No ‘littles’ in the Gobi

As we were eating breakfast a couple of days ago it struck me that there are no ‘littles’ here. There is never “a little wind” or “a little hot” or “a little lonely” and so on. Two days before this breakfast it was really hot with a blazing sun. I was wearing a shirt and still sweated heavily. Day after it was so cold that I had to dig out the longjohns and woolen cap again. This morning the wind blew so hard that the ger moved, motorbiking would involve a substantial risk of crashing if caught in a crosswind.

 

For the past 50 days I have had company more or less 24/7. The visitors have been great but it is a little tiring to constantly have people that are dependent on me in camp. Well, the alternative is to be alone here, which I have been for the last three days. Alone means not talk to or see another human being. So not ‘a little’ alone. Totally alone.

 

Since my brother installed the microprocessors our trap surveillance system has worked perfect! Until a few hours after my asistant and Charu left camp, then it broke down… With excellent help from my brother I have isolated the problem, a small amplifier broke. It is a common part found in most stores that sell electronic supplies and it costs a couple of dollars. That’s all sweet and dandy, just there are no electronic stores here. So I get up every third hour and climb the mountian to manually listen to the trap transmitters. How I would love to be just a little tired and a little screwed.

Not getting fat

We packed down the camp, drove about 70 km and set it all up in a day. It is lots of work, mainly for Miji and especially this time because my arm is still preventing me from helping with some of the work. The new trap area is OK but not really great, though all the other areas have collared cats in them and I do not want to capture those so this is the best option. We have built snares in nine sites, can’t find any more good places now. With luck we’ll get a cat or two, we haven’t had any collared cats up here except for Devekh and his collar broke after two months so there is a lot to learn about this place.

 

When I worked in Kenya I felt bad to see that the tourist lodges and many wildlife studies conducted by outsiders were so well equipped and comfortable, compared to the way of life of the local people involved in the projects. I am so happy that this is not the case in LTES. My friend Miji’s Ger, compared to my trapping Ger, shows it all!

 

Late in the evening after the camp move, Ueli and I boiled some pasta and threw a can of tuna into it, along with this meal we had a bottle of lukewarm water. Two candles provided light and in the stove we burned some dead bushes that we had collected outside the ger. We were tired and the low wooden stools don’t provide much comfort or rest for the back.

Meanwhile Miji and Oyuna went back to their Ger in the Base Camp. I can imagine Miji turning on the satellite dish and flat screen TV, may be put a bag of popcorns in the microwave oven, even popped open a cold coke from the fridge.

 

Now I aint complaining, they’ve deserved all of it. Oh, OK I am complaining. Just tired of eating the same canned food for four years. I read somewhere that the two most important features for an adventrurer is to be “fat and cheerful”.  Both are difficult with our diet.