Today news that our local internet connection has been disconnected because of a billing issue. This is a place where there are always difficulties regarding technology and a lot of our time goes into trying to keep it all working. I’ll continue to write and when I have the opportunity the blogs will get posted.

The weather which is normally the driest part of the year has been chaotic for the last couple of days. Today there is thunder on both side of camp threatening rain. In seventeen years we have never seen weather like this, perhaps an effect of global warming. The harmattan is also here, this being the part of the dry season cycle when the dust from the Sahara is blown south rendering the atmosphere hazy and thick. The harmattan combined with bush fires set by humans cause a pollution much like smog. Flying in light aircraft during this part of the year is hypnotic since there are no visible landmarks giving one the sensation of standing still.

Yesterday besides the usual elephant observations, we were treated to a super spectacle. For those of you who have had the privilege of visiting this part of the world and are familiar with the forest antelope, the bongo, you will know that it is a rare treat to see this largest species of forest antelope. About the size of and large white tailed deer, both the males and females have long spiral horns. Their pelage is a bright auburn and their flanks being vertically striped in white. They travel in groups of adult females with their offspring and enter the clearing in a single file as they exit the forest. Yesterday they started to enter and a group of 12 were the first to appear. A couple of minutes later a large male entered. He was obviously looking for potential mates in the group. Up until this moment what I found odd was that there were no young calves seen. Then another group appeared, this time it was one adult female accompanied by 10 young calves. The adult was the designated calf-sitter. There was then a total of 30 bongo, many more than we usually observe. They spent about 30 minutes in the clearing and then returned to the forest. Their vibrant color combined with the long sunlight rays of the late afternoon was spectacular for lack of a better word.

The bai surface is still wet after an unseasonable rain storm on January 2nd. The numbers of elephant reached 85 yesterday and a few large males showed up in the late afternoon including Eldridge who was in rut and made a full turn in the clearing looking for potential mates. One of my favorite juvenile males, Basil, was also in the clearing for a second day. Basil who is now about 10 years old has been sighted in Congo by a Congolese colleague who is also monitoring clearings in the Republic of Congo. He makes this trip regularly and also reunites with his mother whom I have known for about 16 years. Basil left his group at the age of five which is about the age at which forest elephant males leave their maternal groups.

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