All washed up

Some of you may recall that I am completely crazy about having enough underpants in the field. In particular, during my first trip to Ranomafana I did not have enough. That was miserable. On subsequent trips, I brought an unusual amount, but had many challenges drying them (more or less baking them and often melting them) in the rainy seasons. As a result of these experiences, I brought many, many pairs of underwear with me on this trip - though perhaps not enough???

Mango flies lay eggs on drying laundry, which can apprently pass through the skin where development takes place. After about 3 weeks, the adult busts out. Painful. Sounds kind of like a sand flea. Ick. I found out about these horrid little things after spending 2 days trying to get my underpants dry in the so-humid-it's-almost-raining weather at Kibale. Now I have to rewash all my damp undies in boiling water, before I can let them hang dry(ish) and iron them to ensure that there are no surviving eggs. I have exactly 2 clean, dry undies stashed in a ziplock bag. That's 2 more days. Nothing compared to a life time fear of mango flies infiltrating my rear end!

On the other hand, I've seen several primates without even leaving my bungalow: Red colubus, black and white colobus, red tailed monkeys and baboons. Data collection starts today!