LAURA IN AFRICA
Jul. 17th, 2006 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amalthyaThis post is for those of you that are curious about general stuff about me in Africa.
Firstly, my address is:
Laura Brown
PO Box 172
Entebbe, Uganda
There's no post code. If you saw the post offices here, you'd know why.
My (very early) Christmas list is here
*********************
I work for CSWCT here as the Marketing Coordinator. The CSWCT is the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
It's based in Entebbe, Uganda, and is, in fact, in the ground floor of the house that I live in.
Its primary focus is Ngamba Island. Ngamba Island was set up to house chimpanzees that were confiscated in Eastern Africa. They're all orphans. Some of them are from the pet trade. Others had parents that were killed by the bushmeat trade (eating wild animals, but the infants have no meat on them so they're sold).
Chimpanzees have a lifespan of around 50 years. Most chimpanzees become really bad pets around the ages of 4-6. You can do the math.
Anyway, there are 39 chimpanzees living on Ngamba Island. They're separated into two groups: adults and juveniles.
Each group has a very specific social hierarchy. You can't mix the two groups together at this point. They tried at one point to migrate a juvenile male, and he was attacked by the alpha male of the adult group.
The adult chimpanzees have full run of the island during the day. It's about 39 hectares. So, it's nice and open. The juveniles have a smaller space, but it's still large and some of them also go on forest walks with visitors.
At night, most of the chimps come into a caged enclosure to sleep. If they want to stay out in the forest, they can. But most of them come in. All of the chimps get fed 4 times a day.
While there are efforts being made to reintroduce sanctuary chimpanzees into the wild, there isn't enough natural forest in Uganda to ever reintroduce these chimps. Chimpanzees are very territorial, so you can't introduce a new group to an area with a pre-existing group. So, they're probably with us for life.
***********
My job entails stocking the island with necessities (or rather just keeping track of what gets sent there) and stocking and creating merchandise for the Island Kiosk Shop. I've also got to keep visitor stuff in check for the island - signage, and the like. Information boards. When Long Stay Visitors come, I've got to make sure they have enough to do.
I don't live on the island. Instead, I live in Entebbe, which is approximately 45m to 2h away from the island, depending on the weather and which boat you take.
At the "Chimp House" (as our house in Entebbe is called) I have to keep track of merchandise and regular stock, answer emails, and create newsletters and information pamphlets.
And administrate the donor program. And the website. None of it will be very taxing. I'm hoping to implement some new systems for efficiency, but we'll see what happens!
I think that's the basic rundown.
I'm 7 hours ahead of all you US folks (GMT+3).
If you want more detailed maps of Uganda, the Island, and the area, you can visit here
If there's an emergency and you need to reach me, or you just want to pay money to hear my voice (hehe) instead of using skype to talk to me (which is free), you can call my mobile at: +256 78 946 161. It's free for me, but not for you :)
I've got all my photos week by week at Flickr so you're welcome to check them out at will.
For thelazy special:
If you'd like to comment on my journal, and you're new to livejournal or you're new to me, feel free to drop me an email at laura(dot)darby(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks! Also, this entry is set to always be on top. For new entries, just scroll down!
I'm curious to see who is reading and where they're from! Click the below link to add yourself!
Firstly, my address is:
Laura Brown
PO Box 172
Entebbe, Uganda
There's no post code. If you saw the post offices here, you'd know why.
My (very early) Christmas list is here
*********************
I work for CSWCT here as the Marketing Coordinator. The CSWCT is the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
It's based in Entebbe, Uganda, and is, in fact, in the ground floor of the house that I live in.
Its primary focus is Ngamba Island. Ngamba Island was set up to house chimpanzees that were confiscated in Eastern Africa. They're all orphans. Some of them are from the pet trade. Others had parents that were killed by the bushmeat trade (eating wild animals, but the infants have no meat on them so they're sold).
Chimpanzees have a lifespan of around 50 years. Most chimpanzees become really bad pets around the ages of 4-6. You can do the math.
Anyway, there are 39 chimpanzees living on Ngamba Island. They're separated into two groups: adults and juveniles.
Each group has a very specific social hierarchy. You can't mix the two groups together at this point. They tried at one point to migrate a juvenile male, and he was attacked by the alpha male of the adult group.
The adult chimpanzees have full run of the island during the day. It's about 39 hectares. So, it's nice and open. The juveniles have a smaller space, but it's still large and some of them also go on forest walks with visitors.
At night, most of the chimps come into a caged enclosure to sleep. If they want to stay out in the forest, they can. But most of them come in. All of the chimps get fed 4 times a day.
While there are efforts being made to reintroduce sanctuary chimpanzees into the wild, there isn't enough natural forest in Uganda to ever reintroduce these chimps. Chimpanzees are very territorial, so you can't introduce a new group to an area with a pre-existing group. So, they're probably with us for life.
***********
My job entails stocking the island with necessities (or rather just keeping track of what gets sent there) and stocking and creating merchandise for the Island Kiosk Shop. I've also got to keep visitor stuff in check for the island - signage, and the like. Information boards. When Long Stay Visitors come, I've got to make sure they have enough to do.
I don't live on the island. Instead, I live in Entebbe, which is approximately 45m to 2h away from the island, depending on the weather and which boat you take.
At the "Chimp House" (as our house in Entebbe is called) I have to keep track of merchandise and regular stock, answer emails, and create newsletters and information pamphlets.
And administrate the donor program. And the website. None of it will be very taxing. I'm hoping to implement some new systems for efficiency, but we'll see what happens!
I think that's the basic rundown.
I'm 7 hours ahead of all you US folks (GMT+3).
If you want more detailed maps of Uganda, the Island, and the area, you can visit here
If there's an emergency and you need to reach me, or you just want to pay money to hear my voice (hehe) instead of using skype to talk to me (which is free), you can call my mobile at: +256 78 946 161. It's free for me, but not for you :)
I've got all my photos week by week at Flickr so you're welcome to check them out at will.
For the
Photos with Me In Them
Photos of Chimpanzees
If you'd like to comment on my journal, and you're new to livejournal or you're new to me, feel free to drop me an email at laura(dot)darby(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks! Also, this entry is set to always be on top. For new entries, just scroll down!
I'm curious to see who is reading and where they're from! Click the below link to add yourself!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-07-29 12:14 am (UTC)There are 4 time-zones, in the continental US.
All but one state (Arizona) observes DST.
Indiana was the other, but they just passed a law to join everyone else this year.
Laura is 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5) which puts her at GMT+2.
*provided for people who don't live in the east coast and wonder which time zone you're gauging your 7hrs by .. oh, and to openly mock you in a loving way. ;)