Author: bushsnob

Unpredicted friends and unforgettable dates

The morning of Saturday 17 July 1982 (I remember this day well!) we got up early to pack our car with camping gear for a safari to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. We had booked the Sand River campsite for a couple of nights.

We were about ready to go when, totally unexpectedly, someone walked into our front garden! It was a messenger from the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation coming to deliver a telegramme, the first we had ever received! As we had no working telephone in the house (and cellular phones were not yet invented!) a telegramme was almost the ultimate in urgent communications. Being far from home, it also carried a dose of dread as it could carry bad news from home. So, with wonder as well as some trepidation I read it, trying to prepare for the worst.

Its contents were surprising and shocking but good! It read: “We arrive tomorrow” and it was signed by two of our best friends: Nazar and Aurora. That was that, not even a date! We were thrilled that they had finally decided to come to Kenya. We knew they were travelling to Piediluco, Italy to accompany their son Juan José that was rowing at the 1982 World Rowing Junior Championships representing Uruguay and we had insisted that they extended their journey to visit us although we knew that this would be very difficult for them!

Our initial elation turned into mild panic when the fact that they could be at the Jomo Kenyatta International airport (JKIA) at the time of reading the telegramme sunked in! Expecting the worse we immediately drove to JKIA as we knew that most flights from Europe would arrive by mid morning. We were on a rather blind chase and during our journey we did a lot of speculation, not only about their arrival but also on contingency planning regarding our planned safari.

Our fears that they had arrived the day before and were stranded at the airport unable to communicate were unfounded and perhaps exaggerated as a thorough examination of the arrival area gave no results. Unable to get any passenger information from the possible airlines we decided to stay put and wait. After about an hour or so, a few flights from Europe arrived within thirty minutes. We crossed our fingers and, eventually, we were rewarded when our friends emerged looking dazzled at what they were seeing around them but otherwise unaware of our earlier dilemma and very happy to see us.

It was an emotional reunion and, after an exchange of the usual family news, I casually announced that we were aware of their long journey but that we were off to the Maasai Mara, leaving as soon as possible. As expected (they had no real choice!) they gallantly accepted the invitation and, after passing by our house to finish our packing, we set off with their luggage still unopened!

Nazar, had a tiring trip, and he was also suffering from a gut complaint. His time during the journey to the Maasai Mara was spent drinking abundant amounts of warm cola and going into episodes of slumber until, by the time we got to Aitong, a few hours later, he started to talk nonsense with me, a sure sign of his slow recovery. Aurora, on the contrary, was wide awake and did not miss detail, asking questions all the time and gaining in excitement as we moved from Nairobi to the Kikuyu escarpment, the breathtaking Rift Valley views, Narok and beyond into the great green plains of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem.

Because of our late departure, I drove non-stop and despite the rough road, we managed to get to the gate in time to get to the Sand river camp by the Mara river at dusk. Without delay we started unpacking and finished setting up camp using our car headlamps, as was the norm with us then.

While this was on going, our friends watched, not moving too far from the car, still rather confused with their situation. Our work was cut short, as already in Nairobi they had decided to sleep in the car. Luckily for them, removing the second seat of our loyal VW Kombi was relatively easy so soon they had their nest ready. As soon as we finished with the car arrangements my wife had heated our ready-made dinner brought from home and, although we still had a lot to talk about, we were so exhausted that we went to sleep early.

Camping at the Sand River was ever exciting as there were always plain game in its neighborhood, particularly wildebeest and zebra that, somehow enjoyed crisscrossing the Mara river offering, apparently unnecessary opportunities to their reptilian predators. Their presence also attracted lion and hyena so there were always nocturnal happenings! That night was quieter than expected but still the hyenas came close to camp, their calling amplified by the river. We did not fail to hear lions roaring in various degrees of proximity, above the constant wildebeest snorting and zebra whinnying. Thinking on our friends’ time in the car, we paid the price for our rather busy day and passed out before long.

mmara hyena 2

The following morning, recovered, I got up early as usual and prepared tea and coffee waiting for the other fellow campers to show life signs. My wife emerged eventually but no movement was detected inside the car! A quiet inspection of it showed it to be unscratched. Its windows were totally foggy and I had some concern about whether our friends have had enough oxygen inside there as the car was tightly shut!

My fears were unfounded as, eventually, a hand started to remove the fog from the side window and the smiling faces of our friends showed gradually behind the glass. Eventually they left their protective and damp metal cage to join us for a rather late breakfast and they shared their mate[1].

Nazar offers a mate to the photographer.

As usual with first time visitors, they have heard nothing the whole night as they had slept like logs! We finally had a chance to finish exchanging pending news at leisure.

Fortunately they were fast to adjust and gradually they became used to our ‘bush ways” joining us on a couple of game drives during which they greatly enjoyed what they saw. The frequent appearances of the imprudent hyenas and the lions roaring were not conducive to us persuading them to abandon their cage the following night and they still preferred their airtight environment to the risks of camping in the bush. We understood them well as it had taken us longer than that to get used to camping “al fresco” surrounded by wild beasts!

Our friends relaxing at the Mara Serena lodge.

We returned to Nairobi after two nights. This time they were able to appreciate their surroundings much better, including the always-interesting sight of the Maasai people and their manyattas and livestock and they were delighted with the daylight return journey.

Maasai cow. Note how the branding shows in black over the grey coat.

Cattle drinking at Narok dam. Note cars used at the time: VW Kombi, Land Rover Series III and Land Cruiser 50 series!

My work in Kenya frequently took me to Maasailand.

Later on during the week we showed them Nairobi and the wonderful Nairobi National Park and later travelled to Nakuru and Bogoria for a view of the Rift valley, its hot springs and flamingoes. Luckily, they loved the experience but time passed very fast and it was soon time for them to depart, too soon for us!

At Bogoria, our friends, more relaxed, shared our tent.

Enjoying the flamingoes at Nakuru National Park.

Their plane left back to Europe at midnight on Saturday 31 July 1982 so we took them to the airport early and made sure that they went through all the departing procedures early until the time came to leave them once they have checked-in to return to Tigoni late at night. Unused to driving at night, we negotiated several road blocks that we thought too many but, as we drove a car with red diplomatic plates, our going was smooth and we got home safely.

The following morning we had arranged with our friend Ranjini to go to the Nairobi National Park so we travelled to Muguga through back-roads to fetch her. Once there she announced that an attempt to overthrow President Moi’s government had taken place at midnight and that there were serious confrontations going on in Nairobi between the Police and students! Apparently, a group of soldiers from the Kenya Air Force had taken over the Voice of Kenya[2] and announced that they had overthrown the government!

A bad picture I took of Moi’s cavalcade before knowing the risks involved!

We thanked Ranjini for the news and quickly turn around heading for home as fast as we could! During the journey we met a large military convoy ready for war heading for Nairobi but we did not know what their stance was at the time! Luckily they ignored us and we, the sole occupants of the road by now, got home safely where we remained -listening to the BBC radio for the latest news- for the following three days until it was confirmed that the attempt had failed[3].

It was lucky that our friends just managed to get away (a while) before the Kenya airspace was closed and that they were over the clouds when all this happened! They remained unaware of their narrow escape until we met them back in Uruguay a year later when they listened to us in disbelief!

[1] Traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink, prepared by steeping dried leaves of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) in hot water and is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd and shared among drinkers.

[2] From 1989 it became the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

[3] The coup failed. The Air force pilots that meant to bomb State House dropped their bombs over Mount Kenya and eventually, after ruling Kenya for a few hours, Hezekiah Ochuka, a soldier in the Kenya army, escaped to Tanzania. He was eventually extradited back to Kenya, found guilty at a high profile trial that involved both Oginga Odinga and Raila Odinga, and eventually executed in 1987.

Fire down below

After a few months after our arrival in Kenya in the 80’s[1] we eventually left the Muguga House hostel for Tigoni where we rented a large house belonging to the Harvey family. Tigoni is about 40km northwest of Nairobi, on the eastern side of the Rift Valley at over two thousand metres of altitude. Indigenous forest islands still remained then, among the large tea plantations. Several animal species still inhabited the area, the most notable being the conspicuous Black-and-white Colobus monkeys during the day and the bush babies at night, with their loud and somehow scary calls.

tigoni house

The land at the back of the house had no fence or wall (imagine that today!) and therefore we were able to walk towards the nearby stream located about two thousand metres down hill.

A Sunday that we were not camping in the bush, we invited our friend Ranjini for lunch and, afterwards, we decided that going down to the river was a good idea to help digest our food. So, armed with our binoculars and wearing long trousers to protect ourselves from thorns and ticks, we set off. About half way down the red and slippery hill our “private” path joined a “public” wider lane where the local inhabitants went about their business rather than fun walking like us.

tigoni hse bfast 1

We soon arrived to the stream and, after walking about the area for a while; we found a shady spot where we decided to have a small walkers consultation to decide our next steps. The ideas put forward were whether to continue up the other side of the ravine or to return the way we came and enjoy a cup of tea at home. The latter was gaining consensus when, without warning, a fire started in my ankles and started spreading up my legs. I saw no smoke but noticed that I was standing in the middle of a colony of siafu![2]

The nasty meat-eaters, amazed by their lucky find, were not wasting any time in processing it! Without wasting a second and forgetting about being normally shy (?), I downed my trousers in a flash (excuse the pun) and checked my hurting parts. What I found was not encouraging: a few dozen soldier ants had climbed up the inside of my trousers. While some had already locked their jaws on my pink flesh, others were still going “upwards”…

Yelling “siafu!!!” to alert my companions, I started to grab and remove those still trying to reach tender places and, only when I smashed them all, I focused on removing those that had already bitten me and were going nowhere. This is easier said than done! Pulling them in a hurry (what else can you do?) only makes their bodies detach, leaving their heads with their rather outsized jaws still embedded in you! While this was going on, my companions, luckily looking the other way, moved off fast and left me alone to deal with the aggressors. Before they moved off, I caught a glimpse of their expressions that did not help. Instead of seeing sympathetic concern or at least indifference towards my predicament, they were amused! I am still trying to forgive them for this!

It was in the middle of my painful struggle when I became aware that I was still being watched. I turned around and saw that my antics had gathered some public! A growing bunch of Kikuyu kids were carefully watching me. Once discovered, they started to make comments, pointing at my nakedness and, worse of all, they laughed loud! I was clearly a “first” for them but that failed to amuse me. I told them -mainly with gestures aided by my basic Swahili- to go away. They only moved back a couple of paces, unwilling to stop watching the sight of their childhood: how a half-naked muzungu[3] “danced with ants”.

(Almost) embarrassed and in a desperate effort at damage control I immediately lifted up my trousers. Although this calmed down the young Kikuyu crowd, it did nothing to placate my traitorous companions’ enjoyment of the scene of my distress! So, ignoring everybody, with a great effort I put on my best neutral face, and started walking back to the house, still bringing with me a considerable number of large ant jaws for later extraction.

Despite my rather unpleasant experience, siafu are not a bad thing as they control a number of otherwise harmful pests for crops and their storage. They also take care of other undesired beasts such as ants, roaches, spiders, and everything else that crawls or creeps. Later, while busy un-plucking mandibles my thoughts did focussed of their beneficial side but, although I could somehow see it, it did nothing to relieve the consequences of my encounter!

[1] See: https://bushsnobinafrica.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/life-and-work-in-kenya-muguga1/ and https://bushsnobinafrica.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/kenya-muguga1/

[2] Siafu (in Swahili) are members of the Dorylus genus, also known as driver or safari ants. They are army ants between 1-15 mm in length found primarily in central and east Africa in large colonies (up to several million individuals). They move in columns as they travel from their lair to the hunting field or they spread when actively hunting by sensing the carbon dioxide that insects and animals breath out. Aggressive soldiers protect the colonies.

[3] A common term used to refer to “white” people.

Horse Power

That there are horses in South America should not be a surprise to anyone. These beasts were introduced by the Spaniards in the 1600’s and they have been adjusting to their new environment and multiplying ever since while becoming invaluable in many agriculture-related tasks.

The bushsnob pointing towards Carmelo at the origin of the River Plate in Punta Gorda.

Carmelo is located in the South-West of Uruguay, just downriver from the joining of the rivers Paraná and Uruguay, the start of the river Plate, “discovered” in the 1500’s. This is the place I was born and I am a proud member of this small town, full of character and characters. Carmelo is the only city in Uruguay founded by our national hero: José Artigas, a man far too advanced for his time.

It is here that a well-known barber, after having won the small local lottery, closed the shop and went home to rest. Before leaving, he placed a sign on the door that read: “CLOSED DUE TO EXCESS OF CASH”.

Carmelo was two hundred years old on 12 February 2016 and I happened to be there to enjoy the celebrations. I was an adolescent fifty years ago when its one hundred and fifty years were commemorated and I still keep some memories from that time.

I recall that we had an excellent home delivery system for many services, mainly food items but other services as well. The fishermen (no fisherwomen then) would carry their catch hanging from stick tripods and shout “Pescadooooor!”[1] while walking through the many streets of the town, selling their catch to the housewives that would wait for the calls to come out of their houses and argue the price for, usually, half a fish. There were also knife sharpeners, pot welders and kerosene-stove fixers doing their rounds either on foot or on bicycles.

There were also lots of horse carts. They came in various models: open or closed, with rubber or wooden wheels each delivering their goods: fruits and vegetables, meat, bread, firewood and milk. In particular I recall the time my mother got extremely upset when she found a small fish in the milk that was rather enthusiastically watered down from a small stream by the milkman! There were also carts to collect your refuse and those unwanted objects from your home.

A precursor of today’s carts at the 200 years’ parade.

A 3-HP precursor on parade.

Fifty years have passed and the horse carts are still here, together with the odd knife sharpener still playing its tuneful whistle up and down the musical scale to announce its arrival! They all contribute to build Uruguay’s reputation as the greenest country in South America[2].

In light of the above, I was not surprised when I read an article[3] found by my wife describing the vegetable sellers of Baltimore in the USA. Although they look more “upmarket” ours also have a few notable features worth mentioning!

Today, horse carts (from one to three horse power!) ride through the streets of Carmelo offering a variety of home-delivery services. Over the years they have incorporated notable improvements: better brakes and more asphalt-friendly rubber wheels, the accompanying dogs are better trained: they now trot under the carts rather than after them! Other notable advance is the displaying on the carts of cellular phone and even e-mail addresses where they can be called!

A 1-HP model used for bread delivery.

A more rugged 2-HP version.

Apart from those selling fruits and vegetables and the bakers, there are also others that can bring you firewood or building materials as well as removing unwanted items from your home such as rubble and rubbish. There is even a category that I would call “Man With a Cart”, able to perform tailor-made tasks for the customer.

The tool of the “Man With a Cart” Note the cellphone No. on the horse’s harness!

One, belonging to someone that went to primary school with me, is usually parked a few paces away from home waiting for customers. I spent some time watching it. The first thing I noted was that the horse was in good nick and “parked” unrestrained! It carried orange traffic cones to demarcate its working space as well as a spade and a luggage-carrier on one side and gardening tools on the other. In addition it had its own feed bucket for the horse and canvas and tying ropes to secure its potential cargo.

Additional tools carried by the cart.

A relaxed horse waits for a job.

It seems that, although the Baltimore horse and buggy fruit sellers seem to be gradually going out of business, those in Carmelo are only adapting to the changing times and they will probably still be here in fifty years time.

While I can easily see drones taking over the fruit delivery in Baltimore (and the rest of the USA!) I predict that Amazon will sub-contract their goods delivery to our greener -if slower- horse powered Man with a Cart if it wishes to keep its act “green” in Uruguay.

[1] “Fishermaaaan!”

[2] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/03/uruguay-makes-dramatic-shift-to-nearly-95-clean-energy

[3] http://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/the-last-generation-of-baltimore-s-street-sellers

A question of stripes

One of my greatest skills is what could be defined as “attention to (silly) detail”. I mean this in the sense that I am able to, for example, pick up a spelling mistake in any kind of text almost without reading it! This “talent” of mine also extends to noting other oddities such as a missing row on a plane seat arrangement or, more relevant to this post, identifying an animal showing certain “unexpected” characteristics.

Although I could probably boast about this in a way befitting the Bushsnob I refrain from doing so as, unfortunately it has yielded no useful results as of yet, apart from noticing odd things and -sometimes- making people’s lives a misery. I am still to find a profitable use to this “special” trait of mine!

In the “Hippos from Hell” post I described one such observation whereby I quickly noticed that the hippos in question were not trying to “protect” an impala from crocodiles but rather to snatch it from them and enjoy a protein-rich meal! It was as a result of this odd behavior that I ended up watching a number of videos on YouTube of crocodiles preying on various animals to see if I could detect a repeat of my first hand observations.

One of the many videos I watched was called “Blood River”[1] which had good photography (if a bit on the gory side) combined with a terribly soppy story about a mother zebra and its foal during their migration in the Serengeti-Mara area. I had selected this particular video for viewing as hippos are present in large numbers in the Mara River, and I believed the video had the potential to provide some useful information.

In order to get the ball rolling I will quote here the words of the narrator, that will hopefully help to set the scene for you:

“This is Zulu Echo 5, an adult female zebra with a simple mission: to steer a young fowl, Foxtrot 1, through his first migration”.

Ultimately, I was not there as a critic of National Geographic but as a researcher attempting to find material for my work. The video lasts for about 45 minutes and, I was almost finished with it when my “attention to detail” sense tingled! An oddity in the film had caught my attention, causing me to rewind it and confirm my suspicion.

Now let me explain what I found: the zebra present in the Mara river area belong to the Grant’s subspecies (Equus quagga boehmi). These were the ones present throughout the majority of the documentary. However, in the final sequences where the reunion of Foxtrot 1 and Zulu Echo 5 is being portrayed, the animals shown appear to belong to a sub-species found in Southern Africa, i.e. Burchell’s (Equus quagga burchelli), the diagnostic brown “shadow” stripes between the black and white coloring clearly visible in the film.

Grant’s subspecies (Equus quagga boehmi) without the shadow stripes pictured in the Maasai Mara.

“Derrières” of Burchell’s (Equus quagga burchelli), the diagnostic brown “shadow” stripes obvious between the black and white coloring (Photo by Leonor Fernandez Huerga)

More recently, on a second viewing I also noted that the video starts with a close up of a Grant’s zebra, presumably in the Mara river and then, a couple of minutes later it shows a Burchell’s female and foal! “That is some migration!” I thought to myself, from East to Southern Africa in a few minutes. “The magic of making wildlife documentaries for distant and unprepared audiences” was my final reflection!

As this was too much for the Bushsnob’s mind, I quickly wrote to National Geographic, critically pointing out my first observation (I had not yet detected the one at the beginning). An exchange of emails followed where I was promised that an investigation would take place in order to gauge the validity of my observations and, if proven correct, provide an explanation for it.

It took National Geographic a few months to investigate my observations after which they sent me the following message that I have copied below for you:

“We followed up with the production company that made this program, and they acknowledged that you are correct in flagging this as a sub-species mis-identification, and explained that this was a mistake that occurred during the editing process. Apparently, both Burchell’s and Grant’s zebras fall under the category of “Plains Zebra” (in quotes in the original message) in their stock footage library, and they have been basing their identification on an outdated publication (Estes’s “The Behaviour Guide to African Mammals”). They have promised to update their zebra sub-species identification following Groves and Bell’s 2004 taxonomic findings.

Thank you for your vigilance on this matter, and for bringing it to our attention. We, and the filmmakers we work with, will continue to make every effort to avoid errors of this nature in the future.”

Although I have not heard of either of these references, the explanation provided does not appear to me to hold much water as my loyal and worn out African mammals field guide[2] already highlighted the difference between these zebra species! Furthermore, you do not need to be a rocket scientist (or in this case a taxonomist) to observe the obvious differences between these two sub-species!

Having said this you can all rest in peace knowing that the Bushsnob’s power for observing silly details will remain in use and any other important developments reported here!

Note: Today (11 April 2016) I tried to watch the video at the link mentioned in the footnote 1 to see if it was corrected but I got a message on the screen saying: “This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been closed. Sorry about that”. I was hopeful that it had been removed. Not so. I did find the video as “Africa’s Blood Rivers” (Nat Geo Wild) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I83s5AFo44&nohtml5=False) so, again, my attention to detail has been noted but the video is still there! Watching it again, I saw other places in the video where the two zebra species are swapped.

[1] See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_DB-899hzU‏

[2] Dorst, J. and Dandelot, P. (1972). A field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa. Collins St. James’s Place, London; 2nd edition.

Witches[1]

While staying in Muguga House, transport was a problem as, to get to Nairobi it meant a 10km ride to access the main road and then find public transportation to and from the capital city. That meant that the shortest of the trips would involve a full day! The situation improved later when I got the VW Kombi. This allowed us also to move out of the temporary Muguga House’s bungalow to a proper house in Tigoni.

In the meantime, we explored the Muguga surroundings on foot following the many tracks used by the local inhabitants in their daily errands. The soil was red, seriously red, and slippery and the paths narrow and sinuous! Falls were funny affairs until we realized that to wash the red stains from our clothes demanded quite an effort so, after the first experience we strode with great care! It was good exercise and it gave us a chance to come into contact with the local people, particularly the women and children.

Among the colleagues sharing Muguga House was Ranjini, a British expert on plant viruses, particularly maize streak, who was also starting her career with the Overseas Development Administration[2] on the plant health section of the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute. Although she was reserved at first, my wife and I became friends with her (up to today!). She had a sharp sense of humour that, according to her, she inherited from her Sri Lankan father. She had very long dark hair worn loose.

Ranjini and other British colleagues of hers were used to walking and they did it frequently. Walking was not an activity that was performed in Uruguay so we were rather unfit and the few ocassions we tried it was a bit of an embarrassment as we lagged behind! Of course we attributed this to the Muguga altitude knowing very well that we were unfit! The situation improved after a while and we could join the ramblers more comfortably although we could not match them. We frequently walked with Ranjini, who had a slower pace and with whom we shared more interests.

The day in question was a Sunday and we left a bit late. We took the path towards a patch of indigenous forest as there were always interesting birds to be seen there. Mabel and Ranjini were walking in the front and I followed. As usual we met a few people who greeted us with the well known “jambo“[3] or its Kikuyu equivalent. A few women were on their daily errands which included carrying a 20lt jerry can of water on their heads, and a bunch of firewood on their backs all while knitting some pullover for their children. I never stopped admiring them! Oh yes, and walking more steadily and faster than me. Others were going to catch a “matatu“[4] to go to town or visit relatives while quite a number were dressed for mass.

We were traversing a bit of open ground and a little boy of about 4 years dressed in his best Sunday clothes never saw us coming, busy looking where he was stepping, probably following his mother’s directions to keep his shoes clean! Two of his sisters, his mother and another lady (his auntie?) accompanied him, also dressed up. The boy was at the front of the group.

The moment the boy heard people coming towards him, he looked up. Until that instant he wore a happy face and we had seen it. It took only a split second for his expression to change into a look of terror, followed by a loud scream. He immediately started crying. Unfortunately for him he had just seen three white aliens without warning! I am sure that what was particularly terrifying for him was to face two of them with very long hair advancing on him. His instinctive response, after the initial shock, was to turn and run for the safety of his mother. It would have worked if only he would not have slipped and fallen.

My wife (left) and Ranjini on a walk.

Ranjini showing how it is done!

Although his mother moved towards him, the witches were closer and got to him first with the intention of helping. Somehow, this was not the little boy’s perception of the situation and, finding himself “alien handled” he cried even louder in a fit of deeper terror! While his immediate relatives started to chuckle at the scene unfolding, eventually, with the help provided by the witches, he regained the needed mobility and rushed to his mother, burying himself in her skirts and almost disappearing from sight!

Our concern for the boy’s welfare turned into amusement the moment we saw his family laughing whole-heartedly at the incident. I am sure that somehow the encounter remained with the youngster for sometime!

[2] Now known as The Department for International Development (DFID).

[3] Swahili for “Hello”.

[4] Swahili for a minibus used for public transportation.

Rattled!

Important issues such as passport renewal and visits to our family doctor compelled us to leave Salta for our small town of Carmelo in the shores of the river Plate. The night before our departure my wife and I were busy with the packing and other arrangements to leave our farm in good order for our return towards the end of April.

At some stage we were both outside engaged on different tasks when I heard my wife saying, “was that you rattling?” “As far as I know, I still move about freely and free from rattles” was my curt reply, slightly upset by her sarcasm. And then I also heard the noise, an “shhhhh, shhhhh” coming from the garden. “You are right, there is some rattling but is not me” I said to her and added, “I think it is moving this way…” Before I could finish my sentence, my wife interrupted me saying in a voice she reserves only for some creepy-crawlies (snakes, mice, and sometimes myself!) “a snake is coming there”. She pointed towards the general area and that was the last I saw of her for a while, disappearing behind the verandah’s door into the house at a speed.

The snake was in the dark and I could not see it well but I suspected it to be a rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus terrificus) judging by the noise it made. I knew these snakes were present in the area although they are not commonly seen.

I managed to switch the outside light on without losing sight of the visitor that was heading for our house. I was immediately reminded by an invisible wife to keep the back door closed. So it was the snake and I!

Now, what do you do when one of the dangerous creatures from Nature comes for a visit? Ninety-nine per cent of the people around the area will immediately kill it as, reasonably, they regard this as a threat to themselves, children and pets. I could have done this and save myself lots of trouble but I did not!

I watched the snake moving gently towards me and veering off at about a metre from me to seek shelter under one of our large plant vases. I waited and it did not come out so I guessed that I would have sufficient time to run into the house, get a hook from the fire place and come back to check on it. I did and it was still there so I decided that I could now search for our “chameleon box” that was somewhere in the house. Luckily I found it quite fast so I was ready for the capture.

The bushsnob with the fire hook.

Hooking the snake and dropping it into the chameleon box.

The rather large pot was moved to get a chance to hook it but, as expected, the snake moved off but I managed to hook it and lift it inside the box, rather skillfully I thought, pleased with myself. The box was perfect as it is very well built, with a glass front and a metal grid on top. The snake was secure and safe. I won the first round.

After a detailed conversation over dinner I managed to convince my wife that the best course of action was to release the snake far from our farm and, after lot of discussion, a distance of about 4 km was considered safe, as it would be difficult that the snake would return! My victory had a pyrrhic side to it, as now I needed to move the snake from its present location to a suitable container so that I could carry it away.

I considered the various options and settled for a cardboard box with high walls as to avoid it from climbing out before I closed it safely. I like snakes in general but I respect poisonous ones very much so I like to play safe and keep a good distance to avoid surprises!

Luckily the following morning the snake was probably cold and scared so it allowed itself to be lifted from the cage into the box rather easily and I even had time for a picture taken by my wife. (Between you and me, it was trickier to persuade my wife to take the picture than to handle the snake into the box!).

Safely inside the box. Luckily the snake was more scared than I.

Coiled and rattling.

We then loaded the snake at the back of our pick-up and departed for Uruguay stopping after 4 km to let it go. I opened the box, readied the camera and expected an elegant exit to take a few pictures to illustrate this for this post. As the snake did not leave the box after a couple of minutes, I tilted it and the snake finally slid off, still coiled up. However, before I could even think on a picture, it took off at a speed, luckily away from us and into the bush. I had no time to take a shot but, amazingly, my wife did, I am not sure how!

Releasing the snake 4 km away.

The snake would not come out.

After tilting the box, the snake, still coiled, slid off.

The snake took off at a speed towards the bush.

After watching the snake getting into some cracks in the rocks and out of sight, we rattled off.

Four in one

From our first visits to our farm in Salta it became apparent that its insect wealth was enormous. In particular, as you have read here, butterflies and moths really rule. The latter in particular are very varied and abundant. Being attracted by the light makes them easy to capture, observe, photograph and, eventually, release. In the early morning the trick is to be there before the insectivorous birds that do not care for beauty but taste!

I have described and published posts mainly on butterflies for two main reasons: they are colourful and photogenic but also better known in the area. Moths are difficult and, although I have taken pictures of a few hundred specimens, I am still waiting for their identification as the group’s taxonomy does not seem to be well known. The consequence of this is that most of the time I do not know what I am looking at in a taxonomical way. I then need to resort to my own classification by colour, shape and size that produces specimens such as “mottled brown medium size”, “barred brown with delta wings” or “large and smooth hawk moth”, etc.

A couple of days ago I came across one specimen that, although I have seen before, it is infrequent but rather attractive. Looking at it from its dorsal part, I could see a figure on its back that looked like a face (with Ray-Ban seafarer glasses?) or a cat face.

The moth in question.

Spot the moth!

A closer view.

Another “natural” view of the moth.

Another view of the cat face or butterfly.

A cat face or a butterfly?

In 2014 I saw a skull…

My wife saw a butterfly and, in December 2014 when I first saw it, I described as a moth “white with skull on back” It was like a psychological test I undertook in my childhood where you are asked to describe what you saw!

Later, looking at the pictures, there were more creatures to come out!

A dorsal view of its head showed a monkey face (agreed by my wife this time although the discussion centered on whether it was a baby Colobus or a Vervet!).

Colubus or Vervet monkey?

Wait a minute, there is a monkey there!

Another look at the monkey.

The final surprise was when we looked at it from the front. I saw a clear dog’s face while my wife saw a rabbit head!

A dog or a rabbit?

The dog/rabbit seen from farther away.

Amazed by the various beasts we saw, we almost forgot that we were looking at a simple moth. However, it was one of Nature’s specials depicting three different creatures, apart from itself, a feat that I believe is difficult to match!

A tough owl…

Burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia) used to be very common in Uruguay in the past and I remember, about 50 years back, seeing them perched on fence posts at frequent intervals. Regrettably, the advent of generalized use of pesticides meant that they almost disappeared and they are now relatively rare.

We were happy to find that in the Yungas of Salta, where our small farm is located, they are quite common, particularly in an area devoid of tree cover a short distance beyond our farm where we watch them from time to time. Luckily pesticide use here is still rare!

It was during one of these visits that we found the group composed of probably two adults (placed at both ends) and two babies showing only their heads, ready to disappear down their burrow in case of emergency.

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I was busy taking the first set of pictures when the adult on the left started to run towards me. I was quite impressed by its threatening behaviour as -I thought- it takes courage to attempt to scare off a large ape! It bobbed its head repeatedly, a normal behaviour of these birds and a couple of times it actually appeared to dig and scratch the soil with its beak. After a while it ran back to join the rest of its family and stood again where it was earlier.

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After a while we left them to enjoy their owl family life and we returned to our log fire at home. Much later, while checking the pictures taken that day, I realized that in fact the owl was not threatening me but that it was after prey! I had missed the details in vivo but these were apparent when I looked at the various pictures.

The owl had spotted a large beetle half way from me and it rushed to get it (rather than to scare me off!), caught it, tried it and spat it out, as it must have tasted bad! I can only assume that he discarded it, as I believe that eating it would have taken some effort! Although I fear for the beetle after the rough treatment received, these insects are quite common around here and I do not believe that its absence will be noted…

Wet blogging!

Probably, through earlier posts I gave you the impression that living at the foot of the Andes is a dream. While this is true to a very large extent, it also has climatic and technological shortcomings that need to be accepted to enjoy it.

The climate is dry and cool in winter with most days being sunny and warm in the middle of the day when it is possible to be outside wearing a short-sleeved shirt. At that time some frost does take place at night, responsible for our failures with our tree and plant growing efforts but otherwise life is great at that time. Unfortunately, we visit Salta in summer and autumn!

The summer is hotter and rather humid. The rain in some areas reaches up to 2,500 mm (2.5 metres!) and cloud forests are the predominant kind of vegetation around us. For a cloud forest to be such the clouds must meet the trees and we are in the middle of this get-together as our farm ranges in altitude roughly from 1,300 to 1,900 metres. As these meetings take place rather often, sunshine is not the most common phenomenon around here now!

As a consequence of this heavy precipitation the area gets waterlogged and the water must drain somehow towards the larger water bodies, in our case the Mojotoro River in the gorge below. As gradients are marked, water runs wild and swells up fast. Sometimes this surprises you as it may rain higher up in the hills and you get the water rush but not the rain.

The entrance to our small-holding crosses a small watercourse that in winter is just a small dry ditch. The fun takes place in summer when, once the rains arrive, it again becomes a stream. This adds a touch of beauty to the farm until we have heavy rains! When this happens, the normally peaceful stream “comes out of the bottle” and transforms itself into a torrent that we can only watch while waiting for it to subside. This normally takes a few hours during which our lack of communication is wide-ranging.

For a few hours we are either in or out!

This brings me to the technological issues. The high hills surrounding us interfere with the telephone and Internet signals at the best of times. Well, there is a cell phone signal 3 km away on the access road and, of late, a basic Internet signal across the road, at the door of the public primary school. While the lack of communications makes the place a true nirvana to read and write, it has a negative impact on blogging and “Instagramming” productivity that, at this time, tends to be rather infrequent as you have probably noted by now…

The bushsnob taking advantage of the public internet to reach the world.

On the bright side, a recent study in the farm next door[1] detected the existence of 152 species of butterflies (Hesperioidea y Papilionoidea), 14 spp. of amphibians, 23 spp. of reptiles, 216 spp. of birds and 28 spp. of native mammals.

Believe me, it is worth getting your feet wet to be able to reach our communication “hot spots” when you can watch new creatures daily while reaching them!

One of the frequent photographic interruptions getting to the cell phone signal.

[1] Moschione, F.N. (2014). Relevamiento de Fauna. Finca El Gallinato, La Caldera, Provincia de Salta. Informe Relevamiento 2013-2014, julio de 2014. Proyecto de Conservación de Bosque Nativo. 55p.

Jumping lichen

Grasshoppers and/or locusts -I cannot tell them apart- are also plentiful in our farm and surrounding area. Dazzled with more colourful critters we tend to overlook them as they normally jump off and they are gone into the grass, quite far away from the observer to enable it to re-discover them. In addition, they immediately seek further shelter under the leaves.

Sometimes, however, we do find some, either because they are still young and prefer to stick together rather than use their strong legs or because they make the error of entering the house or the car or, who knows? maybe because they are lazy.

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Being attractive creatures I present you with a couple of pictures as an introduction to the subject that let’s me tell you about one particular grasshopper I “discovered” yesterday.

I was in one of my insect-watching sorties, focusing on moths the morning after to take a few pictures for my “collection” when a greenish flying insect caught my eye. Luckily I saw it landing and went for a look. Its flight took it to a pine tree trunk, covered with lichen and moss. I spent a few minutes searching the landing spot and I only detected the insect as it shifted its position slightly and moved some lichen that caught my eye.

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When I focused on the movement I realized that the lichen had not moved but it was in fact the creature shifting position! It is the most perfect example of camouflage I have seen so far (well, perhaps of green camouflage…) and I prefer to show it rather than trying to explain how it looked. It was about 3-4 cm long

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A series of pictures showing the very well camouflaged “hopper”. I could not believe how well its head mimics some of the “leaves” from the lichen around it!

Unfortunately while I was busy taking the pictures it jumped off and I am still trying to find it again…

NB: I found a younger brother that I managed to keep until I can get some more pictures of it to show you!

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