In painful news, I get the feeling that there are more insects this year. Not only are the sweat bees annoying us in their thousands (everyone is jealous of my hat), but I’ve been stung by wasps several times. Yesterday I was stung by the biggest, baddest wasp ever and my leg swelled up. Feeling a little sorry for myself. Could use a hug.
But bonobos are good, research is great, I’m getting really excited about analysing and writing next year.
March 23rd
Mega Wasp sting is doing better. And don’t worry – we have an epipen in case of any serious allergic reactions, and my doxycycline works as an antibiotic if I ever get an infection. I’m prepared. The only thing I don’t have in my first aid kit is a hug from mom [cue “awwwww”].
March 31st
On the 25th, Ichi had a baby! It was a real surprise. None of us knew she was pregnant, and her son Isao is only 2 years 10 months, which makes it a fairly short inter-birth interval. Nahoko asked me to suggest a name, so now there’s an Isha at Wamba! I’m sure human Isha will appreciate that a number of the males in that group are named after whiskies.
It seems the rainy season has come a month early. Sakamaki said that the dry season started a month early too, so I’m hoping that the July fruiting season starts in June. Usually all the big fruits that they share are most abundant in July. It would be nice to see them in June, because it’s meant to be great for filming.
April 14th
I’m good. Work is going well. Lots of video and a fair bit of coding. Had some very rainy mornings and a few long walks. Every day something interesting happens. Like at the moment, Ichi is nursing both Isha AND Isao, because Isao wasn’t weaned before she had Isha. Feel pretty sorry for her. She must have to eat A LOT to keep energy up for all of them!
April 21
Heungjin left this week, so now it’s just Nahoko and me until July. It’s a good thing she’s such great company!! :) We lost the bonobos for a few days – a combination of bad weather, small group size, and lots of walking. It was actually a blessing to have a few days off to prepare for the last few days. On Sunday P group went deep into the swamp to eat belilo, a kind of palm that grows right near the river banks. Yesterday Kame Kake also had a swamp day, but they just ate simbukilo (truffles) in nice open areas so I filled my memory card with video footage. Today it threatened to rain all morning so they stayed in their nests. It’s raining now, but we’ve got coffee to keep us warm and Nahoko brought bread back from Djolu. Nice treat!
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I don't have internet in the field, so this post was thanks to Carol Graham
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