MONKEY TALES #25
(3/13/04)
MONKEY TALES #24
(3/8/04)
MONKEY TALES #23
(2/12/04)
MONKEY TALES #22
(2/5/04)
MONKEY TALES #21
(1/31/04)
MONKEY TALES #20
(12/22/03)
MONKEY TALES #19
(12/13/03)
MONKEY TALES #18
(12/6/03)
MONKEY TALES #17
(12/1/03)
MONKEY TALES #16
(11/22/03)
MONKEY TALES #15
(11/13/03)
MONKEY TALES #14
(10/24/03)
MONKEY TALES #13
(10/16/03)
MONKEY TALES #12
(10/11/03)
MONKEY TALES #11
(10/4/03)
MONKEY TALES #10
(9/27/03)
MONKEY TALES #9
(9/19/03)
MONKEY TALES #8.5
(9/14/03)
MONKEY TALES #8
(9/13/03)
MONKEY TALES #7
(8/21/03)
MONKEY TALES #6
(8/14/03)
MONKEY TALES #5
(8/8/03)
MONKEY TALES #4
(7/29/03)
MONKEY TALES #3
(7/24/03)
MONKEY TALES #2
(6/29/03)
MONKEY TALES #1
(7/17/03)
"YO!"
(6/27/03)
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Hey, hey. The days are progressing
at both warp and slow-motion speed as we continue our preparations to
get outta here, so Leigh and I are both irritable, twitchy, frantic
shadows of our former selves. Good times.
1. After Bousco received her 2nd anti-pregnancy shot, the vet, Olivier,
gave us the grand tour of the monkey research facility. The highlight
for us was the full-grown, 400 lb male silverback gorilla strutting
around his cage. Olivier told us to stand a few inches away from the
bars and watch while he explained eating/mating patterns and the gorilla
chomped on vegetation. All of a sudden, we heard Olivier say, "And
then once he rips the leaves off like that, he charges." Before
we actually processed that statement, all 400 furry, hulking pounds
came racing across the enclosure, as he threw his entire body weight
againt the bars. We all jumped back (you're supposed to stand still)
as Oliver laughed. Talk about adrenaline rush; I hadn't lived till I
experienced that. As we checked out the other goriallas, the male kept
charging, and every time my life flashed before me. Then outside, we
met the chimps, one of whom Olivier said had a tendancy to be a prankster.
Sure enough, we were walking by when he scooped up some poo and hurled
it through the bars, successfully nailing my arm and (I swear) laughing
the whole time. The clincher? Our friend, Allegra, an English volunteer,
made a comparison between the chimp and her students, who earlier in
the week had smeared their own feces on the wall in an attempt to cancel
class ("But, Madame, it smells!"). Which, I ask you, is more
forgiveable?
2. Also had an interesting phone call off my landlord in Libreville,
who I've seen about twice and never had any problems with. He called
to ask why I didn't come sleep with him when I was in Libreville (for
my health training session a few weeks ago), since he was "all
alone in [his] house with plenty of room in the bed". I didn't
even know what to say, so I told him I was not interested, so go try
and find another American girlfriend. Undaunted, he said, "Okay,
well next time then. I just wanted to say hi and tell you that I love
you," before hanging up. WHAT was that?! However, I'm taking that
as a further sign that I'm doing the right thing by leaving.
3. Leigh, Allegra, Claudette, and I all took a little day trip outside
of Fanceville on Thursday to go see the waterfalls that provide the
water for all of the Haut Ogooue region. In hindsight, we all pretty
much took our life in our hands, since we needed to traverse a (Gabonese-made,
therefore, dodgy) literal vine bridge a few feet above the rushing river
current which turned into swirling, frothy Class IV/V rapids around
the bend. In the States, you'd have to sign a waiver to even climb the
"ladder" we took to get on the actual bridge. After we were
all safely across, we hiked through the jungle for about 20 minutes,
emerging into a clearing with the falls right there and only a few feet
of muddy quagmire between us and a 50-ft drop into the water below.
Unlike my family, I have not yet seen Niagra Falls, but this was the
most impressive water display I've seen yet, if only because it's not
a tourist attraction (we were the only ones there) and there were no
guard rails/safety precautions to obstruct our view/picture taking.
Sounds warped, I know, but I stood there not breathing, transfixed by
nature's power. Plus, all around the jungle critters created a veritable
soundtrack and the forest canopy stretched up farther than we could
see. Truly primal, virgin rainforest. Then we had to do the bridge again
(my foot plunged through at one point) before hopping in the car to
go back to Franceville.
As you can see, it's been quite the week for pounding hearts, tho I'm
glad we're going out with a bang. Our friend, Jessica, who's vacationing
in the States, will be bringing cages back for the mutts when she returns,
so assuming THEY make it here, the dog problem is pretty much solved.
Love and hugs to all---many of you will be receiving them in person
in a matter of weeks!
Always-
leah
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