Perspective:

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What?  How?

LIFE!

One of the females in the new Scarlet group had a baby. 

It spends the day tenaciously clinging to her stomach.  She's more than a little paranoid now, and she and the rest of the group are extremely protective (I got hassled by them for accidentally walking in her general direction the other day) so getting close for a picture was nigh impossible.  These were taken with my binoculars, so I apologize for the quality.

This development can only mean one thing:  Green group babies on the way!  We're so excited -- I'm half tempted to drive up to the forest today and tomorrow just to check up on them.

Spent the day with the Greens yesterday for the first time in over a week.  It was wonderful to be around monkeys that really don't care that I'm there. 

Other than that, no new developments.  My only plan for today is to make an apple pie.  

Expect a ridiculous number of newborn monkey photos in the coming months (you have been warned).

Searching

This is a turned stone:

When feeding, the monkeys move slowly along the forest floor, turning rocks over as they go and looking for insects.  While I don't think I've ever successfully found a group using only these stones as a guide, by turning the rock back over and observing the discoloration of the grass underneath, you can make a rough estimate of how recently they visited the site.  You can also turn another rock over nearby and compare the two exposed patches of earth.  Rain can help enormously by depositing dirt against the bottom edge of rocks which have been turned for a while. 

A macaque skull Chris found the other day

75% of the time, I probably find the group because one or more monkeys makes a noise.  Maybe someone gets in a fight, or a male shakes a tree, or (as is often a case with this new group) a Berber dog has chased the group into the trees and everyone is screaming bloody murder.  My strategy for finding the group therefore consists of a few minutes of walking, stumbling over broken branches and rocks as I scan the horizon and the treetops, followed by 30 seconds of me being as silent and as vigilant as humanly possible.  This reliance on sound is also the reason we cannot search with any sort of rain protection on our heads, no matter what the weather is.  Hoods make too much noise against your ears, and hats muffle the sounds too much.  Last Thursday Chris and I searched for 7 hours before calling it a day.  Some days we can search for as long as 10 hours.  Sunday we got lucky and found them in 3. 

The Berbers in the area are normally happy to help us out when we're looking for the group, although many times it seems they're so eager to help they just point us in a random direction.  I don't know any Berber, so if I'm lucky enough to encounter a shepherd who speaks Arabic, I can ask him how long ago he saw them, how many there were, how far it is, etc..., otherwise we try to communicate with hand signals.

A small tunnel in the rocks formed by a seasonal stream

The weather has been wonderful lately.  Actually warm enough to not wear a jacket in the forest.  It's heavenly. 

The haddaf

Azrou Barbeque

Had a nice little barbeque on the roof yesterday.

Prometheus shows Dave a neat trick

On the menu:  Lamb, chicken kebabs, turkey, salsa, fruit salad, and cakes and bread from the bakery.

Laetitia (be afraid, be very afraid) and Alvaro

(from left) Alvaro, Chris, Dave and Laetitia

From the roof on the roof:  Sofia, Chris, Dave and Laetitia

I must have posted a variation of this same picture half a dozen times by now.

Yum.
Gotta say though, it felt so strange not having a Rio Blanco in hand.  Doing something that I associate so much with home, I fell into the strongest bout of homesickness I've had since Christmas.  I still haven't been able to shake it off completely.
Miss you guys.

Damn.

Luckily, Frightened Rabbit wrote a song just for me.

A curious queue of caterpillars

Ain Kalla

 The tiny dot in the middle is a Berber
 

Ain Kalla is in the distance on the right

 

Big trees, small monkeys

Lots of clambering.

Another venture to Ain Kalla on my own today.  I was standing in the middle of the forest around mid-day staring up into the trees wondering when the monkeys were going to take some initiative and stop sleeping when a flock of sheep moved into the area, accompanied by a Berber and his dog.  I shook his hand and we exchanged greetings, and I began to explain in Arabic what I was up to (while motioning up to the trees just in case I wasn't saying it right).  He gave me a quizzical look, and said something in Berber, and I gave him a quizzical look and said something in Arabic, which, it was becoming fast apparent, he didn't understand.  We both gave each other confused looks and then began to laugh.  He shook my hand.  The laughter died down and we stood in silence watching his sheep graze.  After a few minutes he turned to me, shook my hand one more time, said good-bye (it's the same in Arabic and Berber) and moved off through the forest with his flock and his dog. 

Dinner Conversation

Alvaro:  I had a horrible day, I felt like Bilbo Baggins.  I lost my umbrella.
Sofia:  In the wind?
Alvaro:  No, in the forest, which is worse.
Chris:  Bilbo Baggins didn't have an umbrella.
Alvaro:  No, but I lost my precious.