods, but not a lot of options.

This is the first plantation we visited. The two flags are Shell and Gabon. We had to step over an oil pipeline between the road and the plantation. SYMBOLISM. There was one guy who was hanging out in the building to the right for the entirety that we were there. I don't know what he was doing/waiting for but it looked a lot like when I pulse around in my room.

THIS little chiller was SO CUTE. He followed us for almost the entire two hour hike from the camera trap and back, across logs and through creeks and forest and undergrowth. At first he hung back and kept yowling and Martin kept yowling back at him and so I think that encouraged him. Anyways usually we're walking at a brisk pace but every now and then we would wait for him to catch up. Cats are just so cool. Then when we were about ten minutes out from the car one of his friends came out to meet us and they wen't off together. The plantation owner asked where he was because he didn't come back with us. I don't know what he said but his brow was furrowed so I think he was concerned about it getting eaten by a python. I would be worried too. Cats and dogs here are not the same as in the US. I haven't seen too many examples of pet ownership here, most of the dogs and cats are pretty feral.

 Guy-Roger at the first plantation. All the plantations grew sugar cane, cassava, bananas, manioc, pineapple, and eggplants.

Martin on the left, Guy-Roger hanging out with the cat on the right. Taking a break while Mireille and I checked the camera trap.

The little guy taking a break next to a pineapple plant.

Mireille taking a break on a vine at the third plantation.

This was a little fruit that was growing on the last plantation. It was edible but you just suck on it like a mint, you don't actually ingest it. It wasn't exactly sweet but it was sort of like a nice flavor. I had to many though and my stomach started hurting. I wish I could remember the name but sometimes when the guides tell me a lot of names in one trip they all just fall out of my head and onto the ground.

Guy-Roger with the tree that grows the fruit shown in detail above. The fruit grows in clusters of five and looks just like plumeria flowers or something. So so pretty.