Spend half of the day digging pitfall traps to do an ant diversity study in glades (=large open areas heavily grazed by cattle). Not surprisingly, cattle activity (i.e. waste) can dramatically affect the nutrient cycling of an area, and some preliminary plant work has shown some cool results. I’m curious to see if some of these results are detectable in the insect communities, too. Unfortunately the ground is like concrete, and my hand trowel and womanpower is all I have to break through. I’m a little frantic while digging, as I’m out there with another crew and don’t want to keep them waiting. As we drive from site to site I’m trying to create a map of the unmarked roads so I can find them again in three days when I need to collect my traps.

In the afternoon I get behind the wheel with a friend to brush up on my manual driving skills – it’s probably been five years since I tried driving one. Get a handful of emails from folks who are concerned about my safety since the phrase ‘ethnic cleansing’ has been featured in the news. A MP from the opposition party was shot, and the event has sparked violence around the area.

Go for a night game drive. See Bushbabies (=very small primates with huge eyes and ears) hopping through trees. Down by the river, see baboons high in trees. They are known to throw feces, and we hear things striking the ground and it’s beginning to smell. Spot pair of White tailed mongooses romping through grass, huge bushy white tails flouncing around. See a Striped hyena slinking around and a Bat earned fox tearing, zagging through field. Follow some movement we see in the distance, and catch sight of an Aardwolf. Pass a Common genet sitting on rock outpost and some giraffes bedded down, all folded up for the night.