Last week I ended up spending a lot of time in the other forest (Ain Kalla) on my own. Chris and Dave stayed with the Greens to help train Sofia, the new field assistant (and Dave's replacement come April). Just a recap, as it's been a while since I brought it up, Ain Kalla is about 30 km outside of Azrou, in a much more isolated area frequented only by Berber shepherds, who are just filtering back into the area after leaving the mountains for the winter. My time was mostly spent hiking around trying to locate the new group (the Scarlet group) which we're going to try to habituate over the next couple months, and hopefully have completely habituated by the birth season in late May/early June. It's nice to be completely off the grid (no cell phone reception, radio's certainly don't reach the other forest), but it can be a bit nerve wracking at times. I've realized over the past week that wet, slippery rocks are easily the most dangerous thing in the forest.
The habituation process involves a lot of patience. Once we find the group, we spend the time slowly (very slowly) moving around them, inching closer and pretending to be completely uninterested ('Oh man that rock is so interesting I'm going to stare at it for 5 minutes'). Once they start to get uncomfortable, we either back of or stand completely still until they don't mind as much anymore. Currently it takes about two hours to get within 15 meters of the Scarlet group. In contrast, we can walk within one and a half meters of most of the individuals in the Green group without them batting an eye. If the group moves into the trees to rest, there's nothing we can do except wait for them to come down. It's a strange shift in gears from the always-busy work with the Green group to doing next to nothing with the Scarlets. I've noticed that by the end of the day with the Scarlets I've run out of thoughts to amuse myself with and can think only about what's for dinner and how much I'll enjoy sleep.
It is nice to be doing something different, however, and I always enjoy being in Ain Kalla. The drive out to it is especially fantastic, with some really jaw-dropping scenery, and gives me a little time to listen to loud music and relax on my own before and after work. It's been raining lately so I haven't been able to take my camera, but it's supposed to clear up this week and I'll hopefully be able to provide you with some nice pictures. In the meantime, I've included some that I took during some of my first days here. They were taken when we were still re-habituating the Greens, and I had to put the lens of my camera to the eyepiece of my binoculars in order to get some close-up photos of the group. Not the best photos, but I think they're at least interesting (I couldn't believe it worked).
As I've been writing this, the sun has broken through the clouds for the first time in a week. Out my window I can see some kids playing with a ball in the empty lots near our house. A herd of sheep is ambling through the neighborhood. Listening to the Drive-By Truckers. Looking for a good recipe for a spaghetti sauce.
Back later this week with some good shots of Ain Kalla.
Great update! It must be a strange feeling out in that forest, just a bunch of macaques and you feigning disinterest, and not something a whole lot of people are doing at work on any given day. Your thoughts at the end of the day may be much like theirs (the macaques, although I hesitate to anthropomorphize). It sounds like what Nor Cal types Pay The Big Bucks to go on "meditation retreats" to do.
ReplyDeleteLove the photos. Can't get enough of them.
Hope to talk to you soon. Love ya.