Congo Rangers

Category: Elephants, Logistics, Mountain Gorillas, Rangers | Date: Mar 29 2007 | By: admin

Things at Camp Karema are coming along really well! We have a good team of 20 guys from the local village, all working hard and fast under the direction of Patrick, a local carpenter who I first met in 2004 when I got him to build a bunch of rabbit hutches for me! He then went on to build my guard house and workshop with a machete as his only tool, but this is the first time I have worked with him in the field.

Patrick is excellent and really knows how to get the most out of his workers while keeping everybody happy! He also makes sure that everyone has a job to do, knows what it is, and gets on and does it! Sometimes even the best paid expats managing some of the largest NGOs out here don’t seem to get this right, so it is a skill that is not to be underestimated. “You must stay humble,” Patrick tells me, “that way local people will respect you and work well with you.” Makes sense…

In fact Patrick, pictured here above in the middle, is himself learning a new technique about laying roofing material. He has only ever used banana leaves before now, but they’re not really available at this altitude, so we are having to use coarse grass which requires a totally different technique.

Fortunately there are a couple of Mzees (Swahili for Old Wise Man) in the team who know exactly what to do… Fascinating watching them work and creating these giant bamboo spirals into which the grass will be fixed.

Anyway, the work was coming on so well that other than paying salaries and buying bamboo and other material, it was almost taking care of itself. This allowed me a bit of time to take in the incredible atmosphere of the camp. And this is what the hut was looking like at the end of the day.

The fallen tree in the middle of the camp was actually pushed over by an elephant just a few months ago, probably around the same time the rebels swept through the forest! Let’s hope the elephants are a little more gentle with our tents.

Technorati : bukima, congo, drc, fzs, karema, mikeno, virunga, wildlifedirect

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Category: General, Logistics, Mountain Gorillas | Date: Mar 26 2007 | By: admin

Conrad Aveling spent the night at Camp Karema and set out with us early in the morning to see the Gorillas for the first time in more than 15 years. Conrad, who was the old FZS project manager, came to Congo in 1984 to habituate Mountain Gorillas and chimpanzees for tourism. Four years later he moved on to manage a large EU project, building patrol posts and toursit lodges throughout the entire park and developing critical conservation initiatives. This was the first time he has been back, and he was able to meet up with a few old buddies

This is Conrad, me and Urbain

Just after this photo was taken we came across two Gorillas mating! It happened to be a black back who was doing it on the sly while the Silverback, Kabirizi, was out of sight. The Rangers get to see this happen about once every six months, so we felt pretty privilaged. Photo censored!

Conrad and Gorilla of the Kabirizi family

Gorilla close up

Gorilla reaching out

I think this male black-back gorilla fancied his hand at a spot of photography. Shortly after I took this photo he made a grab for the camera.

Technorati : bukima, camp karema, congo, drc, mountain gorilla, virunga, wildlifedirect

15 responses so far

Category: Logistics, Mountain Gorillas, Rangers | Date: Mar 23 2007 | By: admin

Following my post a couple of weeks ago we continue to make progress with setting up Camp Karema, at Bukima (in the Gorilla sector) and also improving facilities at Rumangabo, the HQ of the sector that is not too far from Bukima.

This is the kit we took up the other day. All we need now is power!! Hopefully we’ll get solar system installed at Rumangabo within the next couple of weeks so that the Rangers can start making use of all this and we can reclaim some of our office space!

In one week this will be an African hut, for the moment though we are just hoping it doesn’t rain!

In the meantime, let’s build a BBQ… nothing better than goat and union kebabs rubbed down with some garlic and chilli pepper…

6 o’clock in the morning. I have felt better. I think I have looked better too!

This is the view from Camp Karema of Mt. Mikeno. Conrad Aveling climed it 16 years ago and I don’t think anyone has climbed it since. Conrad was the old FZS project manager back then (ie my predecessor), and one day very soon I will have to summit the mountain, if nothing else to keep the FZS tradition alive!

Technorati : congo rangers, drc, fzs, iccn, mikeno, mountain gorilla, virunga, wildlifedirect

4 responses so far

Category: Logistics, Mountain Gorillas, Rangers, Your Donations | Date: Mar 15 2007 | By: admin

To all my supporters: THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS since I started this blog late last year.

Donations to date are:

Patrol Boots: 36 pairs

Patrol Rations: 58

Patrol Tents: 3

Salary bonuses for Rangers: 74

Uniform for Rangers: 12 sets

I would like to thank ICCN (The Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature), Paulin Ngobobo - Chief Warden of the Southern Sector of Virunga and WildifeDirect. The ICCN is doing a great job in protecting the park and its wildlife, and I am privileged to be collaborating.

More posts to come soon on the development of Camp Karema in the Mikeno sector - the new Gorilla monitoring station.

Myself and Urbain, my right hand man here in Goma and in the field!

Ndakasi, one of the Gorilla Monitoring team in the Mikeno Sector

Very best, Rob

Technorati : congo rangers, fzs, hippo, mountain gorilla, rob muir, wildlifedirect

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Category: Active Service, Mountain Gorillas, Rangers | Date: Mar 10 2007 | By: admin

We have started setting up a new camp in the Mikeno Sector in Virunga National Park. The aim is to have a base from which we can monitor the Mountain Gorillas.

This is how we have progressed so far:

1. Clear a space for the camp! (no tree cutting - the log you can see in the background is a fallen tree)

2. Clear spaces for tents (again, no tree cutting)

And I will keep you posted on the rest… This is a very exciting time. After the rebel attacks last Dec and Jan we will finally be able to be close to the Mountain Gorillas and monitor their protection even more closely.

Technorati : bukima, congo rangers, gorilla, mikeno, wildlifedirect

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Category: Mountain Gorillas, Rangers | Date: Mar 01 2007 | By: admin

You may have seen these photos already on Paulin’s blog gorillaprotection but we are so pleased about the birth of Ndeze that I want to share it with you also. Here is the newborn to the Rugendo family, at 4 days old!

And here with his mother, Safari, which means Travel in Swahili.

Technorati : congo, congo rangers, drc, mikeno, ndeze, newborn gorilla, rumangabo, wildifedirect

7 responses so far