Last Post from Semliki

Time has gone by so quickly. I thought because I'd be in one place the entire time that the time would go slowly, maybe even drag on a bit, but it hasn't. Maggie, the other researcher just left for a 2 week holiday in Ethiopia so I'll be the only researcher for my last 2 weeks here. Fortunately we put the two tables in the dining area, which used to be one for researchers one for camp workers and rangers, together a few weeks ago so I won't be eating solo.
The camp will also be shrinking from having 12 people to 6. We've had carpenters and grass cutters here working to build/repair and thatch platforms for tents. So it's been busy in camp the last few weeks. We had a party last evening with 16 guests to celebrate the end of construction (just scraping the barrel for excuses to celebrate I think). It involved butchering a goat, which turned out to provide more meat than I thought possible for such a small animal. Then for music to dance to we played cassettes using the car speakers. It was great to have everyone together from different parts of Semliki. Patrick the gate-keeper in the park seemed especially moved to be invited, as it seems he doesn't get much appreciation for doing his lonely job at the gate, so me and Maggie felt slightly vindicated in killing a small mammal for the occasion.
It's been up and down with the chimps over the last week, they seemed to have vanished completely into another part of their 62km square home range. Finally we think we have located some of them, eating from small fig trees on the escarpment, one of the only food sources left to them in the area at the moment. Still, we have only seen small family units of females and juveniles in these trees, no adult males have been sighted for at least a week. We suspect they may be in Wassa, a nearby riverine forest where they have been heard calling by staff at the nearby safari lodge.
I'll be sad to leave this place, the work is really interesting and the atmosphere in the camp is great, so it's hard to decide which is more enjoyable, the days in the forest or the evenings in camp, playing African card games, trying to figure out how to gracefully use your hands to eat millet and bean soup, and then trying to watch half a movie on a laptop until the solar charger runs out of power and we have to use kerosene lamps to illuminate the place. Though sometimes it's better not to bring light into the kitchen after dark, the cane rats are the size of domestic cats.
Though the place is fantastic I look forward to seeing friends and family again, I'm sure the time from now until then will go quickly!
Alex