try2seeitall

Yesterday I left Mumbai and flew to the city of Jabalpur where I was met by a driver for the three-and-a-half-hour drive to Bandhavgarh National Park. I arrived after dark, and was able to speak to the naturalist from the resort I am staying at for three nights. His name is Harpreet Singh, but he says everyone calls him Happy, and though he has a degree in chemistry, physics, and mathematics, he has chosen to follow his passion—wildlife. He said we would have to get up early. So I asked for a wakeup call at 5 in the morning. 

It was cold and dark when the wakeup call came. I put as many clothes on as I could and headed to the meeting area. I had a little coffee and got into an open-air jeep that Happy was driving. The drive to the entrance of the park was chilly even with a hot water bottle to hold on to for warmth. Along the way we picked up a local park guide, which is a requirement for park entry. Since we arrived a little before the gate opened we gathered around a fire that other local guides had made. Everyone was cold but excited about what the day might bring. The dirt roads once we entered the park were rough and there was frost on the ground as the sun started to come up through the trees.

We started to see animals, and the guide and Happy were looking at the ground as we went along. Happy said we might see tiger tracks in the dirt that would lead us in the right direction. A few minutes later the jeep skidded to a halt and Happy pointed at the ground and said, “Fresh tracks.” He explained that in the wintertime tigers prefer to use the roads when they can, because the grass is wet and tigers, like people, try to stay dry when it is cold. I took a picture of the tracks and we started driving in the direction of the tracks. We came to a fork in the road and we went to the right and just around the bend all of us saw what we were looking for, a big male tiger about 15 meters away and looking straight at us. Our vehicle stopped as Happy slammed on the brake and threw the car in reverse. The tiger barely paused, and then continued walking toward us. Shutters were firing away. I was amazed at how Happy could drive in reverse and still take pictures. Happy showed how he got his nickname as he was grinning from ear to ear. The tiger started walking off the road and was headed through the woods. Happy turned the vehicle around and tried to find the place where the tiger would likely cross the other fork in the road. He and the guide kept a keen eye on the woods and correctly predicted where it would cross the road. I got plenty of pictures. I have put some of the best of day 1 in the park, including photos of scenery and other animals, here.

I have been getting a little bit of grief from family and friends for remaining anonymous. Since I am finally caught up with posting about the things I have photographed, I will post the best picture of me taken in recent years. The photographer was Sean Harrington, aka the Frog Whisperer, and I thank him for it. I also hope he sees this and shares some other photos and experiences from the Madagascar trip. He was fun to talk to and I am sure my readers would like to hear some of his thoughts.

Mumbai is a very crowded prosperous coastal city in the upper west of the country. After a day of rest, I hired a driver for the day and had the city tour. Even on a holiday the sky was mostly gray from “smoke” as it is listed in the daily weather report. My lungs had gotten used to clean air in the mountains of Kenya and were not prepared for the pollution in the air here. Every breath has a little bit of sting to it as it goes down your throat especially when outside exerting yourself. Add that to the noise and confusion of the traffic, and it is a recipe for stress. Even so, I tried to see as much as I could in a day.

I have seen that selfies are a thing in India, and everywhere I went people were doing it. In recent genetics testing I found that I was 1.5 percent Punjabi and Gujarati (I had no idea), but I look different, and looking different made me an attraction that some people wanted in their selfies…even my driver. So, if you happen to be following those people you can find me on Instagram. Otherwise, take a look at my pictures of Mumbai by clicking here. You will see no selfies, but in my next post I will show you a picture of me, as good as it gets, taken by a new friend while in Madagascar.

The picture above is of the famous Gateway to India on the oceanfront in Mumbai. This is my first time visiting India, and I am both excited and apprehensive. I am excited because the country offers plenty of history, both natural and manmade. I am apprehensive because I am traveling alone in a country that I am not familiar with and I haven’t had a chance to do a good job planning. I have done some reading and I got my e-visa and a hotel for the first two days, but that is the extent of my planning.

By good fortune, my nephew has a good friend named Urvi who is a Princeton-in-Africa fellow living in the same town as Scott. My first night in Kenya I had dinner with her and we talked about India, where she was born, and where her parents currently live. She put me in touch with her mum, as she calls her, and said her mother has an agent she works with and that between the two of them I would receive good advice. So we have been communicating since then and we will see how this part of the adventure goes. It is impossible to see it all in the time I have allotted, really even in a lifetime, but hopefully I will get a taste and be able to present some of the highlights here in the posts that follow.

My time in Kenya was wonderful. I met so many people that made this part of the adventure memorable. On January 24, 2019, I left Africa knowing I should return again soon. Thanks to all but especially to Scott for all he did in the midst of his busy schedule, to take care of his uncle.

When I was at Mpala I got a brief chance to talk to Dr. Daniel Rubenstein. Dr. Rubenstein is one of the world’s leading authorities on Equids and their behavior, and a professor at Princeton in the department that my nephew got his degree. Scott gives credit to Dr. Rubenstein for helping make Mpala the success it is today. Dr. Rubenstein talked about the Grevy’s Zebra, a critically endangered species found in Kenya. He also talked about the new research facility that was being built. You could tell that he was quite proud of what is happening at the research center. I have already posted my thoughts.

I was hoping to get a chance while at Mpala to photograph a Grevy’s, but time did not permit.

I did get time to learn about Grevy’s zebras from another person, named Danny (she never said her last name), working out of the University of Manchester, England. Danny is doing post-doctoral work. She has an interesting story, and was a wealth of knowledge about everything from birds to snakes. I enjoyed meeting her and her newlywed husband, who is also a scientist from Manchester. Danny is doing poop studies of the Grevy’s Zebras on the property at Mpala. It turns out there is a lot you can learn about an animal when you know the animal the poop came from. So they have to see the animal poop and collect it within 10 minutes of its release. It is possible to learn about diet, health, and even genetics without having to capture or stress the animal.

So where did I get the photo above. Scott saw the zebra while on a walk behind the house where we stayed at Ol Pejeta and knew I wanted a photograph. He called me and we quietly tracked the stallion on foot until I was able to get a picture. He was in a mixed herd with the more common Plains Zebra.

You can see more photos and compare the stripes of the two species of zebra found in Kenya by clicking here and looking at the pictures near the end.

One morning we scared a bat that had gotten into the house. It started flying around. So what is a natural teacher like Dr. Jake to do? Catch it and use it as a teaching moment of course. The photo above is of Jake showing one of the boys how to properly handle an animal so that no one gets hurt. It was released outside shortly after the picture was taken.

Many of you may look at this photo and wonder what you are looking at wrapped around the mirror of the vehicle. When I first saw it I knew exactly what it was, and it represented hope of seeing something I never in my wildest dreams thought I might get a chance to see in person. Dr. Jake Goheen, one of the three primary investigators on the BHA project that was currently on site, was sure he had secured a permit from the Kenyan government organization in charge of scientific investigations involving monitoring big animals. The brown device is a tracking collar meant to fit on an adult lioness. I had seen them fitted on lions in the Serengeti and in Ngorongoro crater. To put them on a lion you don’t say, “Here kitty, kitty,” and wait for them to sit down beside you. You have to get close enough to have a clear shot with a tranquilizing gun, and that shot has to be taken by someone licensed to do it. Jake spent an incredible amount of time in preparation for the moment that he could call the veterinarian at Ol Pejeta to pull the trigger to immobilize the lioness he had chosen. Jake is an expert in mammals and familiar with risks and protocols for such an event. He called the official in charge one last time, while he was waiting for the veterinarian to arrive at the site where a lioness had been identified as a candidate. All he needed was the OK he had assurance he would get.

Back up to July 2018, and the headline story for a wildlife conservation effort was “Eight Critically Endangered Black Rhinos Die in Kenya After Being Transported.” This tragic event put the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) under considerable scrutiny. Even though Dr. Jake had been working on securing this permit for more than a year, and the circumstances were completely different—lions are not endangered; they have different physiology; and the animal was not going to be transported—the KWS had concerns. The biggest concern being the pressure that the organization would be under if something went wrong.

The final word on the day I was there was No Go, with the statement that by Monday (it was late Friday afternoon) permission would likely be granted. Officially for the day it was postponed. Jake’s vehicle moved a bit closer to where the lions were located, so the vehicle I was in could have a better opportunity for photos, and the nervous lions scattered. Monday came and permission was not granted; Tuesday, the same. The collar would remain unused. 

There was nothing that could be done except wish him success in the future.

For more pictures from Ol Pejeta Conservancy click here

Trevor Bloom is a phenology scientist who currently works for The Nature Conservancy in Jackson, Wyoming. Phenology is the study of periodic plant and animal cycles in nature. He also works part time as a guide in the Tetons and Yellowstone. Monica Robinson is his friend who also works as a guide in the Jackson, Yellowstone area. She has a special interest in moose and is looking into going to graduate school to study the effects of climate change on moose distribution and parasite loads. I met both of them while they were helping at Ol Pejeta as volunteers on the BHA project. Monica and I sat next to each other for hours weighing soil samples and talking with my nephew, Scott, on a variety of topics, while Trevor, a friend and associate of Dr. Corinna, worked in the field and with the kids on the documentary. Trevor and Monica are both passionate about nature and love passing on their enthusiasm to both young and old.

Wyoming is one of my favorite states in the U.S. in the summertime. I qualify this because I have never been there in any other season so far. Maybe it will happen, since I am now retired from teaching. If I can get my 1993 Volkswagen Westfalia Camper Van back in good working order, it will be high on my list of things to do. Wyoming is beautiful and the people who live in Wyoming year round are in general, a little tougher, more independent, and straight-talking than the east-coasters I typically associate with. That brings me to the story Monica wants me to tell.

One afternoon, after a hard day in the field, Scott and Jackson, a field assistant on the project, encountered a lioness close enough to the house that Scott called us at the house thinking Monica, Trevor, and I could bring Dr. Corinna’s children to see the lioness. There was only one vehicle available, a small Toyota pickup truck; so we quickly got our cameras and squeezed the two boys up front. There was not enough room for all of us to be in the cab, so without hesitation, Trevor asked Monica to hop in the back. She did. When we arrived, the lioness was lying down next to the watering hole with water still dripping from her chin. The vehicle Scott and Jackson were using, a bright orange Land Rover, was only a few feet from the lioness. Trevor, wanting to get the kids in position to have a good view pulled up next to her, with Monica still in the open back of the pickup making eye contact with the lioness. Scott saw that Monica was looking a bit uneasy, especially when Trevor asked her to pass his camera up to him from the back; Monica probably fearing that her movement would call attention to her vulnerable position. So as soon as we snapped a few photos, Scott positioned the Land Rover between the lioness and the pickup, and Monica quickly but gracefully transferred into the closed cabin of the Land Rover. The lioness, looking a bit irritated by the commotion, got up and moved to the shade of the brush. No problem, right? Just a story that will likely be told over and over again.

A while back, Trevor Bloom produced this short video available on YouTube. Click here to watch  and see what you can do to make a difference.

The picture above was taken by one of the two children staying in the house at Ol Pejeta with their mom. He is only seven years old, and he and his three-year-old brother brought a lively spirit to the place. 

Their mother, Dr. Corinna Riginos, as mentioned in a previous post, is one of the primary investigators on the project. Dr. Corinna was able to masterfully manage her duties as mom and scientist in Kenya. She works most of the year with The Nature Conservancy, where she is based in Wyoming. When she signed on with TNC she had already started as a PI on the project and so was able to strike a deal with them to finish her duties; a win-win situation.

Both children were inquisitive and got along well with each other and charmed everyone in the house. I usually had the honor of sitting next to one of them at breakfast and at dinner. The seven-year-old is trying to put together a video documentary of his adventure and the project to bring back with him to school when he returns to the U.S. I have had the pleasure of watching him—with help from Trevor Bloom, a young man whom I will post about soon—develop the story line, the interview questions, and shoot the video. I hope to see the finished product, and if it is made public on Vimeo or YouTube, I will post a link here. I can assure you it will be good.