February 2009

My work schedule became a little more relaxed as summer faded away – not that it wasn’t damned HOT (45C almost every day), but the days were getting shorter and I have a hard time getting out of bed when its not bright outside (I know, what am I going to do in Germany?!?). I did, however, come to the realization that due to the nature of my work I had no real need to get up early anyway, as long as I still put in 8 hours of work every day, which wasn’t a problem considering that’s about all we had to do anyway. Learned a lot more about GIS over the last few months thanks to the books I brought (thanks Brian, you rock my world!), and trial and error. A huge relief. Spent more time at the Wildekrantz River waterfalls to avoid the heat – they were sheltered by Afromontane Forest and the water coming from the mountain is super cool. In the photo you can see it’s brown from all the tannins in the fynbos. Took me a day or so of flushing and reflushing the toilet to realize that.

Steven and Sarah arrived – Steve was originally from South Africa but has been living in Ireland I believe, and Sarah was from Wales. Nice to have such a diverse group. Unfortunately they were also followed by Michael – the most obnoxious Aussie I have ever met in my entire life. Scratch that – most obnoxious person. One of those people where if I was in a different situation I would put up with him for a day then do everything in my power to avoid him at all costs. Fortunately we didn’t have to live together – Diego Elodie and I stayed at the Heron House while Michael, Steve and Sarah moved into the Weaver’s Nest. Unfortunately I had to work with him almost every day (he was there to help create a new trail system). Opinionated, ignorant, vegan (ok I have nothing against that but it was like a religion to him and he was like a Mormon about it), loud mouthed, intrusive…. Aahhhh. Paula heard about this baboon sanctuary over the mountains, Cape Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife and the Joshua Baboon Sanctuary, AKA The Manger. She agreed to let me tag along on one of her trips to speak to the owners, Peter and Nola. They know more about baboons than a lot of primatologists, so she was hoping to talk to them about our wild troop and just make general acquaintances because they seemed like amazing people (Pete was a homeopathic doctor, they are both extremely spiritual, and they managed to raise like 90 orphaned or injured baboons even though they had no background in anything related). She was right – they had great insight into the minds of the baboons. Maybe not as much as they would like to believe – they have an ‘animal communicator’ who can talk to some of the baboons so the baboons can speak to Nola and Peter if they need anything. Aside from that, the whole thing was very legit – orphaned babies start out being hand raised, then they are put in a small cage with a few other babies, then the babies are put in with an adult female who has already reared children and will adopt the babies and an adult male who as long as he has another female around, will not partake in infanticide.

Its all a lot more complicated in that but basically they are able to create troops of baboons from individuals who were brought to the sanctuary. Once a troop is formed they can take on more and more baboons. The ultimate goal is to release them into a large enclosure – either 5 hectares or 100 hectares. They cannot release them back into the wild because it is not safe for them. In the large enclosures they are able to assimilate into a hierarchical troop with an alpha male in charge. The only big difference is that they are protected from the outside world of farmers who shoot anything that moves and they are support fed twice a day by Nola and her workers. It’s an amazing system. I already wanted to give them all of my money, and then I met Caitlin. I have never felt any kind of attraction to primates the way people like Paula do – they are amazing creatures; smart, fun loving, adorable – but the fascination wasn’t there. Caitlin changed everything. She was almost 10 weeks old at this point, still a little black ball of fluff with an adorable pink face, and still in the hand rearing stage.

We all sat on the porch to talk and have tea when Peter brought her out. She was very shy at first, and clung to him in her little diaper, hugging her bottle, looking at us wearily. Eventually she felt comfortable enough to venture a few feet away from his leg, where she would fiddle with something that caught her eye (shoelaces, shiny things…), then scramble back to safety. At one point she caught sight of my ring. She wasn’t brave enough to get close to me, but she sat on the edge of Pete’s chair, looking at my face, then at my ring. She was so mesmerized that she dropped her bottle to the floor, which I picked up and held out to her. She reached for it immediately, and then in a moment of hesitation, looked up at me, only she just sat there, looking at me, and I cannot explain how it felt. It was like looking at a human baby in a fuzzy little body – the curiosity on her face, the emotion in her eyes. Eventually our little moment was over, but she came back a few minutes later with a bit more courage, on a mission to steal my ring. She stepped forward tentatively, on 2 feel because she clutched her bottle to her, so I put my hand on the floor next to her. She immediately tried to pick up my whole hand, began fingering the ring, twisting it around and biting it with her tiny little teeth. Her little hands were so dexterous! I could already imagine what a handful she could probably be, the trouble she could get into if given the chance.
Unfortunately that was the extent of my monkey bonding at the time, but it gave me a huge newfound appreciation for baboons, and Nola invited me back to take care of Caitlin for a few weeks since Peter had been ill and couldn’t care for her as much as she needed. I thought I was going to pee my pants I was so excited…

January 2009

Back to work. Paula and I began working on a biomonitoring project which ended up being a total pain. Luckily about halfway through a botanist from Spain arrived – Diego – and we were able to finish identifying every tiny little plant in each of our plots. I never thought I would be able to think of a reason that having the highest plant diversity in the world would suck. There you go. Glad I won’t be here next January for the followup, even though the results should be interesting as the vegetation heals from previous disturbance.

Diego arrived with his girlfriend Elodie, who is from France and was here to study the geology and soils at Wildcliff. It was awesome to have them here – they are extremely nice, very talkative, love wine, and know how to assert their opinions in a discussion without trying to strike everyone elses down. And there wasn’t the usual couple drama, either.



(This is how excited I was when the biomonitoring project was over...)


To be honest I don’t think anything important happened in January, just lots of work balanced with lots of wine, which we reserved for the weekend, even though every day is the same here. It basically just gave us an excuse to keep track of the days of the week and to look forward to something.

December 2008

Belgians left. Americans arrived. Saw much more of the baboons at Wildcliff. Continued with wattle mapping and hating. Met my first Puffadder. Chillin on the front porch waiting to eat the next person who dared enter the house. When he finally left he managed to hide in a little itty bitty patch of grass next to the house and swear to god you could NOT see him. Started walking much slower and watching every place I put my feet.

More hikes to the Hidden Valley and Ena’s Falls. Realized the incredible need for a proper trail in the Hidden Valley, as more than ½ of the reserve is unreachable. Went on a reconnaissance trip with the Belgians before they left to attempt reaching the furthest mountain. Total disaster – we only made it about 1/3 of the way in and gave up – the proteas were almost 2m tall and THICK. You couldn’t see where you were going, where you had come from, or where everyone else was, and you had to be super careful that you didn’t run into one of the giant ant… sacks… that live face high in the proteas. Pop one of those and you’ll regret it immediately. I found out that ‘Marco Polo’ is a game that only American’s play. Eventually made it out only to find ourselves covered head to toe in gnarly scratches and bruises. I changed my new favorite flower again – NOT a protea.

I hate these photos of Hidden Valley – they make it look like gorgeous rolling hills of grass and flowers – don’t believe it! They lie!

Christmas trip: Cape Town – met Phillip and Ariadne. Phil is Matt Briggs’s brother, who I have never met, who I planned to travel to Joberg with to spend Christmas, with his parents who I have never met. Lots of wine and getting to know each other. Arrival in Joberg – Matt’s parents are being robbed. 10 hours of police coming in and out, making his parents repeat everything, doing jack all and walking around in circles. No wonder this city has the highest crime rate in the world. Welcome to Johannesburg. Lovely Christmas despite the robbery, Matt’s parents were amazingly hospitable, I hated that I couldn’t to anything to help.

Drove to the Drakensberg mountains with Antony and his new wife a few days later. Great people, fun conversation, terrible music (you know those CDs ‘NOW that’s what I call music’? Imagine that on repeat. Aaarghhhh!). Met up with Phil and Ari in Bergville, had an amazing week with them. Weird to be hanging out with all of Matt’s family and not have him here. Nobody seemed to have any good stories worth taking back to Texas. I’ll get it out of them someday. Found out they had a litter of dassies in their backyard (rock hyrax), I had seen them in Cape Town - they're like giant fat guinea pigs that can scale boulders, only they are closer related to elephants than rodents. Crazy stuff. Anyway, I was able to sneak up to spy on them a few times, as long as the dogs didn't tag along.

A few great hiking trips – Thukela Falls via Mont Au Sources and the chain ladders was long and difficult at times but had gorgeous views. Too bad there was a giant damned cloud blocking our view from the top of the 2^nd tallest waterfall in the world. The clouds were amazing – Crawling Eye anyone? No?

Too much wine New Years Eve. Had a great time swapping music with Phillip though, I think. Headed to Spoinkop Dam the next day, headache and all, had a lovely braai and went on my first mini game drive. Impala, Nyala, White Rhino, Zebra, Hartebeest, Blesbok, Giraffe, Tseebee, Waterbuck…

Hopped on the bus and headed for the “Wild Coast” – such an amazing experience there is no way I can capture it either through pictures or words. Probably seemed even better due to the fact that I barely made it there alive after a 5 hour ride in a minicab packed with 12 people (there were 5 seats) and a driver who was so drunk he kept falling asleep at the wheel. New vocabulary word – daga. Met some people on the bus (we were literally lying on top of each other for 5 hours, it would be awkward if we didn't talk), so it was nice to share adventures with fellow travelers. Plus the guy from Paris had a camera and shared his photos.

So 5 days of paradise at Port St. Johns and Coffee Bay, watching sunsets, playing rugby on the beach, learning how to spin fire, exploring the town, attempting to teach people that KFC is not all American's eat (it is SO much more popular here than it is in the US - WHY?!), listening to live music as bands stop by for a night or two on their holiday journeys. Met a giant sea turtle who decided to surface right next to me while I was swimming and feeling a bit paranoid about sharks. All could think of was the turtle in Finding Nemo (“Whoa, Dude. Mister Turtle is my father. The name's Crush.”)

After another day or so on the Baz Bus, ended up in the legendary Jeffrey’s Bay. Wasn’t a great season for waves, but stunning nonetheless. I came to the terribly depressing realization that I will never be a good surfer. Was able to supplement my failures at Magma by watching the pros. Wicked. Had some great conversations at the backpackers with people coming from all over the world to surf Supertubes and Magma. Fell asleep to the sound of the waves every night, woke up to see kite surfers flying past my window every morning. Did NOT want to leave that place.

November 2008

First trip to the outside world – the Belgians, Freek (one of the workers at Wildcliff) and I went to Swellendam to celebrate Katrein’s birthday. About 2 hours away if you’re driving fast and don’t hit any cattle. Cute little town - same kind of dutch architecture as Heidelberg but the town itself is larger and seems to have a little more history behind it. Not that there is too much to see, so we went to Bontebok park, where there was a lovely little area for a braai and swim.


Afterwards we met some interesting Afrikaaners at a pub (we only stopped to watch the rugby game – honest!), ended up going with them to a party at Bontebok Park. ‘Party’ = ‘braai’ = excessive drinking and eating of red meat (Have I left Texas?). Introduced to the local drink – brandy and coke. Gross. Also the ‘springbok’ – mint liqueur with amarula. Double gross. Could not convince them that Jose Cuervo is not the best tequila in the world.
Ended up staying in touch with Bryan (the guy attempting to teach Katrein drums), a funny Brit with a super strong accent and lots of stories.
























Mugging – nothing to say. Sucked. Did get to visit Betty’s Bay though, lots of penguins! No photos for obvious reasons. HUGE flood a few days before my return – all the roads were flooded so I had to delay my return a bit. Reminded me of a good Texas flood :)

Keith and Bryce were joined by Paula, Keith’s wife, and Abigail, Bryce’s sister. Adorable family. Keith was in the air force for 20 years and they have known each other since high school, so it gave me hope during the times when I was frustrated about being so far from Luke. Paula studies the baboons at Wildcliff, more specifically their ability to self medicate. She was a bit frustrated at first because the main troop is almost too large to study – they are always very spread out, and its almost impossible to have an ID for every baboon (we estimated that there were about 80 at the time). Had a lovely Thanksgiving back at Wildcliff. We were able to make just about all the traditional dishes – Keith even managed to find a turkey :)

October 2008

Two 11 hour flights, an 11 hour layover in London, and finally my arrival in South Africa! Shenanigans in Cape Town. Welcome to Wildcliff. Yes, we speak English here. Important vocab words learned – braai, bakkie, lekker.

General getting to know Wildcliff month. Started out by going into the field every day by 7:00 with my trusty GPS, mapping the extent of the remaining black wattle trees. Realized that 955 hectares isn’t as small as I expected. Met a lot of new interesting creatures and developed a curiosity for my surroundings that I have never had so such an extent. Began my yearlong quest to learn everything I can about the fynbos and its inhabitants. Changed my new favorite flower at least 5 times every week. Developed a newfound appreciation for beetles.

Took me a while to grow accustomed to the sounds of nature, or the lack of sounds of the city. The Cape Weavers were in their breeding season and their singles bar happened to be right outside our house. The males build these awesome little hanging nests, then hang upside down from them when they see the ladies, squawking ‘pick me, pick me!’ One by one the ladies chose their favorite nest and start their lil families, and gradually the squawking was replaced by the chirps of baby weavers.

This was an invited change, but one day we heard the squawking again and went outside only to find that a female boomslang was having weaver chicks for supper. He was bringing his meal back down the branches as the other weavers divebombed him, as if that would help save the chick.

She came back once or twice that month, and his arrival was always signaled by the chaotic shrieks, so we were able to witness it most times.

Gorgeous snakes - we also have them in a bright, neon green (males). They have huge eyes, the largest of any African snake. Back-fanged and super venomous, but very shy. I have never heard of someone getting bitten by these guys (aside from the snake handlers and occasional stupid tourist).

Put together a pretty sweet Halloween scavenger hunt for Bryce, the son of the reserve’s manager Keith. The Belgians and I dressed up as the Witches of Wildcliff (our costume options were severely limited) and I learned quickly to not talk about American politics outside of America. Too late to pretend to be Canadian, damn.

Began the stages of my hate/hate relationship with black wattle. First stage – ‘aw, but they’re kind of pretty. Such a shame to cut them all down…’ Granted, I arrived when they were blooming. Second stage – pulling out every wattle seedling in sight. Hours each day in the field dedicated to this. Third stage – denial. All hope has faded, nothing is being done, and I was witness to the total destruction of these trees from hell. I wouldn’t make it to the fourth stage until June, so basically I went between the second and third stages for about 9 months.

Don't act so surprised...

Yes, I am probably the worst traveler ever for not keeping a written account of my adventures. I have started at least 5 journals since I arrived to South Africa

in October, but they have all been either forgotten, converted into field notebooks, or burned. I like to think that I can look back on my photos and they will tell my story of the past year, but due to my mugging, camera malfunctions, and general horrid luck in the photographic arena, I’m not sure that I can say that either.

I told a lot of people that I would be keeping a blog during my time in Africa. Apologies for that. This isn’t going to be a blog for me to attempt to tell you everything that has happened since my arrival and my emotions towards those events. Rather, I hope to keep a small, severely abbreviated record of my favorite moments that I think my loved ones will appreciate.

If you happen to be one of those loved ones, I want to thank you for your support. Sometimes I still pinch myself - it all still seems to good to be true. Please forgive me if I have not kept in touch, I promise to work on that.