BACKGROUND EXPLAINED: Mareja - what, where, how and...why?

(A summary of notes given to visitors)

Welcome to MAREJA! 

Thank you for coming here, and finding us, despite poor internet connection, little mobile coverage and a long winding track!  Tourists are the life blood of this project and your presence and support helps in many, many ways...

Mareja covers 36,000 hectares of miombo coastal forest, and contains much variety, with Inselberg mountains dotted about. A major river runs through the heart of the reserve and we have secured a beautiful fragment of Palm Forest from eager farmers.  Mareja was established over 15 years ago and now predominantly sits within the wider boundaries of Quirimbas National Park, which was designated in 2002.

Mareja is a community conservation project, everyone you meet benefits from the Community Association, which is funded largely by tourism.  The project provides food, housing, and health care, and all developments here are overseen by a Council of Elders. 

There is much to say about Mareja and we have only sketched in a few gaps here.  Dominik is a font of vivid and extraordinary stories, some of them simply unbelievable!  Or if Dominik is not about, Adamo, Nanquata or anyone else will help.  So please just ask, there is usually time for chatting particularly once the sun has gone down.  This is Africa where time is measured differently because today matters and tomorrow is tomorrow.

Activities

There are many options and we hope to offer you something that meets your particular interests and level of adventure.  We have a team of rangers, and as well as patrolling and protecting the reserve, they lead walks and look after visitors.  

Options include, bush walking, climbing the mountain Necanuwe (which affords a spectacular view of a sea of forest), bird-watching, safari drives, bush camps near the big river Magueada, fishing (using local techniques) and much more.

River Mageuada in the rainy season

Visitor, Luis, fishing with Ranger Assani

Wildlife viewing

Unlike a large game reserve in say Kenya or South Africa, we have less big game, and the mammals we have are highly secretive and deeply camouflaged in areas of dense bush.  They will hear and smell you long before you approach.  The excitement and pleasure comes from embracing the whole ecosystem and tuning into the diversity it has to offer – many insects, colourful birds, strange new plants, magnificent large trees, and if you are lucky some mammals and certainly signs of life in tracks and trails.  If we cannot show you elephants we certainly can show you their poo!

But the forest is a haven for a very interesting mix of mammals.  We provide a sanctuary for a small number of Elephant and the main game species are the magnificent Sable antelope and Kudu, with their distinctive twisting horns.  We probably have the only sustainable population of Sable in the southern reaches of the Park.  We also have Serval, Leopard and Lion.  Our three Wild Dog packs have not been seen this year which is a great concern.  We did however recently have a very exciting sighting of Golden Cat, a rare, elusive and understudied large cat species.  You will see many Baboon around the house as they like to help themselves to any food left unattended!  There are also large populations of Black-faced and Samango monkeys.  We have a fantastic bird life with many raptors such as Bateleur and Martial Eagle and hornbills including the very large Southern-Ground Hornbill .  (Please ask if you would like to see the Mareja bird list.)  Our awareness of plant, insect, reptile and amphibian diversity is also growing with research.

Why your visit matters

Primarily you prove that wildlife has a greater value alive than dead, and consequently forests need to remain standing to support these animals.  This may sound simplistic, but if you have lived here all your life the cash sum for an elephant tusk or a large mahogany is understandably tempting, indeed far more tempting than quietly guarding it, unrecognised, while you still eat cassava, rice and beans.  And the market for both ivory and timber is here on our doorstep in the form of cash in hand.  You will read about containers of illegal timber confiscated in Asia and captured hunters, but sadly this struggle is far greater than the odd success story.  Fighting these pressures is all consuming if you choose to make it your cause, and here at Mareja we have. 

We have been working for over 15 years now to try to find sustainable alternatives to poaching and illegal logging, and through daily rangering, a system of rewards and tourism, Mareja is still here and achieving many small successes... as you say in the local language, Makua Verkani  Verkani, little by little.

Some battles are just too big and hard - Black Rhino and Zebra were lost in the 80’s and 90’s, and Buffalo have suffered dramatically in the wider park in the last 4 years... from a healthy population of over 300, 5 years ago to no more than 10 or so in recent years. 

In the early 2000’s we managed to stop a major trade of illegal logging on the reserve and brought about the first fine for such operations.  On average our Rangers collect 1,500 snares a year and capture around 50 poaching groups.  Poachers usually operate in small groups of only 2 or 3, but on one occasion the rangers caught a group of 23 men and children with 17 nets planning to clear out an area of all small running game.

How it all began

Dominik went looking for a rare and beautiful piece of land that could be developed into a sustainable project.  As the war receded there were stories of hidden tracts of land and large animals still hanging on in the North of Mozambique.  He arrived in Pemba and heard tales of a derelict colonial house and surrounding farm so set off to take a look.  At that point there was still the odd mine, and the roads were.... well hardly ‘roads’.  It took him days of slow painful meandering and bush waking to find and create a track - for much of this journey he was accompanied by a pack of Lions.  Then he eventually drove straight into one of the pillars of the main house. 

At that point Dominik hardly spoke Portuguese and there was a surreal welcome...  Only 5 families were hanging on after the civil war.  One of the elders approached Dominik, greeted him in German and handed him a large metal key.  A key to a door that did not exist, to a house that had no roof and barely any walls!  He was welcomed like the returning hero.  But this elder, Palavi, assumed he was the related to the previous owner, Margareta Frier, the German lady who had left during the civil war.

People yesterday

Dominik established the project when only 5 families were still here after the civil war.  His friends and allies were Agali and Palavi, who both are now sadly dead, but these two taught him much about Mareja, its history, people and the pulse of life here.  He has a great deal to thank them for (indeed he owes his life to Palavi).  The project has been through many phases and developments, with all sorts of people lending their hands, time, spirit and energy.  Their input is contained in what you see around you, over 100km of hand-crafted roads, new buildings and much else that you can’t see.  Some people have been at Dominik’s side throughout, such as Unkaheli, Naquata, Antonio and Adamo who was only 12 when the project began and was initially involved in a children’s food growing project.

People today – you will meet:

Adamo	Guard and house help
Naquata	Guard and Elder
Antonio	Cook who lives in Sauli and bicycles over when called (on special occasions), he is now rather elderly
Maria	Maid and house help
Elias	Car Assistant and camp organiser
Mustafer	Guard and general assistant
Regulo, community elder but visits regularly; Untomar and Rainha, community chief and Queen (they all live in Sauli)
Our team of Rangers, “Fiscais”, who work under Ali Bacar, Head Ranger: Saleman, Jose, Trisa, Umpuperi, Unkaheli, Massalino, Bacar, Alberto.

Antonio the cook

Project structure and funds

Mareja is run as a joint venture between Dominik Beissel (Mareja Management Ltd) and a Community Association.  Money that is generated from tourism goes into the community fund – all income from tourism activities, such as walks, bird watching or camping and 50% of accommodation fees.  Part of the incentive scheme we run asks you to pay a small amount for any animals you are shown by Rangers – there is a reasonable scale from Warthog (10mt) to Elephant (70mt) and Lion (120mt) and just to put it into perspective the chance of actually seeing a lion is about 1:1000! (Although you may well hear lion ‘singing’ at night deep in the bush and that is free.)  

The future and funding

We cannot sustain and develop Mareja on tourism alone. Tourism successfully provides funds for the community pot but does not fund salaries, conservation activities or developments, so we are currently seeking other funding sources and creative income streams.  Some of our potential revenue projects are... selling homemade tiles, making amurula jam, planting sustainable crops such as the Sausage tree and promoting low-impact extraction of bamboo and non-timber products such as rope...but all these would require considerable management, investment and infrastructure.

Our aim is to make the project financially sustainable but this is a large and challenging task.  We hope one day that Mareja will be recognised for its ‘environmental services’ and a realistic price attached to maintaining the breadth of natural resources and benefits such an area provides –through water conservation, carbon sequestration, climate control, natural medicine, soil fertility and preservation, not to mention wildlife and landscape conservation and human recreation and spiritual renewal. There is a slow political shift towards valuing biodiversity rich areas in this way.

There has already been an increased awareness of the importance of carbon sinks and their role in climate maintenance.  It has been calculated that Mareja reserve is preserving 960,000 tonnes of carbon per annum.  In the UK the average carbon consumption per person is 12 tonnes per annum – so Mareja would provide carbon credit for a UK population of 80,000 people. The UK Government price of carbon £22 - £52/tonne, so the  carbon preservation value of Mareja is £21,000,000-£50,000,000 (or $31,000,000- $70,000,0000).  Wonderful figures that we can only dream!

Research and other developments

This area of Mozambique has traditionally been very understudied, much to do with its history and inaccessibility.  There is a great deal to learn about its biodiversity and the effects of modern pressures, such as climate change and logging on the environment.  Mareja covers 36,000 hectares of coastal miombo forest - a rare ecosystem with riverine habitats, fragments of Palm forest and Inselberg vegetation, which makes it an ideal place for scientific study.  We are also within what is termed a ‘global biodiversity hotspot’ - recognised as being one of the most wildlife rich areas in the world.

We are hoping to attract visiting scientists and establish a Research Centre.  To this end, we are working in partnership with the Park and the newly established local university Unilurio which runs a degree in Biology.  Together we plan to develop research, understanding and local capacity to protect such vital areas.  We have already worked with scientists from Maputo, Germany, Cardiff and Oxford University students.

Reserve management

The main considerations here apart from those already mentioned are: 

• controlled burning to stem the devastating later hot fires
• management of the invasive shrub species Lantana
• habitat protection: preventing illegal logging and poaching
• water conservation for habitat and game management
• supporting sustainable products: bamboo cultivation and grass cutting by the local community
• waterhole maintenance for local community and tourists
• infrastructure maintenance: roads and access

Would you like to help...?  Having learnt a bit more about the project, you may identify an area that you can help with - from community health, craft development to research or conservation. 





Skills transfer and training....in particular we always need skilled professionals who can help with mechanics, electrics, building, plumbing and water conservation. 

Scientists....we have a Research Plan we can share with you and would like to attract scientists and passionate researchers from all over the world. 



A water gallon held up with pride by a group of people from the local village, Nanduli



All food is brought on to the reserve - here are 3 types of local bananas

$...and last but by no means least...if you have any ideas or contacts for funding and financial support that would be really wonderful.                                                                                                                       













WILDLIFE NOTE: wrong bird...and the power of blogging

My ID was wrong – that beautiful bird was either an African Hawk-Eagle or Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle (they look very similar).   Thanks to Peter C’s feedback, he is a super birder and spotted the feet which are overly large for a buzzard.  With closer examination I think it is the later, an Ayre’s Hawk-Eagle – as it had a small crest.  This makes it ‘local and uncommon in forest and riverine woodland.’  Thanks so much Pete.  And sorry Dad, who is a huge fan of the buzzard.

(This has gone a small way to convincing Dominik that blogging is a good thing – his latest phrase when he sees me at the keyboard is ‘are you blogging OR living?’  It is rather hard to avoid ‘living’ here!)

Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle

THANK YOU for my blog feedback

Thank you thank you so much for your BLOG feedback - I have received lots and it is wonderful of you to take the time to read and comment.  The length seems to be ok but I must provide enough context, so will plump it up here and there.  Dear Ulric put it so nicely...I need to draw the lens back, detail is good but wide-angle too! 

There is some conflict over the content, whether to include more personal bits or not?  Some like these musings most and others not....so I have decided to give health warnings to entries of a personal nature (they may be of more interest to my girlfriends).  Anyway – hopefully it will mature and evolve into something worth reading over time.  But please keep on commenting. 

All love Sophie

Chickens chickens everywhere and not an egg to eat!

We have a chicken and duck issue - which is proving a challenge for me.  There is no doubt that D loves these creatures more than much else - the dogs (Amigo and Festa) are possibly on the same rung of the ladder of affection with elephants! 

He was sure that if you took an egg away from any of his dears they would not lay...well that was his justification for breeding what can now only be described as a chicken and duck farm.   I counted 48 the other day and another 4 chicks appeared yesterday.  Even elderly blind Super Chicken, who survived an eagle attack when she was airlifted and walked for 9 days back to Mareja (and is at least 150 in chicken years), is sporting one prized new child!

(Once D tantalisingly flicked his wrist at a gathering of young cockerels and said ‘they are Soup Chickens’, I miss heard and said ‘what more Super Chickens?’ – ‘no, no Soup Chickens, perfect for soup.’  But that appears to have been a momentary lapse of concentration on his part.  Those young cockerels now contribute to the quite deafening morning chorus I wake to.)

While I was away I received an excited text which read ‘we have babies’ – gosh whose, my mind span with anticipation – elephants, his?  ...It was the duck’s. Cashew (the sister of Brazil) had 4 ducklings who have been given a lovely pen with a small pond and are hand fed by D twice a day.  (He is breeding yet more ducks that will attack my legs, mistaking them for D’s outstretched hand with nice white bread.)

Well I was in fact brought up on a chicken farm and I worry that this is some sort of cycle repeating itself.  We moved when I was 6 from the delights of Gloucestershire with its hedgerows full of cow parsley and buttercups to an intensive chicken farm (6,000 in three sheds) in Herefordshire.  We had our own beloved chickens too, saved from The Shed, because they were slightly different and likely to be bullied – coloured dots, squwiffy beaks... 

Anyway I realise I know quite a lot about chicken, like they do lay if you take their eggs away. 

For years I didn’t eat chicken at all as I am strongly opposed to battery farming, it is cruel and unnecessary.  But this loving free-range upbringing is far from intensive 1^st world production....and now I find myself in the awkward position of thinking we really MUST kill some chickens or at least eat their eggs.  AND first on my list for a nice roast supper would be the duck that attacks me in the fridge room..!   What has happened to me?

Chickens chickens everywhere and not an egg to eat.  Chickens chickens everywhere and all about my feet.  Chickens chickens everywhere and still no juicy meat!

Cashews are ripe

And this is what they look like on our dashboard.  They are very very bitter until ripe and then the fruit makes the most delicious juice.  They look a bit like parrots - see the nut looking like a beak.

A not quite complete parcel...and Timberland hope

One of my urgent jobs when at home was to gather better equipment for the Rangers.  I did a uniform inspection before I left and found the boots in a woeful condition. All bar one pair (Unkaheli’s) were in a terrible state – bits of metal poking out and large holes.  They had been renewed 2 years before but from second-hand odds and ends available here, and working in the tangled bush is heavy duty business.

A lot of my time was spent on line and in army surplus shops trying to track down combat trousers, caps and boots – that are affordable, buying for 10 rangers mounts up and I am painfully aware of not actually having an income at the moment.

 As part of this uniform research and replacement process I write my first two sponsorship requests one to Doc Marten and one to Timberland.  I have a video of D polishing Unkalhli’s (Elder, Ranger and Witch Doctor) boots, a pair of brown medium height Doc Marten’s – I have tried to upload it below (an exciting step forward if it works) - but please excuse me sounding like a strange loud frog in the background.  Unkaheli has a wonderful way with clothes – and wears these seemingly indestructible boots with style.  (He often sports a pale blue tweed jacket with collar turned up when on patrol, while all else are shielded by bleached t-shirt material, and has been spotted head toe in a glittering suit in Town, Pemba.)





While I am on the Timberland website I find a new world of cool, equipped outdoor living- not only do they have a section on corporate responsibility but they have wonderful motifs on their t-shirts of simplified nature, they would look so good worn by our Rangers – in action protecting nature. And their stuff looks so new!  Nothing is prized here like newness – (Elias still has the sticky label on his new dark glasses, now 4 months old, despite the fact it’s directly in his vision).  While on the website I wonder about practical, non-rip trousers, belts, nice camps with a good peak against the sun (and then wish I could have a lovely small leather suitcase I spy.)



Anyway I wait a week and no response from my request letters.  So back to surfing ebay and visiting the dark, dusty and expensive local army and navy surplus store (wondering who buys this gear?)  I do my best and spend nearly £200 but cannot be sure I have exactly sizes right (translated from cm to UK standard shoes sizes with a chart I find on the web), durability and it turns out Trisa has size 4 ½ feet and it is impossible to find a good outdoor boot designed in a child’s size. 



Bacar, Saleman, Trisa and Jose at the front (with confiscated snares behind)



Then just as I am thinking about how to send this stuff....I get a letter from Timberland!  It is such a great boost – a short, kind response.  ‘We love the sound of your project and would like to supply boots.  Please send me the sizes.’  I feel a swell of success – someone took the time to read my letter and their new new stuff will be so much better than anything the Rangers have ever seen.  I send a full response thanking them greatly and explaining the need for shirts/t-shirts/trousers/belts too – and then worry I am pushing my luck...(but I refrain from telling them how much I would like that small leather suitcase myself!)

Second phase....my parcel is despatched using DHL at a cost of £189 (but it includes some other essentials for D...two newspapers, some coffee, pistachios, 40amp fuses and paint brushes).  The expense is hard to bear and now the agonising hope that it actually arrives.  I track it obsessively on line and then it seems to get stuck in Maputo.  When I ring DHL they say merrily that they don’t deliver to Pemba, a local courier is used from Maputo.  Oh no....that does not sound good.  Many many things get lost and stolen here. 

Well D tries to get the parcel and discovers it has arrived but he is charged $180 customs – my parcel of second-hand german army tropical boots (and Trisa’s brand new ladies walking boots) is becoming stupidly expensive.  When he returns with the money the office is closed.  Then a week after my arrival – I go with him to DHL with heart in mouth.  There in the back room is the battered repurposed John Lewis box, my box.  It is covered with tape and labels that spell concern but at least it is here in some shape and form.  I open and find my coffee and bag of fuses and a pile of boots!  All looks good and we go home. 

Third twist...we get it home and unpack fully.  The pair of size 6 women’s walking boots I had bought for Trisa, the only new pair and most expensive (and too big for him) have been stolen.  D can only say...’why didn’t you check the package properly at the office?’ I am so upset and this comment does not help at all and indeed what if I had? – they would take no responsibility and blame Maputo or Johannesburg or the courier.  Mozambiquan gloom sets in, the success has become failure. I decide to smoke a cigarette, despite having given up and D leaves the room in disapproval.



Results of the boot check



Oh please may Timberland's wonderful wares arrive – the same day I receive an email saying they have dispatched TWO parcels, so as well as boots (new) there may be T-shirts (new) – how thrilling.  They have used TNT and according to D they are sent to the main post office and he has not received the last 3 parcels sent there.  So now we wait with restrained hope for what could be the most exciting thing that has happened in a long time...or the most disappointing.



What do you know of poaching?

Something that happened in Victorian England on an estate in Scotland and involved the blighter being fined and told to never step foot on your land again.  Or something like that and according to John Buchan’s novel John Macnab it required all sorts of cunning and skill. 

I am now familiar with poachers and poaching but in a different context a reserve in Northern Mozambique far from Scotland or a pond on Clapham Common plundered by night for carp. 

I know what a rice sack that is full of dried carcasses looks like and how the smell of rotten meat lingers on the wind and catches the back of your throat - the familiar smell of rotten guineafowl, rock hyrax, baboon, suni, bush buck and then occasionally the mighty sable or kudu, who horns poke through the rice sacks.

I also know what poachers look like, they look like everyone else but are wearing worn clothes with tired weather beaten faces full of anxiety and hungry anticipation. 

And I am very familiar with the tools of their trade – snares made from all manner of wire repurposed from all sorts of sources (electric cables, fences , the small area of new elephant fencing etc.), bow and arrows, large nets with string made from rice sacks and beautifully wrought spears used with scrawny bush dogs - though this method is employed by Makondas not the local muslim tribe Machua.

But here the realities of poaching are infinitely basic yet complex beyond belief.  Simple thirst for lean protein and a complex mesh of cultural norms and global concerns.  Within an of National Park -‘protected’ with scant resources and against a tide of pressures – where the appeal of bush meat, ivory and timber far out ways any conservation ideals.

The poachers are kept at bay by our small band of local Rangers.  Without Dominik the passionate Reserve Manager these rangers fall into lethargy, but can you blame them?  The poachers are their friends, cousins and neighbours...

So how do you prevent poaching while goats and chicken cost so much more and will never taste of the bush and your homelands?

An exasperating patch – police station and unhappy Swiss visitors but all cheered up by ... biology in action

A day in Pemba...

1:  Called to Metuge Police Station – Metuge is where the district offices are and a 1 ½ hour drive from Pemba down a particularly dusty bumpy road.  D recently finally persuaded a goup of farmers who were cultivating in the heart of Mareja to move on – with the usual incentive, money.  And one of these farmers has seen the opportunity for delay and more money.    We waited 4 hours for the Police chief to come back from other more pressing meeting. However, thankfully he saw the empty content of the farmers case.

2: While hanging out in Metuge (in the sweltering heat in the Toyota) we bump into Jacob who has come to see the Administrator over some landright worry.  Jacob runs Tarateebo, the other successful conservation project within the park and he tells us of automatic guns being used on his reserve by poachers.  Four elephants injured recently and he tracked them to find them in a terrible state.  Obviously this is a disaster as it creates yet more human-animal conflict; elephants in pain are potentially very dangerous.   

There is now no doubt elephant poaching has increased dramatically recently in the Park – D thinks 60% of the local population have been killed.

3: While here we are asked to meet the new Administrator too, a woman Elena and the Director of Agriculture.  Another long wait and then we are ushered into a office with the usual large picture of the President Geubuza hanging prominently and a few lever-arch folders on a high shelf, with large efficient looking labelling.  Mobile phones go  off constantly throughout the meeting and have the loudest and most exotic ring tones - and they are always answered.  In between calls, they lay a bevy of complaints at D’s feet, I sit there as the smiling wife but understand enough of the tone and fragmented conversation to get silently agitated.  Apart from many complaints from a community called Pulou which is far from Mareja...as D gentally points out - they want to see all the documents relating to Mareja’s operation – its community association, reserve status, tourism license etc.  This is highly disheartening, are they trying to make trouble or is just another case of administrative oversight. They have asked for these documents 4 times from Dominik.  When questioned where the papers supplied before might be they look blankly, pause, do not answer and change the subject.  So we wil have to resupply it all again by the end of the month...

Following day...in Pemba we pick up an email from a tour company who are sending a Swiss couple to Mareja tonight.  They had not received confirmation – once again a product of no email communication in Mareja and Mcel’s unpredictable ways.  We text the driver to say we will be there at night fall but the community will sort rooms etc.  The project is run hand-in-hand with the community and on such occasions Adamo and Maria will make the beds, Naquata light the paraffin lamps and make a fire.

We set off after lunch with all manner of stores and fresh food and arrive just after dark.  (The sun sets around 5.30pm at the moment.)

The driver William greets us and says his clients are ‘very very unhappy – they were obviously not expected, are hungry and...want bottled water ‘ not our filtered rain water – all we have.

I instantly run into the kitchen with two lanterns and begin hurriedly cooking supper.  Then hear shouting as D presents himself – they are yelling in german.  I keep on cooking thrilled to be tucked away in the dark of the kitchen.  I make snacks as a way to pick up glucose levels – with the prized oil, fresh bread and tomatoes – and offer them to D, I am happy to avoid our guests for as long as possible. 

Then supper is presented (spaghetti with mushroom, bacon, herb cream sauce and a luxurious large fruit salad) and I meet them, am hot and tired now – they are more elderly than I had imagined.  On meeting me they complain about lack of signage, to which I explain that we can’t install obvious signs – there is a key landmark, three white stripes on a tree.  Signs would attract all sorts of extra and possibly unwanted attention -  and we hope to provide directions but if you ask locals everyone knows where ‘Mareja and Dominque’ is.  This is a strange fact no doubt signage is generally seen as an essential thing.  Anyway after much effort to cheer , they warm up and we hear of their epic tour across Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique with William their driver. – and much wildlife spotted.   

The next day they are off to Ilha de Mozambique but have time for an activity in the morning.  I suggest the mountain, an easy walk and spectacular view to lift the heart.  D as always suggests an early rise and game walk...they will decide in the morning.  We listen to lion on the veranda and go to bed happy.

A civilised... 5.15am rise and coffee, and they apparently choose a 1 hour walk along the river (I stay in bed) D drops them off.  Well 2 hours later they arrive back...furious – rangers just charged ahead...they saw nothing and nothing was illuminated by the guides – no tracks, birds, points of interest.  ‘And explain you are not ready to welcome tourists!’  Oh how dispiriting, three rangers went, including the Head Ranger Ali accompanied them who has 10 years experience and was trained at Gorongoza – where they tired or distracted or was there a communication barrier or what?  My mind spins - and I tell D (unhelpfully) that they should have gone up the mountain!  D tells me they need forgiveness and openness to accept a community run project like this – where the local Rangers have learnt a lot about a tourist’s perspective but will always remain worlds apart. 

I hate such failures they leave me feeling so deflated, after many hot hours over a fire and round a large table attempting merry conversation.  I retreat to the kitchen again full of woe.  Now my wish to improve spirits through food has waned but I try to find the will....scrambled eggs, bacon, baked bean mixed with aubergine and toast, fresh coffee, fresh papaya.  That should do it?  But I hear the roar of the engine they are off - keen to improve their day they head to Ilha with its guaranteed sights.  I am left holding my wooden spoon without even a goodbye.

(The blasted spoilt duck....In the midst of that while in the fridge room gathering ingredients the larger male duck decides to chomp at my white legs, very hard and twice, once on each leg– this is D’s fault for feeding them by hand in the fridge room our bread... my legs must look like large bread sticks.  It is really painful and inflames the whole situation somewhat!)

Later on....phone disaster BUT camera success

Phone problems: We made a trip to the cashew tree earlier for William to speak to his office and get money sent for petrol .  In the flurry two phones were lost.  One is retrieved by an old guy who bicycled past the tree, the other that has D’s precious sim in it... has gone.  This is my fault – I must have left them on the roof of the Toyota as we drove off.  We search with no joy.

But the camera saves the day:  one good thing happened, a very good thing....we set the camera traps by the water hole.  They were acquired and supplied by Peter (Ox University Undergraduate who led recent fantastic research expedition). They are a really exciting tool and so far when used by Peter captured Serval (Red Data Book species) and Civet plus the snout of a Bush pig.  Well....we tentatively play back our first attempt and have images of an elephant, a head shot of a medium sized male and then a very close up view of an elephant penis.  Biology in action! 

And as the day draws to a close, we remind ourselves what matters – Mareja  is providing a sanctuary for elephants at this difficult time.

It is Sunday but... pink grapefruit

Slowly wake, swim then eat an elaborate breakfast.  Half-way through they begin to clear up the buffet and so I ask quickly for an omelette and then spy the fruit bowl.  We have to buy everything for our visitors and blow it, it is Sunday.... it is ok, it is a buffet after all – so we take 2 pink grapefruit, 4 oranges, one melon and two apples one green one red.  Then we leave.  Luckily the bakery is open and we get a new canister of gas.  We track down Malcolm via Rebecca and Rudi and discover he wants to leave after midday.  That is manageable and in the end we set off to Rudi and Lesley’s place at 1ish. On arrival Malcolm and Rebecca a few rangers and one of the tourists have LEFT.  Apparently desperate to get to Mareja in time to set up the nets.  (There has been much talk of improving his Mareja experience after last year....when his vehicle broke down and 5 hours later D collected him, but apparently D had been called by Rebecca 3hours before that and only set off to find them once a helper arrived on a bicyle.  And then he fed them duck, the oldest most inedible duck ever.)  And now he has left without us, possibly not a good start.

We put Jim and Phil in the back with cushions and 2 park rangers and Bruno. Then collect lots of vegetables and some more fruit – mangoes and papaya.  We arrive at Mareja....Jim has not spoken much and seems cross or in pain or both.

Peter, the other visitor, has set up the nets and is hot hot from lots of work.  Malcolm is very grumpy – the two new rooms which I have many working parts for (tarpaulin and shower heads) are not ready and what would we have done if one of his other guest had not cancelled?  Jim who wanted a nice room goes in the ensuite and I try to ignore Malcolm’s obvious bubbling annoyance at Mareja and its antics. 

Antonio cooks a delicious supper of squid and spaghetti and we have a super luxurious fruit salad with pink grapefruit and I hope sleep will improve everyone’s mood.

WILDLIFE NOTE: bones in boxes and 3 large animals go on a walk.

I am fiddling in the kitchen and D exclaims that I should go and look at the bones Adamo has unearthed as part of renovating the ranger’s shed.  There are large dusty piles of many bones in separate plastic crates.  Kept for later study (D is good at this, he hordes everything...for later study or use in a mysterious new repurposed way).  The crates contain the skeleton of Lion, Wild dog, Leopard and bits of Sable and Bush buck.

Yesterday I picked up an interesting bone at the old encampment in the newly reclaimed machamba (farm) Maheapa  - I wrote about this wonderful place in October, if you would like it further explained see ‘Domestication v Wild’.  This bone had a double articulation like a pulley and may well be common but was quite new to me.  It is a little hard to know if these piles of bones are in the right boxes, D finds some teeth he thinks are monkey in the leopard box!  But in the large muddle of lion my eyes light on a similar joint to the one from the machamba.  Could it be that the old farmers killed a lion?

Here it is...can anyone confirm is this a lion bone?

Lion and Serval side by side

Later we take the Rangers with 3 workers, Mustafer, Alberto and new Cassamo, to cut more bamboo at the ‘Place of Tomorrow’ (about 1 hour drive into the bush)....on the way back a wonderful sight.  Plod plod three distinct footprints in the dusty track, on a stretch of road past the cashew tree and near home.  They have just passed – an elephant, lion and cat, probably serval. They have walked a long way together along the dusty road. What were they doing – an unusual mix. 



Elephant sauntering over our tyre tracks



Apparently old lion sometimes follow elephant and eat their poo.  I prefer to imagine a quiet evening stroll together.