stephanie looking up

When we arrive in camp, chimpanzee researchers are quarantined for five days to make sure we aren't carrying any communicable diseases that we might give to the chimpanzees (even a common cold can kill them). So I've had some time to reacquaint myself with the the friendly faces that regularly pass through my backyard at Makerere University Biological Field Station. Yesterday I tried out my new camera as I watched all of the usual suspects pass by. Here are some snaps! (and yes, that poor baboon baby is being yanked by the hairs on her chinny chin chin). You can click on any of the photos to see them larger.

I've spent the last few days setting up shop in Uganda. I unpacked my three pieces of luggage (each weighing in at a full 50 lbs), hired a cook, helped the cook sweep a nest of army ants out of my kitchen, harangued some cooking equipment and bought more groceries than my cook and I could carry. I had five people working on the house today fixing lightbulbs, sweeping off the roof, setting up the kitchen, and literally banging various things back into shape. Then I convinced someone to give me a table, a bookcase and some chairs, and pushed the few pieces of furniture around in circles until finding a satisfying arrangement. Hazah - feels like home. The humidity, the smell of the forest, the rain pounding on the tin roof, the incessant chirping from birds and bugs, the small plumes of smoke rising from village homes, hearing colobus roar in the morning and the rich color of the red dirt roads all bring back fond memories.