Headed out on the river at seven this morning in our jungle garb. Joe, Charlie, Aubrey and myself, along with Koko and Sergio. We had loaded up some replacement field equipment and took our boat upriver. Saw a very large crocodile/on one of the river banks, which was quite amazing. With all of us working together to unload and haul the new equipment along the uphill jungle trail, our grueling work was kept relatively short. When arriving at the top of the hill, we found the old equipment damaged by elephants, which is why we’d brought the replacements. Our group lugged the old gear back to the boat and shoved off.
Partway back, we stumbled upon what looked like a partially eaten giant stingray, at least it was similar in color to a stingray, but more similar in size to a manta ray, and likely chewed on by a crocodile. How it got this far away from the ocean is a mystery. Further up the river, Koko checked the fuel level, and though he didn’t say, his facial expression said that it was quite low. Low and behold, it was, and we were soon stranded mid-river, perhaps two bends away from our jetty. It may have been only a few kilometers away, but without oars or cell signal, it may as well have been much more. For some time, we drifted in the hot equatorial sun, until at last, Charlie was able to get signal and contact Danika, and Doyo, our rescuer, came to our aid.
Upon our return, I took my first of two recommended daily showers, whose cool waterfelt amazing.
Laid around for a while, had lunch, and finished reading one of my books. We’re all waiting for the field course to arrive from KK. Once here, we’ll likely have dinner, do our introductions and welcome everyone, and then I’ll be going croc tracking tonight.
The students from Wales arrived at DG at about 6:30 PM. Hello electricity!
Croc tracking with Alut, Joe, Charlie, Masayo, and Aubrey. No sign of any collared crocodiles with the radio antenna. We did see a few baby crocs, a bunch of owls, and a pond civet for about a second. The night sky was amazing, to say the least–even saw a few shooting stars.
