November already!?

I cannot believe that it is already November! The weather hasn't really changed here from when I arrived in early August. We are so close to the equator and don't really have seasons (in the same way that Michigan does) so I am having trouble believing it is fall.

Halloween was a lot of fun. I dressed up as a giraffe, one of my favorite African mammals (really, I love them all!). Lily dressed up as a tiger, her favorite animal of all time. We were dressed up all day and got lots of funny looks from non-Americans (everyone). We did a psuedo-sundowner, trying to catch the sunset but timed our route wrong. After that, we went to the lodge and got a drink and hung out. Daniel, a balloon pilot and his wife, Joyce were around as well as some other lodge friends. We had a really good time socializing. It has just been Lily and I in camp lately, while Lily and I get along really well and I am really glad I have her as my co-research assistant we were both glad to catch up with other friends.

Me hanging with some of my giraffe buddies on halloween morning

Can hardly tell us apart, right?

Right now Lily and I are trying to see the solar eclipse! It is working only alright. Lily has a much better ability to stare directly into the sun than I do. We are actually lucky that it is a little cloudy because it helps shade it a bit. I don't think that I have done any permanent eye damage yet. Hopefully this gets easier as the moon moves across the sun more. Here is a photo Lily was able to get with my camera. She is an awesome photographer and frequently shows me how to use my camera.

The sun looking like the moon! Super cool!

In recent hyena news, its baby season!!! Adult female hyenas are disappearing into their natal dens and tiny black cubs are coming into the world. Luckily, we know where a few of these dens are and we get to enjoy the little black cubs playing and exploring! Some natal dens we will never find and in a month or two cubs will just show up at a communal den.

This is Seabuiscut leaning on her mommy Bellagio. 

HELLO! Is there anybody in there!

This is Waffles, the queen of our Serena North clan! She is the matriarch that gained power during the great syrup rebellion a few years ago. Waffles and a few other low ranking hyenas formed a coalition and overthrew the old ruler. This is pretty rare in hyena society, normally you just inherit your mother's rank. Anyway, the cubs Waffles is hiding in this super deep hole is the new princess(es) or prince(s) of our North clan. We would have never known she was here if it wasn't for the super awesome GPS/radio collar that she is sporting (thanks Dave!). Waffles' cubs are all named after syrups (hence the great syrup rebellion) and her next cubs name's have already been decided. They will be called Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth. Isn't that the cutest thing you have ever heard? A little black cub named Auntie J or Butters. Naming hyenas is awesome.