A little over a year ago I started another wildlife-esque blog on the tumblr format. The Jungle Nook. It started out as a silly thing to pass the time during a sick day, but I have really fallen in love with the science community on this website. It is growing pretty steadily and I would like to see where my foray into wildlife / science blogging can take me.
So if you come across this blog I hope you take a moment or two to check out TJN. Perhaps one day I'll use the Blogger format along with tumblr... but let's just take things one day at a time until then.
Consider this blog on hiatus until future notice. If you would still like to read about my misadventures in the field, see pictures / video of my wildlife encounters, and perhaps even learn a thing or two about wildlife, I hope you drop by TheJungleNook and say hi.
xoxo
~M
23 March 2014
05 October 2008
Time to begin again?
Hello again, if anyone is still reading this then I do apologize for not updating in quite some time. Being back in the states took some getting used to and with classes and everything else back in full swing at JMU I have found myself ignoring the promises I made to "fill in the blanks" of my African adventures. At present I would like to go back to the beginning and write as much as I can in a narrative sort of form. I find this method much more interesting than the random babbling in my journal (although I'm sure some of those entries will also be added). Who knows, maybe I'll even do a weekly update as I organize my chaotic thoughts into something slightly more substantial.
... I make no promises.
Also, consider yourself forwarned that random bits of Mammalogy or Ornithology info will probably be inserted when the odd mood strikes. I would apologize for that as well but those of you who know me should be well aware of this by now...
"My jaw hurts"
"Do you mean your your mandible or the dentary-squamosal articulation?"
"What?!?"
"It's a mammalian trait you know, allows for greater efficiency..."
"You need to get out more"
Alrighty then, I'm off to a group meeting but perhaps something worth reading will appear on these pages before too long.
All my love,
~Mia
ps- As I write I will finally be able to post some of those awesome pictures... if you would like any then please email me so you can get the full file instead of the terrible resized one if you do the right click method.
xoxo
... I make no promises.
Also, consider yourself forwarned that random bits of Mammalogy or Ornithology info will probably be inserted when the odd mood strikes. I would apologize for that as well but those of you who know me should be well aware of this by now...
"My jaw hurts"
"Do you mean your your mandible or the dentary-squamosal articulation?"
"What?!?"
"It's a mammalian trait you know, allows for greater efficiency..."
"You need to get out more"
Alrighty then, I'm off to a group meeting but perhaps something worth reading will appear on these pages before too long.
All my love,
~Mia
ps- As I write I will finally be able to post some of those awesome pictures... if you would like any then please email me so you can get the full file instead of the terrible resized one if you do the right click method.
xoxo
15 June 2008
Today is Sunday... 1535hrs to be exact... Which means it is about half 8 for (most) of you back in the States reading this. And in exactly seven days I'll be at Dulles Airport (or slightly above it) making my way back to Burtonsville. Woah. I'm definately not looking forward to 7 hr jetlag.
Anyways, the reason I was able to write today is because today I'm on base duty. It means that today I (and one person from each of the other two teams) get to clean up base, cook the meals, and input all my data from yesterday (when I was on data duty).
...it also means that if the meals aren't too intensive (which this evening is Mac-n-cheese... aka. pasta and cheese sause which is uber easy to make) then when I'm finished my data then I can get on the internet! YAY!
I'm actually almost sick of the computer cause I've been working on a prey count excel worksheet for the past three house and I think my brain has been fried from the screen. Blah. Prey counts are kinda fun though, well... at least (mostly)easy if not heaps of fun. You pretty much drive along a specific route in the North or South of the reserve and count every prey animal that you see. Sounds good. The only problem is when you hit the Northern herd of impala which is somewhere around 70+. Then everyone scrambles to count, sex, and age the herd as they run away. :p Meh!
We also are doing "Safari Spot" which is a game (of sorts) where you get points for spotting the most species on your drives. There are both individual and team awards for most points and certain species (like rhinos) get more points than others (like impala). It's fun and hopefully I'll find a pangolin or something really rare so my team can win.
Anyways, I still haven't heard anything about Shiloweni's root canal as far as dates are, but apparently Discovery Channel and National Geographic (as well as some other people) will have t.v. crews at the operation so I'll still be able to see it.
And yes Laura, you shouldn't be suprised that I want to pet a leopard. He is my baby. There is actually a "Wish List" of all the things the volunteers want to do during this last week (ex. Have a sundowner on Beacon Rock, Watch the Eles all day...etc) and the only thing I wrote down is "Pet Shewie... preferably during his root canal but I'm up for whatever." :D
Hehehehe.
This week is going to go by way too fast. Tuesday we have a volleyball tourney with EcoTraining (they study trees and stuff)... we beat them last time so I'm looking forward to it again. Alost there are plans for party night on Wednesday and the staff and volunteers from all the other lodges and training facilities (we are the only research team) are coming over to GVI House (that's here) and we are having a international world cup of sorts. There are only three Americans here (Shannon, Jake, and myself) so I think we are coloring white t-shirts with Sharpies and drawing American Flags... and lots of "Team America" quotes. :p Then Thursday I'm pretty sure that we are going to Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center to check on the baby rhino that we sent them almost four weeks ago after it was attacked by jackels. Then Friday I have a lovely six hour drive to Joburg (and my closest amigos here- Shannon, Chris, and Mark) are leaving me half way through to go travelling. Bah, I'm jealous. Oh well, at least Patty (a girl in my group who lives in Ontario) is gonna chill with me at the airport till our flight at 10pm. Then after a solid day and a half of travelling and obscenely long flights, I'll be back in MD. Give me a day or two to recover (I'm almost positive I'll take a small coma upon my arrival since I really can't sleep on planes) but then I can't wait to see you all and sort out my pictures.
Ok, well it's now 4 so I should start checking things for dinner and making sure everything is prepped.
All my love from the bush,
Mia
12 June 2008
The beginning of the end...
Hello again.
This may or may not be my last post while I am in Africa but since I haven't written even half of my misadventures in here then when I'm back in the states I'll probably start again and attempt to make some swnse of the gibberish written in my journal. Meh.
Anyways, tomorrow is the start of my last week in South Africa and it comes with very mixed feelings. On one hand I can't wait to see everyone and show them my pictures because Karongwe has been an amazing experience and I wish I could have had all the amigos from home along with me. Then again, I have come to think of this place as home and will be sad to think that when I wake up at 0400hrs that it is not to go off in search for the lion pride or leopard that may or may not have escaped last night. I'm not even sure how I'll sleep upon my return when I don't have the hyenas and jackal calls lulling me to sleep and the "go away" grey lorrie to wake me up in the mornings. I imagine that it'll take a bit of adjusting to the noises of cars or glare of street lamps in the evening before I feel once more at home with "modern" living. (elecricity all the time?!? weird!)
Hopefully during this last week the leopard I have been talking about will be darted because I would really like to pet him before I go. That is pretty much the only thing I have unfinished here as I have seen (and gotten some amazing photos) of all the animals, both adults and cubs.
... and while I think it would be awesome to be "mock charged" at by an elephant or cheetah, my group has not had the good fortune (misfortune?) to wittness such events and have instead prided ourselves on getting the most sightings of the big male lion Zero in his mating endevours of Lisa. Poor girl.
We shall see what the week to come brings.
Right now the entire camp is pretty empty, majority of people sleeping off last night's partying at the pub "N the boss" (in the bush). As true to my fashion I remained sober (with only a few rum and cokes thrown in) and yet still joined the rest of the girls (and some of the staff) on the top of the bar for the "CROC"... which is where you dance on the bar then the bartender lifts you up by your ankles so you can reach the huge 15 ft mounted croc. Scary like all mad but it needed to be done. "No regrets, no fear" seems to be the theme of this trip for many here at Karongwe. Last night we also celebrated Shannon's (my roomie and best amiga here... who goes to VT, sweet!)21st birthday which I think encouraged many people to act as though it was theirs as well. All in all, it resulted in a fun night with many pictures being shared this morning that only a select few remembered being taken in the first place.
Ok, I have to run now because some other people wish to use the internet before the battery runs out.
I look forward to seeing you all in a little over a week and hopefully I'll get around to updating all the in between bits you haven't heard about yet when I get home.
All my love from the bush,
Mia
This may or may not be my last post while I am in Africa but since I haven't written even half of my misadventures in here then when I'm back in the states I'll probably start again and attempt to make some swnse of the gibberish written in my journal. Meh.
Anyways, tomorrow is the start of my last week in South Africa and it comes with very mixed feelings. On one hand I can't wait to see everyone and show them my pictures because Karongwe has been an amazing experience and I wish I could have had all the amigos from home along with me. Then again, I have come to think of this place as home and will be sad to think that when I wake up at 0400hrs that it is not to go off in search for the lion pride or leopard that may or may not have escaped last night. I'm not even sure how I'll sleep upon my return when I don't have the hyenas and jackal calls lulling me to sleep and the "go away" grey lorrie to wake me up in the mornings. I imagine that it'll take a bit of adjusting to the noises of cars or glare of street lamps in the evening before I feel once more at home with "modern" living. (elecricity all the time?!? weird!)
Hopefully during this last week the leopard I have been talking about will be darted because I would really like to pet him before I go. That is pretty much the only thing I have unfinished here as I have seen (and gotten some amazing photos) of all the animals, both adults and cubs.
... and while I think it would be awesome to be "mock charged" at by an elephant or cheetah, my group has not had the good fortune (misfortune?) to wittness such events and have instead prided ourselves on getting the most sightings of the big male lion Zero in his mating endevours of Lisa. Poor girl.
We shall see what the week to come brings.
Right now the entire camp is pretty empty, majority of people sleeping off last night's partying at the pub "N the boss" (in the bush). As true to my fashion I remained sober (with only a few rum and cokes thrown in) and yet still joined the rest of the girls (and some of the staff) on the top of the bar for the "CROC"... which is where you dance on the bar then the bartender lifts you up by your ankles so you can reach the huge 15 ft mounted croc. Scary like all mad but it needed to be done. "No regrets, no fear" seems to be the theme of this trip for many here at Karongwe. Last night we also celebrated Shannon's (my roomie and best amiga here... who goes to VT, sweet!)21st birthday which I think encouraged many people to act as though it was theirs as well. All in all, it resulted in a fun night with many pictures being shared this morning that only a select few remembered being taken in the first place.
Ok, I have to run now because some other people wish to use the internet before the battery runs out.
I look forward to seeing you all in a little over a week and hopefully I'll get around to updating all the in between bits you haven't heard about yet when I get home.
All my love from the bush,
Mia
09 June 2008
Bless the rains down in Africa... and my favourite thing ever.
Hello again!
It's got to be an uber fast post this time cause I'm off on evening drive (and possibly a wild dog darting!) in about 30 min... Normally I write during my day off since most people go out on trips or whatnot that I can't really afford so I don't have to compete with them for internet time. Well this time I went on a trip! YAY! Before I start with all that, I have to answer Laura's questions from my last post...
1) I'll be back the 21 June... although I really really really want to go travelling with some of my mates here for a week after the expedition is finished, I don't think it'll happen cause changing plane reservations is expensive. :p
2)So far I have eaten some ostrich, Kudu, and later this week we are having Nyala on the braai (fire pit). I could have eaten some croc but I could never eat them cause they are too cute. Also I have an awesome recepie for bobuti which I'll make for you all upon my return. :D Give Pooh my love and I'll see you both in a few weeks.
Ok, so rewind to last Wed...
It is the last day of the week (Thursdays are off days and Fridays start the next week) and has thus been dubbed "Party Night". This party night we were going to the Blyde Club which is an outdoor bar with a huge thatch roof over it and a pool... complete with a sound system, big screen tvs (which seems strange after not seeing tv for so long), and pool table. Awesome place.
Unfortunately Wednesdays I also am on Telemetry duty. Which means I get to stand on the back of the truck in the freezing cold weather trying to make myself as tall as possible, holding a metal antennae, in order to attempt to pick up some beeps from the animal's radio collars. As you can tell I'm not a fan of doing this but it's totally worth it when you drive up and see the lions with the cubs or the elephants at the water hole. So Wednesday was going on forever and we were out on Elephant Focus (watch Eles for 6 hr shifts and record their behavior) and couldn't find the Eles anywhere. AHH! For 20 hugangous animals, you think they would be a lot easier to find! Anyways, just as Lo (the staff member driving us and the camp director)pulled up to see two males fighting across the (dry) river it begins to rain. He calls into camp saying "It's raining, half of my right arm is getting wet! I'm coming back!" all the while I (and my fellow team members in the back of the truck) are getting soaked. He speeds down the dirt roads in order to get back to base faster but it only makes the rain hit us harder and my mates hide under the seats in a vain attempt to stay dry.
... I on the other hand find it utterly wonderful (if cold as all heck) that it is raining during the dry winter season and sing "Africa"in the back as we speed home. Hehehe. You can't be in Africa when it's raining and not think of that song... so even though I am getting sick now, it was totally worth it.
Party night was nice if uneventful. Some of the staff from a nearby reptile park (that we visited my first week) were there and so I talked with them most of the night and was content with rum and coke or waters while some of my fellows spent the night downing shots and spending more money then I would care to imagine. Meh, to each their own.
Thursday, Mark (I call him Shaggy cause there are three Marks here)and I were up early because we rented a huge van (10 seater!) and organized a group of people to go to Hazyview for some sight seeing and horseback riding!
Happy Happy Happy.
Only six of us went riding, the other four went to a nearby mall, and yet I find it obscenely funny that I was the unspoken leader of the group. Perhaps because I've been riding the most? Who knows, I just think it's funny when people turn to you to figure things out when you have just about the same idea of what is going on as they do. :p
Riding was lovely, mostly slow walk and trotting because there were people in the group that have never ridden becfore, and we went through farms and rivers (mostly dried up) and I even ate an orange right off the tree. The best was at the end when Kirsty and I stayed back and let the group get a few hundred meters in front of us... then we all out cantered up to them. ~Happiness~ :D I missed riding so much and was worried about falling off. I think a combo of my previous skill resurfacing and pride at not to be embarrassed in front of my mates held me in and I regained my seat in no time.
Hmm, I wonder if anyone wants to go riding next week?
Meh, if not then riding when I return... Pooh bear, I'm looking at you!
Ok, I'm off now for drive.
All my love from the bush,
Mia
ps- there are a few pics on facebook that I put up when I was in town so check those out if you can. xoxo
It's got to be an uber fast post this time cause I'm off on evening drive (and possibly a wild dog darting!) in about 30 min... Normally I write during my day off since most people go out on trips or whatnot that I can't really afford so I don't have to compete with them for internet time. Well this time I went on a trip! YAY! Before I start with all that, I have to answer Laura's questions from my last post...
1) I'll be back the 21 June... although I really really really want to go travelling with some of my mates here for a week after the expedition is finished, I don't think it'll happen cause changing plane reservations is expensive. :p
2)So far I have eaten some ostrich, Kudu, and later this week we are having Nyala on the braai (fire pit). I could have eaten some croc but I could never eat them cause they are too cute. Also I have an awesome recepie for bobuti which I'll make for you all upon my return. :D Give Pooh my love and I'll see you both in a few weeks.
Ok, so rewind to last Wed...
It is the last day of the week (Thursdays are off days and Fridays start the next week) and has thus been dubbed "Party Night". This party night we were going to the Blyde Club which is an outdoor bar with a huge thatch roof over it and a pool... complete with a sound system, big screen tvs (which seems strange after not seeing tv for so long), and pool table. Awesome place.
Unfortunately Wednesdays I also am on Telemetry duty. Which means I get to stand on the back of the truck in the freezing cold weather trying to make myself as tall as possible, holding a metal antennae, in order to attempt to pick up some beeps from the animal's radio collars. As you can tell I'm not a fan of doing this but it's totally worth it when you drive up and see the lions with the cubs or the elephants at the water hole. So Wednesday was going on forever and we were out on Elephant Focus (watch Eles for 6 hr shifts and record their behavior) and couldn't find the Eles anywhere. AHH! For 20 hugangous animals, you think they would be a lot easier to find! Anyways, just as Lo (the staff member driving us and the camp director)pulled up to see two males fighting across the (dry) river it begins to rain. He calls into camp saying "It's raining, half of my right arm is getting wet! I'm coming back!" all the while I (and my fellow team members in the back of the truck) are getting soaked. He speeds down the dirt roads in order to get back to base faster but it only makes the rain hit us harder and my mates hide under the seats in a vain attempt to stay dry.
... I on the other hand find it utterly wonderful (if cold as all heck) that it is raining during the dry winter season and sing "Africa"in the back as we speed home. Hehehe. You can't be in Africa when it's raining and not think of that song... so even though I am getting sick now, it was totally worth it.
Party night was nice if uneventful. Some of the staff from a nearby reptile park (that we visited my first week) were there and so I talked with them most of the night and was content with rum and coke or waters while some of my fellows spent the night downing shots and spending more money then I would care to imagine. Meh, to each their own.
Thursday, Mark (I call him Shaggy cause there are three Marks here)and I were up early because we rented a huge van (10 seater!) and organized a group of people to go to Hazyview for some sight seeing and horseback riding!
Happy Happy Happy.
Only six of us went riding, the other four went to a nearby mall, and yet I find it obscenely funny that I was the unspoken leader of the group. Perhaps because I've been riding the most? Who knows, I just think it's funny when people turn to you to figure things out when you have just about the same idea of what is going on as they do. :p
Riding was lovely, mostly slow walk and trotting because there were people in the group that have never ridden becfore, and we went through farms and rivers (mostly dried up) and I even ate an orange right off the tree. The best was at the end when Kirsty and I stayed back and let the group get a few hundred meters in front of us... then we all out cantered up to them. ~Happiness~ :D I missed riding so much and was worried about falling off. I think a combo of my previous skill resurfacing and pride at not to be embarrassed in front of my mates held me in and I regained my seat in no time.
Hmm, I wonder if anyone wants to go riding next week?
Meh, if not then riding when I return... Pooh bear, I'm looking at you!
Ok, I'm off now for drive.
All my love from the bush,
Mia
ps- there are a few pics on facebook that I put up when I was in town so check those out if you can. xoxo
06 June 2008
Since this apparently was never published....
Hello again!
Just a quick note because I'm at an internet cafe today and it's uber expensive...
so instead of my usual rant of all the mischief I've been getting into, here are a few pictures of the hundreds (literally) that I have thus far. Enjoy
*Shannon, Emily, Sandra, Me, and Mac telemming on Beacon Rock*
*First evening drive in Africa.... and we found the new leopard!!!*
*Ele tracks in the river bed*
*Walk-in with Savannah.... she just ate an impala and was quite fat and sleepy*
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