Musth stash

In his acclaimed novel Walden, Thoreau calls for us to return to nature and advises us to “Simplify, simplify” as a means to cleanse our lives. I’ve had this book on my list for years and only started reading it this week. Maybe it found its way to me at this junction in time as part of some cosmic design. Maybe it’s kismet, or perhaps it’s just dumb luck and random coincidence. Whatever the case may be, it couldn’t have come to me at a more appropriate time. Allow me to explain:

Ten days ago my bus pulled up to the GVI base in Karongwe Game Reserve, the place I’ll call home until mid-August. We pulled up to the bunkhouse just as the sun set, and my fellow expedition members and I concluded that this would be no vacation. For starters the place was dark as the small solar panel out front was no longer of use in the early African evening. And, the generator out back can only provide enough electricity for our necessities like the refrigerator and the computer from which I am typing to you (it’s supposed to be used to enter data from the expedition, but if we finish our work early we can shoot off an email or two.) Not to worry though, we all have headlamps to light our way to the bathroom and to ensure that we spot pests like snakes, mice or whatever other nuisance crawled into the house. During the last expedition, someone forgot to close a door and a hyena walked in, not good.

We all sleep in one dorm in bunk beds, which I can tell horrified the sorority girl who sleeps in the bunk below me (As a chivalrous guy, I offered to take the top bunk). As long as I have my earplugs and eye mask I am good to go. The only thing that concerned me is the fear of ripping one in my sleep, but then I thought, “Who are they gonna tell?”

The place is rather Spartan, a simple concrete structure that looks kinda like a prison in some sense. It’s low tech, we wash clothes by hand and have to get hot water from the side of the house to do our dishes in a tub. We operate like a quasi hippie commune complete with a division of labor and smelly people. Peoples’ belongings are strewn about and we share most everything. It’s actually quite nice.

The daily routine can be quite gruelling at times. The day starts before sun up at ~5AM but there can be quite a bit of down time too. To pass the time and entertain myself, I persuaded the seven other guys to join me in a moustache pact. Basically we all agreed to grow them over the next 5 weeks and not shave, the more ridiculous the better. As I type to you I’m rockin a James Hetfield style handlebar complete with soul patch. One of the women said, “You look like a pedophile or a porn star.” To which I replied, “Or?” While I do look like a moron, I was trumped earlier today by Stuart, who grew muttonchops connecting to his moustache (Crap!).

I wish I could post pictures, but the infrastructure here in the bush is limited and I am lucky to be able to get this post out at all.

Now for the business part, here’s what I am doing out here on a game reserve in Africa. The first few days were dedicated to training, it felt good to get back into an academic curriculum. Plus, I am now able to tell the difference between 7 different varieties of antelope by species, age and sex. And, I can identify a good 10 species of animal by their poop and tracks.

The experience has been amazing, I go on 1-2 game drives a day lasting approximately 4 hours a drive. It is our duty to track animals to identify their location, if and what they have eaten and observe their behavior. Inputting these data in to databases allows the Reserve Manager to identify trends, determine the best way to manage the reserve and publish papers to help other reserves optimize their populations.

While it is difficult to articulate, I can best describe the experience, as “It’s everything you’d dream wild Africa to be.” This week alone; I’ve been charged by a bull elephant in musth (it’s like being in heat for dudes), I’ve saw a black mane lion carrying a Kudu to his family then eat it. I’ve seen baby everything; lions, hyenas, giraffes, cheetahs, zebras, elephants. There’ve been crocodiles, impala, kudu, civets, bush babies, leopards, etc. We have a leopard, Shiloweni, who lost his canine teeth while trying to chew his way out of a farmer’s trap. They are making him implants and we’ve been told that we will sit in on the surgery. As a bonus, the Discovery Channel will be on hand filming a documentary. Cool!

Beyond the game drives the animals and living like a flower child of the sixties, I’ve had some other great experiences too. I won the giraffe poop spiting contest (for all of you who have told me to eat shit…actually I only spat it). I volunteered to have scorpion put on my face and I held a tarantula (I HATE SPIDERS!!!) I figured I didn’t quit my job, give up a sweet Hoboken pad and fly 18,000 miles away to play it safe. I’ve taken up a philosophy of taste life (and giraffe shit) I figure, when will I get these opportunities again?

I do have to say Thoreau seems to be right. Life is simpler, my soul feels cleaner. Now if I only read the damn book 2 months ago I could have gone to New Hampshire and saved myself butt-loads of money. I’ll be back with another post in a few weeks, hopefully with some pics. I’ve got tons of awesome shots.