{"id":102,"date":"2012-01-13T15:47:06","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T20:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/extinctsouthafrica\/?p=102"},"modified":"2012-01-13T15:49:47","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T20:49:47","slug":"summer-turns-to-winter-time-for-some-catching-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/extinctsouthafrica\/2012\/01\/13\/summer-turns-to-winter-time-for-some-catching-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer turns to winter; time for some catching up"},"content":{"rendered":"

As quick as one can say hippopotamus, the Karoo desert has turned into foreign landscape.\u00a0 Rather than an intense, hot and radiant sun, with temperatures over 100 F, the skies now are overcast, the breeze cold and strong, and rain has fallen.\u00a0 It was fleece and sweatshirt weather this evening as we gazed on the southern hemisphere\u2019s display of stars, following the milky way arc across the sky.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing like this display in the contiguous United States, and a few hours star gazing makes one realize how insignificant planet Earth is in the scheme of things.<\/p>\n

After a week of 6 am mornings, 10-12 hour days in the field, late suppers and early bedtimes, we\u2019re headed for a \u201cadministrative\u201d break to compile our field notes, compare ideas, and catch up after a full daily schedule.\u00a0 Then, we\u2019re off to Mountain Zebra (pronounced zeb-ra) National Park near Craddock for an overnight and some wildlife.\u00a0 Not that we\u2019ve been remiss in wildlife.\u00a0 Yesterday, we had zebra cross the road in front of us, wildebeest roaming the grasslands a distance from the cars, and springbok\u2019s leaping on the ridge far from our study site.\u00a0 But, we\u2019ll be able to get in a late evening (5-8) and early morning (5-8; see a pattern here) drive through the lowlands and high plains of the park.\u00a0 In addition to the usual suspects\u2013springbok, bontibok, wildebeest, and zebra\u2013there may be a plentiful supply of Cape Buffalo and Kudu.\u00a0 If we\u2019re especially fortunate, there is always the occasional leopard in the park.\u00a0 I asked if either Tara, Dan or Kody wanted to \u201cstay up during the night outside the accommodation\u201d and let us know when the leopards arrived, but no one has yet volunteered for this \u201cmission.\u201d<\/p>\n

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