Udderly funny !

   At the end of June, we had observed some cows that had seemed to have escaped their field and were just strolling around above where we live.

   After two days, we were worried about the size of the udder which seemed to be so full, it touched the ground. I called the tourism centre who gave me a name (that turned out to be the right one) and a telephone number that was no longer in service. Then, the number of some locals so that they could contact the proprietor and inform him of the situation.

   The weekend goes by and we see them again – but milked this time… though still roaming freely. So much so that they decide to see what’s going on down the slope and come pay us a home visit.

   A cow had come for the first time on the 1st of July but only Anton-E had seen her because we had gone to buy some cream. So jealous !

    He gave her some water that she promptly drank. She didn’t lap but seemed to suck it in.

   Everything was visited; from top to bottom we could say. All the salt that was potentially there was licked by their long tongue. Even the barbeque was carefully cleaned off !! I had tried to kill off some weeds on the tarmac downstairs with cooking water from vegetables and starchy food, and they washed down the whole of the descent !!

As they had insisted on drinking a lot of water, Anton-E had given them two more pails of water. What wells these cows are !!

   Choupinette… yep, Anton-E had given her a name… seemed to want to come in. I opened the outside shutter-doors and came nose-to-nose with three of the cows, including Choupinette who was coming closer than I liked. I quickly went back inside without opening the second shutter. Not very daring, I know !

   In fact, out of the seven, Jean-Louis said that the dark-brown one wasn’t the friendliest. Ah yes, I remember that she would scrape the ground with her hoof like the cows in Interville. Phew, it’s a good thing I didn’t stay close then !

   It was fun and a good distraction, but they didn’t go without leaving some souvenirs behind, and I’m not just talking manure ! The terrain that I was currently cleaning from weeds found itself rather churned !

The Olympics have started

   Last year, Célia gave her brother a nice gift for his birthday: tickets to go see a fencing competition, more precisely the sabre competition as it’s his chosen discipline. The only problem is that they’re going to watch the team matches but they won’t be able to go support France as it’s the only event where they won’t be present. The flag will remain at home J

   With Pascal, we had gone to see the ski-jumping events at the Albertville Olympic Games at St Bon-Courchevel and we had loved it so they’ll love it too for sure.

  "My son… i’ve always said that one day, you would be going to the Olympics"

   A great thing is that they will also be able to go to a cinema in Reading which will be broadcasting the Games on a giant screen. All they had to do was book their places and then go fetch them. What a good initiative.

A summer in Chartreuse

   The Gambia is all well and good, but it doesn’t feed the passions and therefore there’s nothing better than a summer of recuperation in the Alps to give yourself a boost.

   The first thing that needs to be done is to cut the grass that had reached shoulder height – not an easy feat as it’s quite tiring but very fun. It’s not only the nice flowers that poke their noses above the mêlée but also the stingy nettles so long sleeves are a must. How nice it looks once it’s all done and tidy ! 

   The grass gets its cut, but also the underwood. Oh how quickly the trees grow in our Chartreuse ! What seems to have been taken care of one year can easily be back in the shade the next. The advantage of this ‘lightening up’ is that wild strawberries develop and we can therefore see them grow. Only grow unfortunately because an “evil spirit” comes to eat them even before they’ve completely become red and we’ve been able to taste a single one. Strange, as they’re meticulously eaten, leaving the peduncle behind. The earth around them isn’t trampled so it’s not even the deer that we see from time to time passing stealthily. A mystery that is yet to be solved !

 

   To each day it’s decor ! We never get tired of it… except when we’re under the rain, then it’s not the best. The unstable weather hasn’t been entirely disadvantageous to us and several times, the rain has had the kindness to fall only at nights to water the grass seeds – that we’ve been sowing on the areas devoid of grass – and leave us with a sunny tomorrow.

News from the front

   The Olympics are just around the corner and the torch even went through reading !

Birds at the Atlantic Hotel

   No need to go far to discover a wide range of birds. All you need to do is to walk around the Laico Atlantic hotel gardens at different times of day and particularly in different parts of the hotel. In fact, regular customers of the hotel ask for a room with a view, not on the beach with the noise from the evening show, but overlooking the gardens out front

…with a good many Village weavers (Ploceus culcullatus), quite similar to those from my garden in Mauritius. The male has a black beak, a dark head and a more vivid yellow that the female who has a light grey beak. They love staying on the trees close to balconies, waiting for customers to throw them some crumbs. They weave nests in the shape of a closed basket with the only hole being the opening – it’s not uncommon to see hundreds on the same tree. They don’t nest at the hotel however, and that’s for the best as they are very noisy and will strip a tree of all its leaves and shoots.

   The Common bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus) is very common, loves the mango season when it comes into my ‘garden’ to nip at the fruit – fallen or still on the tree. It can be found in the vast majority of Africa and reproduces mostly at the end of the rainy season, laying two or three eggs in a cup-shaped and leaf carpeted nest.

   With its metallic tint, this Long tailed glossy starling (Lamprotornis caudatus) is part of the starling family. Based on the luminosity and its position relative to the sun, it goes from blue to green with more-or-less dark nuances. It can measure up to 54cms in length. I collected a few feathers (including three very long ones) and it’s strange to observe that on half of it, the colour is of a regular blue, and less metallic. It must be the side of the feather that is against the body. This bird can be very noisy when it wants to and can drown out the sound of the TV if it decides to come close to the courtyard wall. It’s also quite curious and sometimes comes up to the living room window to have a look at what’s inside. I’ve been told that if I leave the window open, it’ll come in to pay a visit.

   Mister Red billed hornbill (Tockus erythronhynchus) is also a chatty one and can reveal himself as very noisy when it chats with its partner or when it courts. With its 42cms, it’s one of the smaller Hornbills. It nests in February in the trunk of a dead tree in the mini-golf garden. The female settled there to lay her eggs, and then the hole was practically closed off, only leaving a small opening for food. When room gets a bit tight, the female demolishes the wall, gets out and rebuilds it. Then, the two parents take care of feeding the three to six chicks. It’s often perched, but you can often see it on the ground, feeding on grain, fruit, or insects.

   On occasion, it inadvertently enters the restaurant – one day, the male was certainly courting its female all around with huge flapping of wings and verbal effusions to which the female would reply. It was amusing to watch as they started to ‘speak’ and the longer it went on, the louder they got.

Give me another one please

   Finding something to do here is quite the challenge. I would like to go help here and there but I also believe that effort is rewarded so they will have to put in some work themselves.

   It had already been a few weeks since I had started going (I say “had started going” because I’m writing in July about events that date from the spring, but I’ll be back in September) regularly to Albion school every Tuesday, and occasionally on another morning. Although, a frustration was borne from several occurrences that meant that I didn’t do much, and the kids neither. One week of teacher training, one day to mark the end-of-trimester exams, another to put in the numbers into the computer, and another to organise the sports day/week, all of which meant that the kids were sitting at their tables with nothing other to do than to wait for time to pass.

   On one occasion, I found myself all morning with the kids who didn’t care about a white person who wouldn’t beat them – the noise was unbearable, the raucousness, the kids that were walking around on the table, and the beatings which seemed to be their only way to resolve disagreements. 

   Generally, the morning goes by in a more or less « tepid » hullabaloo. To improve this “mess”, I asked the hotel ‘carpenters’ to fashion some pencil-holders (1) with leftover pieces of wood so that the kids have a place to put their pencils when they should be listening to the teacher (and most of all so that they stop writing on the tables and walls). I also try to incite them to place their backpacks at the back of the class so that they don’t constantly go about foraging inside them. It kind of works, but these are habits that they must adopt on a daily basis in order to benefit from this improvement.

   The teacher leaves the classroom very often – from a few minutes to a good few tens of minutes – and it’s better to laugh than to cry about it because the second she leaves the class, a craze descends on the classroom, as if a tornado had passed. One day I had quite a scare when one of the kids, who was in a disagreement with another, wanted to “pencil” him – that is, stab him with his pencil. Not being far from them, I managed to intervene and deviate his movement, therefore avoiding a hole in the other boy’s leg. This kind of behaviour is beyond my comprehension !

   Due to all of this, I felt frustrated at not being able to be of help, and as I had visited the other schools run by Methodists, I decided to return to see the nursery I had enjoyed to visit. After the Easter holidays, Albion hadn’t reopened on the Tuesday as planned so I went there for nothing. I therefore went in the direction of Wesley Contemporary Nursery though feared on arrival that it was also closed as I heard no noise and saw no one (2)­_­­. In actual fact, everyone was inside for the morning assembly (3). Between the constant noise pollution of Albion and this calm, my choice was swiftly made for this 2^nd day of help in a school. A good decision because I had now joined the big class… of 5 year-olds (4) with the substitute teacher with whom I got along well and made them work and progress. Not an easy feat as some had only started school in September and had never spoken English. Most don’t receive help at home and are never stimulated. The teacher speaks to them in Wolof or Mandinka if need be, otherwise she always uses English.

   I tried to introduce learning through play by running right and left to find letters or to show a number, and, what was probably a first for them, I informed them that they were allowed to get things wrong and that to try was the most important. A first that is difficult to implement because they are so used to receiving a beating if they get something wrong on the 3^rd or 4^th attempt that they prefer to abstain. Being a stickler for obtaining the right answer is not only figurative here, but a reality that is hard to bear.

   They learn a lot off by heart, by chanting dully or repeating (5), which makes them good ‘reciters’ from the age of four, but many are those that will be unable to bring a letter of the alphabet out of context or name a number by seeing it. Anton-E even helped me to create cards for the numbers on which appear the number, its spelling, and a domino relevant to it. I base myself on the idea that in Mauritius, they often play dominoes and I told myself that it may be the case here as well. It doesn’t seem to be the case, but these cards worked and helped a good few kids who could then associate different retention methods.

   This second school is only 20 minutes by foot from the Atlantic hotel by sandy roads, though preventive roadworks undertaken in readiness for the rainy season have created flooding on a stretch of road (6) and you need to be careful where you tread. Being back in France, I’ll be avoiding most of the rainy season and I certainly won’t miss it ! I’ll see again this little world of Albion and Wesley at the end of September Inch Allah.

Antelopes, hop, hop

   One last round and then I’ll return to The Gambia; there were so many things to discover in this place, especially as it was our first time.

   When it comes to fauna indigenous to this reserve, there are only the phacochoerus, the Patas monkeys and the Bushbuck. The other animals have been introduced over the years. Some have also been swapped with another reserve; Bandia.

   In 2001, 28 Roan antelope – also known as the Horse antelope due to their size and appearance – were brought in. They stand at 2m40 and can weigh up to 220 to 300kgs. Very similar to the Waterbuck, for an amateur like me confusing the two is easy. The buffalos also date from that year.

   In 2003, Giraffes, Eland, and two White rhinos joined the already-present fauna and adapted well to their new environment.

   The Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) is getting rarer and rarer in Western Africa. It eats grass and lives in the open savannah not too far from water point (from which it gets its name of “Water antelope”). Only males have horns, which are rounded and spiralled, and its shoulders stand at 1m30 for 240kgs. It’s the 3^rd biggest antelope behind the Eland and the Roan antelope. It can live up to 20 years and its reddish-brown hair gets darker with age.

   The Kob (Kobus Kob), rare, lives in the same environment as the previous antelope and, like the latter, only the male has horns. Slightly smaller, its shoulder height is at 1m and it weighs between 80 and 100kgs. It doesn’t enjoy captivity and is therefore very rarely found in zoos or penned reserves.

   The Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)… well, it’s Bambi ! at least by its fur when it’s a baby☺. As an adult, it’s “only” 80 to 100cm for 80kg. Here again, only males have horns. It lives in forests and shrubbed areas close to water points. It feeds mainly on grass, young leaves and shoots, occasionally on roots, turnips, plantations, and fruit.

   The Common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) is a mini one, standing at 60cms, and is not a water-reliant species. Territorial, the female is larger than the male. It can be found all across Africa. 

   Here is the park’s giant, the Common eland (Taurotragus oryx), also known as the Southern eland or the Eland antelope, that has been imported from South Africa where it’s a common sight. It can measure from 2m40 to 3m80 and reach 900kgs. It can live with a lot to drink or indeed with nothing to drink for months. Males and females have horns and for the males, the hairs on the forehead get more and more ruffled with age. It’s one of the only reserves in the world where you can observe them so easily and from so close. It lives for around 25 years and often forms large herds; Fathala has about twenty of them. Its gestation period is of 9 months and in nature, the males defend the young from lions.

   One final animal that we met, though in his pen, is the Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). The park only has a few but keeps them penned as they would do some damage to the rest of the fauna. A strange animal that simultaneously scares, but who, in presence of the guard, went to muzzle and lick him like a dog (though still with the safety grille as it remains a predator !). The hyena is between 40 and 80kgs and the female is heavier, larger, and more aggressive than the male. In its natural habitat, it lives in the savannah and is known to consume14kg of food in one meal !

   And there you have it – time to return to Gambia and to continue to find things to do… which is not an easy feat !

Some tiny ones and some giant ones

   We saw a good number of animals in this reserve and we especially realised that depending on the season, we would see more or less, particularly due to the height of the vegetation. At the end of the dry season, when we went, the grass is low and we had a far-reaching visibility. However, the moment the rain arrives, high grass invades large swathes of land and many animals hide themselves amongst the grass.

   Close to the only water point, which was at a very low level at this end of April, there were some monkeys. The Western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius – top-left) which resembles the Red colobus from the Bijilo forest, were on the ground which is rare for them as they are usually tree-dwelling monkeys. In fact, there’s a belief that when locals see one of these monkeys come down to the ground, many children will break an arm. It’s an endangered monkey in Western Africa and the male, larger than the female, can weigh up to 13kgs. They live in a large family in forests where they like eating leaves and occasionally have a taste of fruit and grain.

   The Patas monkey (Erythrocerebus patas – bottom left) is common in the Saharan Africa. Also known as the singe pleureur [crying monkey] because it emits a sound that resembles that of a baby, our guide deemed it “mischievous”. The male can reach 12kgs. They live in the open savannah and feed on insects, tree sap, grains, and tubers. It’s the fastest primate and can run at 55km/h.

   In the park, there were also Green monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus), a quite common sight in Western Africa. They can be identified by their black facial mask and their white collar though we didn’t see any… perhaps they were hiding amongst their Patas cousins !

   Amongst the birds, we managed to add a tick on the hornbill page with these African grey hornbills (Tockus nasutus – top-middle). Quite common, they like tall tress though search for their food at ground level.

   The Palm-nut vulture also made an appearance, not too far away with its coloured baby. We also saw a Bearded barbet (Lybius dubius – middle-right), quails that are considered “pests” by farmers, European green woodpeckers, and a flamboyant touraco that we didn’t manage to capture on film. As we have to stay on the track, we can’t often position ourselves to take the best pictures and often, birds are swift and frequently move about.

   Slightly bigger and very strange was the phacochoerus (Phacochoerus africanus – bottom). It’s common across Africa and lives in the savannah where it feeds on grass, berries, tree bark, and roots. It’s also an occasional omnivore. Its two upward-facing tusks are used to unearth roots and bulbs, but also to defend itself against predators (lions, leopards, hyenas..). In this reserve, there’s no risk as the only predator is penned. However, from time to time, the park guards give one of them to the hyenas to feed them. A rapid animal, it can reach 55km/h. A male weighs around 100kgs and a female will range from 50 to 70. The phacochoerus can live up to 25 years and has a 175-day gestation period resulting in two to seven marcassins. A funny thing to see is the way that they eat “on their knees”. I believe I heard the reason of this being about the spine that doesn’t allow them to curve themselves forward meaning that they have to incline their whole bodies.

   Slightly more… well very much bigger, is the buffalo. Living up to 25 years, it can weigh in at 900kg and is often found in the midst of a group of 1000 peers. It prefers the savannah or wooded areas close to water as it likes rolling around in the mud. It feeds on grass, and other than man, its only predator is the lion. If you look closely, there will always be one or more cleaner birds, oxpeckers, on their body.

   The animals that took my breath away the most were the giraffes (girafa camelopardalis). A strange, high-perched animal, that seems so fragile and who runs in a unique way. The reserve has 6 giraffes : 5 lighter Cape giraffes, and one Masai, a darker male and father to the two-month old girafon. The mother giraffe gestates for 15 months and gives birth to a baby that’s already large. It’s the only animal to have horns at birth. As an adult, the male reaches close to 6 meters and weighs 1500kgs ! Our guide, Lamin, got out of the car and allowed me to get closer. So cool ! Their only predator in the wild is the lion so here, they can also live their lives in peace☺

   Finally, we saw a solitary mastodon. This White rhinoceros, known by his friends as Alex, has had many companions but isn’t the most tender of souls and in his many debates he killed both of them – so no more companions for him. He could live up to 40 years old; Alex is about 15 years of age.  

   Lounging under a tree, he got up and came towards our vehicle on sight (1), with perked up ears (2). It’s impressive to see this huge strong mass coming towards us with a purposeful walk… “hey, but is he going to stop, or knock the car over ?” (3). Nope, turns out he had an itch on his horn and used the front wing to relieve himself (4)… though the price to pay was a bit of paint on his osseous appendage (5). Very funny in actual fact, particularly because it’s not our car… and that given the state of it, it won’t make that much of a difference !!! Once his show was finished, he did a lap of honour (6) then went back to his tree to lounge in the shade, far from the glare of the sun.  

Interlude

   A French interlude to allow you to enjoy these beautiful pictures taken in “La Tourbière de l’Herrétang” in the plains between St Laurent du Pont and St Joseph de Rivière (38-Isère).

    These nice, gold-and-copper-coloured dragonflies (or “demoiselles) entwine themselves and copulate for but a moment by forming a heart. Nature always has some nice surprises !

   There were more dragonflies or Calopteryx when we passed near streams and water points. There were two kinds : The “small, fiery-bodies nymphs”, the male of which was of a blue tinge (bottom and top-left), were very difficult to capture on film due to how thin they were and the fact that the focus was too easily attracted towards the surrounding plants.

    Calopteryx virgo (or “Beautiful demoiselle” were slightly larger and much less elusive (top, bottom and middle-right). The male is metallic blue and the female has a “golden” body.

  

   La Tourbière covers 65ha and is situated in a valley where there used to be a glacier at the foot of North Chartreuse. A 3.2km path has been created though it’s best to come equipped because despite the wooden walkway, the water overflowed in certain sectors and we had our feet soaked up to the ankles. There are most probably many birds about, but seeing as we visited in the middle of the day (14h30 – 16h) we only managed to spot three Grey herons. Have these ones been to The Gambia ?

   Many prairie flowers, a herd of Aubrac cattle, and areas specially constructed for the discreet observation of ponds. From afar, we also spotted some Camargue horses that have also been brought in. Mounds (called “Touradons”, top-right) are tufts of grass that come out of the water. They are millennial plants shaped in rounded mounds whose annual growth is based on the old roots and slowly decomposing (due to the acidity of the Tourbière) dead leaves.

   A great walk which took us nearly two hours, though with a small zone that was dangerous for the dryness of our feet. Don’t forget to wear boots or at least have a change of shoes in the car ☺... and the mosquito-repellent spray ! On this occasion, many of the critters had a taste and that’s not cool !