Photo Courtesy of SLT/Panthera
Orjan is a Swedish PhD student who works at the base camp of our long-term research project in Mongolia. These are his adventures…
So much has happened during the three weeks since I returned from Sweden that it is hard to know where to begin. I arrived together with Jennifer from the Snow Leopard Trust. I have only met her briefly before, but can recommend getting to know her, as she is a lot of fun to spend time with. The camp was bristling with activity when we got there: 12 people were building foundations for the big solar panels that were donated by Stephen Gold and the Wildlife Conservation Network Solar Power Project. New gers were being erected, and the (without doubt) finest toilet in the Gobi was built from the crates that the panels were shipped in. In the middle of all this was Ben Morlang, a volunteering engineer directing all the work and Bayara translating and keeping an eye on things.
At the same time, Koustubh was busy preparing a week-long course on survey techniques and methodologies for 20 Mongolian biologists. Koustubh and I usually have a lot of fun solving various world problems, including how to best “curry” our food rations, but there wasn’t much time for such social activities now.
Sumbee, our new camp manager, also had a very busy time helping out, coordinating and keeping an eye on all things at the same time. Our first donor trip would arrive in camp about a week after I arrived, and everything had to be ready for that.To top it off, Nigel, an English journalist, arrived in camp to write a story about Snow Leopard Trust.
In a miraculous way, we managed to get everything ready on time. The paint on the toilet was still drying when the donors arrived, that’s how close it was. I write “we,” but to be honest, I’m not sure what my part was. I know that I told some stories and I did drink a lot of tea, but apart from that I’m not sure. Oh yes – I made some drawings for the Mongolian biologists, explaining different techniques for studying wildlife. The biologists seemed to enjoy that “lecture”, though it could also be that they were laughing at my drawings… I was actually about to start an education to become a landscape architect, once. Gave it up when I realized that it required a talent for art.
Anyways, hats off for all the people who worked so hard to build our new Base camp!