Bye, bye to the walks under the sun, sleeping until passed the sunrise, social life and free time. Back to 12-14h of thorns and cute evil monkeys running away at the scan time. And now that the dry season is ending and the temperatures are increasing, the spiders start to set their webs on the forest (the veil in your face) and the likelihood of encountering a snake is much greater. Actually, some of the Germans saw a Spitting cobra last week when following my troop (great!).
After sleeping 5 hours, because an application for a job kept me awake
until late, I had my monkey breakfast, which consist in porridge (people
laugh at me, but one appreciates to don't need to chew to fill the
stomach at 4-5 a.m) and coffee, this time mixed with chicory which,
apparently is typical, and also much cheaper (best choice for a future
pizza-maker). Then I walked to the sleeping site close to the Owner's garden where the monkeys were already jumping from one branch to the other in the mist, pretending that they hadn’t missed me, ha.
Not much later, they went close to the Barn, giving me the chance of picking my camera up and take some pictures of them on the PhD student's roof or messing in the pile of ash of the braai.
Soon, I started to see the monkeys with the tags that a different research group put them last week. Now the Germans call Greg Jack because of Jack Sparrow...I don't think he gives a s^@t, so he has 2 or even 3 different names.
During the day we had several encounters with the local fauna, including dassies, bushbucks (daily) and tree funny warthogs a little bit unsure about if they should escape from me or not. The best was a lonely ibis that was on the ground doing the call they make at dusk and dawn, while the monkeys, chewing flowers looked at it like saying 'are you nuts, man?'
The sleeping time was crazy; first with Guinea fowl that came to sleep around and then I heard many of the monkeys vocalizing, booms, pyows and branches shaking. Trying to enter all the data, I managed to walk to the place without getting my legs broken (is a f&%cking stony place). The Belgian was there with Barn troop...and an eagle too! With so many emotions, it doesn't shock that the monkeys took nearly one hour after the sunset before to sleep.
Back at the Barn, the Israelian had prepared a sushi night which also served as farewell dinner for the last Frenchs, it's a pity that the long day transformed me into a grumpy zombie (It's not healthy to work the double of hours that you sleep).
Next 'morning', the Belgian and I went back to the sleeping site and dived to collect the data of each of our troops. Mines woke up early and started to walk towards the road within the mist. There we found one of the German students that was supposed to be following Barn troop. I told her that the troop around was House and she told me that she expected it, because Barn troop never went there. Never is a huge word when you have only been following the monkeys for 2 weeks, I don’t dare to say it after 4 months, but I guess that that explains everything.
After she went to asked the Belgian about the other troop, the monkeys and me had a peaceful cloudy-misty day without any bad encounter (now I’m all the time expecting a snake), while thinking in the meeting with the director of the project.
Around 15h, they left the acacia forest and went to the Owner’s garden to feed on a huge Broom-cluster fig. They were all perfect on the ground chewing figs when, suddenly, they started with their squeals and I felt something slobbery on my neck; Gunter, of course, the smelliest dog ever.
Close to the sleeping time, I stopped to watch some of the monkeys that, again, were feeding on figs; this time in the forest. It was pretty funny to watch them fighting with each other for the fruits, even if there were more than enough for everybody. Guess selfishness comes from far in our phylogeny.
Next day I only had sleeping sites, but on Friday I had to follow them again and it was a really weird day. It was raining all the night until 20 minutes before I left, and then the mist came, giving a kind of dream-like landscape, where the monkeys walked quietly and vigilant.
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