Elephants and Chimps...Oh My!!

Another Christmas has come and gone without a live sighting of an Elephant! The difference is this year I felt the radiating heat from the elephant feces, I ducked under vines, fought off big army ants and trudged through parts of the forest destroyed by elephants. In order to make up for the missed opportunity to live among the elephants, at 9AM that morning the guides reimbursed us by giving us liters of sweet alcohol that flows freely from the palm trees in the forest. After being pushed to consume more than our share, the guides decided all hope was not lost as the elephants had been sited that morning by some villagers. So, we trudge off again but with heavier feet and heads a spinning. No luck but the payoff this time came in the form of rice and a sauce that I don't think even the elephants would eat, guppy head (apparently an edible form of fish in the forest), red oil and A LOT of hot pepper. With disappointment and mild heartburn sitting in our hearts and the start of a hangover we headed back to the city. My friend and fellow PCV Tor and I spent the holiday in the Forest Region of Guinea.

Although the elephants were not interested in getting a look at us, a very loud big momma chimp sure was. We met Yao at the chimp reserve out in the wild. As soon as she saw us she became amazingly hungry and grabbed every piece of fruit within a few body lengths and started throwing it to the forest floor where we stood admiring her. After putting on this show she descended the tree and came for a better look. The three humans (we had a guide) and Yao stared at each other for a few minutes before she took off and started screaming. At this point we had been watching and tracking her for probably 15 minutes; time was up.

Animal sightings and challenging forest hiking deserves to be rewarded with good food. There was no shortage once we reached Jen's house in Kissidougou. We were luck enough to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with a great group of PCVs. I have never eaten such gourmet food in Guinea. Just to get your test buds watering...eggplant parm, savory beef stew, garlic mashed potatoes, a plethora of Christmas cookies and mint fudge to top it off. Also included were a lot of Christmas caroling and even an opportunity to open a Christmas present!

Speaking of Christmas presents, the world food program flies between Conakry and the forest. Tor and I were lucky enough to take the free flight and avoid the 15-hour (if nothing goes wrong) taxi ride from one end of the country to the other. However, we did take a car with an NGO about 200k on the forest road, a source of a recent strike for this area. When people say a road is nearly demolished the vision of 12feet deep potholes in the middle of the road and big trucks gently sitting on their sides will come to mind. Again we were spared the taxi and instead rode in an air-conditioned SUV!! A little more Christmas magic.

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the best in 2007.