Thursday, 19 June 2014
Fed upon
And so, the first thing that tried to feed on me, and succeeding, was a tick. A bloody disgusting tick. There she was sucking on my hip. And how fat she was. Oh well... So far no signs of any nasty pestilence, but keeping an eye on the Doxycycline stock.
Sunday, 15 June 2014
Arrivals
After a long journey over night from Europe across Africa by plan, with a short hop to Johannesburg, I got out of our plane in Beira. The air is dry and warm, but surprisingly (or perhaps I was misinformed) not hot.
Going through immigration and costumes was fairly quick and straight forward, and the van that would take the group to Gorongosa was already awaiting for the 3h30m plus through potholes. In such conditions, though the law requires to drive on the left this becomes optional.
Leaving Beira and driving through its suburbs, if can call it that, is not a beauty of landscape. You see the lack of conditions, the toughness of the life of people that you and I cannot imagine. Crumbling buildings, house badly finished, huts that are not more than sheds. And lots of people walking the streets carrying goods on their heads, on their backs.
Chitengo, the small community where the Gorongosa National Park's headquarters and the restoration team lives, welcomed us early in the evening, and the local team showed us around the basics, i.e. rooms and restaurant.
After a week in here, adaptation to this new place, with its distinctive rhythms and people, it's under way. Haven't been eaten by anything nor bitten by nasty bugs. So far none of those troubles that often affect travellers fell upon. Which I reckon is good!
Going through immigration and costumes was fairly quick and straight forward, and the van that would take the group to Gorongosa was already awaiting for the 3h30m plus through potholes. In such conditions, though the law requires to drive on the left this becomes optional.
Leaving Beira and driving through its suburbs, if can call it that, is not a beauty of landscape. You see the lack of conditions, the toughness of the life of people that you and I cannot imagine. Crumbling buildings, house badly finished, huts that are not more than sheds. And lots of people walking the streets carrying goods on their heads, on their backs.
Chitengo, the small community where the Gorongosa National Park's headquarters and the restoration team lives, welcomed us early in the evening, and the local team showed us around the basics, i.e. rooms and restaurant.
After a week in here, adaptation to this new place, with its distinctive rhythms and people, it's under way. Haven't been eaten by anything nor bitten by nasty bugs. So far none of those troubles that often affect travellers fell upon. Which I reckon is good!
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Getting closer
Gorongosa is getting closer and closer. Everything is pretty much ready, and only a few details are not as we would like. Stuff like I don't have a visa from the whole time I'm supposed to be there, and I travelling only with 2 of 3 shots against rabies I should have had. So, minor things! Hopefully I'll be able sort this out once I'm there.
A week from now our team from Coimbra will be out and about searching for mammals and birds poop (what a glamorous job description!). It's an exciting opportunity to work in such an iconic place and I'm looking forward to see what we'll encounter over there.
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