Back from the field

Finally got round to a new update. I will try to tell in short the story of the last couple of weeks, so I can keep my writing for the backblips short. Even though I now have a mobile internet device, it will take a while before I have backblipped all days, because this is not the fastest solution to internet, and on top of all my laptop seems to dislike the heat here (this is one of the rare occasions it actually works!).

For two full weeks I've been in Mole National Park in the Northern Region (which is, funny enough, not the most northern region of Ghana). The trip to the park is an adventure in itself, especially with roads that tend to make your brains turn upside-down in your skull. Although the roads got even worse when the rain gods decided it was their turn to have a bit of fun (it's the rainy season here now, which is apparent most notably by the lack of electricity). This also affected my research quite dramatically, when the only road within the park connecting the northern with the southern part appeared to be flooded by a river, which meant a major detour of a full day's drive around the park. Accessibility in general is not the main feature of the park. In fact, most tourists only see a few hectares in the direct vicinity of the park entrance, and even for me it was impossible to see the whole park. But anyhow, for two weeks we've been driving and walking through the park to identify different vegetation areas (or to be more precise: bird habitats) as input for the classification of the sattelite images later on. I won't give a class on the topic here, so if you want more information on the details of my research, let me know. Apart from the 'mapping' of vegetation classes/habitats, I also conducted interviews with mainly farmers and other people in the villages bordering the park, which was interesting too (the meeting with the village chief and all the elders was quite an experience).

The park is fabulous really. Even without having looked for them specifically, I've seen elephants, hyena's buffalos, tons of antilope species (which are not scared at all, strangely enough), three monkey/ape species and -of course- a lot of birds. And because my laptop decided against further cooperation, I actually had time to relax and start with the novel I brought with me! And then there is no better place to be than the swimming pool at the top of a ridge overlooking the pools where the elephants swim, and a beer at the side...

Last weekend we returned 'home', but not after two days in Cape Coast, a town most reknown for its questionable role in the slave trade. But I will tell more about that in the backblips, whenever I get round to do that. Now Accra needs some adjusting to I must say...

So please have a look at the first backblips too. I try to continue backblipping, but it will take some time.

By the way, today's picture doesn't need any words I guess.