A Tale of A Release

Three weeks to go until I head back to Colorado (well, begin the very long journey back there at least!) Days here continue to be very long, but luckily are filled, so at least there is something to do every second.

Sunday was an exciting day here at C.A.R.E., for very (very) early that morning our release manager, Danny, took two adult males (Duck and Hutch) about four and a half hours away from Phalaborwa to be released. An adult male around the age of 7-9, if in the wild, would begin to separate himself from the rest of his family troop at this age anyways so there is no better time but the present. A troop with too many males will never work out as there can be only one alpha and a couple young males without there being an enormous amount of aggression. The wild troop here at C.A.R.E. (named Long Tits by the founder, Rita), have one Alpha male: Dartania. Although he is the “head hauncho” around here, there are still several other large and quite frightening males that are part of the troop. Some of them are very aggressive (Shit Joe and Bottle Stealer) and some of them are gentle giants (Vader-my absolute favorite).

A release of one to two males takes about a week. The release manager will go out to the area with the two baboons in cages and will really wait for the wild troop to get curious and come check out the new guys. Although these two males have been in captivity, their natural instincts will allow them to flourish in their new environment. So many of their behaviors are instinctual-from knowing which animals are predators to which bushes are not ok to eat. Slowly, they are introduced to the wild troop and to their new surroundings outside of the cage. This all happens within the watchful eye of Danny, who is there just in case anything goes wrong. Our hope is that these recently released males will avoid populated areas, for the reason some releases fail is due to the baboon being too trusting of humans or going into a farming area- where he can be a danger to the people and to himself. C.A.R.E never tags or microchips any of the baboons being released but we check up on them every two weeks after a release to make sure they are ok. Danny, a trained bushman who knows this area like the back of his hand, can spot one of our releases very easily, so a quick checkup is never a problem.

We are all waiting anxiously to hear the results of this newest release, and hopefully it is the first of many in the next couple of months.

11 Ladies Rescued from a Cape Town Lab

Today officially marks my half-way point of my trip to South Africa!! 29 more days to spend with the wonderful monkeys and people! 

Although I spend the majority of my day working with the young baboons, my roommate and I are lucky enough ( lucky being a relative term) to work with eleven adult baboons rescued from a biomedical research industry in Cape Town. There was not much information disclosed about the specific lab and what kind of work they did there but we do know that the eleven female baboons rescued were never actually tested on, instead they were "play things" for the male test subjects. They were constantly harassed and attacked by these males and although the initial idea of the lab was that the girls would be mates, this never happened. So C.A.R.E worked closely with the institute and worked on moving the girls here where they would live in large outdoor enclosures and never be stuck in a tiny cage or used as basically a sex slave again. These girls will sadly never be reintroduced back into the wild, but they are definitely living a better life at C.A.R.E.

The job, although rewarding, is FAR from glamorous. Courtney and I (yes my roommate's name is Courtney--what are the chances) clean each of their enclosures, feed them and provide them with some sort of fun enrichment activity every day. Right now, four of the girls are in a large central enclosure together with the rest in single enclousers outlining the central large enclosure. Due to their...traumatic... life before C.A.R.E some of them need to be separated for the safety of them and the other girls. A lot of them are already missing some fingers and toes due to attacks back at the lab and we want to make sure the introduction of the girls into one enclosure goes smoothly and this will take a while. At the moment, this is how their set-up is.

 Each of the girls has a very distinct personality (like all of the baboons here), but for the most part, most of them are still very weary of humans. However, slowly and surely, they are getting to know Courtney and I and begin to trust us a little more every day. What is great about this enclosure for these girls is that some of them get to have a lot of interaction with the babies, which is enrichment on its own. The girls love the babies and groom them and lipsmack them through the fence. Just like humans, everyone loves a cute baby! Amazingly, these females, who have never been around babies before know exactly how to act with them, and its quite sweet to watch the interactions.

Some of the enrichment activites we give them:

• Popsicle's with fruit, seeds, veggies and juice
•  Pvc pipes stuffed with branches hay peanut butter and treats
• vitamin balls (made up of a carb, juice, peanut butter, vitamins and milk powder)
• logs with holes drilled in filled with peanut butter and jam
• balls 
• raisins and seeds scattered throughout the enclosure 
• popcorn stuffed into open tennis balls 

• Ayanna: means beautiful flower, very shy of humans and other baboons but is getting braver every day, she will now groom Cecilia who is next to her
• Cora: loves the babies and grooming them but has a fiery temper, in a fight with one of the other girls she got a very bad broken hand...that hasn't stopped her though!
• Ella: a smile only a mother could love, she has two kind of buck teeth and a lack of baboon social skills, she is the youngest and was in captivity for most of her life which is why she seems to be struggling so much with life as a baboon
• Cecilia: loves her meal times and is a sweet baboon who is very observant of her surroundings
• Janine: the first of the girls to get a swelling at C.A.R.E. and was SO proud of it, I think having the swelling really made her more confident in the troop, she is a lover not a fighter :)
• Hope: gets very very very excited (and vocal) for meal time...and for the babies meal time. She loves the babies but loves their food a bit more.
• Joanie: one of the two oldest females she is gentle and keeps to herself. She loves the enrichment and goes crazy for popcorn and raisins
• Sammie Jo: sweet and shy she loves to perch on the top of the beams in the center room and watch over everything happening. Very close to Joanie
• Magogo: Her name means old lady in Zulu and she is the oldest of the females. She is smart and opinionated and loves her corn and raisins
• Tao: probably the most trusting of humans of all of the baboons she is sweet and very observant, she spends most of her days watching what everyone else is up to and making sure everyone is ok (is also a big fan of feed time)
• Maya: sweet and confident she loves the babies and spends a lot of time by their enclosure watching them and grooming them.

Cora

Ayanna

Cecilia

Ella

Hope

Janine

Joanie

Magogo

Sammie Jo

Tao

Maya

Orphans

In total we have almost 400 Chacma Baboons here at C.A.R.E. Sadly, a large percent of them were orphaned when they were tiny pink faces (the younger a baboon is, the pinker its face). They were hand raised by surrogate moms (and dads) and then join a troop that matches their age group. When they finally join a troop they are weaned from their surrogate and begin to sleep with their troop not with a human. From there, the have a lot of human contact during the day until they are about 2 years old and then are weaned off of human contact so that they can live and function as "normal" baboons. The hope is that most of these troops will be rehabilitated back into the wild at some point, however it is a dream that is very hard to make a reality. To many South Africans, baboons are pests, an annoying nuisance and they do not want anymore in the wild. Subsequently, getting a permit and finding a safe place to rehabilitate these baboons can be quite a struggle. But it is something that every volunteer here at C.A.R.E. continues to fight for.

In the Olivia troop (named after a very old and kind hearted baboon that passed away recently) there are 16 babies all of which have been weaned from their surrogates and spend the days playing with their troop, trying to figure out their ranking among the group. There is always at least one person in their enclosure at all hours to play and cuddle them, make sure that they are ok and safe, and playing nicely. These babies get bottles and fresh food every 2 hours and at 5 are brought to their sleeping rooms by the volunteers. Learning the names of all these babies has been kind of difficult but I am finally getting to know all of their distinct features and characterstics. I do have a favorite baboon in this troop (and she chose me) her name is Jayne and although she is a little insane she is such a sweet and fun little lady. She spends most of the time I am in there on my lap or asleep in my jacket.

In the Mountain Lodge we now have 6 babies all being raised by surrogates in the house.
~Rory- 2.5 month old boy, orphaned when tomato farmers shot his mom. He is shy but a sweetheart
~Jonah-4 month old boy, chubby and playful and sometimes a handful
~Tank- 3 month old boy, timid yet gaining his footing, he was found in a barrel and was being used for witchcraft of some kind
~Orion- 5 week old boy, very big happy eyes very playful, his mom was shot by poachers is what we think
~Awesome- 8 week old boy, found by conservation specialists, very shy but curious of his big world around him
~Ellie- 5 week old girl (our only girl!) she just arrived today and I have a lot to learn about her

                                      Rory                                                          Tank

                              Jonah                                                               Orion

All these babies definitely make dinner time a very interesting and unique experince! Its not everyday you have a baby baboon jumping into your lap when you are trying to eat :) What a great experience

What I Have Learned So Far

So here are a couple of things I have learned after being in South Africa for 11 days

·      Lipsmacking is the way to show affection to baboons

·      Bottles are battis

·      A female baboon showing her swelling to you is a sign of trust and she wants you to touch it and you should...unless there is a male nearby then do not

·      A male baboon humping your hand is also a sign of trust and you should “diddle” it...yes diddle it

·      Grooming = love

·      There is a drink that the South Africans make made of fermented wheat, Sorgum, yeast, maize meal, sugar and water that sits in the sun for days...and I had some and lived to tell the tale

·      The babies go through almost 180 battis (bottles) a day

·      Baboons of all shapes and sizes love formula and will always drink the extra

·      Baboons are greedy and always want what you have even if they have the same thing

·      Baboon babies love men more than women and when they grow up respect men more

·      Never get in the middle of a baboon fight (duh)

·      Being peed and pooped on is a daily and multiple occurrence

·      You have never seen the sky look as amazing at night as it does here its unbelievable

·      Going to bed at 930 (or earlier) is totally acceptable

·      I miss my mattress...enough said

·      Beets = magenta/red poop and lots of it on you and everywhere

·      You do not choose your favorite baboon they choose you and you become their person

·      Warthogs are total wimps and scardycats and just kind of annoying

An update from the bush

What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me, me

Sitting under my mosquito net bed after another long day at C.A.R.E. Once again, the sound of frogs, baboons grunting and bugs (of all shapes and sizes) buzzing and flying around are the sounds that lull me to sleep at night. What a change from home. A home that I have been away from for exactly one week!

In the middle of a busy day I sometimes even forget I am in Africa. I get so swept up in washing bottles, feeding bottles, playing with young ones and cleaning that I forget how far away I am from home. But then a baboon makes and alarm call and everyone looks up from their job and notices an enormous bull elephant slowly grazing in the bush, knocking down tree limbs and munching on the newly grown grass. It is then that you remember that you are indeed in Africa (no doubt about it). The volunteers all took a good hour to observe the elephant watch its movements and to make sure it did not get too close. This is truly an amazing place and I need to remind myself everyday (even when I am exhausted and  covered in poop) that I am lucky to be here.

Two to three times a day I am responsible for sitting, playing with, and observing the babies (this is by far my favorite time of day). There are a total number of 20 in the baby troop and slowly but surely I am learning all of their names and different characteristics. Just like my seven little babies back in Wooster, each baboon has its own distinct personality. Janey is a bitch in the mornings but loves to snuggle in your shirt and groom you (she just needs to work on being gentle). Tempe is a rambunctious little girl who loves being swung and who wants to play for hours but at the end of the day falls asleep in your arms when being carried to bed. Schmeegle (the alpha male of the group) a big baby who likes to drink his bottles in your arms and who acts tough but is really just a gentle giant. And Jonah, a timid boy with the rest of the troop but when you get him alone tramps around the lodge like he owns the place. What makes the baby time more fun is that they are starting to remember me and warm up to and trust me (not totally but getting there) everyday I make progress bonding with one of them and sharing a special moment with them. I have to say I am becoming a very good groomer and they love it. You have not lived till a baby baboon grooms the inside of your ear (yep this is what my day consists of) The best part, no one here judges anyone for being covered in poop and pee or for wearing pants that you can smell from a football field away. It is just the way it is here and any ounce of embarrassment or self-doubt you have goes out the window (a great great great thing for me!)

A favorite activity of mine when I do find a moment of peace is to walk around the grounds and try and get to know some of the other wild and housed baboons. I have found that I love the personalities, demeanors and beauty of the males. They are huge majestic creatures but look at you with these eyes that seem all knowing with hints of kindness. Although it is technically not allowed I always try and sneak some treats for them when no one is looking, I just can’t help myself, those eyes are impossible to say no to. I’ve learned from the other long term volunteers which ones are nice and which ones can be jerks and all of their individual stories and rankings. It’s an amazing thing to eat your breakfast and look out to see fifty or so wild baboons interacting and socializing with each other and just being wild yet safe. No one will harm them here or poach them or trap them as pets, it is a haven and they know it.

As much as I miss the comforts of home (and having completely clean fingernails (an impossible thing here) I try and enjoy every moment I have here. Of course my mattress is not the most comfortable thing in the world, and I spent 2 hours picking up rotten food from an enclosure for basically shits and giggles and I smell (more like reek) of baboons all day, but this is an awesome place. Not just the environment but the people. People who share my interests and who all have the same common goal: to help all creatures (except for these fucking bugs I swear to god I need a zapper and I will pay cash for it!)

Isn't Africa supposed to be hot?

Day 3  at the C.A.R.E center and also the third day of rain, mud and freezing weather! I am definitely wishing I had some warmer clothes because the combination of being muddy, wet from the rain, being peed on and 47 degree weather makes for a very cold Courtney! Besides the weather it is absolutely wonderful here, think camp but with baboons everywhere! 

The days here start at 6:30 where you wake up, pull yourself out of your warm bed and begin to make bottles (56 to be exact) for the babies small enough to need bottles. Then you bring the babies from their sleeping room to their play room where they are until 5:00pm. Between now and then your time is spent monitoring the other baboons around the center (around 400) to make sure they look happy and healthy, preparing food, making warm bottles, washing those bottles, playing and caring for the babies, and trying to grab a meal here and there. By the end of the day we are all pretty wiped! A couple of the babies, too small to stay with the others are brought into the house and sleep with surrogate moms and provide us with entertainment in the evening.

The good news is I have internet...the bad news is the internet barely works enough to do even the most basic of tasks (aka checking my email which I cannot do) but at least it is something and was a surprise :) I'm trying to post some pictures but they might have to come all at the end.

Traveling in Numbers

Hello from the Johannesburg International Airport Transfer Terminal! I successfully made it to Africa in one piece. I have to say, the flight went by a LOT faster than I thought it would! I guess it helps when you have some champagne to calm the nerves and 100+ options of things to watch. Just a short post today to give you all an idea of my journey using some numbers.


12,000: number of miles between Colorado and Phalaborwa (approximately)
4.5: number of movies watched in air
4: glasses of champagne consumed
3: hours of sleep
1: bag successfully made it to Johannesburg
2: words spoken to seatmate (not a very friendly guy) 
600: number of possible seat positions available
1: one still very nervous traveler who is trying to stay calm and have fun! 

That is all for now  :) Miss you all