The Drought is Over

I am pleased to report that the dearth of monkeys has ended.

Sangu, the biology/chemistry/math teacher here at the orphanage, was kind enough to take Liz (another volunteer) and me on a walking tour of the University of Dar Es Salaam from which he recently graduated. Ostensibly, the purpose of the trip was for Sangu to finish some final paperwork, but he spent a great deal of time taking us through the wooded grounds of the campus.

At first, it appeared to be another failure. We searched them here. We searched them there. We searched for monkeys everywhere. Were they in heaven? Were they in hell? We did not see them, thus couldn't tell. (Sorry, I was talking to somebody about The Scarlet Pimpernel the other day, and parts of the story remain embedded in my brain.)

It was actually quite funny how Sangu kept telling us that usually the grounds were swarming with monkeys. His theory was that they were gone because it was summer break and they therefore had less easy pickings since there were fewer people eating on the campus grounds. I prefer to stick with my theory that they went home, like other students, to share what they had learned about chemistry, engineering, law, and social work with the monkeys back in the jungle.

We had given up the quest and were walking back to catch the dala dala back to the orphanage, when there he was -- a male vervet monkey sitting in the crotch of a tree, displaying the brightest blue scrotum imaginable! It was as if he were holding two robin's eggs in his lap. We soon saw a whole troop of monkeys, including a little fellow climbing the fence post. And thus, I can happily announce that the dearth of monkeys has ended.