All creatures great and small; it's not just about wild animals on the forest project
Through our neighborhood goats are constantly
‘vocalizing’ throughout the day it seems we only notice the sounds in the
evening as things quiet down around the GVI compound. On our first night as I
was trying to fall asleep it wasn’t the goat conversations that I noticed so
much as fellow new volunteer Alex’s laugh every time he heard the goats. Each
goat call – one goat in particular makes a sound unlike any I’ve heard before,
a kind of high pitched and extended vibrating burp – was immediately followed
by laughter that Alex just couldn’t contain. As entertaining as the goat’s
noises were it was Alex’s instant laugh response that made the whole scenario
so funny.
But Alex and Brett weren’t laughing after
having to carry Kassim out of the forest late afternoon the next day. Kassim
had fallen (not tripping on coral rag but while walking on a relatively clear,
flat path) and claimed to have broken his leg which we later learned was only a drill. Unfortunately the drill was not revealed to us volunteers until after
Georgia (stifling her laugh when Kassim theatrically fell) had splinted the leg
and Brett and Alex had carried him to the road to meet the staff van that was
supposedly coming for us. A helpful local even took a turn carrying Kassim as
the rest of the neighbors looked on in confusion which eventually turned to
laughter when it all turned out to be a hoax. Having already endured a morning
of heavy rains and then losing our transect markers near the end of the day I
was mostly looking forward to the ride home the staff van would provide. Alas
as Kassim was not really injured we walked back into town, the endless chorus
of “jambo” from the children along the road giving us more than enough reason
to smile.
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| Shelbi, Sharla and Brett peruse a tortoise |
Other than the domesticated animals
– goats, chickens, ducks, etc. – we new volunteers were treated to various
wildlife sightings from our first arrival in Shimoni. Brett spotted the
infamous Angola Black and White Colobus monkeys in the trees above Smuggler’s,
GVI’s bar-restaurant of choice, during our tour around the village. We also saw
Yellow Baboons, Syke’s Monkeys, tortoises (including a baby no larger than the
size of half a lime) and more birds that I can count including amazingly
prehistoric-looking hornbills which I had never seen before. And apparently the
first whale sightings of the season have been reported so I am looking forward
to a continuation of our action-packed first few days. Right now we are off to
Wildlife Club at the Shimoni Primary School where the students will be drawing
pictures depicting what mangroves mean to them and their community. They have
been learning all about mangroves in the weeks prior and the winning artists
will receive prizes…should be a good time!
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| Wildlife club at Shimoni Primary - making posters about mangroves |
Sharla Dodd - Forest project volunteer
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