Karine Ardault

Bronchities

I am sick! boo... got bronchities. i have been coughing very minute or saw since thursday. Finally decided to go and see a doctor yesterday. I thought i could manage not to take any days off but this morning I got too exhausted so I went back home just before lunch. I slept five hours this afternooon. I could have kept sleeping but I forced myself to get up in order to be able to sleep tonight. Ben is still away for the night. normally, he is coming back tomorrow.

Another picture from our trip in Tarangire. A baobab.

Week-end in Tarangire

So last week-end, Ben and I finally went for our little week-end out of Arusha. We decided to go to Tarangire National Park which is about a two-hour drive from home. Ben was supposed not to work on Friday but in the end he had a night stop on Thursday and was coming back for lunch time. Except that he could only get home at 3.15 p.m. and we had to arrive before the park closes... Finally we made it: I rushed out of work, went for some shopping and packed things. When Ben got home, we put everything in the Land Rover, let Muffin in the house (euh... it turned out that she did not like being a week-end all by herself.... poor thing) and we drove. We got to the park gate at 6.15 p.m. and we soon were at the camp site inside park. We settled quickly as the sun disappears around 7 p.m. here near the equator. We did not see any animal coming close to the tent. As you can see, it is on the roof of the car so in the morning we had a nice view of the sun rising. So if no animal came licking my feet, we heard elephants and hyenas.

The following morning, after a nice breakfast and putting back everything in the car, we slowly headed south towards Oliver's camp, where we spent our second night.

On Sunday morning we did a 3-hour walking safari. We saw a few animals from far away and a puff adder from very close (mum, you certainly do not want to know what is a puff adder). It was great. We were with a guide and a ranger. I learned a lot of things and it was nice to have a closer look a little things, see animal footprints. After lunch we slowly headed back to the park entrance. We were home at 8 pm. It was a very nice week-end!

 

A group of zebras were crossing the road in front of us. They were quiet and did not really cared about us. I like the geometry of those black and white stripes.

It is an impala, a male. We saw many groups of impala this week-end.

A cousin of the impala: the dik-dik. It is very small, shy and quick. Though this time, the dik-diks we saw seem a bit curious and they stayed near the car when we arrive. They live in couple. We do not see it very well on this picture but under their eyes, they have a gland. They use the secretion of the gland to mark their territory among other things.

This a dwarf mongoose. There was a full family of them living in a termite mount. They are very funny to watch. it looked like they were playing hide and seek with us.

The last picture of today: A baby elephant drinking from mummy. Do you see the little pink? so cute!

What do you do on a Sunday morning?

Well..., first you get up at 6 a.m. because your loved one is flying early and you are taking him to the airport. It is Arusha airport, which is good news! It reopened Friday. yeepee!!! No more alarm ringing at 4.50 a.m. to go to KIA airport (not that I was going there but I was waking up also at that time). As Benoît is normally ("normally" - because it can always change!) having a night stop, it is not so wise to let his car over there so I gave him a lift.

But on our way we had to stop to put back in the wild Bonnie & Clyde! They were two baby hedgehogs Cuddle found Saturday early in the morning (4.30 a.m.). They were very small but still bigger than Muffin when I found her. As always, he was barking at them to that implies me getting up, by the window, rushing back to the bedroom to get dressed and catching those two little spiky balls. I just put them in the bathtub rolled up in a towel for the night. In the morning they got a bath during which I discovered there was a she and a he. They were not wounded and looked good. They cooled down quickly and I had some time to manipulate them a bit and play with them so they get completely relaxed. I could take off the ticks from Clyde, but could not unrolled Bonnie enough so she went back in the wild with her ticks.... Then I put them back to sleep. I later gave them some food and they went back to their normal habit: sleep, poo, sleep, poo, pee.... and so on.

So this morning, on our way to the airport, we stopped by the coffee plantations and released them close to an hedge. I hope they will do fine. I know they will not stay together for long as hedgehogs are solitary animals though I hope they will stay hanging around together a bit, brother and sister, as they learn to manage by themselves.

The fact that we found the two of them shows that they are brother and sister as hedgehogs are solitary animals and only get together to mate. Those were definitely too young to think of anything close to sex.

We did show them to Muffin yesterday. At least she did not try to crunch any of them (she try to crunch Harrison's nose met I put them in contact!) and just sniffed them. and that it when i realized that Muffin must have been very young when we found her and that she is now accustomed to her luxury life. DO you now many hedgehogs in Africa who sleep in a basket rolled in a nice duvet?

So goodbye Bonnie and Clyde, I hope you'll have a nice hedgie life far from cars and humans!

Busy week - Week-end OFF!!!

Had a super busy week at work. Days are not long enough though! I want to finish some tasks very soon. Hopefully, I will be finished next week! I am still grumpy with my work colleagues but it is my way of dealing with that kind of behavior so let's get grumpy.

This week-end i will not be working though as Benoît and I are going to Tarangire National Park from Friday to Sunday. We will be trying Ben's new roof tent and we will spend a night at Oliver's camp. Muffin will be staying by herself with enough food I hope! Right now she is sleeping. A funny thing about her is that she becomes totally crazy when she smells pim's biscuits. she LOVES them. Have to take pictures, she is so funny.

Well I'd better go to bed now as tomorrow will be a long day!!!

Some News from Muffin

Muffin is doing fine. Right now she is sleeping (her favorite activity). This morning I woke her up for a bath as her paws were quite dirty. Bath is not her favorite time but she then enjoys her time wrapped in a towel while I gently dry her. Some time ago Ben took some pictures of Muffin during bath time. Here they are.

More pictures of Muffin will follow soon.

Yesterday when Benoît came back from the airport we went to the Arusha Karibu Fair. It is once a year and gathers the professionals of the area. Mainly they are people from the tourism industry but we can also find a few shops, a bank or some hardware store stands. There is also some food stand. For me it is just a social event where we can meet people we know but who we do not see so often. Like the managers of the Ndutu Safari Lodge. If you ever have a chance to come to Tanzania, go to Ndutu, it is a wonderful place.

Yestarday was very sunny and hot. I hope it is a sign that the rainy season is going away!

I am waiting for Benoît to come back from the airport. Maybe we can go out this afternoon....

Car Art

When I get out of work yesterday afternoon, that is what I found on my car door. I know immediately who had done it as Benoît was waiting for me by my car.

This shows 2 things though: 1. my car is really dirty. 2. He loves me... Hee hee

About the dirtiness of my car... It is true that I do not wash it often. I have never really cared of how shinning clean my car could be. In Tanzania, it is very rare that someone drives a dirty car. Indeed, the gardener or the askari wash the car everyday. In my opinion it is such a waste of water and water in this country is precious. I remember that between December 2005 and January 2006 I did not have any water at home most of the time. I prefer using water for cooking and cleaning than wasting water to wash the car. Though I wash it from time to time as it is so dusty here during the dry season and so muddy during the rainy season!

Back online

It is time to come back online! I have a lot of things to say: first we had great vacations, especially those two weeks in New York. I took many pictures in New York. I should post a few soon. We also dis some shopping.... Muffin is well. she is not growing any more: she is officially a pygmy hedgehog! Yeepeee! Also have to post about some art stuffs I have made recently. I did buy quite a lot in supplies in Europe or the US so now I have no excuse and I have to create! I will try to post more often. posting should now be more simple as I have decise to use the mail option for posting... easier to post from the Office during the lunch break!