Today is my first access to email and electricity in 8 days. we rode 40 km first on the back of a truck and then 7 of us squeezed into a taxi. so access to communication is limited. since i can only charge cell phone once every 8 days, i will only have it turned on btw 630 and 8 pm local time in Uganda. it also seems to be teh case that my phone does not receive messages when it is off, in case you have tried (i have no way of knowing). internet is slow, approx 9 minutes to open gmail site.
back at camp, we have 2 tents and a banda- i prefer the banda which is a round hut with thatch roof. we have a camping stove for cooking, and the staff are very nice and fill our jerry cans with water. im happy the bugs aerent as bad as expected, nor the heat. a shower consists of using about 2 inches of water in a bucket, so im pretty dirty! (ps thanks jenny for the gingerbread man sponge- cant get clean without it!!)
saw my first chimp in busingiro on sunday!! he climbed up a tree and stared at us for about an hour. next day- no chimps. they are not habituated at all, and no individuals can be recognized. soon ill be in kasokwa where the forest is a fragment and the chimps only have 73 hectares so tey are easier to find and ID. then on tuesday we saw something amazing- chimps hunting b&W colobus monkeys!! the forest is heavily logged so there are many clearings. we had a great view of the tree where 4 colobus were (2 males, 1 fem, 1 juvenile). 2 male chimps climbed up, one blocked escape route, and one went after the monkeys. the male colobus and chimp fought for a few seconds then the chimp grabbed him and flung him out of the tree. we didnt hear chimps "cheering" below so we thought he got away, until we followed their trail and found blood, bits of cranium, tuft of fur, and little pieces of meat on the ground. it was so exciting- we all held our breath during hte hunt. the two volunteers training me and shannon had barely seen any chimps in the whole 3 months they have been here so they were just as amazed!!
ill be back to email maaaaybe on sunday when we return from our weekend trip to murchison falls, but if not, then count 8 more days.....
love, katie
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Up, Up, and Away!
Flight to Entebbe, Uganda: $2,204.22
Vaccines and medication for yellow fever, tetanus, rabies, meningitis, hepatitis, typhoid, tuberculosis, polio, and malaria (but not ebola): $1,179.00
Observing chimpanzees in the wild: PRICELESS
You may have heard of this inspirational woman and pioneer of primatology- Jane Goodall. She's so big now, she has an institute. If you are receiving this email from me, there is no doubt you have heard of her, and I am excited to announce that I will be working as a research assistant at (you guessed it) the Jane Goodall Institute in the Budongo Forest of Uganda for 3 months. Then I will be off exploring other areas of Africa for a few months.
I will be helping collect data for a PhD student's thesis project assessing chimpanzee stress response to human impact on the forest. Basically, humans cutting down trees, hunting animals, and otherwise disturbing the habitat stresses the chimps out; sustained levels of high stress can lead to lower immune function (you know how you always get sick during finals week...).
With lower immune function comes lower long-term survival, bad news for an endangered species! Considering conservation, the goal is to create a management plan to protect the chimps and educate the locals on the importance of conserving their dwindling resources.
And this won't be a luxury safari- far from it. No electricity, no running water. As for accommodations, I was told to bring a tent and sleeping bag. Nonetheless, I've never been so excited!
By now it should be fairly obvious that I will be away from all the modern conveniences of the internet, though I will try to make it to Masindi town (about 40 km from my tent) to check email and charge batteries every now and then. I will send out monthly updates of my whereabouts and adventures, and I will also try to write in my brand new blog ( http://mskatiehall.blogspot.com/ ). Also check out my photo page when you get a chance ( http://community.webshots.com/user/MsKatieHall )
I wish everyone an adventurous, eventful (and safe!) 2008.
-Katie Hall
PS If you do not want to receive emails, or if you want them sent to a different address, please let me know asap!
PPS I'm taking bets for the maximum number of bug bites I may have at any given moment
Vaccines and medication for yellow fever, tetanus, rabies, meningitis, hepatitis, typhoid, tuberculosis, polio, and malaria (but not ebola): $1,179.00
Observing chimpanzees in the wild: PRICELESS
You may have heard of this inspirational woman and pioneer of primatology- Jane Goodall. She's so big now, she has an institute. If you are receiving this email from me, there is no doubt you have heard of her, and I am excited to announce that I will be working as a research assistant at (you guessed it) the Jane Goodall Institute in the Budongo Forest of Uganda for 3 months. Then I will be off exploring other areas of Africa for a few months.
I will be helping collect data for a PhD student's thesis project assessing chimpanzee stress response to human impact on the forest. Basically, humans cutting down trees, hunting animals, and otherwise disturbing the habitat stresses the chimps out; sustained levels of high stress can lead to lower immune function (you know how you always get sick during finals week...).
With lower immune function comes lower long-term survival, bad news for an endangered species! Considering conservation, the goal is to create a management plan to protect the chimps and educate the locals on the importance of conserving their dwindling resources.
And this won't be a luxury safari- far from it. No electricity, no running water. As for accommodations, I was told to bring a tent and sleeping bag. Nonetheless, I've never been so excited!
By now it should be fairly obvious that I will be away from all the modern conveniences of the internet, though I will try to make it to Masindi town (about 40 km from my tent) to check email and charge batteries every now and then. I will send out monthly updates of my whereabouts and adventures, and I will also try to write in my brand new blog ( http://mskatiehall.blogspot
I wish everyone an adventurous, eventful (and safe!) 2008.
-Katie Hall
PS If you do not want to receive emails, or if you want them sent to a different address, please let me know asap!
PPS I'm taking bets for the maximum number of bug bites I may have at any given moment
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