livingmydream

Tody's ashes

2011-07-10T03:44:00.001-07:00

We lost Tody a year ago January. She was one of my closest friends - we met at Purdue oh so many years ago and the bond that formed that year in the middle 70s was strong. Tody, Candi, Cyndie and Mary Jane - we still get together almost every year. That bond is still strong. Tody was going to visit me here in Rwanda - we had just started making plans when a cerebral aneurysm took her while she was skiing in Colorado. This February some of Tody's ashes were lovingly spread in Colorado on those slopes by Jeannie and Rick, Tody's brother and sister-in-law, along with Mary Jane and Bruce, Margaret and Sally. A fitting place for her ashes to be released.

Candi made a wonderful CD of music for all of us this February, in remembrance of Tody - music has a way of transporting us through time and space, and Tody LOVED music. Since I was still in Rwanda, Candi put the CD in the mail - all the way to Rwanda. I even marked my calendar so I would know to look for it at the little post office down the street – everything takes about 35 days to get here from the US. But the date came and went – no CD from Candi. March and April passed... I’ve learned to be patient here so I waited some more. I traveled back to Indiana for the month of May. I talked to Candi when I got home, and she learned that for some strange reason the CD she tried to send me was held up in Kansas City! Of all places! Not Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Entebbe. Nope, in Kansas City. Go figure. So Candi made another copy for me, and sent it to Indianapolis. When it arrived, I played the CD from beginning to end, sitting on our couch in the family room with my eyes closed. Remembering. Singing out loud. Transported through time and space to our dorm room. Our apartment on Fowler. Our trips visiting one another over the years. Remembering Tody, remembering our friendship and fun times together. Remembering me all those years ago. Remembering who I am at my core.

Then I came back to Rwanda in early June. When I walked into my office there were two packages about the size of a CD sitting on my desk. One was from Candi, and one from Mary Jane. The CD had finally arrived from Kansas City! The other was my portion of Tody’s ashes. I had forgotten that they were coming for me to spread here in Rwanda. I just sat for a bit at my desk and gently held the package in my hands. Tody. Here in Rwanda at last. The package sat on my desk for about 3 weeks - I was wildly busy and wanted to wait until the right moment to release the ashes. The right place and a good, peaceful frame of mind for me.

Last week I was in Rumangabo. One of the most beautiful places on earth. It is in Congo, and is the park headquarters for the Virunga National Park. I brought the package - sitting comfortably next to my computer while I took care of a sick baby gorilla. The gorilla got better, and as I sat in my tent that night I again held the little package and thought about Tody - I would have brought her here when she visited and she would have LOVED it. Rumangabo is beautiful, exotic, and a little risky - yes, she would have loved it! But it still didn't feel quite right to me, so the package went back into the computer bag.

Last evening I went to a place called Virunga Lodge - way up on the top of a hill here in Rwanda, with a perfect view of all 6 volcanoes. One of the other most beautiful places on earth. Stunning really. As I was walking back to the truck after speaking to some visitors, the night was cool, the stars were shining, and the half moon was casting long shadows. It felt good. I felt good. I stopped by a small table and chairs that served as a rest spot for people who wanted to admire the view. And I gently opened the package and released Tody's ashes. I could see them lightly sprinkled over the foliage, bright in the moonlight. I smiled through tears - she smiled too I'm sure.

In my garden today

2010-12-16T07:13:00.001-08:00

Ama and Boots

2010-12-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

Uganda tomorrow

2010-12-02T05:16:00.000-08:00

Going to Uganda tomorrow to try to take a snare from a baby gorilla. Send all your positive vibes our way - this is the same group we worked in 8 weeks ago. and this time the snare is around the baby's neck and shoulder. Three silverbacks, 2 blackbacks, a juvenile male and 2 moms with babies. We will need good luck....

And for smiles, here is Ama relaxing in her bed the other night!

Home, part 2

2010-11-30T08:00:00.001-08:00

Last month I had a week at home in Indiana with my family and friends. It was great. Too short, but great. I got together with all my sisters and their kids for the first time in YEARS!!! Here we are, all together, on Halloween at Linda's house.

I also had a great time with all of the Newells at a gathering at our house - Veronica and Daniel are growing up so fast!

It was so wonderful to spend time with Bob, Sara, Taylor, Aaron and Sydney, and a great dinner out with Peg - Bob's mom. My cousin Kris also took the time to drive to Indy meet for lunch - we had a wonderful time. And of course cuddle time with Fred (he was a total wiggle butt - I miss him so), Dave and Misty too...I squeezed a lot of love and visiting into that week!

I had a great time at the zoo too, gave a talk or two, and just hung out at the hospital. It felt comfortable and familiar, and I loved seeing everyone!!!

I also was determined to squeeze in a massage - my aching back really wanted a good massage, so I made an appointment, and at 9am sharp I showed up at Massage Envy, only to find out they had NOT booked my appointment! I argued, pleaded, whined and got angry, to no avail. There was no appointment. Did I DREAM I made the appointment? Have I really lost my mind????? I was crushed. The only other time they had available was when I was not available.... No massage for me.

BUT THEN.... on my way home from the zoo, I passed a place called Dove Spa. I was drawn like a moth to a flame - I back massage might really be possible! I zipped into the parking lot and walked into the typically low light and mellow room, but nobody was around. Maybe they are all giving massages, I thought.

"HELLOOOOO?" I said softly. I was determined. Two Chinese women came hurrying to the check in window - I was so relieved - I was going to get that knot worked out of my back for sure!

The older woman said "You want furr body, backie or footie???".

"Uh, pardon me?" I said back, a little confused. I though they would take my name and make me fill out a full medical history...

"Furr body, backie or footie?"

"Well, uh, backie I guess."

"Ok, you go in room 1 take clothes off"

"Um, do you want my name?"

By this time a man walked in and welcomed me to Dove Spa. I thanked him and asked who would do my massage.

"The girls. Go to room 1 and take clothes off"

HMMM, I thought. But I REALLY needed a massage. I went to room 1 and took my clothes off. The younger woman came in and turned on some nice massage music and started in on my back. I said "you can push a little harder if you want" and she said "English no good", so I just relaxed and hoped for the best.

IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST MASSAGES I'VE EVER HAD!!!! She worked out the knot I'd had in my right shoulder for the past 6 months. I felt like a million bucks. Backie indeed. I'll go backie next time I'm home!!

Bob, Taylor and Sydney dropped me off at the airport. It was hard to leave in some ways, but I am so looking forward to Bob and Taylor's visit over Christmas! We'll trek gorillas on Christmas day, then visit several parks in Uganda. Can't wait!!!

I landed in Kigali and felt at home and familiar there too. After the 2 hour ride back to Ruhengeri it was great to see Leon's smiling face, and hear Faustin's wonderful laugh, and AMA!!!! She was soooo happy to see me!

When I got back to Ruhengeri I was surprised with a new MGVP retreat - a little bungalo behind my house where I can work, hide, and well, maybe drink some wine with my friends!

Home, part 1

2010-10-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was hurrying to get everything done that needed doing before I left for 2 weeks, and trying to say goodbye to everyone - then, as usual, I was a bit late, so I flew out the door to the waiting taxi, and when we were on our way I realize I had missed saying good bye to Ama. I will miss her!!!

Eddy and I are headed to Texas for an AAZV meeting - I am soooo happy Eddy won a scholarship so he can attend this meeting. He is one of our best and brightest, and a heck of a nice guy too! It will be great to have him there! We got to Kigali with absolutely no problems for either of our flights. Amazing. Unfortunately it was really hot, and I was so sweaty and very smelly by the time I got to immigration at Kigali airport that I was embarrassed, and I had another 36 hours to go…with no change of clothes...ugh. As I was filling out my immigration departure form I started to smell a familiar, but not so good smell. Not me, but Chewy. Ugh. Chewy is one of our guard dogs, and I love him like crazy, but he smells really bad (yeasty ears, chronic wet dog smell...). Where on earth was the small coming from????? Is it my pillow??? ME???? After some surreptitious sniffing, I realized with horror that it is my pants. Oh no. Mzungu that smells like sweat and wet dog getting ready to board a plane. Nice. I went to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands and tried to delicately clean my pits. But the pants.... nothing to be done.

A quick 1.5 hour flight to Nairobi, then a 3 hour wait. At Nairobi airport I am for the first time in months, surrounded by white people. I am used to hearing a language I don’t understand, but here there are dozens of languages. People in turbans, tons of American, Asian and European tourists, and Africans of every flavor in their beautiful colors. I walk, shop and watch. And sweat some more, but here in Nairobi there is such a bouquet of smells I blend in. After I check in, I am ushered into the air conditioned waiting area (thank god, my pants no longer smell like wet dog, at least to me, and I’m not getting any strange glances or crinkled noses in my general direction). But there are NO Africans in the waiting area. None. No people of color. Feels strange. I watch as countless people walk under an air duct that is dripping water every now and then. It feels a little like candid camera – people duck and look up, some bemused, some angry, and some just confused. Four older ladies walked under it, obviously traveling together, and they each one got dripped on, giggling and pointing at one another. Maybe that will be me and my girlfriends in another decade! It is amusing. Then Ty Pennington blares on the television – “GOOD MORNING CARTER FAMILY!!!!” Oh-my-god. I watched as the team meet the unfortunate and tearful family, send them on vacation, and then tear down a house that would be worth a fortune in Rwanda. But it isn’t in Rwanda. That’s what I have to keep telling myself. And so my re-entry to life in a developed country begins.

On the flight to London (boarded at midnight) I pulled on my socks and got out my fleece, trying to settle in for a sleep. I was seated next to 2 men who won a week long trip to Malawi through a trident chewing gum contest! Nobody wins those! They had a blast and stayed at the best lodges – no strings attached. Amazing. They didn't ask me what I did in Rwanda – I’m sort of glad, but sort of disappointed too. We all slept until they woke us for breakfast at 5am.

London. Heathrow. Cold wind when we deplane at 6am. Shiny and well lit with huge shops. Coffee and a muffin for $10. Perfumes and leather bags. People with pink hair, people with long tweed coats, young moms looking harried, backpackers. TONS of white people speaking English. Then I see a group of businessmen from Kenya, and feel a bit more at home in their midst for a moment. Not sure why…Maybe I still want to be part of that world?

Time to board the plane to Houston where I meet Eddy and we head to South Padre Island for a week. Then HOME for a week! I am soooo looking forward to family and friends! There will probably be lots of americans on this flight. Hope I don't smell too bad....

A day that got my heart rate elevated....

2010-10-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.gorilladoctorsblog.org/field-blog/2010/10/20/intervention-in-uganda-saving-a-baby-mountain-gorilla-from-a.html

Graduation at Art of Conservation classes

2010-10-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the graduation celebration for 2 Art of Conservation classes.
www.art-of-conservation.com

Like any other graduation it was exciting and chaotic. Proud parents, who in general are much less educated than their children, sat on the sidelines as the kids walked up to the front to say "I am an Art of Conservation Graduate" into the microphone, and receive their portfolios of work to share with their parents or guardians. There were a large number of local kids gathered to watch the proceedings, and many local authorities attended and gave nice speeches. The kids performed for the crowd with songs and dance - several were directed at thanking Julie and Art-of-Conservation. Great day full of smiles and enthusiasm! Take a look at the photos, and you'll get a sense of the feeling of the day.

Local authorities watching alternative fuel briquette demonstration.

Julie receiving gift of traditional gown.

Flat tire at the Uganda/Rwanda border

2010-08-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to Kisoro, Uganda for a bit of a holiday. It was election weekend in Rwanda, AND I visited with some friends in Uganda. It was great fun - we drummed with Sheba, hiked to see Golden Monkeys, ate good food, drank good beer and in general had a blast. I stayed at the historic Travelers Rest. Here are a couple of photos of the hotel.

When I got to the border to go back to Rwanda, the crossing was relatively easy - no long lines, no long wait to get the passport stamped - all seemed to be going just fine. But then I got to the truck. the right rear tire was completely flat. I stood looking at it for a moment, considering my options. In a jiffy there were 5 men wanting to help. I chose the one with a Canada sweatshirt, and told him I would only pay one person. He explained that they would all share. OK. That works for me.

By the time I have the doors unlocked and am looking for the jack, they have the spare off the roof. This seems to be really going well! But then I can't find the jack. We all climb into the back of the Land Cruiser and look. No jack. Not to worry. Canada says he can find a jack, so the rest of us sit and wait. And I call Schadrack, my right hand man and administrator, just to let him know what is going on. He told me that for sure there is a jack in the truck, so I scramble back in and look over and under. One of my new "friends" even opens the hood. No jack.

In the meantime Canada comes back with a jack. Yay! He gets it pumping while Sam uses the wrench from his car to try to loosten the nuts on the tire. The wrench does not fit. "We need a spanner" says Sam. And there is much commotion and Kinyarwanda talk about spanners. A guy in a Obama vest says he can find a spanner. We now have a small crowd watching, and I give a little girl a granola bar. She smiles shyly and runs off to eat the tasty treat. Sam runs back to Uganda for a bigger spanner. Fifteen minutes later Sam and Obama vest are back with 3 spanners, none of which fit our truck. Time for reinforcements.

I call Schadrack again, and ask him to send Faustin, our guard, on a moto with the jack and wrench from our other truck. It is a 30 minute drive, so I sit on the spare and wait. Canada, Sam and the others dispurse, but I see them watching, waiting for Faustin in the hopes that I'll still pay them. While I'm waiting, I watch a little wagtail on the side mirror watching himself strut back and forth. Pertty cute until he launches himself into the mirror. I chase him away. I also watch the everpresent yellow-billed kites, pied crows, white naped ravens as they soar and bicker. There are about a dozen boys kick boxing up the street, and the little, crowded buses arrive, unload, reload and take off. Then it starts to rain. But just a little.

Faustin finally arrives and I supress the urge to give him a big hug. Sam, Canada, Obama vest and the others flock back and begin to help Faustin. As they are messing with the jack he brought, Faustin reaches into the back of the truck, removes a side panel behind one of the seats, and pulls out a jack and wrench. I am very embarrassed. Some independent woman.... He yells at the guys in Kinyarwanda, but it sorta sounds like "you idiots, it is right here!"...

The spare is on, the flat tire in the truck, and hands are out for payment. Faustin says "um va!!!" "Listen!!" and there is heated discussion. Finally Faustin hands over the equivalent of 2 dollars. Everybody is happy and we are on our way. Faustin speaks French and Kinyarwanda. I speak english, 10 words of Kinyarwanda and baby French. I apologized in every language I could, and he laughed. What a day.

Drumming in Uganda

2010-08-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

I think I've missed my calling...

One whole year

2010-08-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my one year anniversary, living in Africa. Wow time flies. Today I am sitting at my desk in my little house working at the computer - I am hopelessly behind on paperwork. I'm watching mousebirds, sunbirds and bulbuls as they flit in the bushes just outside my window. It is sunday afternoon and about 75 degrees in the dry season - the sun is bright and the ground is dry and dusty. It is cold at night though (well, 50s...) - GREAT climate! Ama and Boots are asleep at my feet, and I can hear the neighborhood kids laughing and hollering, crows and hadada ibis calling in the distance, and a circular saw is running almost constantly as a house goes up two doors down. I'm re-reading George Schaller's "The Year of the Gorilla" in my spare time, and it is so much more meaningful to me now - I recognize the places he names, I can see his descriptions of trekking through the forest and gorilla behavior in my mind's eye. I am still amazed that I work here. That I see mountain gorilla groups weekly if not more often. That I am privaleged to work in 3 countries with a wonderful team of dedicated people. That my family understands this crazy notion of mine that working in Africa for 2 years is okay...

Rock Island

2010-07-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent some time with a friend of a Friend - Tim is an engineer who is with Engineers Without Borders. He worked with Carl, my friend from Madison who has worked here in Rwanda through EWB. Tim and his friends and I went to see the gorilla orphans and talked about Madison Wisconsin, and had a nice time! At the end of the visit Tim handed me a small package from Carl, which contained playing cards and score cards - yay! I need to teach some folks around here to play Euchre! There was also a Rock Island bandanna that looks to be compliments of Melinda - thank you! I put it on my wall so that I can easily go to Rock Island in my memories as I look at the familiar map. And Mary, thank you for the wonderful letter and chive card. I am thinking of you all as you get ready for the annual trek to the rock.

This is the picture I have on my computer desk top from several years ago. I'll be there in spirit this summer!

Our regional veterinary team

2010-07-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Each month all Gorilla Doctors gather in Ruhengeri at our regional office for “veterinary rounds”. We also invite Dr. Arthur, the ICCN veterinarian for Virunga National Park in Congo, Dr. Cyprian, our volunteer veterinarian who is helping with our domestic animals cases, and Elisabeth, the Volcanoes Nation Park Veterinary Warden and our dear partner in Rwanda. We meet to discuss cases, specific gorilla medicine subjects, and in general share our experiences and learn from each other. We have such a great team, and each time we get together I am reminded of what a devoted, knowledgeable and hard working group of veterinarians and professionals I am privileged to work with.

This month we had several interesting and sometimes difficult cases to discuss. Dr. Magdalena and Dr. Fred had a difficult case with the tiny twin gorilla baby in Bwindi who died shortly after she was found. She was much smaller than her twin, and the suspicion is that the mother could not provide enough mild for both babies to grow well. There was Mukunda, the silverback in DRC who had been out of the forest for almost 2 weeks when Dr. Eddy, Dr. Arthur and I anesthetized him to move him back to the forest – a case with medical and political issues that were good for us to discuss as a team. And of course the Pablo group tragedies of last month. We debrief, discuss all medical and political aspects of each case. We try to learn as much as we can from each situation to apply to the next similar case. This is also a part of capacity building for our regional veterinarians. In addition we try to send each veterinarian to an intensive continuing education experience each year.

From left to right around the table: Dr. Eddy, Dr. Fred, Dr. Julius,
Elisabeth, Dr. Magda, Dr. Jacques, Dr. Cyprian and Dr. Arthur.

Each “rounds” we also discuss a specific subject, and this month we talked about anti-inflammatory drugs – you know, ibuprofen and the like. Probably sounds pretty boring, but it is a great learning opportunity for us to discuss in depth the drugs that we use, so that we always use them wisely! This month JP also gave us a lesson on calibrating our microscopes so that we can accurately measure cells and parasites. I learned a lot from him that day.

JP during the lecture portion of his presentation.

Dr. Eddy looking in the microscope, with Dr. Fred, Dr. Julius, Dr. Arthur, and JP the teacher.

You can read the biographies of each of our Gorilla Doctors on the website (http://www.gorilladoctors.org/), but let me tell you a bit more about each of these incredibly dedicated people.

Dr. Eddy and Dr. Jacqes are our Field Veterinarians in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are some of the bravest people I know. Remember that Dr. Eddy went to Walikali to confiscate little Njingala, even though it was a “red zone” at the time. Things are beginning to stabilize in Congo where we work, but Drs. Eddy and Jacques must always be alert to rebel activities. Dr. Jacques is our “fixer” in Congo – he can help make almost anything happen when we need it! They currently work with one truck between them, with little complaint – we are working on acquiring another, but funds are limited at the moment!

Dr. Fred is our newest Field Veterinarian, working in Uganda. He came to us with considerable experience with chimpanzees and is working hard to learn all of the habituated gorilla groups in Bwindi! We are trying to secure a microscope for his field station in Bwindi so he can run some simple tests there rather than having to run samples to Kampala or Ruhengeri. Dr. Fred is a great folk story teller and a gentle soul.

Dr. Eddy and Dr. Fred listening intently.

Dr. Julius is our newest Gorilla Doctor. He is setting up an office in Kigali and is the Rwanda Country Coordinator for a program called Predict. He will be coordinating very important work investigating zoonotic diseases in the country (diseases that can move between animals and people). Dr. Julius also comes to us with chimpanzee experience, but will now gain experience with many species as he investigates diseases.

Elisabeth has been working as a veterinary technician with mountain gorillas for over 20 years. Her experience and wisdom make her an invaluable partner to MGVP, and we lean on her when we are making difficult field decisions. She is not only our partner, but a good friend to each of us.

Dr. Julius and Elisabeth soaking up the information JP was presenting!

Jean Paul (JP) is the manager of our Employee Health Program. He works so very hard to be sure all trackers, guides and rangers have their annual physical examinations, receive their results, receive treatment, etc. He also compiles all results and reports and works with doctors and hospitals in all 3 countries. In addition is the lab manager when he is in the office, and is our resident microbiologist. He just returned from an intensive course in primate parasitology in Germany, and will be presenting what he learned there at our next rounds!

Dr. Noel joined us last October as a laboratory technician. He recently received his veterinary degree from ISAE and did his final project looking at parasites in cows around the park. He is hard working, dedicated to learning, and loves working in the lab. We hope to send him to the United States for intensive labwork experience sometime this year once we raise the airfare.

Dr. Magdalena is our Regional Field Veterinarian, and she stands ready to work in all 3 countries if and when needed. She has the most experience in our regional team on management of respiratory diseases, and works a lot with the confiscated orphan gorillas in Kinigi. Like Fred and Julius, she absolutely adores chimps, but we do not hold that against any of them!

Not present at rounds this month were Dr. Jean Felix, who is pursuing masters in Public Health in Kigali at the moment, Dr. Benard, who is the Uganda Country Coordinator for Predict, and Drs. Mike and Kirsten, our fearless and dedicated leaders who work non-stop behind the scenes to keep us on track!

Dr. Eddy, Dr. Noel, Dr. Fred and Dr. Julius.

The days we have our monthly veterinary rounds are long, but we always try to end with dart practice for fun. We use a banana tree in the back yard as our target – he’s still alive, although a bit tattered, especially around the “bull’s eye”!

We are a team of veterinarians and professionals working toward the same goal – gorilla health and conservation. We do that by direct gorilla care, human health care, domestic animal health care. One Health.

Olivier (vet student), Dr. Eddy, Dr. Julius, Dr. Magda, Dr. Jacques, Schadrack (administrator), JP, Dr. Cyprian, Dr. Fred, and in front, Dr. Noel and me!

Many thanks to Molly Feltner for the great photos.

Gorilla Doctors post

2010-06-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

New post on Gorilladoctorsblog.org

Sorry for the cross post, but my blog writing time is a little limited these days!

Rumangabo

2010-06-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

Spent the day at Rumangabo, DRC, at a meeting about design and construction of the Senkwekwe center, where Miasha and Kaboko will go in a few months. Saw a large group of Colobus monkeys including a mom with a little gray baby (they are born white then turn black and white during their first year of life). Saw a mongoose cross the road in Rwanda and almost get hit (I would have had to stop and help it if it DID get hit), but couldn't seen the volcano today because of the haze...

Dinner with Team Rwanda (national bicycling team) tonight!

PACKAGES - Yes, plural!!!!

2010-06-15T04:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you Bob!!! Tuna, cream of wheat and beany babies!!!

Thank you Tom Robison, my favorite youngest uncle!!!! Fruit Loops, GREAT trail mixes and Pop Tarts!!!

It was a very nice surprise after a morning of doing a necropsy on a VERY dead Silverback gorilla. He was a lone silverback who was attached by a large group, and died probably 5 days ago. ugh.

Sooo THANK YOU!!! It is sooo nice to have comfort food, and reminders of home.

xxxxoooo.

PS - Tomorrow to Rumangabo in Congo for a meeting. Thursday I get to go to gorillas again and Sara, Aaron and Scott arrive Friday - Yay!

PSS - here's proof that I met Don Cheadle

Ama's new friend

2010-06-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Ama has a new friend. Meet Boots! He was found on the road to Uganda and is such a cutie pie. My friend Molly Feltner is going to take him home this summer. Lucky pup!
Ama is a great big sister.

what really happened

2010-06-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

So I hope you all read the gorilladoctorsblog post about Agahazo, a young male in Pablo group that we had to assess because he had an abscess on his neck. You know, the one where it took over 5 hours to get to the group and I was exhausted? I think the blog is called "New Baby in Group 13". Now let me tell you the reality of that day. It was freakishly difficult. It took me 6 hours (everyone else 5 hours), and 30 minutes of that was me sitting on the side of the trail trying not to lose my lunch, only to lose it at the end of that 30 minutes. I thought about turning back, letting Magda and Jean Felix deal with the medicine, but then I summoned every bit of strength I had - I evoked the strength of my mom when she still went to horse shows and Bayfield even after bad rounds of chemo. I thought about Tucker, who walks even when they said she wouldn't, and NEVER gives up. And Leigh Ellen who is a breast cancer survivor, and had her treatments during some of the most difficult years of our lives. And Linda who coached volleyball even when she was recovering from a broken back, leg, ribs... I thought of those long hard portages, or hiking up the mountain on Isle Royal with huge blisters and a 60 pound pack. And I thought of the gorillas, and that I wanted/needed to be there. Sounds totally sappy I know, but I was having quite a mental battle with myself as I sat shivering and retching on the side of that mountain in the rain, hoping Joseph the porter wasn't watching me too closely. Sooooo, I after I furtively cleaned my mouth and pulled myself together, I told Joseph to lead on, and as it turns out we were only another hour from the gorillas, and in the end, as you read in the blog, we did not have to do an intervention. But I was ready if we did - I made it to the site! And the 5 hours down was a LOT easier than going up. Something happens to my body at 10,000 feet or higher... I'm working on getting over that...

What else is happening? I went to Congo to move this huge silverback gorilla from where he was hanging out OUT of the forest, eating people's crops, likely to be killed by the locals (see gorilladoctors FB). The move went well, but I felt a little like I was in a king kong movie - we anesthetized him and put him on this big wooden platform for people to carry him. It was crazy - we walked through villages, surrounded by hundreds of people, and finally woke him up back in the forest.

That night I stayed in this hotel room on Goma and here is the painting on the wall in my room:

Made me feel so comfortable in Africa!

And then last week I went to a tennis tournimant! Right here in Central Africa! Julie Ghrist, from the NGO Art of Conservation (check out her website) had a group of kids who are learning tennis. She's been doing this with them for the past several years, and this year she held a big tournament. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the kids really did well! Parents were proud, awards were given. It was a fun day. Reminded me of camp and horse shows all at the same time. Jim and Linda - do you recognize the clothes on these kids?!

Things are going well here. Busy as usual, dangerously behind on paperwork, but still good. Sara comes for a visit in 2 weeks!!! Can't wait to show Sara, Aaron and Scott around.

Back home again in Rwanda

2010-05-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Can't believe it has been over a month since I've written here... geez time flies.

I had a great week at home (went to a meeting for the first week in the states) - visited with family and friends, got the taxes done, planted flowers, relaxed! Bob and I puttered around the yard - it was such a beautiful spring week while I was there (I totally missed winter this year...). Leigh Ellen drove down from Wisconsin and we had a great time at Linda's! Bob and I had drinks with the zoo hospital folks - it was great to see everyone. And Diane Houk had her first communion party so we got to visit with the whole family!

Sara is coming to visit with Aaron in June! And Taylor next Christmas time! Yay!

My cousin Nancy,with Andy and granddaughter Izzy (cutie pie)

Cousins!

More cousins!!!

I love my sisters!!!!

Leigh Ellen tried Aaron's night vision goggles...

I miss my Fred!

Dave looks almost normal these days!

Misty still looks good for an old girl.

This was just the refresher I needed to fill me up for my return to Rwanda. It has been very rainy and very busy here since I got back the end of April. I'll have a gorilla story on gorilladoctorsblog.org this Wednesday and will try to write more regularly now that I am sort of caught up from being away. Little Ama was happy to see me when I got back! She is all ears listening to my stories from home!

Leaving on a jet plane....

2010-04-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

Africa is my reality.

My here and now for the past 8 months.

Tomorrow I head back to Indiana for the first time in 6 months, and I'm sooooo looking forward to seeing family and friends, Fred and the kitties, my spring flowers. My American reality. It has been too long. But I'm not sure how well the re-entry into excess is going to go. I live here almost like I do when I camp - I have what I need, and some of what I want. I like it this way. Simple. Maybe I can capture this simplicity in my American life.

Ama, my little African dog, is climbing onto my lap just now with her toy, wanting my attention. She is finally getting a little nervous with all the suitcases and my strange packing behavior. Molly, one of my friends here, is staying in my house to keep Ama company while I'm away, as will Julie, John, Magda, Felicien, Faustin, Schadrack, Leon, etc. Our little community is just that, community. I am so fortunate.

I'll have to stay away from the gorillas for 2 weeks when I get back - quarantine from being on an international flight. I was just getting to the point that I could get to 10,000 feet without feeling like I was going to pass out! I suspect I'll reacclimate quickly, but that first time back up the mountain is going to be painful! But worth it. The view from the top is amazing, and so are these guys.

I am leaving on a jet plane tomorrow, but I know when I'll be back again, at least for a bit.

Gorillas in the sun!!!!

2010-04-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

No rain for my forest visit today - it was WONDERFUL! Saw Titus group and Bwenge group. Watch for a long post on gorilladoctors blog, but here is a sneak preview.

Gorillas in the rain

2010-04-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

going to see Titus group tomorrow morning. It is POURING rain right now. Wish me luck.....

Butler Bulldogs!!!

2010-04-04T01:51:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning to the news that Butler beat Michigan State and is in the final game of the NCAA tournament!!!! Go Butler!!!
Taylor - do you have tickets to this game too??!!!
The Butler campus and Indianapolis must be going crazy!!

Happy Easter everyone.

Warren Nurses

2010-03-30T23:43:00.001-07:00

This morning the sun is shining but yesterday was a torrential downpour, almost all day. I went to see Hirwa group in the morning for a routine health check, and the rain didn't start until I was ready to leave the gorillas so I had a GREAT visit! It was only about an hour walk, gradually uphill the whole way, and sometimes not so gradual. I do pretty well now - of course I get winded but I don't have to stop and rest anymore, and rarely feel like I just can't go on like I did in the beginning! But I have learned that I will NEVER be able to keep up with the trackers - they always slow their pace for me!

I have also learned other important lessons over the past 8 months:

It is better to fall down than to grab one of the nasty nettles to keep your balance.
It helps when you are going down a steep hill to pull over a bush and step on that, digging in your heels so that the branches catch you (that's what the gorillas do too).
When following the tracker through thick vegetation, stay well back so that the machette does not hit you in the head (yesterday one of the leafy branches he cut landed on my head!).
Test the vines before you count on them to hold your weight.
Don't lean forward when walking downhill.
Don't worry about it when you hear a lot of Kinyarwanda words, then your name, then more Kinyarwand words (I just smile as if I understand and keep walking).

Here are some of the images from my visit with Hirwa yesterday morning. At one point we were on a VERY steep slope, and Munyinya, the silverback, needed to pass us. I really wanted to follow the 7 meter distance rule that MGVP set, but the tracker and I had nowhere to go! The only way for us to get out of the way was to sit down as far to the side of the small trail as we could. Munyinya calmly walked within inches of us. I so wanted to let my hand fall across his shoulders and back. I drank in the moment - his powerful smell, calm but confident walk, the one glance in my direction. Absolutely amazing.

Munyinya in the bamboo just before it started to rain.

Trackers waiting for us to finish with the health check - where's Waldo?!

Munyinya and one of his females.

This is how it looked when we first spotted the group.

The view of town from the gorilla group.

The rest of the day was spent doing my desk job, but walking through the compound required an umbrella, so I sported my "Warren Nurses" umbrella for much of the day!

Other news - Ama successfully caught her first tennis ball on Monday! I'm so proud.

my new house

2010-03-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

It is the rainy season now for sure - everything is green, rivers are running like crazy, waterfalls are falling (I took Bob to see a waterfall that had no water in January...), and well, it rains a lot! Every day, at least for a while. My tomatoes and peppers are finally coming up. Ama and Chewy dug up my cucumbers and I've replanted. Raddishes got squashed by a VERY hard rain, but they are trying to come back up, and I've been transplanting flowers as my stress relief program!

I also moved into a little house that is on the MGVP compound property. I am now the proud occupant of a 3 room house! I have my own bathroom and kitchen, and a second bedroom I can use for guests (that's where Donna stayed when she visited earlier this month!) and where Sara and Aaron will stay when they come for a visit in June!!

Ama is 6 months old now - Mike spayed her this week, and she came through with flying colors. She weighs about 35 pounds, and I don't think she'll get much bigger. She is full of energy, and loves to play, and keeps me sane, if that is possible!!

Maybe she is a little spoiled....

Here are some pictures of the new place.

That's a convent on the other side of the fence. The chief of police lives on the other side of our compound - I feel very safe!!

Happy Birthday Sara!!!!!!!

2010-03-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

Happy 24 my dear daughter. Have a wonderful day. I so wish I could be there to back you a cake (I am baking banana bread here today in your honor!!!).
Have a wonderful day. See you in 3 weeks!!!!

And happy birthday to Sandy Ezell too! (Knew that thanks to FaceBook!)

surfacing....

2010-03-20T07:06:00.001-07:00

Things have been nuts here.

3 year old gorilla in congo who's hand self amputated after a severe injure

3 confiscated chimps sent to a sanctuary

sick silverback in Congo

Intervention training in Rumangabo and Kahuzi Biega

Our boat was struck by lightening on Lake Kivu

Sick adult chimp that needs to go to a sanctuary

Respiratory disease in a gorilla group in Rwanda

Hired a new veterinarian for Uganda

Our newest confiscated gorilla got very sick, but is better now

Had a GREAT visit with Donna!!!!

Got a package from Jason and Carrie!!

Helping with the huge gorilla census that is going on in the Virunga massif for the next month

Got stopped by a road block driving at night from Butare to home (Eddy talked our way out of a search!

Miss you all like crazy but haven't had time to communicate - sorry!!!

New blog on ww.Gorilladoctorsblog.org

Gotta go do accounting now... ugh.

Taylor is 21!!!!!!

2010-02-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!! Wish I was there. Have fun, be safe.

And happy birthday to Kari too!!!!

Miss you both.

I'm headed to Congo for the next 4 days - training for the gorilla census that is to begin Monday. Camping on the edge of the forest - should be fun, if it doesn't rain....

BTW, new post at gorilladoctors.org

http://www.gorilladoctorsblog.org/field-blog/2010/2/24/group-13.html

Sisters

2010-02-16T10:20:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to Linda and Anna Lynn, my two youngest sisters. Wish I could be with you!!!
You guys have no idea how much you mean to me.

Hug someone you love.

2010-02-14T06:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Akagara

2010-02-07T06:58:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Bob and I went to Akagara, a national game park in the south east of Rwanda. The park is huge, and borders Tanzania. We camped under a full moon, heard buffalo and hyenas near our tent. An amazing experience. Here are some of our pictures, but they can't begin to capture the beauty of this place.

We went for a boat ride and saw these fishermen bailing their boat.

Bob, Fulgence and our boat driver.

He was keeping an eye on our boat.

There is a crocodile in this picture!

African fish eagle.

Kingfisher.

Vervet monkey.

Thick knee at the edge of the lake.

Crock juvenile. I didn't see the bird until we downloaded the photo.

Can't remember what he is called, but sure is pretty.

Marabou storks.

Baboon baby riding jockey style.

Rolling zebra that looks like Tom!

Impala

Zebra and Topi baby.

Boon on a rock.

We saw him across the lake. Can't believe I saw a wild elephant!

Bee-eater.

Hornbill

Topi.

Buffalo - the most dangerous animals in the park!

Waterbuck.

Bob and Fulgence looking for hippos.

Ankole cows we saw on the way out of the park. Check out the horns!

Look at the dog guarding the calves.

Friday we went to Congo. I really wanted Bob to see where I work so he wouldn't be so nervous. Here's Bob looking out at the volcanoes.

Bob went home yesterday - back to work for me.

Live life deliberately...

2010-02-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Today Bob and I visited the original site of Karisoke Research Station - where Dian Fossey lived her life in Rwanda, a life lived deliberately and with purpose. Where she is buried, next to Digit, Titus and other of the gorillas she fought so hard to protect. We walked for about 2 hours up through the beautifully cultivated fields of pyrethrin and vegetables. Our guide "D", who was wonderful at pointing out the plants and birds.

I found a hatchling chameleon - I rescued him from the ground and put him back in the tree. "D" said finding a chameleon was good luck.

We saw Hygenia trees that were huge, and must have known Dian Fossey. We saw lobelias that were 15 feet tall. We saw tree hyrax (a first for both of us!), and lovely sunbirds flitting through the trees. The hike up was hard but well worth it.

When we got to the site of the original research station I recognized the spot where the cabin stood when I stayed there 25 years ago. Nothing is left but foundations now, and the graves of Dian Fossey, Digit, and even Titus, the silverback I met when I first arrived, but died shortly after. I spent some quiet time at his grave.

One surprising find was the volleyball area! Candi, stop laughing - there really was a volleyball court on the slopes of the volcano, this picture is proof!

We spent about an hour wandering around, touching trees, sitting at the graves, then turned to walk back down through the beautiful, pristine forest. It was magical. A place I would like to bring all my friends.

Last night I learned that my dear, dear friend Maureen Kouwe (we all called her Tody) passed away. She was on a skiing trip with her brother and sister-in-law, doing what she loved, and died in the arms of her family. An aneurism. She was 53 (soon to be 54 - our birthdays are 13 days apart). She was planning a trip to visit Rwanda, and I was going to bring her to this magical place. The whole time Bob and I were there today I thought of Tody. We've been friends for 32 years. Tody LIVED her life. Deliberately. With great love for her family and friends, and with great passion and faith. Today while I was in that enchanted place she was with me. I could hear her laughter, hear her blowing out her breath through pursed lips at the beauty of the place. I could see her smiling face as I reminisced about my meeting Dian Fossey 25 years ago. Tody WAS there with me. And will always be with all of us who loved her. May we all live as deliberately as she did. Here's to you Tody.

Bob in Rwanda!

2010-02-01T07:05:00.001-08:00

Traditional Rwandan house

Bob arrived last Saturday and we've been pretty busy seeing the sites.
Bob's post follows:
We passed this house last week on a hike to a waterfall in the foothills of Bisoke, one of the six extinct Virunga volcanoes. Jan tells me that when she visited Rwanda in 1985 on a side trip to meet Diane Fossey and to see the Mountain Gorillas, houses like this one were still commonly seen in rural areas. These days they are scarce, at least in this fine condition, replaced by more conventional (to western eyes) structures made of brick or adobe-like block and mortared over, with metal roofs. The next two pictures were taken on the same walk. Coming down from the waterfall, we stepped along narrow paths within the patchwork of small cultivated fields that cover the foothills, hills, mountains and valleys (here, right up to the very edge of the Volcanoes National Park boundary) of, virtually, the entire country. Just remarkable. The soil here in the north and west, I am told, is rich and up to three feet deep in the valleys. It is the product of thousands of years of erosion of the volcanic rock and the decay of the lush vegetation that blanketed the area. Near the pictured house, we met a young woman in the terraced mounded rows of a potato field just harvested, using a hoe to prepare the ground for the next crop. Because so much of the land here is hilly and mountainous, and there are so many mouths to feed, these Rwandans have perfected the art of growing their food in these hand cultivated terraces. I have not seen a one horse, mule, or tractor in this country.

Contemplating volcanoes.
This is me, staring dumbly at extinct volcanoes. The picture doesn't show it well, but between this spot and the volcanoes, the land drops off several hundred feet; almost every square foot of it in cultivation.

Walking through the farm fields. That's Jan and two friends.

Nyiragongo with steam plume.
This Virunga chain volcano is in the DRC (Democratice Republic of Congo) and is active. The city of Goma was evacuated in 2002 when Nyiragongo erupted and killed 50 people. The glow of the lava pool is visible above the peak against the night sky.

Boys hamming it up near Rugongo Lake.
These guys and four or five others came over to look at us and we took some pictures. They had a good time of it, and so did we.

Rosamond Carr's home ("Mugongo") at Imbabaze in the Rwandan foothills of Karisimbe, the tallest of the Virunga volcanoes at 4507 meters (what is that, about 14,500 feet?). For fifty years she lived here and managed a flower plantation. In 1967 Dian Fossey, forced to leave the Congo and her Mountain Gorilla study, contacted Carr about setting up a base for continuing her gorilla work from Carr's plantation. They remained friends until Fossey's death in 1985. (Carr and her home show up in the movie "Gorillas in the Mist"). In 1994 Rosamond Carr established an orphanage here for victims of the genocide. She died two or three years ago and is buried in her flower garden. Her memoir "Land of a Thousand Hills" is very interesting reading. Jan and I had a lovely lunch and chat with the couple who now run the orphanage and whom Jan became familiar through her work here. (This is Jan, chiming in on Bob's post - I'm a new member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation now running Imbabazi, the orphanage Roz Carr started when she adopted over 100 children orphaned by the genocide. Those kids still live at Imbabazi.)

Gardens at Mugongo.
Beautiful place.

I AM in A-F-R-I-C-A

2010-01-22T01:12:00.000-08:00

Just to keep you interested, here's a little someone I saw yesterday. And there is a new blog at www.gorilladoctorsblog.org.
Cyndie and Candi... I may not be IN this picture, but I was there TAKING the picture!!!!
And Tucker, I am missing your comments...

Christmas in January!

2010-01-21T06:46:00.000-08:00

I just received Christmas cards from Cyndie, Chelsie and Lisa Abrash!!! THANK YOU! It is like getting mail at camp!

Quarterly reports - WAY LATE

2010-01-16T22:18:00.000-08:00

I'm sequestering myself in my office for the next several days, working on quarterly reports for the last 2 quarters. Ugh.

On the bright side, here's someone I visited last week. Saw the antelope (I think it is a duiker...) on the way out of the forest. Sooooo, doing quarterly reports in exchange for the privilege of visiting these wonderful animals - no problem!

Dog walking...

2010-01-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Ama and I walked to Julie's house for a visit - about a 5 minute walk. Ama doesn't quite get the whole leash thing yet, so she was bouncing around as we walked, grabbing the leash in her mouth and tugging a bit. We were quite the spectacle. Around here nobody walks their dogs. They walk goats with a collar and leash, to new owners houses, or the market, but not dogs. So I had one person exclaim "That's a DOG!" as we walked by. In English, which was surprising! There were a couple of teen-age boys following us, making barking noises, as teen-age boys will do. And the best was when someone went by on a motorbike with a camera taking pictures - he even turned around for another pass! Talk about role reversal - that's usually me taking picutres from the car window! I smiled and waved as Ama yanked on the leash. I am in the minority here in so many ways, but getting used to it. Ntakibazo. No worries.

There is a new post on Gorilladoctorsblog about Kuryama. I visited his group on New Year's Day.

Lesser Striped Swallows

2010-01-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

This morning Ama and I were sitting in my office working, well, I was working, she was sleeping, when a small flock of Lesser Striped Swallows swooped into our courtyard and flew in circles for about 5 minutes! They are BEAUTIFUL! Ama went to the door and watched with me - her little head went round and round as she tried to follow them. I think it was a family of just fledged babies because 2 of them seemed to want to leave the courtyard, and the others just kept swooping around, one landing on my wind chimes briefly. It was one of those unexpected but magical moments. I couldn't get a picture - these are from the web.

By the way, I posted a new blog, but it is dated January 4 since that's when I started it - fun times in Goma!

The past week

2010-01-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

The days fly by here. I have so many stories to tell, and not enough time!
Since January 1 I've been to DRC to check some chimps that might have to be confiscated, went to a gorilla group there where Eddy and I thought we might have to anesthetize a young gorilla who got popped in the face by something/someone, but she was better, visited 2 gorilla groups here in Rwanda, gave a talk to a group of tourists, reconciled the accounting, sent a bizillion MGVP emails, did an interview for a new conservation website, played with Ama, planted some flower seeds and watched a few episodes of Lost at night when I have no more energy....
But I promise I'll write more stories soon! EVERY DAY is a crazy new day here. It hasn't gotten old yet for me.

Bob is coming for a visit in 2 weeks - can't wait!

Lake Kivu and Nyamarugira

2010-01-04T01:41:00.000-08:00

The view from my balcony.

Last weekend, after checking Kuryama on New Year's Day (see next Wednesday’s gorilladoctorblog), I went to Goma to assess some chimps in captivity with Eddy and Jacques. I stayed at the Stella hotel, right on beautiful Lake Kivu. It was strange to hear the sounds of water lapping, kids splashing in the water, squealing with delight as they jumped in (sounded a lot like the YMCA!), the occasional motorboat, and Egyptian Geese honking as they flew over, all so familiar, and yet in a place so foreign to me. Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It is HUGE and lovely, and it used to be a colonial paradise. There is evidence of that past everywhere in crumbling grand old homes on the shore and tired but nice old hotels. As I looked out over the lake to the mountains on the distant shores I was awed, honored, and basically slack jawed that I was seeing the same scenes that Roz Carr, Dian Fossey and countless others had seen just 50 years ago. By the way, Land of 1000 Hills, by Roz Carr, is a nice read and a good history of the area.

Lake Kivu is also one of 3 known “exploding” lakes in the world! It is so deep (about 1500 meters) and sits right on a volcanic rift, so there is a build up of methane and carbon dioxide (breakdown of volcanic CO2) sitting at the deepest levels of the lake. At some point there will be enough volcanic disruption that those deep gasses will surface, resulting in an explosion. If it ever blows, the results will be catastrophic. Really. Millions of people live around the lake, and those within a 20 mile radius would be killed almost instantly. One website said in addition to everyone dying from CO2 release, there could be tsunamis spawned by the explosion – amazing! Fortunately the lake has never blown, and life goes on around the lake as if it were a normal, beautiful resource. The Primus factory (local beer!) in Gisenyi harvests the methane to help run the factory, so at least a little is being pulled off the deep bottom of the lake.

The day before I got there Nyamarugira, the most active volcano in the region, erupted. It is about 16 miles from Goma, but people were not worried because the lava was flowing into the national park. There are chimps, elephants, forest buffalo, monkeys and antelope (not to mention the reptiles, amphibians and birds) in that part of the park, but hopefully the lava is flowing so slowly that most animals can easily outrun it. Goma was hit in 2002 by Nyringongo and there are still huge black lava beds everywhere, and that eruption was quite slow so nearly everyone escaped injury. I really wanted to see the lava from Nyamarugira, but unfortunately when we got to Rumangabo it was cloudy, so we couldn’t see either volcano. Rats.

No good photos of Nyamarugira, but we are always surrounded by volcanoes here!

To get to the hotel we drove through downtown Goma, which is a bustling, loud, colorful, dirty town. There were vendors everywhere selling anything you might need from kitchen appliances to lounge chairs to clothes, in small shops along the lava rock “streets”. Since it was only January 2 there were still some Christmas decorations up, didn’t quite compute for me since this was my first Christmas season in a tropical zone! Big white cardboard Santa nailed to a palm tree in 90+ degree heat, and he and I were the only mzungus in sight! Strange. As we drove I got glimpses of the lake to our left, and glimpses of some beautiful homes behind solid walls with cut glass on the top (you either have it or you don’t here). UN presence is still everywhere – white UN trucks with troops of every race, color and nationality. But life is beginning to return to normal with the past 6 months or so of better security in the area.

When we turned into the hotel it was like night and day. No more dust, beautiful gardens with mousebirds playing in the trees and lizards crawling on the walls. A little tired, but the hotel had a bit of that colonial splendor in evidence. While it felt cool and comfortable, I felt a little too privileged. People tell me I say thank you too often here in Africa, but I can’t help it. The people at the hotel waited on us hand and foot, and I just don’t have that colonial mentality. I wish I could give back more to the people in need. It is so very complicated. So I just continue to do my small part – gorilla health, one health. Little by little. Buhoro, buhoro.

That night, in the Stella Hotel, I laid there in my bed, listening to the waves lapping against the shore, hoping to get a glimpse of Nyamarugira tomorrow, wondering at how I got here! In the middle of Africa, on a methane bomb of a lake, 16 miles from an erupting volcano, working with one of the most endangered great apes, and LOVING it!

Here's my bed at the Stella Hotel.

Another view from my balcony.

Ama, at home, getting big and spoiled!

Umwaka Musha

2010-01-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

This morning I got up before dawn and listened to Rwanda wake up. The dawn chorus here is amazing - first roosters and ibis, about 4:30, then a million other birds at about 5:00, along with a few people putzing around. By 5:30 it is beginning to get light and by 6am, like every morning, morning has broken. The first day of 2010, African style!

I had to get up early to go to the forest to assess the silverback Kuryama, whose group had been "missing" for 2 days, and when they turned up yesterday Kuryama had acquired a new female from Pablo group along with a new laceration on his hand. It was a great morning. He'll be painful for a while, but it will heal. I'll write this one up for the gorilladoctorsblog so stay tuned.

Umwaka Musha everyone!

Merry Christmas Day!

2009-12-25T22:56:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve I received 4 packages!!!! It really felt like Christmas as I opened each one, and thought of the friends and family who sent them. Thank you all soooo much!

Bob, Sara and Taylor included stockings in my package for me, Chewy, Danny and Fox! (I didn't have Ama yet when they sent the package). There were many, many ornaments (THANK YOU PEG!!!) - I didn't have a tree so I cut a branch off an avocado tree an decorated that!

There were also wheat thins and other great snacks that are unavailable here. I spent part of the afternoon organizing my food into boxes of sweet, salty and meals - I am now an official food hoarder...

I was instructed NOT to open the stocking until Christmas morning so this morning I ran to the green couch where the stockings had been "hung" with care - and low and behold Santa brought me a thermos, a pine Yankee Candle, a flashlight and a Santa pez dispenser! Each of the dogs got a great chew toy too! Although Fox didn't really know what to do with his, so Ama took it...

Kris, my favorite middle cousin, sent these great ornaments with pictures of everyone in the centers - a GREAT reminder of our Christmas's together! I especially liked the picture of Jay asleep!

Lisa Tucker sent me a package with a WONDERFUL bound book of photos from last summer's MWL mini-reunion in Three Lakes. Feels like you guys are here with me now!By the way, when are you coming to deepest darkest Africa for a visit???!!!

There were all manner of goodies in Lisa's package - I stocked my larder! She also sent the first 2 seasons of "Weeds" (watched the first 2 episodes with my friend Jeff from Imbabazi). Hilarious!

Gail Hall sent puppy treats and clickers for Ama (Gail, she learned "sit" in 2 tries!!!). Ama was a little frightened of the squeak toy at first, but now it is one of her favorites. If there were sound on this blog you could hear the squeaks just now!

Gail also sent packages of nice SOFT Kleenex (Yay!), many wonderful snacks including tuna, some fun reading material, and a picture of Vignir that is now on my bulletin board!

The rest of the morning I spent preparing my contribution to the Christmas dinner I was attending at Katie and Glen's house (Katie is the director of Karisoke Research Center). I had a cake mix I brought from when I was home in October, so I mixed that up and put it in the oven along with the oven thermometer I brought back. It was hard to keep the oven at 350, but I did my best.

While the cake was baking, I began to prepare artichoke dip with fresh artichokes I got last week. Finding the heart in a fresh artichoke is hard work (I googled food network for advice)! I had 5 artichokes and after 30 minutes of cutting and pulling off the outer leaves and another 30 minutes of boiling.... I had 4 bites of artichoke.... which I enjoyed.... but no dip for the party!

Back to the cake. I had 2 round cakepans, and one of the cakes got a bit burned on the bottom, but I didn't let this lessen my determination. I scraped off the burned part, and started in on the icing. Last week in Kigali I found "icing sugar" and thought I was home free (I bought 2 different kinds just to be safe)! Sugar, milk, vanilla and butter - what could go wrong? Well.... let me tell you. First batch was very granular - it wasn't really powdered sugar.... I set that aside and made another batch with the other package. This batch ended up too thin, but not too granular... Hmm. I decided to mix the two batches, thinking that the thick, granular batch would thicken the thin batch. I was out of sugar now so this HAD to work. Alas, it was still too runny and now the whole thing was a little gritty with sugar granules. At this point I decided to just try to ice the cake with a "drizzle. A good thought, but when I put the top layer on the bottom layer, with "drizzle" in between, it slid off and crashed on the plate. Yikes. Thinking quickly I grabbed a toothpick and tried to tooth-pick the top layer to the bottom layer. That seemed to be working, so I drizzled some more icing over the top. It was looking okay! I thought I might actually end up with a nice cake, when the top layer started sliding again, ripping a hole in the top layer where the toothpick was... Ugh. Now what to do???? I have repaired cakes with icing at home, but this batch was too thin... hmmmm. I thought, maybe if I cook it the icing will thicken. Bad idea. It turned into crystalized candyish goop. I tried to repair the cake with the goop anyway, but alas, it only made matters worse.

Here's the aftermath of my culinary attempts:

Here's the "finished" product...

Not horrible, and will likely taste good, but not attractive enough for a dinner party! I think I'll cut it up and we'll eat it here at the office next week...

Here's what I brought instead:

Dinner at Katie and Glen's was great - we had good conversation, watched 18 month old Anabel enjoy her new toys, drank mulled wine, ate turkey, stuffing, potatoes, sausage, beans, Christmas pudding with cream, cheese and chocolate! I'm still not hungry this morning!

When I got home last night I skyped with Bob and the kids, Peg and Jim and Mary Ann while they were opening presents at Jim's. I talked to Anna Lynn and Linda, and left messages for Leigh Ellen and the Jores (I'll try again tonight!).

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and that your cakes turned out well, and you enjoyed time with family and friends.

Amakuru!

Office Party, Rwanda style!

2009-12-23T23:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had our MGVP Christmas Party complete with spaghetti dinner ala Leon, decorations put up by Noel and Jose, and background traditional Christmas music I put on my I-pod when I was home in October. We played the "white elephant" gift game! It was quite new to most of the group, and great fun. Poor Noel had 2 of his gifts stolen (one by me!), but he ended up with a GREAT gorilla painting by Eric, one of the artists who works with Julie at Art of Conservation.

Here are some pictures of our day:

Noel and Joselyn putting up the decorations.

The finished product!

Leon and Felician preparing the feast!

The Christmas feast.

Ama with her Christmas decoration!

And Ama eating her Christmas decoration...

Here's the MGVP team enjoying dinner.

Opening gifts was fun.

Here we are with our gifts. Me (obvious, I know), Innocent (from Art of Conservation), Felician (one of our guards), Clementine (former administrative assistant now at university in Kigali), Schadrack (current administrative assistant), Leon, Eric's wife, Eric (from Art of Conservatin), Noel (lab technician), Joselyn (data entry for MGVP) and Joseph (our porter for the forest). Great team!

At the end of the day, after almost everyone had gone home, Felicien, Leon and I washed the dishes and put the house back in order. There was little conversation, because my French and Kinyarwanda is so bad, but it was a comfortable, familiar, post holiday activity. I am so thankful for my Rwandan friends; my family away from home! But I miss you all!

Christmas Shopping

2009-12-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

Going to Kigali today to drop John off at the airport and to do some last minute Christmas shopping - chocolate for the staff!

Christmas in Rwanda

2009-12-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

This is the first time I've spent Christmas away from my family. And it is a little surreal to me that Christmas is less than a week away. The weather doesn't change much day to day, or month to month for that matter, and there are no Christmas tree lots, few lights and decorations, and no seasonal songs playing in Musanze town. BUT, I have 2 poinsettia trees - one in my front yard and one outside my bedroom window, and they both have beautiful red leaves, just in time for Christmas! The sunbirds and firefinches perch there regularly and look like ornaments. I put up decorations in my livingroom. And I'm going to have a little MGVP Christmas party next week, and introduce the "white elephant" Christmas present game to the staff! I'm having Christmas dinner at a friend's house - they have an 18 month old daughter so I'll get to watch her open a gift or two! And I'll let Ama open a new bone on Christmas morning. I'm playing Pachelbel's Canon as I write this. So I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit. But I'll miss you all, and chilly Christmas morning opening the stocking gifts, and looking at the tree at night, and the endless Christmas songs, and Sara and Taylor relaxing after finals. Send me pictures.

Bob said he wanted to see more pictures of my house so here they are!

Here's the poinsettia outside my bedroom window.

I just planted some flower seeds in the backyard.

Here's the door to my office from the courtyard.

Chewy and the poinsettia outside my front door.

My vegetable garden.

Here's the inside of my office.

We have this calendar board for all MGVP scheduled activities.

Here's my nick-nack shelf (yes, I'm collecting even more nick-nacks Bob!)

I have these flowers outside my office. The begonia makes me think of Mom.

Here's my bulletin board with some pictures that are probably familiar to many of you!

These next few are my decorations - pretty festive!

Here's my dresser with photos to remind me of friends and family.

Immaculee, a friend here in town, gave me this plaque for Christmas. I love it!

Fox and Ama relaxing in the living room.

Ama has doubled in size since she came to me 2 weeks ago!

That's it for now! By the way, I darted my first wild gorilla Friday. She had a snare on her wrist. Amazing experience. I'll write about it on the gorilladoctors blog in January!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Like any other Sunday

2009-12-19T03:22:00.000-08:00

It was Sunday morning. I’d slept in a bit, dinked around in the garden, and I had been invited to Fabien’s wedding today. He’s one of the 2 head gorilla orphan caregivers in Kinigi, and I was so very honored to be invited - I was beginning to be part of the community! I’d picked out the skirt and blouse I was going to wear, and was in the process of ironing when I got the first call. There was a professor from Princeton trekking gorillas today, and I was to have lunch with him at one of the resorts. What a dilemma. I did some quick calculating and figured I could go to the wedding but slip out early in time to make it to this lunch. It would work out just fine.

Then I got the second call. There was a silverback gorilla who was still in his night nest at 10am. NOT a good sign at all. Now all bets were off. No wedding, no lunch with the professor from Princeton. I was so sad to miss Fabien’s wedding, but I knew he would understand. He was a gorilla caregiver after all. I prepared to go to the forest to assess this silverback.

As I put my raingear, camera and fleece in my backpack, I had a million questions going through my head – had he been in a fight with another silverback? Did he fall? Was he coughing? Others sick? Will this require anesthesia?

I climbed in the truck and drove to pick up the tracker and porter who accompanied me. We then drove down a long, curvy lava strewn “road” to the “parking” area. It must have been a market day because I passed bag after bag of potatoes along the way, piled outside a small shop, on people’s heads, and 3-4 huge bags on bicycles that strong men were pushing up steep hills. We parked the truck outside a small village and started up the slope. It was about 60 degrees, overcast and windy as we headed up the slope to the edge of the park – I have a feeling my nose was bright red as it dripped steadily in the wind... And it was MUDDY. I was priding myself in how well I was keeping up with the tracker when I slipped and fell in the mud on the way up – sorta embarrassing. It took us only 30 minutes to get to the park edge. We were following the Susa River on the way up. I couldn’t see it, but I could hear it rushing down the hillside. Then we came to the falls - absolutely beautiful. I still can’t quite believe I get to work here!

I had to take a pee at the wall at the edge of the park (too much coffee that morning). The trackers are used to this, but I was a little embarrassed. I said in my best English “I have to go have a pee…” and point to the bushes. The tracker said “Number one?” and I thought, did he just ask me that??!! I said, “Yes, number one - the short call.” And he somberly nodded his approval. I wondered what he would have said it was number two… I found a bush that is nicely situated to provide me with privacy from the trackers, but I imagine the whole valley could probably see my glowing white bum. Yikes.

It was another 30 minutes through the forest until we got to the group. As soon as we entered the forest the wind stopped and everything was quiet. We were in a bamboo area and there was moss hanging from bamboo, and bamboo going every which way making the path a little difficult to navigate, not to mention the ankle deep mud. But we kept going, and it wasn’t far until we came upon the silverback, laying on his side with 3 juvenile gorillas playing around him. He lifted his head to acknowledge me, but then laid back down. I was a worried. The tracker and I moved off to look at the rest of the group, and in about 15 minutes we saw the silverback moving in our direction. He was limping a little, but sat and ate well while we watched several others in the area. What a relief. We watched the group for about an hour, and once the tracker and I were both satisfied that he was okay, we headed back out of the park. We both thought he had probably fallen and hurt his leg, but not seriously. I learned later that he was back to normal the next day. Phew!

I’m doing a lot better with the altitude – still very slow as we climb, but this time we were at around 8800 feet and I kept up pretty well! The mood was light as we walked down the mountain. When we got back to the falls I stopped and told Joseph the porter I needed to be a tourist for a moment and took a picture. Joseph and the tracker laughed. And I practiced my Kinyarwanda on them. I now know to say “nitwa Jan” when the kids call me Mzungu (my name is Jan). I can say “muramutse”, which means "good morning". And respond with “yego”, meaning "yes, it is a good morning". Or to say “Amakuru” in greeting (Peace) to which one responds “Nimeza”, meaning "and also to you". Joseph and the tracker seemed to get a kick out of my trying to learn Kinyarwanda, and they tried to teach me so many words! I know I won’t remember them because I can’t write them down as we walk – the words are still so foreign to me. But it was fun. I told them about Amahirwe and they laughed at the name (it took me a while to get across the concept that I have a puppy with that name, but we eventually got there between my bad French, their a little better English, and pantomiming!). I told them that some days she is Amahane, and they busted a gut.

I am feeling settled in. I've learned to always expect the unexpected. I love this place and the people, and of course the gorillas.

Ugenda feeling stiff and sore.

Other family members enjoying lunch.

Susa falls.

Amahane

2009-12-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

So, Amahirwe means Chance, or Luck.
Amahane means Trouble!
Either way she's Ama...
Needless to say, she feels MUCH better now, and is a normal, troublesome puppy!! I've given her my slippers in order to save everything else she chews on!

Here she is with Eric, a friend from Art of Conservation. Molly took this picture.

Updates

2009-12-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

My friends Molly and John and climbing Sabinyo today - over 12000 feet!!! Maybe next year for me...

MGVP sponsored a training workshop for about 20 community people (including a Batwa group) on how to use a press that makes fuel briquettes out of discarded paper, rice hulls, etc. These briquettes will be used in place of charcoal so tons of benefit - reduced charcoal use, recycled paper use, a business for the people who own the presses and the people they employ! We brought over the first press from Congo to Rwanda. Very exciting! Pix soon.

I'm putting up Christmas decorations this evening - I can't believe it is already 2 weeks until Christmas!

Ama weighs 7 pounds already! Chewy has forgiven me, but only if Ama is not present (when I tried to introduce them he snarled fiercely and ran away, and didn't let me touch him for 2 days. He is a very sensitive boy). Fox is beginning to tolerate Ama; a very good sign! Dan hasn't met her yet (I worry that his cart will run her over!).

I was supposed to be on a live California Public Radio broadcast on Tuesday, but just as we were going on air I lost the internet connection (not uncommon here, unfortunately). But they decided to reschedule for next week. Fingers crossed for the connection!

New post at gorilladoctorsblog about Ndeze and Ndakasi. They are doing so well!

And Bob, I am wearing my new sunglasses at appropriate times!

Amahirwe

2009-12-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

She weighs four pounds and is as big as my boot. She's covered in lice, full of worms and about 7 weeks old. Tan, black muzzle, little white soul patch, and a Biafra belly. I've had her for 4 days and I'm already in love. She's sleeping in my lap as I write this.

Amahirwe. It means "chance" or "luck" in Kinyarwanda. I call her Ama for short.

I was in Kinigi visiting the gorilla orphans and she cowering in the bushes outside the compound. At fist I thought she was a cat, then she scurried across the path into a brush pile. It took some coaxing, but we got her to come out and I scooped her into my arms, lice and all. She was trembling, her hair was matted and her skin scabby. She needed me!

Here she is getting her first bath - the lice scattered!

Chewy and Fox don't think much of her, but Magda's and Julie's dogs are interested and playful. I'll need to give Fox, Dan and Chewy extra attention so they don't get too jealous.

She was very quite the first 2 days, but now that she is dewormed, deloused, has some groceries in her belly, a warm bed and a little love, she's a spitfire! There is no Purina Dog Chow here so I have to make her food. She gets these dried little fishes that we feed the other dogs, and rice. I also bought some bones from the butcher and boiled them up and mixed them with rice. Looked so much like a good dish that Mike had a plate the other day - he said it was a little bland! I haven't had a puppy for a long time - she's keeping me on my toes!

Amahirwe. I'm taking a chance with her.

Press Release!

2009-12-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

Here's our press release about the orphan move - pretty exciting!

December 2, 2009

Orphaned Mountain Gorilla Babies Return Home to Congo National Park

On Dec. 1, more than two years after being evacuated following the 2007 killings of their mothers, mountain gorilla babies Ndakasi and Ndeze returned home to the Democratic Republic of Congo, moving into a new custom-built forest sanctuary.

The move was coordinated by the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, which has been providing veterinary care for the orphans since they were rescued. The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project is a partner with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center in the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program, established at UC Davis in April with funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

"The move was a great success thanks to the tremendous effort of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project staff, and the caretakers and staff from the Congolese wildlife authorities," said wildlife veterinarian Mike Cranfield, who is the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project's executive director and co-director of the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program.

"The orphans will now have the chance to grow up in a safe, healthy environment that is very similar to their natural habitat and close to their surviving family members."

UC Davis wildlife veterinarian Kirsten Gilardi, co-director of the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program, said it is too soon to know whether the orphans might ever live free. These two young females and two other orphans are the only mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in captivity in the world.

"Whether or not Ndeze and Ndakasi can be returned to the wild will be the decision of the Congolese wildlife and park authorities, and will depend on the gorillası development over the next several years," Gilardi said. "Moving them to this new, much more naturalistic setting is certainly a step in the right direction, and a vast improvement for their current well-being."

Since the 2007 gorilla massacres, the orphans had been living with caretakers in the city of Goma in a makeshift facility run by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. While the orphans received excellent care at the Goma facility, its location in the middle of a hot, dusty city directly behind a busy hotel was far from ideal. A rebel invasion of Virunga National Park delayed the construction of the sanctuary until this year. The area has now been deemed safe for the gorillas to return.

The orphans' new home is Senkwekwe Center, built near Virunga National Park headquarters in Rumangabo. The facility was constructed by the Congolese wildlife authorities (known locally as the ICCN, for Institut Congolais pour la Conservacion de la Nature) in part with significant donations from the non-profit group Canadian Friends of the MVGP.

Named after Ndeze's silverback father, who was also killed in 2007, the sanctuary encloses 2.5 acres of natural forest and includes a 1,600-square-yard interior holding facility where the babies are currently staying. Under round-the-clock care by ICCN staffers, Ndakasi and Ndeze will be able to explore an environment filled with trees they can climb and planted with native foods they can eat.

"The orphans seemed to adjust to their new surroundings right away," said Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project regional veterinary manager Jan Ramer. "Within 15 minutes they had pulled down a banana tree and started eating
it.²

"While itıs a tragedy that gorillas are not able to live in the forest with their families, this facility allows them to live at the right altitude, in the right climate, and among the right vegetation for wild mountain gorillas. Itıs the best place for them right now," she added.

One of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project's veterinarians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eddy Kambale, will stay with the orphans at Senkwekwe Center for a week to make sure they continue to adjust well to their surroundings, and he and fellow Congolese MGVP veterinarian Jacques Iyanya will also follow up with regular health checks.

About the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project
Founded in 1986 shortly after the death of Dian Fossey, the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project provides veterinary care to the approximately 750 mountain gorillas living in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It monitors the health of wild mountain gorillas, treats trauma and illness, researches significant issues in gorilla health, and develops protocols and partnerships to support the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program in the Virungas and environs. It works in close partnership with the governments of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other gorilla conservation organizations to achieve mutual goals, and its work is shared to strengthen wildlife conservation efforts around the
world. The MGVP depends upon grants and donations to conduct its operations.
More information: www.gorilladoctors.org

About the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program
As a partnership between the MGVP and the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center, the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program investigates the disease threats facing mountain gorillas, helps expand medical care for the humans working in and around the gorilla parks, and improves the health and well-being of livestock to benefit the families who depend on them for nutrition and income. The program was established in April 2009 with a leadership gift from the Packard Foundation, and involves some of the worldıs leading great ape scientists and conservationists. Utilizing both public and private support, the program is a model for the One Health approach to conservation.

About the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center
The UC Davis Wildlife Health Center, home of the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program, is a Center of Excellence within the School of Veterinary Medicine, comprised of 13 epidemiologists, disease ecologists and ecosystem health clinicians and their staff working at the cutting edge of pathogen emergence and disease-tracking in ecosystems. It benefits from the expertise of 50 other participating UC Davis faculty members from many disciplines who are involved in the discovery and synthesis of information about emerging zoonotic diseases (those transmitted between people and animals) and ecosystem health. Its mission is to balance the needs of people, wildlife and the environment through research, education and service.
More information: www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu.whc

About UC Davis
For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from six professional schools -- Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.
More information: www.ucdavis.edu

Ndeze and Ndakasi eating a banana tree in their new yard!

Andre and the girls.

Alive and Kicking...

2009-12-02T05:42:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it has been 20 days since my last confession... wait a minute, I mean my last blog...
I know I am sounding like a broken record, but geez it has been crazy here! Here's the run down:

A veterinary pathologist from Canada and a vet tech from Baltimore visited over the past 2 weeks. They were helping with the capacity building portion of the project - helping train our lab manager and technician, going over protocols, etc. A GREAT two weeks, and we got a lot accomplished.

We worked on Thanksgiving day (go figure, it is not a holiday here!) but had a great Thanksgiving meal with one of the other NGOs in town that evening - complete with turkey and dressing! I skyped the whole family that night and managed to talk to almost everyone, which was nice. Then last Saturday we had a Thanksgiving celebration here at our house. We had 4 chickens instead of turkey, and stove top stuffing, cranberry sauce (the kind I love that comes out looking just like the can - I brought it back from the states just for this occasion!), mashed potatoes, and about 15 friends. It was great fun - Julie brought her Egypt garb again, which is why John and Mike are in dresses! Here we are at the table in our conference room (pay no attention to the many Primus bottles on the table...).

BBC continues to film - here they are shooting our truck going in and out of the gate half a dozen times, but they got the shot! Stay tuned for a 3 part series on Mountain Gorillas sometime next year.

Through our partnership with a group called Project Rwanda we were involved in the donation of a cargo bicycle to one of the sector veterinarians. We even did a press release! Here she is thanking John Huston, who she worked with a lot when he was doing a survey of families involved in the "one cow per poor family" national project.

You might be interested to know that Pacifique, who I wrote about on gorilladoctorsblog.org, has also been given a bicycle, and it has changed his life. Justin, one of our farm partners in Uganda has a bicycle on the way too, thanks to another generous friend!

I finally got to go see gorillas last sunday - there was a blackback that was moving slowly and needed to be checked. I'll write about that soon - remember that all gorilla content must now be posted on the gorilladoctors blog so stay tuned there too!

We also just moved the 2 mountain gorilla orphans from Goma in DRC to a wonderful new facility in Rumangabo - more on that next week!

Thanks to everyone who has been sending messages - I AM still here, alive and kicking! In the next 2 weeks just about everyone I know is leaving for holiday, so I'll have LOTS more time for writing. You'll be sick of hearing from me. Hopefully it won't be another 20 days until my next blog...

Busy times!

2009-11-19T03:29:00.000-08:00

It has been sooooo busy since I got back last week! Mike is here, along with a visiting pathologist from Toronto Zoo. The technician from Maryland Zoo arrived yesterday and is doing some great teaching to our lab folks. There have been meetings and meetings about BBC, mask use in the face of H1N1. The monkey with the broken arm is now back in her big enclosure and doing well! It is the rainy season and it is RAINING!!! And I feel like I haven't had time to catch my breath!
So this will be a very short post!

There is a new post on www.gorilladoctorsblog.org so be sure to check that out.

I am out of "quarantine" on Monday and can't wait to get back into the mountains to see the gorillas again!

Back Home Again

2009-11-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since I've written! When I last wrote I was in Ethiopia on my way to Tulsa, Oklahoma. After 36 hours of travel and one missed flight I arrived in Tulsa at 7pm on a Friday night just in time for my first meeting! I was at the annual conference of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians. The conference went well, and it was so fun to see everyone! But at the end of the week I was exhausted...and ready to go home.

Bob surprised me by driving to Tulsa so I didn't have to fly another leg - we had more time together that way too! I had a week in Indianapolis, and got to visit with almost everyone, at least briefly. It was so wonderful to be back home again. Fred, Misty and Dave seemed very happy to see me - within 5 minutes of crawling into bed that first night they had all joined me! Bob said they NEVER do that when I'm not there! I wish I could bring them with me. At least Bob gets to come visit in January. Here's me, Bob and Fred.

The day I left Ruhengeri 2 of our farm partners, Pacifique and Emmacule, gave me gifts to bring back to my family. I was so touched! Here are Sara and Taylor with the gorilla key chain for Taylor and bird mobile for Sara.

Here's Bob and I with our gifts from Pacifique and Emmacule (I sent them these photos too because they wanted to see my family.)
And part of the family with baskets I brought back for everyone. They were made by a small women's co-op here in town.

During the week I gave a talk at Taylor's Fraternity, Lambda Chi, which was fun - one of his fraternity brothers came dressed as a gorilla! And I gave a talk at the zoo too. Strangely, I was pretty nervous about that talk. I think I really, really wanted it to be good, because the zoo has been so supportive of my work with MGVP. I was thinking about this as I entered the education building, and the first thing I saw was this GREAT cake!!!
Do you recognize me on the top of the cake??!! Even the gray hair!!! I saved her in our freezer at home - don't throw her out Bob! This cake was a gift from Jennifer Conour and her children. She a zoo member who, along with her son and daughter, sent wonderful packages to me here in Rwanda filled with much needed (and yummy!) items for MGVP.

I launched into my talk, and in the end I think it went well because I was talking about something in which I so totally believe. It was great fun to see everyone at the zoo! I just didn't have enough time. At the zoo or at home.

Before I knew it my 7 days had flown by and Bob was dropping me off at the airport for another grueling 34 hour travel stint. Minneapolis, London, Nairobi, Kigali, with varying hours worth of layovers in each airport - I lost track of days and time. In Nairobi I was utterly exhausted. The airport there is small, crowded and hot. Not to mention dark and confusing. As I sat waiting for my last flight, I wondered just what I was doing spending 2 years in Africa. It is hard work, hard to be away from family, hard financially, hard to travel. I slept at bit on that 40 minute flight (didn't sleep at all on the 8 hour flight from London to Nairobi, which likely affected my mood...). We landed in Kigali and I breezed through immigration because I have a resident visa. As I waited for my bags I could see Jean-Felix waiting for me - he smiled and waived, and I returned the gesture, genuinely happy to see him. Jean-Felix and I caught up on all the gorilla and human drama I'd missed during my 2 weeks away as we drove the 2 hours back to MGVP headquarters. The road from Kigali to Ruhengeri was so familiar to me. Everything was GREEN this trip - we are now fully into the rainy season and the crops had grown by leaps and bounds while I was away!!! Kids smiled and waived as we passed yelling "Boujour Mzungu!!" and I smiled and waived back. As we rounded the corner and I saw the MGVP sign, heard Chewy barking, and heard the creaking of the gate as Faustin opened it, and I felt myself relax. As I climbed out of the Land Cruiser Chewy smiled and wagged, I got hugs all around, I ate a wonderful Leon lunch. It felt good to be back home again in Ruhengeri - my home away from home.

I have to stay away from the wild gorillas for 2 weeks again, because I've been traveling, which means re-acclimation to the altitude and climbing - yikes! Since I got back Monday afternoon I've tried to catch up on emails. We went to Rumangabo in Congo on Wednesday to do a final inspection on the gorilla orphan facility there. We met with BBC at Park Headquarters here in Rwanda. They are doing a 3 part special on Mountain Gorillas and part of the story is MGVP. Should air next year. We met with ORTPN to talk about how to mitigate the risk of H1N1, which finally found its way to Rwanda. And I had beers at Muhubura. Life is good here in Rwanda!

Ethiopia

2009-10-22T10:20:00.001-07:00

I'm on my way to a meeting in Tulsa, then Indy for a visit with family!

Made it to Ethiopia just now - get on the plane to DC in 2 hours.

Can't believe I've already been here for almost 3 months!

Egypt in Rwanda

2009-10-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

Last week Julie Ghrist, who runs the Art of Conservation NGO I wrote about a while back, returned from a vacation in Egypt with her mom. She had a get together at her house celebrating Egypt - she had Egyption clothes for us all to wear - don't we look great! The dresses are called Galabia. That's John in the nice white Galabia, Julie next to me, Magda and little Kasha, along with Julie's 3 dogs. Molly took this one.

Here's one with Molly too. She's the journalist that went with us to DRC and wrote a guest blog entry on www.gorilladoctors.org last week. (By the way, there is now a new blog posted every Wednesday on the gorilladoctors website - which is why this blog has been a little lacking recently!)

We had a blast! I love our little Muzungu community.

Outwitted by a monkey

2009-10-18T05:38:00.000-07:00

At the gorilla orphan facility in Kinigi we care for 2 monkeys - a golden monkey and a vervet monkey. Neither are releasable. The little vervet is called Gimlet, and she was a "pet" from a very young age until she was confiscated several years ago. She still has scars around her waist where her "leash" was attached. She loves to be groomed by her caregivers, but is a very confused little monkey. The Golden Monkey has also been in human care since a young age, and is missing a hand after an accident with his cage several years ago.

Last week Gimlet was found with a broken right arm in the morning. She must have tried to reach something outside the mesh and gotton her arm tangled. Her ulna was broken and her elbow dislocated - poor little thing. Sandy and I anesthetized her so I could try to repair the damage. We don't have an X-ray machine so I had to rely on my hands to evaluate the fracture - it felt like only the ulna was fractured, and the radius was stable. Gimlet was pretty relaxed under anesthesia, and I was able to get the elbow back into proper position. We didn't have any cast material available, so I bandaged her arm, making her a nice little pink jacket. Now, I've had some experience with monkeys and fractures, and I was pretty confident that my technique would work. AND she looked great in pink!

She got it off in 2 hours.

Outwitted by a monkey, again.

The next day Magda and I tried again. This time we put a nice splint on, and taped the makeshift "cast" to her arm.

She got this one off in 3 hours.

Never underestimate the determination of a monkey.

Take three was a splint, wrap, and tape all the way around her body, and the whole thing smeared with a yucky tasting paste.

This one stayed on for 6 days!!!

Yesterday Magda and I looked at her again - the bone is healing nicely, and the elbow is still in place - yay! We put yet another bandage on, and as of today, she only has the outer layer off... little stinker! But even if she gets this on off, I thing her arm will heal well.

Felt good being a monkey doctor again - even if I was outwitted...

Here is the gorilla peanut gallery - the monkey procedures provided a good deal of entertainment for them!

25 years

2009-10-14T01:42:00.000-07:00

Today is Bob and my 25th wedding anniversary! A quarter of a century - geez we are getting old...

I am so lucky to have a husband that supports my passion for the work I'm doing here in Rwanda. Who didn't bat an eye (well barely batted an eye, anyway!) when I first mentioned that I saw the add, and that maybe I would apply for the position. He supported me as I struggled to decide whether or not to leave the comfort of my position at the zoo, the comfort of my home and family. He helped me pack, shared my excitement and trepidation as I prepared for this journey. And he stayed home, holding down the fort while I live my dream. He even promised to be nice to the cats while I'm away!

I am so lucky. I love you Bob.
See you in 2 weeks!!!

Orphan photos

2009-10-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

A good friend of Magda's is a professional photographer. He captured these wonderful images of some of our gorilla orphans. Check out his website at www.adamwoodhams.com.

I can't believe I have been given the opportunity to work with these guys. I still sometimes can't believe I'm in Africa.

By the way, Tuck is doing much better!

Tuck

2009-10-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

The good news is that Mukecuru, the old female in Pablo group who lost her infant last week is much improved. She is still carrying the dead baby, but behaving normally, eating well.

The bad news is that Tuck, the old female that was with Titus when he died is declining. Gorillas, like people (and most mammals, for that matter) form bonds with specific other individuals - Tuck had been with Titus for years, even staying with him when all the other females went with another silverback some months ago. She has been following Rano and his small all male group since Titus died. Her young son Segasira has become fully integrated into the group, but Tuck stays on the periphery. Several days ago she showed up with a laceration on her head, but seemed fine. Today trackers report that she seems lethargic and/or weak; moving even more slowly than she usually does. Jean Felix is going to observe her tomorrow. She is 37, and the oldest female with a known birth date. A little too much Deja vu.

Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries!!!

2009-10-04T23:15:00.001-07:00

I am eating a bowl as we speak - THANK YOU SANDY AND JIM!!!!!!!!

I laid low yesterday, caught up on emails (as much as one can catch up on emails these days...) and am feeling better this morning. I also planted onions and kohlrabi from seeds, transplanted some beans and squash, and transplanted some flowers. Sara - my 2 "free" tomato plants are doing really well! Sorry to all you northern hemisphere folks - we have a year round growing season here! Felt good to work in the garden. I had been getting a bit frustrated with some silly political and personnel issues, and gardening is my therapy.

And this monring when our guard Faustin walked into my office with my package my mood lifted considerably!!!!

Fatigue...

2009-10-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Woke up with my first bout of lower intestinal disorder last night (I think you know what I mean...) and had to get up at 5am for a forest visit. The female who lost her newborn was reported to be very weak yesterday. After a 45 minute walk to the park wall and then 2 hours, up hill to the group, all the while hoping I didn't have to use the BIF (I made it with only one stop...), we found Pablo group. There are 46 gorillas in that group and I got to meet Cantsbe - the last gorilla from the Dian Fossey days. Impressive silverback, and as always I was in awe in his presence. The old female was somewhat improved, eating and moving with more strength. Magda and I discussed her case with trackers and decided not to intervene today. The trackers will stay with her the rest of the day, and check her first thing tomorrow. I hope she continues to improve. We couldn't recover the body of her baby because she is still carrying it. Very, very sad. But the rest of the group was a wonder to watch - one young male sat near us the whole time we were observing the group. I suspect he wrote in his notes that afternoon: "the mzungu with white hair looked tired and sick. Will need to keep an eye on her..."
I am really, really tired after today's hike, but still stronger than I was 8 weeks ago! Guts are better this evening, in case you were wondering...

There has been a gecko hatch near my office - look who I saw last night:

Crazy week

2009-10-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

Here's the rundown:

On Sunday John, Molly and I went to a lake just north of Ruhengeri. We drove about 30 minutes on the paved road, then about 90 minutes on a windy dirt road through the mountains until we found the lake. It was lovely, and HUGE. We drove to the top of the lake, stopping to take pictures now and then, and found a great waterfall. There are small towns dotting the mountains, and people everywhere. Here are some of the pictures from that trip (I ran out of battery before we got to the waterfall - rats!). It was a fun day off - the first full day off I've taken in a while!

Monday I went to the forest for a health check on Kwitonda group. It was wonderful to be in the midst of a healthy family group. Kwintonda is the silverback, massive and young and healthy. There are several juveniles, and we caught them during a play session. Rough and tumble wrestling, twirling, punching, laughing and grunting. The whole visit was reguvinating for me. Here are a couple pictures from that adventure - an adult female who was munching on bamboo shoots and a curious baby in the bamboo.

Tuesday several of us went to Rumangabo, DRC to check out a new facility for the two mountain gorilla babies in Goma, DRC. Long, long drive over bumpy roads, and a long, but productive day. I'll tell this story at length soon.We also had to examine a baby Red-tailed monkey (used to be called Spot nosed guenons) that had been confiscated. VERY cute.

Wednesday I had to go back to DRC because there was a sick 3 year old gorilla. Eddy (one of our veterinarians in DRC) and I visited the group and found that this little girl had a terrible cold - runny nose, coughing, lethargic and not eating much. We treated her with antibiotics, hoping to help her get over the hump. Molly went with us and photographed the procedure - her story will be on the MGVP blog in the next week or so, along with her pictures. Here's a preview - I found another chameleon - this time a Jackson's. Molly took this picture. Pretty cool!

That same day there was a newborn gorilla in Pablo group, one of the Rwanda research groups, researchers reported had cried all day yesterday. Magda went to that group and the female and her infant could not be found, even after a 3 hour search. We were pretty worried. Then we got a call from Benard, the MGVP veterinarian in Uganda. There had been a fight in one of the groups and 2 silverbacks had injuries that needed to be evaluated. But Benard was sick, so Jean Felix had to go. Turns out the injuries are not major - trackers will monitor them until Benard does a recheck next week.

So we had sick or injured animals in all three countries on the same day. In vet school I was sort of an emergency magnet. I sure hope that ability has not followed me here....

Thursday the mom and baby in Pablo group could not be found again. Now we were really worried. But got good news from Congo - the juvenile we treated yesterday was looking better today. So it was a bit of a quite day at the office. I used the day to catch up on my desk work - after 3 days in the field I was SWAMPED!

Today we learned that the newborn has died, and the mother is very weak. We are making preparations to go into the forest tomorrow to assess, and immobilize her for diagnostic and treatment procedures if necessary. I hope we can help her. We also got a call that a golden monkey was weak and near death right near Hirwa group. Magda went up and by the time she got there the monkey had died. At necropsy his liver was the size of Texas - lets hope it is not infectious disease... Many, many samples were taken....

So it has been a crazy week. I'm pooped! But, I got a PACKAGE today from Megan and Kyle!!! Thank you!!!! I had salt and vinegar chips and mac and cheese for dinner!!!

Congo

2009-09-28T22:04:00.001-07:00

Going to DRC today with Magda, John, Sandy (head orphan caregiver) and Molly (free lance photographer and reporter) to look at a gorilla orphan facility that is being built in Rumangabo. More soon!

Rubuguri

2009-09-27T00:46:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Rubuguri, Uganda for a celebration of the "Year of the Gorilla" and the launching of a newly habituated gorilla group. It was my first time to Uganda and I was pretty excited. The border is about 30 minutes from our house so Magda drove me to Rwanda customs and Benard, one of our Ugandan veterinarians met me on the other side. The border closes at 6pm because that's when it gets dark here, and there is no electricity in the customs building... I got there by 5:30 to be sure it was still light! It costs $50 for the visa, which you get after standing in line and filling out forms on each side. Here's the Rwandan side - I forgot you are not supposed to take photos at customs.... I thought the sign on H1N1 was interesting.

Here's customs on the Uganda side. You can see Muhabura Volcano in the background.

Benard and I drove north to the village of Kisoro. We passed this beautiful lake on the way and I saw pelicans for the first time! Those are little wood canoes in the lake, and we passed a small, lovely campground. Might have to check it out at some point. The roads in this part of Uganda are mostly not paved, but the countryside is lovely. Population density is much lower here than Rwanda so there were some nice expanses of countryside without houses. There is a hotel called the Traveler's Rest in Kisoro that has been there for years - was frequented by Dian Fossey in the day. I was hoping to stay there, but unfortunately it was booked, so I stayed at a newer hotel down the street. That night I heard a bird call that I recognized, but took me a minute to realize that it was a Crowned Crane! So familiar from my work at the zoo, and how hearing them in the wild was so great.

The next morning Benard and I drove about an hour over very bumpy roads to the town of Rubuguri, which is just outside Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This is where the other population of Mountain Gorillas lives. This celebration was very important for the local communities. The newly habituated group means more money for the park service, which hopefully translates into more resources for the local communities. So this was a huge event. Looked a little like a horse show set up as we approached! It was a little odd to see Sea World and Busch Gardens on the banner - I'm still not sure about the connection!

There were many speeches by ministers and local leaders, then checks were handed out to leaders of the local communities. The excitement and hope for the future was palpable.

There were performances by school kids all day long. There were skits and dancing and singing - it was wonderful. At one point all the kids were asked to approach the stage and one of the local leaders told them they were the future of Uganda. The future of gorilla conservation. I think these kids will remember this forever.

These kids enacted a tourist visit to the gorillas. Very sweet.

Here's a small band with local instruments. I have video including sound - but I still can't figure out how to make the video small enough to post.. Howie, can you help????

This is a group of Batwa (pygmys) who sang a beautiful song. The announcer thanked them, and then they started to dance, and dance and dance! The whole crowd got into it, clapping and singing, and at one point on of the ministers went and danced with them. The Batwa have traditionally been a fringe group, historically somewhat neglected by community leaders. It was nice to see them included here.

A small flock of Crowned Cranes flew over the field at one point. You can sort of see them in this picture. I was pretty excited!

I didn't have time to visit Bwindi, but plan to do a health check on one of the groups with Benard sometime soon. It was a whirlwind visit, meeting many of the conservationist in Uganda, lots of hand shaking, and just trying to take it all in. Then it was back to Rwanda that evening, and an annual exam on one of the orphans the next day. See the gorilladoctors blog for that story sometime soon!

Quick aside: I make banana bread almost every weekend - there are many, many bananas in Rwanda. They've never heard of banana bread here (banana beer, yes... but not banana bread). I shared it with our guards and students and it was a big hit!

Week of travel....

2009-09-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts - been a very busy week, and very little internet access!
I was in Kigali Sunday and Monday for a meeting on Climate Change and potential effects on Mountain Gorilla Conservation - it was a preliminary meeting, data gathering, etc. Gorilla health and biology data will be overlaid with climate data and analyzed - then a big conference will take place in February where recommendations will be made to local decision makers...
No internet in Kigali at my hotel.
Then Tuesday I interviewed 9 people for the position of Administrative Assistant. It was really, really hard to make a decision... I hired somebody who l hope will be good. We'll see!
Yesterday and today I was in Uganda for a big celebration - it is the "year of the gorilla", and a new group was habituated for tourists so it was a huge celebration, with local kids dancing and people from government giving speeches - I think I have some good pics I'll download and post later. No internet in Uganda hotel either.
On top of all that our local internet has been on the fritz.. hopefully to be fixed tomorrow...
So just a note to let you know I'm still alive and well! More soon...

"Official" Blog!

2009-09-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

The Gorilladoctors.org official blog is finally up and running! If you go to that blog there will be some familiar stories, but the gorilla content will be in more detail. At least that's my plan, and what our Director of on line fundraising wants. Also, and I PROMISE I won't do this often, if you feel like contributing to the cause, now is the time. Lucy raised ~$20,000 with her blog over 2 years, and my goal is to raise more...so tell your friends and family...

Okay, that's over-with. I really, really promise I won't do any more fund-raising on this blog!!!

Model Farms

2009-09-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

Today I visited 2 of our farm partners - these are families who are trying to develop healthy, environmentally friendly family farms. Farm is a term used loosely here - these families have a modest house, with their animals in the back yard.

The first farm was the home of Justice, a man who was warden of 2 national parks here in Rwanda for years and now works for a conservation NGO. He has a lovely home just outside the city center of Ruhengeri, with 2 Jersey cows in the backyard. The first he got from Heifer International 5 years ago. She's given him 3 calves and lots of milk. One of her calves is the second cow, and both are pregnant at the moment. John Huston, our livestock specialist, has helped Justice with feeding and deworming strategies. He's also helped Justice install a bio-gas unit next to the cow enclosure. This unit will be filled with cow manure and urine (and waste from the house), allow it to sit in a tank and produce methane, which is vented into a pipe that powers the gas stove in his house. The unit is not finished yet, but the tank of waste is almost ready to vent to the pipe. The start up cost was pretty steep in Rwandan terms but Justice figures he will break even in 3 years, then begin to save money. In addition, his family will no longer use charcoal, which is very expensive, and very, very bad for the environment. There is a HUGE illegal charcoal industry in DRC (Congo) - trees are cut in the "protected" forests and made into charcoal in kilns, then transported illegally to Rwanda, Uganda, other parts of DRC... so the bio-gas unit will decrease dependency on charcoal. We are encouraging all of our partner farms to consider installing a bio-gas system. Justice also has a rain catchment system that is almost ready for use. He has a series of pipes on his roof designed to catch the rain water efficiently and run into large tanks. That water will be used to water livestock, wash clothes, flush the toilet, etc. We are working on developing a rain catchment system at MGVP headquarters. Here are some pictures of Justice's house and cows. The cows are always confined because Rwanda has a no grazing policy in order to protect everyone's crops. It also keeps cows off the roads!

Here are John and Justice checking out his almost finished biogas unit, and the back of Justice's nice house.

We left Justice to go visit the home of a woman who has just purchased her first cow - a cross breed, who is supposed to be pregnant. John and I will palpate her to determine pregnancy status. This farm is a good 20 minute drive over VERY bumpy lava stone road, into a neighborhood that rarely sees cars, let along white people. We were immediately surrounded by a few women and dozens of children who were curious, and funny, and for the most part sweet (some of the older boys were a little naughty - they really, really wanted to ride on the truck...). This cow looks very healthy, and turns out that she is indeed pregnant! This is very good news for her owner. She'll make good money on the calf, and will get several months of milk. Here are some pictures of the cow, John palpating her, the house where she and some goats and a small family stay at night, and the kids. One little girl was knitting - she was very proud when I asked to take her picture.

This is how the majority of people live here in and around Ruhengeri. I am honored to be welcomed into their homes.

Ihumure

2009-09-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Ihumure died last night. Another necropsy today. He had trauma to the kidney and an intussusception of the bowel (one piece telescoped into another). It is good to get a diagnosis, and to know there was little we do, but so difficult to know that he suffered so. Again, that is all part of life, but to be so close to it does give pause.

We will bury him according to the protocol of a physical anthropologist who is studying the bones of Mountain Gorillas. He will be laid in this little box in a very specific way so that the bones will be in anatomically correct position when they are retrieved in about a year. The box will be filled with loose dirt, and he will be buried at a specific depth to maximize natural cleaning of the bones. His grave will be marked with rocks in the little graveyard at park headquarters and with GPS coordinates. All seems very matter of fact. But really, it seems fitting, and a way to honor Ihumure and his species. To learn as much as we can from his little body. To help us better understand Mountain Gorillas so that we can best protect them and their environment.

Immediately after we finished with this necropsy I took a family who is doing a story on MGVP to see the gorilla orphans in Kinigi. It was nice to see this group of healthy, content orphans, each of whom has a tragic story, displaying for our benefit, and for the sheer joy of displaying! Lifted my spirits. More about them later - I'm going out for a beer!

Long day

2009-09-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Quick update after a long day. We did a complete necropsy (animal version of autopsy) today. A long and difficult procedure, the final results of which will take months. The tissues are placed in formalin and frozen, and will be brought back to our pathologist in the US next time Mike goes back to the states. Lots of permit/paperwork for this critically endangered species to be moved from his country of origin. I learned today that Titus was the oldest silverback with known birth date. 35 years old.

Ihumure is not doing well. He is weak, but does seem to be staying with the male group. In fact today Magda saw one of the blackback males defend Ihumure when Rano charged into the group. This is a good sign, if Ihumure can hang in there. We made the decision to attempt to treat him for a variety of potential causes for his weakness today, in the most non-invasive way we could. He was darted with antibiotic, antiparasitic and anti-inflammatory drugs. This remains a very, very difficult situation from a medical and ethical perspective. If we attempt to do a full intervention (anesthesia, sampling, fluid therapy, etc.) the group may leave - they are so unstable right now. If they leave, and he is still weak, we may not be able to successfully reintroduce him to the group once he recovers from anesthesia. If we don't do a full anesthesia, we may never know what is the cause of his weakness, and we still may lose him. So after long discussions with Veronica from Karisoke, we decided to try the least invasive "shot gun" method of giving him a chance. Trackers will watch him carefully tomorrow, while his father is being buried near Dian Fossey.

That's it for now. I think I'll watch an episode of "House" tonight - feeling the need to escape a bit....

Loss

2009-09-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

Titus died last night. Magda spent the day with the group doing observations because Ihumure would not leave the body for several hours - everyone is so very worried about him. Tuck, the old female who has been with Titus for years, along with her 3.5 year old son, were not found for several hours today, but came back this afternoon, and both are staying near Titus.

Rano, Titus's son and now leader, is with the 2 blackbacks and one juvenile male of the group, and he seemed to be trying to move the group away from Titus, but they all kept circling back to Titus's body. Ihumure is afraid of the male group so he sits by himself. Tuck and her son move away when they approach too, but do not sit with Ihumure. This is such a difficult time for the gorillas and the people who care for them.

We did not move his body off the volcano yet - we want the group to have time to grieve, and calm down some. Porters and trackers will bring his body to our clinic tomorrow morning for the necropsy, then he will be buried in the gorilla graveyard near park headquarters. There are no words to truly express the feelings of loss that are palpable in this gorilla conservation community today.

Titus update

2009-09-13T01:44:00.000-07:00

He is not doing well at all. Yesterday he moved with the group but did not eat, and today he is alive, but very weak, not eating; it is a matter of hours or days. I hear this is how Shinda died too - just faded away. Shinda was a silverback who controlled a large group. When he died there was not another silverback strong enough to hold the group together, so it split into two groups. He was a juvenile when I was here in 1985, and in Beethoven's group - the group I was fortunate to visit. I remember Shinda well, because when we arrived and saw my first wild gorilla group, I stood slack jawed, staring. Shinda walked past me with several other gorillas, and he pushed me over with his back leg - as if to say "You should crouch in the presence of gorillas!". So I did. I hear Shinda maintained this attitude into adulthood, and was a strong, demanding leader until his death last year. I wish I could have seen him again.

Death is a natural process, I understand that, and Titus has had a very long and good life, but it is still difficult, especially as a veterinarian, to do nothing. I've been waging moral battles in my head since he got sick... doing nothing at this point seems philosophically the best thing to do. We've had many discussions with Veronica at Karisoke Research Center and she agrees. If we were to intervene, and were somehow able to provide him with several more weeks or even months of life, Titus would be a shadow of his former self, a tag-a-long in the family he used to control. My heart is heavy for the trackers and researchers who have known him for many years.

On a happier note, today I went for a long walk with Julie, who runs a GREAT NGO called Art of Conservation - she teaches art at local grade schools, but incorporates hygiene messages, conservation messages and natural history messages into her lessons. Magda, Jean-Felix and I each spoke to a class last week about MGVP and it was so fun! The school is in Kinigi, serves 8-12 year old kids, roughly. It is a series of long brick structures that are divided into classrooms. Each classroom has a blackboard and wooden table/chair combos that seat 2-3 students each. Kids are required to wear "uniforms" which consist of a blue dress for girls and a blue or tan shirt for boys. The school serves 1700 kids who come for 1/2 days each day. Evidently during the planting and harvest seasons girls are often absent - they are the first that are made to stay home to help... but there are about 30% girls in the class I spoke to.

Through an interpreter (although they are learning English in the classroom) I talked about gorilla health, and how we know when a gorilla is sick (trackers are very important and know the gorillas well, etc.), how the get sick (snares, respiratory disease, etc.) and how we can treat the gorillas. I took the dart gun and showed them how we use the dart to deliver medications - they were AMAZED! I even let the two kids who got the top score on last week's test shoot the gun. At the end, I asked how many kids in the class wanted to work with gorillas as trackers or guides or even veterinarians and many raised their hand. I told them to work hard and maybe they can work for MGVP when they grow up. I hope one of them does. Here are some photos from that classroom, along with AoC's Code of Conduct and Staying Healthy posters - I am so impressed with Julie's work!

Second Wind

2009-09-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

Titus looks better today. He is alert and eating. The group is rallying around him. Ihumure is MUCH better - even playing a bit with his brother. We are cautiously optimistic...

This is my life here in Africa. Things look like they are going in one direction, then there is a 180 degree turn - so you learn quickly to be flexible! To not dig in your heels. To not necessarily count on things happening the way you think they should, or even the way someone told you they would...

I went to a "model farm" partner's house today with John Huston - the PhD candidate from Mississippi who is the MGVP livestock health guy. He's teaching people how to better care for their animals to make them more productive. This serves 2 purposes - helps keep PEOPLE healthy if their livestock is more productive, but also helps prevent disease drift into wildlife populations. This partner's "farm" is really just his backyard (about the size of our driveway at home...), where he has 4 goats, a young heifer and 2 penned pigs. Crazy crowded, but the animals were all relatively healthy! All are slightly dehydrated - there is no running water in this community, so ALL water is carried back and forth from the well. That means the animals rarely have drinking water - they have to get all their moisture from the forage, and this time of year everything is dry. But the rains are coming, and everything will rehydrate. Plants, livestock, people.

Then we visited the home of the administrator for one of the local human clinics. His wife is the head of the local women's cooperative - this co-op makes clothing, baskets, etc, for sale to tourists and locals. So they are a relatively wealthy family. Their home has glass windows and doors that lock. When we went inside there was a lovely old push peddle Singer sewing machine that Angel, the wife, uses for her sewing. The floor was dirt and stone, and there was very little other furniture - a table and chairs. A Mountain Gorilla poster on the wall. We really don't need much to live comfortably. We Americans have so many unnecessary possessions - I hope I can hang onto the memory of Angel's house when I get back to the states. But when I got back to my home in Ruhengeri I pulled a cold Tonic out of the fridge, turned on my computer and i-pod, nibbled on my new bag of Goldfish (THANK YOU BECKY!!!!) and settled into my padded office chair.... I sometimes feel so very colonial, and don't quite know what to do with that.

Here's me with Titus and Ihumure. Fingers crossed for them both!!

Titus

2009-09-10T02:38:00.000-07:00

We got a report this morning that Titus is near death. He had been resting so comfortably with little Ihumure, but resting a lot. We all thought he was resting for Ihumure, but it now appears that he is giving up. He had recently abdicated control of his group to his son, which was shocking to the researchers - he had always been such a strong leader, since the time of Dian Fossey. This morning when trackers found the group Titus had not left his night nest, and was not responsive.

There is nothing we can do. We prepare for the necropsy. Titus was a gentle giant, loved by all. He made history with Dian Fossey. His loss will be deeply felt by gorillas and humans. The future of his group is in question, and Ihumure's future is in jeopardy. Titus was his only ally.

We buried an infant yesterday. One that I met on my first health check with Group 13. He was found dead 9 days ago and his mother only yesterday gave him up.

I am so sad.

RAIN

2009-09-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the rainy season has started, but when it rains here it is not like Indiana, so far anyway. Today the sky turned black, there was a little rumbling, and then it opened up and POURED. For about 30 minutes. Then the sun came out, the birds sang, and the temperature dropped 5 degrees (to 70 - it is generally about 75 during the day and 60 at night so far). I can't wait to see what happens with the garden now that the rains have come.

Ihumure update:
I went back up to have a look at him on Monday, and believe it or not, I made it to the ravine without ANY rest stops!!! I paced myself pretty well, but was absolutely amazed at how much better I did this trip than on Saturday. Part of it was that I knew what I was in for and I went very slowly, but part of it is that my body is actually adjusting. My kidneys are producing erythropoietin so that I can make more red blood cells so that my muscles and brain can get more oxygen at this altitude. I marveled at physiology as I trudged up the trail.

When we got to the ravine, Ihumure was again sleeping with the Silverback Titus, but when he woke up his eyes were more clear, and his movements more controlled. The trackers told me he had eaten that morning with much more strength than previously. I was so pleased. He's not out of the woods by any means, but moving in the right direction! On the other hand, Titus seems pretty tired. Resting a lot. Hopefully he is just resting up from the last 2 weeks of interactions with lone silverbacks.

Here are some photos of that last trek - such a beautiful spot.

This is a lovely little homestead on the way to the park.

And there is actually a gorilla in that ravine...

Titus and Ihumure

Saturday, take 2...

2009-09-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I was wrong. It was not a quite Saturday after all. I got a call mid morning from Veronica, the director of research at the Karisoke Research Station, that Ihumure, the little orphan who was reported to be limping, is now not eating, and not moving much at all. So I packed my bag, drank some water and headed to the forest. This was the first time I'd gone out to the forest on my own, and I was a little nervous and excited at the same time.

Preparations for going to the forest include loading the small backpack with rain-gear, camera, water, notebook and pen. Sterile vials to collect fresh feces. Glasses, walking stick. Find out where to meet the military and trackers - usually Kinigi or Bisote, which are two villages about 15 and 30 minutes from Ruhengeri.

I drove the 25 minutes to the DFGFI (Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation International) research house in Bisote and picked up my tracker and military escort (we always have a military escort when we go to the forest, more for protection if we encounter an aggressive forest buffalo than for human concerns... but that too...). By the way, I forgot to mention that we did see a buffalo last week! He was about 100 meters off, looking at us through the vegetation. Very cool.

As I arrived I saw a group of soldiers and trackers standing outside the house. I got out of the truck and said in my broken french - "You take me to Titus group?" They just stared at me... so I said "TITUS GROUP" really loudly. I don't know why I thought they would better understand me if I spoke loudly. One of the trackers said in English - "what?" So I said "TITUS" again, feeling a little foolish. Then he said smiled and said "TEETOS!!". Ahh, I was pronouncing it wrong! I said "Oui, TEETOS!!!!" and smiled broadly. And we were on our way in the Land Cruiser, over a terribly bumpy lava stone road, through tiny villages where people are used to seeing research and tourist trucks going past, but the kids still run out to see you, always smiling and either doing the "thumbs up" or shouting the now very common to me phrase - "bonjour mzungu!!". There were many women in very colorful cloths walking along the road, all with something on their heads - a sack of potatoes, baskets, big yellow water jugs - and most with a baby on their back and a toddler following in front or behind. Any child over 5 (and some smaller) were also toting water jugs, fire wood, or baskets as well. Men were making bricks, building houses, weaving rugs. People were going about their day, and I was fascinated. I found myself wondering about their lives, their hopes and dreams. Then I flashed back to driving down Meridian Street to the Zoo - why didn't I wonder about their lives? Too familiar?

The tracker, Fundi, motioned for me to stop and park the truck in a small village down the road. We got out and started up the fields to the wall that marks the park boundary, but as I looked up I couldn't see the wall. This didn't bode well... Fundi and the military guards were practically jogging up the slope. I didn't even try to stay at their pace. There was one guard behind me who was very patient as I once again huffed and puffed up the slope. It was an hour walk to the wall for me, with at least 3 stops to rest. "je m'excuse" I said constantly. "Je n'suis pas forte encore." He told me didn't speak much french or english. Only Kinyarwandan, swahili and arabic. I said I only speak english and a little french. Then we were quiet as my open mouth breathing subsided and the pounding in my ears slowed to a tolerable rate. The scenes around me were beautiful! At one point I almost stepped on a chameleon the size of my thumb. I stopped to pick him up and show the guard, then I put him on a nearby bush. I wanted to take his picture, but we were on a mission. And I was slow enough as it was.

We finally made it to the forest wall where we put on our rain pants to protect us from the at least 3 species of nettles and thistle, and as a bio-security measure (we wash them when we get back each time, as well as our boots, to keep down the potential spread of pathogens from group to group). I asked how far into the forest before we find the group, and Fundi looked a little apologetic and said it was about an hour. I groan inwardly, wondering if it is one hour his time or mine...), but smiled and said "ok, lets go!" It ended up taking another hour and a half, and several more stops for me with Fundi looking back anxiously, ALWAYS from far above me on the heavily wooded slope. Geez, how long is it going to take me to acclimate???? Just when I really don't think I can go much further we made it to the other trackers. Fundi talked rapidly with them in Kinyarwandan, gesturing here and there. Then he told me the gorilla group is resting down there, and he pointed down into a very steep, heavily vegetated ravine. I looked where he was pointing and saw a small black figure laying in the vegetation - she was one of the adult females from the group.

Fundi and I left the guards and other tracker at that point - we always go to the group with as few people as possible. As we moved down the slope I learned to trust that the thick, matted vegetation would catch my feet so I won't slide all the way down into the ravine with each step. At one point we stepped on a bee nest and were COVERED in bees. I probably made some inappropriate noises as I tried to move away. There were bees all over Fundi, in my hair, up my sleeve, buzzing around our heads. He didn't seem too concerned. I put up my hood and then heard buzzing inside the hood - ug. Then I noticed that I was not being stung. Not even by the one up my sleeve! I accidentally swatted one and even then wasn't stung... Then I remembered that somebody told me there are several species of non-stinging bees here. What a relief - I re-focused on the task at hand as we arrived at the spot where Titus, the silverback, and Ihumure, along with Segasira (another 3 year old) and Pato (a sub-adult male) were resting. Everyone looked peaceful except Ihumure. He had his eyes squeezed shut and was sleeping very, very soundly. The others were dozing, or grooming, or just resting while looking about. They were uninterested in our presence. The tracker told me in broken english that Ihumure is not lame, but is very slow and appears to be weak. And that he is not eating much at all. That's the most alarming part of the report - these gorillas rely on plants for their water intake, and this little guy will get dehydrated quickly if he doesn't eat enough. We watched them for about 45 minutes, and he opened his eyes once, sat up and tried to groom Titus but his hand just fell. He looked so pitiful. Broke my heart. I needed to get back to talk to Magdalena and Veronica so I looked up the slope and this time I groaned out loud - Fundi laughed and said it was okay to go slowly. Thank God - I couldn't have gone any other speed!

It took us only 45 minutes to get to the wall (took an hour and a half up...) and I found myself thinking, this is such a gradual slope, what's my problem!!! This time I could look around, not just at my feet as I placed one foot in front of the other on the way up. The trees were HUGE - at least 4-5 feet in diameter with moss covered branches the size of trees themselves. There were 10 foot tall lobelia spikes all over the place. And once in a while we would round a switch-back and there would be a wonderful vista, either of a volcanic ravine or of the villages below, depending on the direction. I really wanted to take pictures, but again, the mission demanded that I move on. Another 35 minutes from the wall to the parking area, then a 30 minute drive home.

I spoke to Magda and Veronica. We decided to monitor him daily. Titus is sticking so close to him that an intervention would be dicey. Magda went up this morning, and it sounds like he is no better, but no worse. She saw him eat 2 pieces of wild celery, and he groomed Titus. The group has not moved much, so he has been able to rest. We'll go up daily and make the difficult cost/benefit decision daily whether or not to intervene. I'll keep you posted.

Week 5

2009-09-05T00:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a desk day, bank day, try to figure out CITES permit day, and overall management sorta day. Today is a quiet Saturday so far - I hope to start a small garden today or tomorrow - the rainy season is coming so it might be a good time to get my flowers growing!

We did get two reports of injured gorillas yesterday - an adult female in one group has a wound on her hand. Trackers are going to assess and call me sometime today. In another group there is a 3 year old that is limping - apparently the little guys like to climb trees and sometimes fall out, or the tree limb breaks. This little guy also lost his mom to another group (silver backs steal females sometimes), but he hangs out with the old silverback Titus, who has been here since the Dian Fossey days. I've been told that this youngster is limping badly enough that he has a hard time keeping up with the group, but Titus always goes back to check on him and waits for him to catch up. Trackers looked at him this morning and he is much better, so no need for us to go have a look at him. It he were worse, I would have gone up to the group to assess him myself. We have a policy that we intervene only when the problem is human induced or life threatening - the goal is to let nature take its course to a certain extent, but not at the cost of a life. With only 700 individual mountain gorillas left each life is important. The other piece is that each intervention (anesthetic event, generally) is potentially dangerous to animals and people involved, so we have to make pretty serious cost/benefit decisions for each case. For these two, it does not sound like we'll be getting involved, but I'll let you know!

That's it for now. Happy Labor Day everyone!
Here's one of the lowland gorilla orphans we help care for in Kinigi - What a cutie-pie!

PACKAGE!!!

2009-09-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

I got my first care package today!
Thanks Bob!!! John Huston is an American PhD candidate working with MGVP on livestock health, and he was on vacation in the US this month - he brought my package back with him. YAY!
I now have almonds and wasabi peas (Candi, I LOVE the nut/wasabi pea combo now!), a small mirror for my bedroom, an external hard drive, and MOVIES! YAY!

Becky and Howie - I haven't received the packages you sent in the mail yet, but John just told me that since April (genocide remembrance time) when the post office slows to a crawl, packages have taken about 32 days, so I'm still hopeful!

Today was a desk day. Got a lot done, but still a long way to go before I feel like I know my way around the files, accounting, previous cases, etc. But I'm getting there!

My muscles are sore from yesterday's trek. Feels good.

9000 feet

2009-09-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

We walked for 3 hours before we found the group today. Straight up. To 9000 feet. Going back down was faster. Gorillas were GREAT.
Je suis fatigue.

Here are some photos from today - I tried up upload a video but it was too big. I guess that's my next task - figure out how to make the videos smaller so I can put them on the blog!

BTW - I am now officially on the GorillaDoctors website, and my first "official" blog should be posted in about a week. Stay tuned!

Driving lessons

2009-09-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

I drove myself home from Kigali today for the first time! I dropped Mike off at the airport and navigated my way through downtown Kigali, then drove the 2 hours up and down the mountains home to Ruhengeri. Last week I drove to and from Kigali with a guy from Ruhengeri who knew his way around the city, and he taught me all the road courtesy signals:

When you come up behind a huge, smelly truck spewing black smoke and doing about 2mph up a steep, windy mountain road, you obviously want to pass him. So you turn on your left turn signal and wait until you can sorta see around him. He will turn on his left signal if somebody is coming the other way, meaning DON'T PASS. He will turn on his right signal if the coast is clear (as far as he can see), meaning GIVE IT A TRY...
If you are in a long line of cars following said smelly, slow truck, you can pass the one in front of you IF they don't have their left turn signal on. If they do have it on, you have to wait your turn.
If you are going slower than the person behind you, let them know if somebody is coming or not (using the signaling above) and let them pass you.
If you see someone coming toward you and they flash their lights, look at the driver because if there are police ahead he will point his index finger to the ground. If there are no police he will point to the sky. And you should do the same courtesy.
When you approach a motor bike you should honk once or twice to let them know you are coming up behind them. (Not as much honking as the Dominican Republic, but it came pretty naturally to me!)

So this evening I got to use all these rules (although I sort of forgot about the police one - I was too busy with all the others). I left Kigali about 5pm and it was still light. As I drove up the mountain it was beautiful. I was stupidly excited about driving home all by myself in my big Toyota Land Cruiser with MGVP on the side - gray haired independent mzungu woman driving in the mountains of Rwanda. People were walking home and everyone looked pretty happy. I wanted to pick people up and give them rides, but we are not allowed. The air was cool and the trees were swaying in the breeze. As it got close to dusk (ALWAYS 6pm here) I flashed back to camp - driving on a windy (although not in the mountains..) forest lined road at dusk, feeling good. Felt like coming back from a day off - I just missed my Minne Wonka girlfriends! Then it got really dark really fast, and it was hard to see everyone on the side of the road, and the pot holes came up too quickly, and the oncoming trucks had their lights on bright so it was hard to see. The last 45 minutes were slightly more tense, but I made it! And I have to say that overall, driving in Rwanda is MUCH less tension producing than driving in the Dominican Republic. Jennifer, you know specifically which night drive I am referring to!

So I made it home, and can now check off one more from my list of firsts!

They say you've "gone native" if you do three things while in a foreign country:
Walk at night. Check.
Drive by yourself. Check.
Drink the tap water. Not happening.

Happy Dogs

2009-08-28T23:01:00.001-07:00

We have 3 dogs here at the MGVP compound - Chewy, Foxy and Danny.

This is Chewy - he's one of the front yard dogs and is Foxy's brother. He's my buddy now - especially when it is thundering. He's a GREAT guard dog - much barking and snarling, and he's been known to bite... but he's afraid of the thunder and snuggles under my desk when it storms. Apparently he and Foxy were dropped off (dumped is more like it) 5-6 years ago, and adopted by the staff at that time. Chewy loves avocados and there is a huge avocado tree in the yard - you can tell by his girth! Chewy and Danny live in the front yard because Chewy and his brother Foxy fight all the time (good thing they live with veterinarians!).

Danny was brought to MGVP as a tiny puppy. He couldn't walk. The folks here at the time suspect he was stepped on or kicked and his back was broken. He is a total sweety-pie! We have a cart for him that he motors around on 3 times/day and he gets around just fine! I haven't gotten a good picture of him in the cart because every time I go out to see them he runs right over to me and all I can photograph is his face at very close range! This is Danny and Chewy's hang out - quite comfortable! The guards are responsible for feeding them and putting Danny in the cart - and it is obvious they care a great deal for the dogs.

Foxy lives in the backyard and he is so sweet, but very, very shy. He's also my buddy now - I let him in the livingroom at night and give him treats now and then. Well, I give them all treats now and then... He loves to play, but just won't bring the ball back! He's the one I go to when I need a break from my office work or am feeling stressed about something - always a calming influence!

So these are my guys here in Ruhengeri!

And here is somebody I met this week in the forest....

Yay Mountain Gorillas!!!!

Day 26 - waxing philosophical again...

2009-08-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

Ithaka
As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

C.P. Cavafy, Greek Poet

My friend Doug posted this on his blog and it really spoke to me. Sorry to wax philosophical 2 blogs in a row, but I have a lot of time to think here in Rwanda. Doug's journey is a fight with Amyloidosis - he is a strong opponent. Mine is a different journey, but then we are all on our own journeys, right?

Leon's children

2009-08-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Leon is our house manager. He is at least 70 years old and has been with MGVP for over 20 years. Everyone loves Leon. He is a wonderful man - quiet, unassuming, hard working. He's tall and thin, which I have learned is classic Tutsi.

Ghosts of the genocide are everywhere.

There are memorial parks in every town filled with bright flowers, benches and plaques.

There is a restaurant on the way to Kigali where people were locked inside and burned alive while watching a soccer game on TV - it is still a burned out shell.

When I was at the bank in Kigali this week there were 3 stories in the paper: "Priest Cleared of Genocide Charges", "Controversy Ends as Remains of 40 Genocide Victims are Laid to Rest", Kiziguro Memroial Site a Legacy of Silent Murders". I was uncomfortable reading the stories while sitting in the bank lobby - I found myself looking around me, wondering what the people in this room lived through. Who they lost. Who they killed. I was horrified at my thoughts.

There is a Genocide Museum in Kigali. Some friends from California visited the museum while I did my business in town. They were there for 3 hours and said it was not enough time, although Christian said he couldn't stay in the children's room.

On the way home we passed a village where dozens of people were sitting in a rough circle, looking serious. Our driver told us that this is a tribunal - a Gacaca court - a sort of community justice system where the accused is invited to admit guilt and apologize in an open forum. It has been 15 years, but there is such a huge backlog in the courts that the accused are still being tried in this way. The car got very quiet for a while.

Here in Ruhengeri, my home for the next 2 years, I find myself looking around at people I now call friends and co-workers. Who is Tutsi? Who is Hutu? What did they do? Where did they go? How do they feel now? But we don't talk about it.

I found out last night that Leon's children were killed in the Genocide. I almost cried when I saw his smiling face at breakfast this morning. His oldest grandson is in college now, and MGVP is helping pay for his education. I can't begin to imagine Leon's pain. All the pain in this beautiful country. And yet the people I work with seem to manage to live in the present. Tutsis and Hutu working side by side to protect the forest and the gorillas.

Gorillas part 2

2009-08-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

We do monthly health checks each gorilla group in the park. That means we each go check on a group 2 times/week. Thursday was my first experience doing a health check -I might have mentioned last time that the gorillas were amazing, but I thought I'd give you a little better idea of how the day went! Jean-Felix is the Rwandan veterinarian on our team. We went together to visit Group 13 with Eric as our tracker - he's been tracking this group for over a year and knows each gorilla well. Trackers are hired by the park service to literally keep track of every gorilla group, and they each visit their assigned group daily. With only 350 gorillas in the park it is soooo important to know the health status of every individual.

So here's how the day started - up at 5:30 and on the road by 6am. We have to get to the group before the tourists so we don't bother tourist experience. I was so excited that I didn't sleep much the night before! I figure I'm in relatively good shape, but I requested to go to one of the closer groups for my first time. I haven't adjusted to the altitude yet, and well, I'm a little chubby these days... Eric tells us (well, he tells Jean-Felix because he speaks only Kinyarwandan) that the group was in the crater yesterday (this sounds exciting to me - it did not occur to me that "crater" means much climbing...). We drive over very bumpy roads through little villages (kids still smiling and waiving and saying Bonjour Mzungu!) and finally come to our parking spot between two trees at the side of the "road". I've got my backpack with rain-gear, extra jacket, camera, binocs and water. Jean-Felix says I should give it to our porter Joseph, but I think I should carry it myself. In the end I give it to Joseph because it seems that is the convention.

We start walking through cultivated fields on a gradual uphill slope, and after about 20 minutes I am totally winded, but I try not to let on. We walk another 10 minutes and make it to the border of the Park de Volcanos. I get a drink of water and drink really slowly, trying to catch my breath without acting tired. I don't think they buy it, but they are kind and don't laugh at me. Now the fun starts. As soon as we scramble over a 4 foot rock wall marking the park boundry, we are enveloped in vegetation. The air is close, the smells are musty. There is a path, used by trackers and tourists, but also used by animals. The slope is now close to 45 degrees, and it is muddy and rocky. I'm watching my feet closely so I don't fall - then I see these HUGE, deep footprints. I recognize them easily, but am still amazed when the tracker confirms my suspicion - Tembo. Elephant. I'm seeing wild elephant foot prints that are less than a week old. I guess I really am in Africa, and I'm speechless.

We continue to move up the slope until we reach what looks like a impasse to me. A very, very steep, rocky hill thick with trees, bushes, nettles and thorny ferns. Eric the tracker stops and looks and listens - he now thinks the group has gone over the edge of this "hill" down into an old volcanic crater. So we climb on. I stop at one point to check my heart rate - 180. Sweat is pouring down my face and I feel a little dizzy, but I trudge on (much more slowly than my Rwandan partners on this trip). Now I know why we use Joseph the porter... We walk for another 45 minutes, up and down the ravine, and then Eric stops and says we're here. My legs are trembling uncontrollably and my breath is coming in rasps, but I made it! The gorillas are about 100 meters up the ravine from us. I don't hear or see any signs of them...I have so much to learn. Jean-Felix, Eric and I proceed up the slope - I'm last - through a long tunnel of vegetation. As I poke my head out of the top of the tunnel I turn to my left and there is Agashya. The silverback. The adult male gorilla who leads this group. He is surrounded by 3 playing youngsters 2-3 years old, and several adult female gorillas. The scene is peaceful. The sounds of contentment and chewing, and smells of gorilla perspiration are so familiar to me from my days as a gorilla keeper. They barely notice us. Jean-Felix is already busy at work looking at every individual he can see and discussing who is who with Eric. I am sitting there slack-jawed, looking at the gorillas who are all around us. We spend 90 minutes with the group, trying to see as many individuals as we can, which is surprisingly difficult with the thick vegetation and steep slope. We manage to see all but 3 of the 26 group members, including a 6 month old baby! Everything we see is recorded to be entered into medical records when we get back. I guess I really am in Africa. Working as a veterinarian for endangered Mountain Gorillas.

The "walk" back was rough for me, but I was euphoric. I asked Jean-Felix when we got to the truck if he considered this an easy or moderate walk as I peeled off my muddy rain-gear and slicked back my sweat soaked hair. Of course he said it was easy. I'm in trouble.

Here are some photos to give you a sneak preview. I'm supposed to put gorilla content on the gorilladoctors.org blog, but until it is up and running I just have to show you some of what I've seen! Jean-Felix is in the front, and Eric behind him. And just a couple of our charges. Believe it or not I didn't get any good photos of Agashya - still figuring out my camera - but I promise better photos soon!

Goup 13

2009-08-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Gorillas!!!
Amazing, awesome, familiar, majestic, funny.
And I'm really, really out of shape, at 6000 feet.

Hadada ibis as alarm clock

2009-08-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

They wake me up every morning. A sort of loud, nasal caw. Then the dogs start to howl, and sleep is out of the question... We used to have a hadada ibis at the Brookfield Zoo named Stevie. He would sneak up behind us while we were cleaning the exhibit and do that loud CAW, and he got me every time... now I think of Stevie every morning!

Today was filled with a community meeting addressing conservation issues, and bringing partners like NGO's (like us - MGVP), government (local and national), etc. We did some brainstorming in small groups - what are the issues, who are the players, what is the message we want to deliver and how to deliver it. The amazing thing was (in addition to the fact that Jan Ramer from Indiana was sitting in on these meetings) that the meeting was conducted in 3 languages. English (mostly for my benefit, and because it is now the national language), French (former national language) and Kinyarwandan (regional language). One person switched languages several times in one sentence! We Americans are so language challenged... but I vow to improve my French while I'm here.

I also spent several hours today helping Magda, one of the other MGVP veterinarians, put together a power point presentation about respiratory disease outbreaks in the gorillas over the past 2 years. Very interesting. Last year the outbreaks in gorillas happened 4 weeks after a similar rise in cases in the surrounding human population. We don't yet know if it was the same virus, but are working on that.

Sooo, 2 weeks at the office so far and tomorrow.... GORILLAS!!! Finally!!! I get to see them in the wild. See the reason I am here.

More photos soon!

Democratic Republic of Congo

2009-08-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

So much for writing every day - it has been crazy busy here the past week!
Last Wednesday we visited Goma, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) to check on gorilla orphans that are being housed there temporarily. The border between Gisenyi, Rwanda and Goma, DRC was relatively easy to cross after we bought a $35 visa. Jacque and Eddy, the MGVP veterinarians who work in Congo, met us at the border. The difference between Congo and Rwanda is like night and day. Roads in Congo are very rough and dirty, and the city is crowded and loud, but people were still open and welcoming. We are always very careful when we come to DRC. Our veterinarians know the area well and are always alerted when rebel activity is nearby and dangerous. Today things seemed to be business as usual...

This is downtown Goma.

The black rock is a lava flow from when Nyiragongo Volcano erupted in 2002. It left 2 meters of lava in the town, but was slow moving so nearly everyone was able to evacuate. Goma is rebuilding, and it is interesting to see that some of the shops now have basements that used to be at ground level...
These next photos are taken on the road to Rumangabo - things got progressively more rural. It was pretty overcast so we couldn't see the volcanoes well, but this gives you an idea of how the countryside looks.

It has taken me a while to upload these photos so I'll sign off for now. More about Rumangabo soon - the gorilla orphan facility we visited is inside the Virunga National Park, and is beautiful!

I figured out the photos

2009-08-09T11:13:00.001-07:00

This will be a short blog - too late for many words!
I figured out how to upload photos - here is the house - pretty nice! The first two photos are the livingroom. Don't worry, the TV only works for DVDs.. Next is my office - very comfortable!

This courtyard is in the middle of the U-shaped house, dividing the main living space from the lab. I've already found a chameleon and several skinks in the courtyard. Common,I know, but exciting for me! Wonderful birds too!

Here's the chameleon - I think it is a Montane side-striped chameleon.

Yesterday and today were spent getting my office organized and learning my way around the computer files.
Tomorrow starts week 2 and I am ready to dig in and wrap my head around all aspects of mountain gorilla health!

Mzungu

2009-08-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a bike ride with Krista, one of the vet students working on a public health project here. We rode through the town and turned a few heads. A couple of children called out "Bonjour Mzungu!" with big smiles and waving hands. It was very sweet! Last night Krista and I ate at a small restaurant in downtown Ruhengeri called the Modern. We had beans and rice, hot cabbage salad and chipatas. mmmmm!! The two of us ate for under $4. We were the only mzungus in the restaurant, and 2 of a handful of mzungus living in the city. Mzungu means white person, and does not seem derogatory. There are all kinds of folktales about the derivation of the word, dating back to when the first Europeans arrived in Africa. One I've heard is that in the early colonial days each time a white person walked by, the locals thought it was the same person (we all look alike!). So Mzungu means people who walk in circles.... There are other stories, but this one sounds good to me! So I'm a mzungu - different from the people who live here. I will always be an outsider here, but the people seem open, curious and friendly. I am honored to be allowed to work in this beautiful and complicated country, and I plan to learn as much as I can about the people and culture while I'm here.

first week in Rwanda

2009-08-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

Had dinner with Bob on the deck last Saturday night. We watched a pair of wrens feed their brood - it was a beautiful Indiana evening. Like magic (and a very, very long commute...) I had dinner in Ruhengeri, Rwanda with Mike Cranfield, the director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, on Monday night. How crazy is that!

Rwanda is much as I remember it from oh-so-many years ago (1985), although Kigali is more modern, the roads are better, and everything is clean - no litter anywhere! The ride from Kigali to Ruengheri is about 2 hours, almost all uphill toward the Virunga Volcano Range, through intensely managed fields. Rows and rows of crops go all the way up the hillsides, some nicely terraced and some not. It was cloudy so I couldn't see the peaks, but even so there are more hills than in Indiana...

We arrived at the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project regional headquarters Monday evening; my home for the next two years. The headquarters is a compound with a very large house that has been divided into offices, a lab, the veterinary clinic and sleeping areas. There is also a small house on the property - more housing for scientists and students. There is a beautiful courtyard with flowers, small flowering trees and bushes, and large front and back yards with flower and vegetable gardens. I have an office (I took a picture but after 15 minutes of trying to upload I gave up - I'll keep working on it!) that looks out onto the courtyard and has a window to the backyard too. My "house" is part of the big house, just off the diningroom and kitchen. I have a livingroom, bedroom and bathroom. There is an extra bedroom that Mike uses when he is in town. Very comfortable. Leon is our house manager - he cooks and does the laundry, among other things. He's been with the project for many years, and has seen many veterinarians come and go. He works quietly and is unassuming, but he doesn't miss anything... and he's a GREAT cook (again, I'll work on the uploading photo thing...they are probably too big...).

Tuesday and Wednesday Mike, Magdalena (MGVP field veterinarian who has been with the project for several years) and I attended meetings with government agencies in charge of tourism and conservation, gorilla trackers, gorilla guides for tourists, research organizations - all partners in Mountain Gorilla conservation - all very, very dedicated people. VERY interesting for me - I put names to faces, learned about the history and challenges of the various projects. I feel so honored to be a part of this dedicated group. Thursday was spent unpacking, getting started on my visa and park entry permission papers in town (I can't go to the gorillas until I complete 2 weeks of quarantine, and have my permission papers). Finally, yesterday I had some time to begin to learn the mechanics of the job - Magdalena showed me the medical records, Clementine (our office manager) got me started with the budget, I tried to get myself organized in the office... And today I began to answer a weeks worth of emails!

There is sooo much more to tell, about the people, the 3 great dogs at the compound, the birds, the geckos, the town, and my new pet guinea pigs, but I'll sign off now - I'll try to add something daily when I can. Let me know what you want to hear about!