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.
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