Restless night sleep, wake up to drunken “Good morning Durban!” being relayed in the hallway at 6a. Eventually get up, take a picture out my 10th floor window, and enjoy a big b-fast spread at the hotel. Just missed the shuttle to the conference center, so walk the half mile with a medical entomology from TX who focuses his work on killed disease vectors for folks in the military. I’m reminded that half the folks at an entomology meeting want to understand the ecology of insects, while the other half are want to understand how to best kill them. Safely arrive, register, and receive the tome of scheduled talks, feel a bit overwhelmed. In line for lunch I realize I don’t have any South African currency and hope they take plastic. Hit a few talks, run into a few folks I know. Email with Andre and arrange for a meeting on the beach front tomorrow morn. Order up some room service, plan out talks to see, and go to bed early.

Work on talk a bit in the morning. Work out in hotel exercise room, lame but really need to move. Head to airport and fly from Nairobi to Johannesburg to Durban. Worried about retrieving luggage, changing terminals, and re-checking in J-berg, but goes smoothly. Start chatting with fine gent before taking off in J-berg, conversation is sufficiently stimulating to warrant his taking a middle seat to continue. First time I’ve truly enjoyed airline conversation with a formally unknown row-mate. Get an offer for a local tour of Durban and wonder if I might be able to get out in this town…

Check into the Tropicana and can see its former beauty through the worn carpet and old paint. Feel safe but a little on edge.

Start travels down to Durban, South Africa for International Congress of Entomology. Drive to Nanyuki to meet up with drive to take us into Nairobi. Relish my first cup of real coffee in awhile. Drive through lush tropical coffee and banana farms during the 4 hr drive down. Check into the hotel, Alison goes to visits folks at the Museum, I put myself into a sushi bar. Catch a wireless signal in the hotel lobby and catch up on blog a bit.

Spy some Brown parrots in the tree during breakfast. Have a meeting with the termite project crew to figure out what needs to be done for the remaining time. Spot an Eastern pale chanting goshawk right outside the office. Finalize and send off the progress report. Enjoy a 4^th of July baseball and beer session on the ‘lawn’ of the station!

Spend morning digging up tree and grass roots to stain them for a symbiotic fungus. Catch a spotted bush snake moving through the Acacia trees. As we’re driving down the road to the station, see a load of vultures in the tree. Stop, smell decay, and find a dead eland not far from the road. Spend a good chunk of the afternoon finding a source of heat to boil solutions, eventually find a friend with portable gas stove. When cleaned office a couple weeks ago, found kids’ soft baseball and bat set. A couple of us take it out for a spin. After dinner plan to go on a game drive, but the spot light doesn’t work in the LandRover, so we end up drinking on the veranda instead. Learn the following day that some folks saw two lionesses lazily leaving the eland carcass…

Wake up feeling stable. At breakfast hear about eles tearing down water tank – apparently they really go for the clean water. Work on the Smithsonian progress report. Enjoy a successful skype to cell phone call from the folks. Plan to go out in the field but boots still caked in mud. So strap them on and take them into the shower with me. Worked pretty well.

Tummy explodes, up before daylight still in bathroom when hear alarm go off in banda. Don’t eat much and read all day. Finish one book, start and finish another. Make it to meeting of researchers working in the ‘black cotton’ ecosystem around Mpala. Try some dinner. Chat with a friend who suggests I try an “oral rehydration solution” (=1 tsp salt, 8 tsp sugar in 1 liter water). Thicker and saltier than I expected. But seems to be helping.