Communication GapYesterday afternoon I headed out on the lagoon with my 2 EcoGuides, Pierre and Brice. They knew I had done an interview in the morning, describing my manatee research here and showing / describing the parts of a West African manatee skull (Tim recovered a skull from a carcass here in July, it is in pristine condition). So as we’re heading out from the […]

For new bloggers…If you want to go back to the beginning and see earlier posts, click on Septmber 2006 on the right side of this webpage. Posts are archived each month. This morning I was interviewed by National Geographic for a documentary they’re doing on Gabon’s national parks. They hope to come out to the field with me later in the week. This was my

Some Iguela pictures The main building. Guest dining room is on the left, salon area on the right. The bar and staff dining area (convienently near the bar!) is below. The gazebo out on the lagoon. The scientist’s quarters, very comfortable!Snake swimming on the lagoon. It was about 3 feet long. I am not sure of the species, it wasn’t in the reptile book here.

Answers to your questions I’ve been getting a few questions from people over email, so here are some answers: – What am I eating? There’s African food and European food. Most days I eat European because that’s what is served to me. Heavy on the meat (chicken steak, pork) and potatoes, with occasional salad, green beans or peas. Pasta, lasagna. French bread is served at

View of Fernan Vaz Lagoon as I flew to Iguela on Friday. The Atlantic Ocean is at the top of the picture on the far side of the slender peninsula. I also saw a group of humpback whales from the plane! Iguela Last Friday I flew from Libreville to Port Gentil and on to Iguela, which sits on Ngowe Lagoon about halfway down the coast

More on the Mamiwata Legend As I explained earlier, Mamiwata is a general name for a spirit embodied by the manatee, that people in many West African countries believe in. In different regions there are different interpretations of what the spirit looks like and what acts it performs. Because she is female, it’s believed Mamiwata is looking for a husband, and tries to lure men

By the way…On most of the pictures I’m posting, you can click on them to see a larger version. This will help with the bird and animal pictures where it looks like a spec! Sorry, I don’t have a National Geo quality lens and the wildlife doesn’t get as close as I’d like… or else it’s not safe for me to get any closer to

Alittle more on Evaro Sorry, my posting was cut short yesterday because I had to leave Libreville and catch a plane down the coast to Iguela, which I’ll write about shortly. I wanted to share a few more images from Evaro: Fresh manatee feeding sign in a cove off Lake Evaro. The grass is matted down where the manatees push it down and feed further

Evaro After a night in Lambarene (at a very nice hotel on the river that had monkeys and some antelope called Situtunga), Nic and I were met by a boat and taken to Evaro Lodge. The owners of the lodge, which is located on a lake south of Lambarene, are very interested in supporting wildlife research and manatee work in particular. Evaro Lodge sits on