Ian the Snarkler Video

We are in Maputo where we finally have a fast enough internet connection to upload this video! Enjoy.

Tofo Beach, Part Two

Our days in Tofo were gloriously lazy. The mornings were cool but the afternoons warm and sunny, although on one or two days the wind was strong enough to nearly blow Ian down the beach.






The shore in front of our lodge had a great rocky bit that made for some great tide-pooling when the tide was low. The rocks (old coral?) also protected a shallow little lagoon, complete with little fish, that provided a great place for Ian to venture into the wonderful world of snorkeling. (Ian calls snorkeling “snarkeling,” a pronunciation Rich and I have adopted as well because it is just so cute!) The combination of the buoyant water and his concentration on breathing through the tube made him forget entirely about floating and his swimming improved markedly over the course of the week.

But the high point of our time in Tofo was our experience swimming with whale sharks. As Ian can tell you (he knows all the factoids about whale sharks, and recited them all to our guide during the trip), whale sharks are the largest fish in the world, but only eat plankton so won’t go munching you if you swim with them. Tofo boasts one of the largest and most accessible whale shark populations in the world. The large grey giants swim lazily in the shallow waters just off shore.

We spent about 3 hours on our expedition, which involved a motorized inflatable raft piloted by experienced local guys who managed to find at least five of the big sharks for us. They’d carefully position the boat and then we’d all jump into the water with our masks and snorkels and go swimming after the shark. It was an amazing experience, one Rich calls among the most spiritual of his life. Even Ian got brave enough, after watching us visit two or three sharks, to jump into the (for him) very deep water (with his life jacket) for long enough to be able to catch a glimpse of the great grey beast himself! Our guide and the folks back at the dive shop said he was the youngest kid they’d ever had hop in the water to swim with whale sharks. Very impressive! Ian was quite proud of himself, as were we of him.

Tofo Beach, Part One

We had a magnificent week away on the beaches of southern Mozambique at the end of August. It was our first real time off (including weekends) since early July, so we were all much in need of a break!

We spent the first part of our week at Tofo beach, on the Inhambane peninsula. Inhambane is one of the oldest cities in Mozambique, having been home to Indian Ocean trade routes centuries ago. Tofo was about a 20 minute drive from the town of Inhambane, right along the Indian Ocean, with gorgeous sand dunes and plenty of surf.

Although Tofo has a bit of a reputation as a party town for young travelers, we found an isolated lodge, Mango Beach, away from the ruckus and just perfect for a family getaway.

We stayed in a rustic 4-person reed chalet with a communal kitchen area and bathroom, although we shared these with maybe only one or two other couples whom we rarely saw. We only bothered “self-catering” our breakfast, taking our lunch where we could and enjoying sumptuous seafood – prawns, crab, clams, or whatever was freshest that day – prepared by our lodge hosts in the evenings for dinner.

We loved going to sleep to the roar of the ocean and rustle of the wind through the palms.

Post from Rich: Rare antelopes at Gorongosa!

Last month we were thrilled to spot 5 wildebeest at Gorongosa – these are the lone survivers of a population of more than 5,500 that was here in the 1970s before large scale hunting during and after the war nearly eliminated them. The last time we observed wildebeest was in September 2005.

We observed a herd of more than 100 sable antelope in the same area. Our sable population is one of the great success stories at Gorongosa -- the population is growing steadily and we have several times more sable here than at Kruger National Park.

We also observed a small herd of 12 Lichtenstein's hartebeests, a beautiful and amazingly fast antelope that is very localized to this region.

Another success story is our waterbuck population, which has grown to more than 5000 animals. We will be providing some of our waterbuck to Limpopo National Park in southern Mozambique later this year to help them establish a viable founder population.

Gorongosa is also probably the best place in Africa to see oribi, a smallish antelope of the grassy plains that is also recovering rapidly in recent years. Oribi are one of several species that will benefit from the reestablishment of large herbivores that graze down the rank grasses on the plains.

Post from Rich: Wild Buffalo Operation

In August we undertook one of our most exciting operations this year—testing our wild African buffalo for bovine tuberculosis. Thirty years ago, when Gorongosa had more than 14,000 buffalo roaming the plains, TB was fairly widespread in the population. Our hope was that the catastrophic loss of buffalo from the Park (we now have only 70 in the wild) would have led to the eradication of TB in the population through a sort of “survival of the fittest” process, so that we could rebuild a “clean” population in the Park for the future. Under the leadership of our Head Veterinarian Carlos Lopes Pereira and with the tremendous support of the Veterinary team from Kruger National Park and their skilled helicopter pilot Grant, we managed to test 50 buffalo for TB. To our great relief and excitement, all tested negative.

The operation involved rounding up and darting small groups of about 8-12 buffalo at a time from the air by helicopter; followed by a team of us racing in on the ground to blindfold each sedated buffalo, determine their sex and age (based on tooth development and wear), collect blood samples and parasites, photograph and number them (using temporary paint), and attach tracking collars on selected individuals. Each operation was done in about 25 minutes, after which a counteracting drug was administered to revive the animals before they experienced too much heat or other stresses.

Our Gorongosa buffalo are absolutely massive (we call them “gordissimo” in Portuguese —obese). The largest male we darted weighed nearly a metric tonne (more than 2000 lbs). Gorongosa has some of the most productive grasslands in all of Africa, and relatively few herbivores, so those that survived here are feasting. In other words, you might say that Gorongosa is a buffalo restaurant built to serve 14,000 but is currently seating about 70!

We will be using the GSM/GPS tracking collars, which are now sending us the location of each collared buffalo 4x a day through the cell phone network, to study the reestablishment of buffalo at Gorongosa in detail. My colleague Carlos Bento, whom I have worked with for more than 12 years in Mozambique, will be undertaking this work for his PhD. We will be able to track buffalo movements and understand where, when, why, and how they are selecting their feeding, watering, wallowing, resting, and sleeping areas in the Park. We will also be placing collars on the new buffalo we introduce to the Park, as well as zebra, wildebeest, and other species. Collectively, we will gain a great understanding about how the “grazing succession” of Gorongosa is recreated overtime as these wildlife populations recover, how different species (especially rare herbivores) are affected by the recovery of the big “bulk grazers” like buffalo and zebra, how our carnivores (especially the famous Gorongosa lions) respond to the recovery of these large prey species, and so on. We hope to gain invaluable new insights into restoration ecology and wildlife management that we will share throughout the world.

More Introductions...

We celebrated our friend Cheryl's 40th birthday in early August with great fanfare -- and lots of frosting! Hendrik arranged for a beautiful and heavily frosted cake, some of which was enjoyed the traditional way and the rest of which was thrown, smeared, and otherwise blasphemed in a great food fight. (Never fear, this debauchery occurred after the young impressionables had left for bed.) I was a big chicken and fled the scene before I got besmirched by frosting, but I still had my wits about me as one of only a small few non drinkers! So let me introduce the birthday girl, Cheryl (in the red shirt with the pineapple, which was filled throughout the evening with either gin and tonic or champagne). Cheryl is Chitengo's gardener, responsible for the lovely grass around the pool and native plantings spring up around the camp. She is also the camp hairdresser (hooray!) and all around supportive friend. Another introduction is our friend Raquel (brown Gorongosa polo), conservation planner and wonderful friend. Oh, and then there's Ian in his Tigger suit, his special dress up clothes in honor of the party.

Isla da Inhaca

We had our annual senior staff strategic planning meeting at Inhaca Island off the coast of Maputo in Southern Mozambique. We highly recommend tropical islands for all staff retreats! Seriously, despite the beautiful surrounds (because of?), we had a very productive five days of meetings to discuss many of the "big picture" issues facing the Gorongosa Restoration Project that are difficult to find time and space to discuss when people are in the midst of their day-to-day work at the Park. It was also a terrific opportunity to get to know four incoming staff: Pedro, who will head tourism at Chitengo (hospitality, including restaurant, housekeeping, etc.); Francisco, who will head the staff training program; Patricia, who will head the health outreach program, and Monica, who will head the conservation education program.

Francisco, Patricia, and Monica will all be heavily involved in implementing our Family Goals Program in which junior Park staff (from the communities adjacent to the Park, where housing, health, and education standards are extremely low) will set a series of goals they wish to achieve for their families and comunities (e.g., use of mosquito nets in homes, investment in better housing, improved educational opportunities, etc.) and monitor themselves in achieving those goals with Park support.

Across the Pungue to Vinho

We spent a great day visiting the community located just across the Pungue River from Chitengo CampMany of the local staff working in Chitengo live in Vinho, and the restoration project is actively engaged in helping this community develop its capacity to provide community services and, ultimately, develop businesses to serve both the community and tourists.
The Pungue River is a short walk from Chitengo, a a kilometer or two down a sandy road. To cross the river, one has to wade initially to reach the part of the river that is deep enough to accommodate the mokoros or canoes that take you to the far side of the river. Even the deepest part of the river at this dry time of year is only about a meter, so the canoe is a bit of a formality, or creature comfort. Three or four adults can fit in the canoe, but be warned that too much stuff that raises the center of gravity of the boat can result in a capsize event! (We were spared such indignity).
The town itself is sprawling, with little centralized "town" area, although this is changing. Most of the houses are traditional stick-stone-mud huts thatched with grass or sometimes scraps of salvaged plastic. Huts are spread out in part to accommodate the small farming plots of mostly corn grown as the staple food.
Our first stop in Vinho was at one of the houses of the village "chief" (he has several houses, as he has several wives, a common practice in this area), where the women and children were gathered to process their corn crop. Carole and Lea took a turn trying out the grinding process in a huge wooden mortar and pestle type contraption. These women work hard! After only a couple of pounds, Carole and Lea had had enough, much to the delight of the local women.

First Madison Visitors! John, Carole, and Lea

We were delighted to host our first visitors from home in early July: John, Carole and Lea whom we know from Madison. John and Rich are collaborating on developing a survey project in the communities of the park (John runs the UW Survey Center), and Carole is looking to develop a project to train local people in massage for use in the local health clinics and for the benefit of staff and tourists in the Park. (Believe me, lots of staff benefited from her talented hands during the week she was in Chitengo!

We met John, Carole, and Lea in Johannesburg on our way back from Port Elizabeth. We piled into our enormous rental minibus to make the 3 hour trip northwest to Pilanesburg National Park, a terrific (and closer and less hectic) place to see great African game. The weather continued cold, and we all shivered and were thankful for the warm blankets in our rental safari tents. We saw lots of great game - white rhino, elephant, zebra, wildabeest, and even a honey badger during our night drive. Heard the giant roar of a lion as he notified all of his territory, but couldn't find him for a look. Did find an interesting sunset scene with two elephants, an older male and a youthful male, the details of which we will save for the next time we share a beer with you! Suffice it to say it was a "first timer" for everyone on the game drive, including the driver!

After two full days in Pilanesburg (including my birthday, well celebrated with balloons, a delicious rich piece of cake complete with sparklers and a song from the restaurant staff, and lots of great adventures), we headed from Joberg to Beira in Mozambique and the three hour drive to Gorongosa National Park. We spent our week there enjoying Chitengo, taking in a few game drives (and expeditions on the helicopter for the lucky ones!), and doing lots of playing. Ian and Lea were great friends, drawing lots of great pictures, making books, holding "Fun Club" sessions daily (complete with Manners Class), and creating other adventures. We also had a great trip across the Pungue River together to the community of Vinho from which many Chitengo workers come to their jobs, but I'll save that story for another post!

If you need details about coming to visit, contact John, Carole, and Lea, as they are experts now! It was super to be able to share our new life here in Chitengo with good friends.

Addo Elephant Reserve

We spent one of our cold, rainy, cloudy days while in Port Elizabeth touring the renown Addo Elephant Reserve, probably the second most visited Park in South Africa. When our driver arrived to pick us up for the trip we were initially very disappointed to see a minibus, as we had been assuming we'd make the tour in an open game drive vehicle. But when the rain and wind continued for the day, we were quite happy for the warmth and dryness of the minibus!

The ecosystem at this Park was so different from anything else we'd seen or that we know from our Park: very low vegetation, alternating between dense shrubby growth and open (formerly cropped) grassland. We spent the duration of our tour in a fully fenced area where the density of animals (mostly re-stocked) was higher, and saw lots of interesting things, including the Red Hartebeest (in the photo - we have Lichtenstein's Hartebeest at our Park), ostriches, zebra... But the end of our day trip approached and we still hadn't seen the animal for which the reserve was named! Our driver was not to be outdone by these creatures, and searched high and low, resorting to calling his buddies on the cell phone to find out where the ellies were hiding that day. Finally we found them, and had great looks at aged bulls, enormous dames, and young babes. We could go home happy from our day at Addo!

Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Part 3)

Finally the clouds cleared and we were able to enjoy a full day on the beach, complete with tidepooling, sandcastle building, frisbee playing, and, of course, sandcastle building!

Found great seastars, muscles, sea urchins, sea anemones and other fun ocean critters in the tidepools before the tide came in and covered all of the rocks. And Ian discovered the joys of collecting "beach glass", and is learning to covet the rare blue glass finds! Sad that I love beach glass so much when it is just a sign of our continuing pollution of our planet...

We steered clear of playing in the ocean but for our toes and ankles, as it was pretty chilly, but enjoyed the sights and sounds of its rolling waves.

The beach was quite calm in comparison to how we heard it is during the summer months, with blanket-to-blanket crowds taking in the cool ocean amid the heat of summer. We loved being one of only a few folks playing on the beach that day.

Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Part 2)

Ian and I spent a great day at "BayWorld," the aquarium and science museum of Port Elizabeth, even in the cool winter weather (it was cloudy, cool, and windy all day long).




We loved the dolphin show -- a father and daughter pair of dolphins demonstrating lots of talents (Ian was impressed by how fast they could swim , and how high they could jump!) -- and watching the penguins being fed. Ian is now determined to go to Antarctica to see more penguins, and tells us that he will go in June next year.

Ian was also fascinated by the museum, especially the huge skeletons of the whales and the displays of sharks and dinosaurs. Ian has entered his seemingly genetically-predetermined dinosaur phase, and is mastering not only the names of the various dinosaurs but also the eras during which they occurred. As soon as we can get some plaster of paris he wants to make his own fossil print. Three cheers for Ms. Frizzle and the Magic Schoolbus, his greatest literary source of inspiration and information!

One of Ian's favorite questions these days is "who would win a fight between a ___ and a ___?" -- you fill in the blanks: T-Rex, shark, elephant, lion.... It is a constant curiosity for him, and a constant challenge for us. :-)

Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Part 1)

Rich attended (and presented) at the Society for Conservation Biology meeting, which this year was held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, along the southeast coast of Africa. While he learned about wildlife and fire management, reintroductions.... Ian and I explored Port Elizabeth!

It is winter in Port Elizabeth in July, and boy could we tell! We were in turtlenecks, fleece, and windbreakers for the whole trip. (Well, we did get down to short sleeves when the sun finally came out from behind clouds in the middle of our stay there).

We stayed at a great little B&B on the edge of town, a 15-minute walk from the beach, complete with a trampoline (much to Ian's delight)!!! We spent a full afternoon at the beach making a great sandcastle, playing frisbee, and having a picnic lunch.

Adeus, Natasha

Sadly we said goodbye to our friend and babysitter Natasha, who needed to return to Portugal. Natasha started caring for Ian while we were in Portugal in March-April, and then came to Chitengo (where her mother, Sofia, works in the Communications Department with me) in May. Ian took to her immediately, and she was a key part in Ian's easy and quick adjustments to the many changes in his life: language, culture, surroundings, people...

We managed without a babysitter for most of July, just starting last week with a new caretaker, Joana. So far, so good. I am excited about this because Joana doesn't speak any English, so Ian will be "forced" to work on his Portuguese now! He is making good progress.

We miss you, Natasha! You better come back and visit soon.

Crocodile!

While out on a drive in the park we found this crocodile carcas -- stinky stinky stinky! But very interesting. We tried to sleuth how this croc had ended up here dead, as it didn't look like a struggle had occurred. Possibly the croc was moving from one water hole to another via this channel, as it looked like it had dragged itself along the channel for some distance, so perhaps it died from dehydration (unlikely) or some disease.

Rich managed to pull out a tooth of this croc -- it was more than an inch long, and hollow!