Now that I'm home...

Ok, so I am officially home and back at work in beautiful Muncie. Since this is mostly for friends and family I will most likely get to see you all at some point and tell you of my experiences in persons.  First though here are some of FAQ's.

1. What surprised you most about Africa?
            There are many answers to this, as most of the trip surprised me.  At first I would have to say the landscape, because everything we see and hear about south-western Africa says that it is all flat open grassland savanna with very few trees. In South Africa, at least where I was, this is not true.  Instead there is a lot of bush and scrub and the region is very mountainous.


            I was also very surprised at the way people lived in South Africa.  You hear stories and people will tell you there is a lot of poverty and so on but we are very fortunate in America to live the way we do.  Since South Africa is a fairly stable and wealthy country they do not have as many problems as the other countries in the region, but they do still have extremes.  The cities are very modern and resemble our own cities and suburbs, they just have barbwire and fences to keep intruders out.  However, their countryside is radically different. Where we have farms and rural communities they have game farms and any towns outside of the main cities are poor communities, and when I say poor, I mean living in cinder block homes and using tarps as a roof.

2. What was the scariest thing that happened to you?
             First I want to note that this trip was very safe.  When out in the bush our guides had rifles with huge bullets in them and we always went with a trained guide who knew the tracks and signs of the bush. Most of our camps were fenced to keep dangerous animals out and when they weren't we were to have a buddy with us at all times and a trained guide stayed in camp with us.
             That being said I did have a few adventures while overseas.  The most hair raising would have to be the time a hyena got into our fenced camp at Kruger.  It was our second night at the camp and a few of us students decided to take a walk around the camp at night.  It is a well known fact in Kruger that if you walk around the camp, and especially the fences, at night you will get a chance to see some really cool nocturnal animals.  The group that went the night before had seen some really cool stuff and so we decided to go out again.  Our guide was tired and the camp was electrically fenced so he stayed at camp and went to sleep.
              We had a lot of fun wandering around the camp. We saw a genet and bats and even a hyena sitting outside the fence. We walked down to the river and listened as the animals called to each other.  There really is nothing like it.  Back here in Indiana we really don't have the same level of dangerous animals as they do, and no matter how many times you go to the zoo, the animal on the other side of the fence is still in captivity. In Africa they are not, and you are constantly aware that any animal could easily kill you if it wanted to.
               We had finished our explorations and we were ready to start back to camp when we heard the hyenas calling out.  For those who haven't heard a hyena's locator call it is kinda spooky, click here to listen. If you really want to get a feel for what we were hearing turn the volume on this up and sit in the complete dark.  Then multiply that one sound by 10 and that is what we heard. Shortly after the pack across the river called out we could hear a call come from across the far side of camp where we saw the hyena by the fence.  Then after that we heard another one call from another side of camp.  We thought at first that this was really cool to get to hear them all calling to each other through the night.
                We stayed a bit longer and listened, but there wasn't much else to hear and so we started back to camp.  At this point we were on the far side from our camp site and had about a 10 minute walk through the dark to get back. We had only gone a few hundred yards when the hyenas started calling again, and this time the answering call was coming from inside the fence, and not just inside the fence, but not very far from us at all, as in maybe on the other side of the bushes that just happened to be rustling.
                 Luckily we happened to be field biologists who had been trained in how to handle dicey situations and so we all quickly grouped together so as to form a large group.  We weren't super worried, more like nervous, but we knew that from the sounds that the hyena was alone and a lone hyena would not attack a large group of humans. (side-note: We weren't guessing at this. Hyena's are extremely smart and any animal within the fence came to pick up any scraps left, not attack humans, so we were safe as long as we weren't a threat to the animal.) A few minutes went by and there were no more calls but the camp was eerily silent. Since we could no longer determine the whereabouts of the hyena we decided to continue our walk back to camp.
                 The rest of the walk was uneventful and we didn't hear any more calls or see any more animals.  We were just about ready to chalk up the closeness of the call to our imagination as we all went to our tents and settled in for the night.  Just as we were about to nod off though, the hyena gave one last call, and this time there was no mistaking it, the thing was right next to our camp. I sat back up and looked out the window but I couldn't see it.  I therefore decided not to leave the tent and curled back up into my sleeping bag.

So those were two of the most commonly asked questions.  I will post some more later. I also want to note that all of the pictures in this post are my own.

HOME

I am officially home in Indiana.  Flew into Atlanta and then caught connecting flight to Indy.  Hope to post pictures and stories soon!

Day 18: Last Day

Day  18: I am not sure what we will do today since all we have scheduled is to fly home.  Our plane doesn't leave until 8:30 however, so if we arrive at the airport at 6 that's plenty of time and its only an hour 30 to the airport from Sondela. That leaves us with plenty of time to do something but we won't know what we are doing until we are there.

I am super sad to be leaving Africa behind.  I cannot wait until I get to come back and see even more, and have more adventures.

[above= elephants and impala; below= African wild dog pack AKA African painted dogs]

Day 17: Sondela Nature Reserve

Day 17: We spent today learning more about elephants and elephant conservation. We also got the chance to ride elephants on safari!  Next we went to the rehabilitation center where we got to see some animals recovering from injury or being raised as orphans. Lastly, we had out farewell dinner and graduation ceremony. Long day, but a great ending to a wonderful trip!

Day 16: Drive to Sondela Nature Reserve

Day 16: Today we made the 8 hour drive to Sondela Nature Reserve. Not much to report, just more scenery.

Day 15: Umlalazi Nature Reserve

Day 15: Today was spent looking for the palm nut Vulture and enjoying the beach.   The palm nut Vulture is one of the rarest birds in South Africa, although they are not endangered due to extensive range in other parts of Africa.  They are very unique looking as they are mostly white with some brown on the wings and a red patch next to each eye. They get their name because they each the fruit of the oil palm.

Day 14: Ulalazi Nature Reserve

Day 14: woke up this morning and broke down the camp for the drive to Umlalazi Coastal Resort. The drive took about 4 hours.  Umlalazi is known for the Rafia Palm tree which is the largest pal tree in the world. We can also enjoy water sports here. 

Day 13: Ndumo Game Reserve

Day 13: Today was sort of a free day where we were allowed to choose what we wanted to do.  I went out to view some more wildlife because what else would I want to do on my vacation? Saw some really cool antelope and other wildlife species. The antelope below is a Nyala.

Day 12: Ndumo Game Reserve

Day 12: We spent the day on a bush walk watching the birds and antelope.  There are over 430 different species of birds in Ndumo! The day was exhausting but so much fun. The bird in the picture is a woodland kingfisher.

Day 11: Drive to Ndumo Game Reserve

Day 11: Today was pretty much spent in the car on our way to Ndumo Game Reserve. The drive took 8 hours since we had to go around Swaziland. The drive was scenic however and we got to see some really cool historical towns and beautiful scenery. I'm glad though that I brought my sketch pad and stuff to entertain me. I spent the drive drawing, transferring notes, sorting pictures, and reading some of the field guides I brought along.  I also slept for part of the drive. We arrived at Ndumo in the late afternoon and set up camp.

Day 10: Mjejane Game Reserve

Day 10: Today we spent all day with a local ecologist.  We learned about the ecology of Kruger, as well as conservation and management of the park.  This is where we will spend some time focusing on elephant management within Kruger Park.

Kruger Park is fenced in, something Americans have trouble comprehending.  Basically the entire park is a giant zoo, where instead of fencing in the animals we fence in the people. This means that migratory populations are unable to move very far, and there is no immigration and emigration.  This can result in intense competition, or, in the case of the elephant, cause a rapid rise in the population.

Most people would then say "oh, good we like the elephants to have large numbers" but the problem that arises is that with too many elephants you get an imbalance. See, elephants have historically be present in low numbers throughout the Kruger area. They are a nomad species that tends to destroy a patch of land and then moves onto another one.  By the time the elephants have circled back to where they started the plant species in the area have recovered.  This is the natural cycle. However, if you add fences and then increase the elephant population you get elephant herds returning to a site before it can complete the regrowth cycle.  Thus elephants are slowly destroying the vegetation in Kruger.

Many management plans have discussed ways to manage the elephant population in Kruger.  In the 70's the resorted to culling the elephants.  The process was done as humanely as possible, with whole herd culled so as to not destroy the survivors.  Every part of the elephant was used by the locals living in the park. This practice was stopped in the 90's though, as managers could not tell what a good population size was. Today the elephants are left in peace as managers decide how to better handle this issue.

Day9: Mjejane Game Reserve

Day 9: Today we travelled down Kruger and into Mjejane Private Game Reserve. Here we set up our camp in a private rustic bush camp.  We will spend the rest of today and tomorrow continuing to develop our tracking skills. We will go on a game walk with a ranger to try and find the Big 5.

The Big 5 are the top species that hunters used to look for on safari. They are elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, and buffalo. Kruger and Mjejane are known for almost guaranteeing a chance to view the Big 5.

Days 7 & 8

Day 7: Today we traveled from Loskop Dam to Kruger National Park. The drive took over 6 hours! South Africa is a huge country! We arrived at Letaba Rest camp in the early evening.  Since this is prime wildlife viewing time we got to see some coll animals on our way into the park to our camp.

Day 8: Tomorrow we will spend the day exploring Kruger.  We will also visit the Elephant Museum in the park to learn more about elephants and their conservation in Kruger.

The cool, and not so cool, thing about Kruger is that visitors are not allowed out of their vehicles, except at designated points.  Instead we have to stay inside our safari bus while driving around the park.  However, the park has built lots of roads, with watering holes nearby, so that visitors don't need to get our of their cars.  By doing so visitors are kept safe and the animals will come right up the vehicle.  This is because a single vehicle is much less scary than a  bunch of humans.

If you want to see Kruger then Click Here! I will most likely be in the Letaba, Olifants, Satara, Mopani, and Orpen areas of the Park.

Day 4-6: Loskop Dam

Days 4-6:

I combined days 4, 5,and 6 because they are all spent at Loskop Dam learning bush survival skills, plant and animal ID, and tracking. These are all extremely important skills that I will need if I want to work in Africa as a field biologist. The cool thing about camp is that is is located within a male leopard territory. I set up my camera trap during the night to see if I could catch this guy on video or get his picture.

So not many people know a whole lot about leopards.  In fact most people frequently confuse leopards and jaguars.  I wont go into all the differences but suffice to say that jaguars are found in Central and South America and they are bigger than the leopard because they break their prey's spine when the kill. Leopards, in contrast, are found in Africa, Asia, and Russia. They, like most big cats, kill their prey by suffocation or breaking the neck. The top picture is of a leopard.

Day 3: Loskop Dam

Day 3:

Today we traveled to Loskop Dam where we are spending the next 3 days camping and learning the art of tracking.  It was a 2 1/2 hour drive to the park, but once there we still had to get to our camp. The safari bus dropped us off though so we wouldn't have to make the long drive around the lake and we hoped in a boat.  The boat took us across the lake and to our camp, Imbambala. Imbambala is a rustic camp in Loskop and this is where we met our tracker guides. When the bus arrived we set up camp for the night. 

Days 1 and 2

Day 1 and 2:

So I combined days 1 and 2 since day 1 is technically the day we arrive in SA and we won't arrive in time to do anything. Yesterday I arrived in Johannesburg Airport and was transported to a guesthouse in Pretoria.  Pretoria is the capital of SA, and this is where we will met our guides and have orientation. 

We slept when we arrived at the guest house, but today (day 2) we have orientation and then we are going to a lion park just outside of Pretoria.  There I will get a chance to bottle feed some baby lions (hmmm wonder how similar it will be to bottle feeding baby raccoons?) and interact with some of the centers other big cats, including king cheetahs!

For those of you who don't know what a king cheetah is, you are missing out. King cheetahs are basically cheetahs that have a genetic quirk in their coat patterns. Instead of having the typical spots they have some spots that look to have blended together creating pseudo-stripes.

    

 When first discovered it was thought that king cheetahs were an altogether new species but a genetic analysis later proved that they are indeed the same species.  I guess you could think of it as the same concept as the white tiger, white tigers are Bengal tiger's who have the recessive gene for white coat pattern. In fact, all white tigers essentially come from the same white tiger who was bred to produce only white offspring.   With the inbreeding and low genetic variability in cheetahs a genetic quirk such as this was bound to show up eventually. 

Goodbye!

I am out of here! I scheduled posts for each day that I am gone telling you all where I am and what I am scheduled to be doing for the day so if you want to know where I am just check back!

Diseases and Toxins in Marine Wildlife

Sorry if this comes off seeming like a scare story, it's not meant as one.

While scanning a couple of scientific news sites today I came across a story about sea otter and dolphin deaths.  The story, which you can read here, talked about how new diseases and toxins are affecting marine mammals. These diseases are the result of humans, and although the pollution is often unintended it is still a major problem.

Now, I hope that if you are reading this you happen to actually like and care about animals and just the fact the the pollution is harming and killing these animals is enough to upset you.  However, you shouldn't just worry about the animals health, you should worry about everyone else's as well.  Remember DDT and Bald Eagles? Well, the same thing happens all over the world in every ecosystem.  It's called biomagnification, and it means that a compound increases as it moves up the food chain.

Think of it like this, a pesticide gets spread over some plants.  The grasshopper eats the plants and when he does he happens to ingest some of the pesticide.  Since the grasshopper is immune to the pesticide he survives, but now those chemicals are in him.  Next the songbird eats the grasshopper.  Since the bird has to eat lots of grasshoppers to survive it now has lots of the toxins in it's system.  And it's not just the songbird who eats the grasshopper, small mammals and reptiles do too. However, for this example let's say that the toxin is still not really present enough to harm these secondary consumers. Now, let's think of the  hawk that eats reptiles, songbirds, and small mammals. All of the toxin, in all of these animals, is now built up in the hawk.  Now when the hawk lays its eggs the toxin causes the shells to be thin and the chicks develop with defects or are squashed before the can be born. This leads to a decreasing population of hawks.

It's simple math. You start with the grasshopper equaling 1. The bird, small mammals, and reptiles each eat 20 grasshoppers, so they eat now equal 20.  The hawk eats 20 of them, so the hawk now equals 400.

Now take the examples above and apply it to dolphins or sea otters.  Both of these species eat the same things out of the ocean as we do. If a bunch of fish or oysters are putting so much mercury, bacteria and other toxins into the marine mammals that their immune systems have dropped to the point where they can now get rare diseases, think of what that means for us.

As if it isn't bad enough, those compromised immune systems allow the animals to get diseases that they normally wouldn't. The diseases can then mutate and jump back into land animals and then into humans.  Have you heard of drug resistant strands of bacteria and viruses?  This is caused by evolution and mutation of theses diseases.

So, how did it get there and how do we stop it? Well, the sewage and dumping into rivers and other water systems is one way, but did you know that any road, sidewalk, parking lot, or other paved or compacted soil area will do the same thing? Think about it, if we leave the hose running out over the lawn most of the water is eventually either absorbed by the ground or evaporates up into the atmosphere.  If we do the same thing to the driveway the water either goes down the drain or evaporates out. That water that goes down the drain ends up in a river or stream that then goes to the ocean.  Here you can see biomagnification again where a little bit of toxin and pollutant in one stream joins thousands of streams.

To help with this we need to be more aware of where we are building and what we are destroying.  One way is buffer strips, which are areas of trees and other vegetation that line a water way. This vegetation will slow down and stop erosion and water pollutants if we leave them there. Another is by making sure to leave soil undamaged and uncompacted near waterways.  This will decrease surface run off.

 The last way I want to highlight is through natural filter systems.   Wetlands, marshes, and bogs, things most farmers and developers dislike, work as natural kidney systems that filter out the toxins that are in the water.  Instead of draining them they need to be left in peace to work as they need to.  If you remove one of your kidneys you can survive, but you are limited by what you can do.  If you remove both kidneys you are dead.

So, I'm sorry this one was long but I just wanted to highlight the fact that even though we may not think that we are damaging the environment, we still are. And the next time you look at the amount of money we have to spend cleaning up a polluted area just remember that the environment used to do that for free.