Blogs from Equatorial Guinea, Africa

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Africa » Equatorial Guinea » West » Bata December 17th 2012

On the way to Europe! I haven’t updated the blog in ages.. We were busy doing some final weeks of fieldwork in the villages, and after, immersed in work preparing all those data.. Now I though I’d still share some of these experiences with you. The past 1,5 months were pretty crazy, really..! Some of the beloved friends left, almost at the same time, so the basic dynamics of Bata-life were changed. With regards to work, it brought us to such different places again. We planned and finished 3 weeks of field activities, analyzed that data and, finally, to some presentable state also those mountains of other data I’ve been working on over the past months. I tried to put together a report, and it didn’t quite get ready.. but we did manage to prepare presentations ... read more
Monte Alén, one-day trip to the forest
Fields of the First lady, and one of the few agricultural aggrupation projects in EG, in Tegueté
@ Miila Kauppinen ZSL -EG2012- Goats in Tegueté

Africa » Equatorial Guinea » West » Bata October 5th 2012

Internship is moving forward again with new fuel after my supervisor and housemate Juliet arrived back from holidays. We managed here without her; but it was a bit challenging at times.. Though we worked together with the staff and the local students, I was kind of the person with project money and had to do some decision making, too. I realized (again) that these things are not inherently “me”, and that I can be very indecisive at times – a characteristic which is not so desirable when needing to get things done in a team. It was overall a good learning process..! And now the students are already starting data analysis. So the past few weeks we’ve been in the office a lot; planning, analyzing, trying to get on top of things.. There is a bit ... read more
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talking about priorities for conservation in EG

Africa » Equatorial Guinea » West » Bata August 19th 2012

Time flies again..! Almost can’t believe it’s been two years since we started the master’s in Wageningen. Makes me think a lot of those first days and weeks there when I met with some friends with whom very special bonds were created..! And makes me think of autumn, the darkening, still August nights by the lake in Finland, or the tapestry of red, orange and yellow when going for a ride under the beech trees in Wageningen.. Here, the autumn approaches with slight but notable increase in rainfall. This feels rather refreshing after all the heat and dusty streets. Haven’t been updating the blog too much recently, but one new entry I now set as private.. Those stories are still such that I want to share with all the friends and whoever is interested, but they ... read more
Duiker antelope on sale by the roadside
Weighing a pangolin
Braving the waves

Africa » Equatorial Guinea » West » Bata July 1st 2012

It’s been an eventful few weeks. When it comes to my tasks as an intern, it’s still mainly been entering data together with other staff members. I’ve also slowly started analyzing the data.. it is quite a job, and I wonder if we’ll manage to put something together before my supervisor is due to present some of the results in Mexico the second week of August..! With a bit of hard work it should be possible. Some of the staff are not used to using programs like Excel, so partly I need to guide them through that before they're able to effectively assist with this bit.. They are the ones who go to the villages to carry out regular bushmeat monitoring activities and collect more data on the socio-economic situation, but when it comes to office ... read more
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Checking the camera trap
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Africa » Equatorial Guinea » West » Bata June 11th 2012

After one week in Bata, things are well and life of a different kind of rhythm is opening up again. This time settling in has been a wee bit difficult though, while I normally adapt fairly easily. As to this blog, I’m reporting from here every now and then during my internship, so the ones who read it: hope you’ll enjoy some of these (occasionally lengthy) stories and learn something about Equatorial Guinea on the way! Like I’m sure to learn..! A country I never really thought of going to before and only found out existed around a year ago. Well, here it is in any case, a tiny country in African scale, filled with forests, booming oil industry and colorful mix of people from original Fang to Chinese construction workers – as much as I ... read more
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Africa » Equatorial Guinea » East » Mongomo November 18th 2011

18 November 2011, Mongomo Tomorrow morning, I will hop in the truck or van, head for Bata, have lunch there before boarding the local airline to Malabo. Once in Malabo, I will be shuttled to a hotel, probably the Tropicana again, and try to get a room where it will be silent so I can sleep. Then, on Sunday, I have the whole day to kill before being taken to the airport for my 10.30 PM flight to Lisbon, via Abuja and Frankfurt. I will try to see what to do for the 4 hour layover in Frankfurt though I am sure the Germans will have something in store for me to see to it that I have to run to catch the last leg my flight. On a more pleasant note, the atmosphere in the ... read more

Africa » Equatorial Guinea » East » Mongomo November 13th 2011

13 November 2011, Mongomo Well, it has proven that this is the rainy season with rain every day and most nights for the last 3 or 4 days. And this after teasing us with the outlook of an early end with sunny days and no rain for several days. Oh well. It is the rainy season for a reason. And as you can see from the date, it is Sunday again. This time there are no trips into town planned...there was but it was canceled...as it seems that nothing will be open anyway. Today is election day with the people voting on a few constitutional items like limited terms for the president, etc and something about water and electricity. I had walked to the patisserie down the road (which I have discovered is really French in ... read more
duct
Local Building Contractor
Quality food

Africa » Equatorial Guinea » East » Mongomo October 30th 2011

30 October 2011 Mongomo Well, here we are again. Another Sunday afternoon in EG and I am about to head into town to have another dose of culture, Mongomo style. One of the other contractors has a serious need for a new set of boots, no one else want to go to town, so I am tagging along. We will most likely have a drink somewhere though I am shifting to cokes, fantas and limiting my beer intake. Self preservation and all that, you know. Oh, the disco last night was pretty much as I had expected. My first visit here so everyone wondered how the newcomers would like it. It was about the same as discos I have been in around the world, from Indonesia to Haiti. I left early and got some sleep. Work ... read more

Africa » Equatorial Guinea » East » Mongomo October 9th 2011

The call was not unexpected, only inopportune. We were in the middle of setting up the house we just rented...choosing furniture, arranging the purchase and installation of a new kitchen, buying furniture and last but not least, trying to get the paperwork on the new address. But, I had agreed to come out of retirement to help out with the HVAC project on the Presidential Library in Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea that my ex-employer had taken from an American general contractor. So, no matter how inconvenient it was, I was basically obligated to go. That was the beginning of September and now I have been in EG now for three weeks. The travel was set up by the general contractor's office (not our company's) in a very illogical routing. No, instead of sending me via Marrakesh (the ... read more




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