Some News from Zambia

Sampling for Mussels in the Chambeshi

After arriving in Kasama, Zambia we had some days for field sampling freshwater mussels. It is much harder to get around here than I first thought and took five days just to get here, get organized and get to the northern half of the country. We headed out a dirt road to the east of Kasama, which took about four hours to go 110Km. We arrived at Mbasuma Ranch, which is a river crossing village with a small ferry. Everyone was excited to see us and after the usual greetings of "Good Morning" and "How are you?" we asked about mussels "Lwili" in the river. About ten to fifteen men were interested in helping us for a few Kwacha each. They seemed to know where to sample and found plenty of three species we were interested in, enough for me to sample nearly sixteen from each and hopefully get some population estimates with enough other sampling locations. Dan and Kevin are happy to get soft tissues for these as no one has described soft tissue anatomy for any of these. In addition, they have described the local Mutela species as a new taxa. When we ask if there are crocodiles in the river, the answer is a firm "Oh, yes" and a few gestures suggest that we should stay within a few meters of the ferry, we follow the suggestion closely. Afterwards it is time to talk with them and hand out a few tic-tacs for the kids who are a big hit. Most of the adults assure us that the children in the area (which are the majority of the population here) have never seen white folks before. So the experience is a lot like being the mayor or president. Everyone stares and wants to interact with us.

The next site is on the way home and I think the whole village nearby (which has a church sponsored school) comes out to see what we are doing. A young boy helps us sample, and we all get in the water and there are no hints about crocodiles or schistosomyosis. This kid dives down into the water and is a great swimmer he collects lots of mussels, but not nearly as many as we found earlier. Again we are a big hit and are surrounded by kids while we are packing the truck, everyone stares and cheers for us. Amazing that most people here can speak to us in English! One kid asks us where we pray, and suggests that we should be catholic. He then asks Kevin, "Will you sponsor me, sir?", we are not sure what this means but many here are orphans and he might have been asking for a quick adoption. Kevin gives a few Kwacha in response. We then have a long trip back on dirt roads for four hours, dinner and camping at a nice lodge in Kasama. We wake up to the best continental breakfast....homemade toast, butter and jam, with big cups of coffee grown on the Inn's property!

This trip is one of the many highlights of the trip a real "Africa" experience for all.

By Curt Elderkin

Jeremy Web Page Still not Updated...

For those of you checking my Africa link off my homepage, I haven't had a chance to update it while in country (and probably won't). I am fine and am having the time of my life.

By Jeremy T.