It's a cat's life!

I've mentioned our newest family member, Toffee, here before.  It turns out that when I'm not here he likes to sleep on my pillow next to Aurelie.  Right here I'd like to point out that when we agreed to get a cat it was on the condition that it would not be allowed in the bedroom, I should have figured I'd lose that battle.  

 

The cat moved in while I was off in Guinea working and I came back to a pillow covered in cat hairs.  Each time I come home from abroad for the first night or two he tries to sleep on my head.  It's at times like that at 2am that I ask myself how did this happen, I distinctly remember saying no cat in the bedroom?

 

I took the photos below of Toffee over one day a while ago. As far as I can tell the cat seems to be a sleeping machine.

 

Sleeping on our bed

Still on the bed, my side of the bed.

He's Aurelies cat, still on MY side of the bed.

 

Yet still on my side of the bed!

 

Later, a change of scenery, sleeping on the couch.

As I write this Toffee is asleep on the couch...

More moths!

Its late here but before I go I wansted to post a couple of photos of some more of the many many moths of Simandou.  Our net connection onsite didn't allow me to upload photos so the posts I had intended to post from site (like this one) will be coming over the next few days.

 

 

 

Back home again!

Right, after five weeks in Guinea and a further week in Ireland I'm back home in Reunion.  I've taken a few days to catch up with the family and settle back into family life.  So from tomorrow I'll be updating the blog again with bits and pieces from my working life in Guinea and our family life here.

If anyone has any questions about pulling up sticks and moving overseas, our life here in the Indian ocean, working abroad or anything else please let me know!

A year and a day!

So a year and a day ago we arrived on Reunion and what a year and a day its been!

People who know me well know that I have been talking about travelling and moving abroad for years, decades even.  So in August 2010 Aurelie and I decided that now that the kids were here that it was time to put up or shut up and that by August 2011 we would be gone. 

That gave us plenty of time to think about what we wanted to do.  Our two main options were move somewhere like Oz or Canada and start new lives there with 9-5 jobs etc (similar to our (very nice) lives in Dublin, just in a different place) or take some time out and go somewhere a bit different.  In the end Aurelie said to me if we were to go we might as well go on an adventure and take a year out somewhere different, 

And that is how after examining a host of countries (including Belize, Costa Rica, Thailand and the Philippines) we ended up selling or giving away most of our stuff and setting off with Sam and Ela from Lyon for Reunion with just our airplane luggage on the 9th September 2011!

In no particular order here are a (very) few of the things that stick out in my mind from our first year of island living:

• Getting off the overnight flight with Aurelie and the kids and Aurelie heading to get the hire car.  Setting off on our adventure to the far side of the island in a fog of exhaustion and dislocation and Ela promptly getting car sick!
• That same day, how genuinely friendly the two local guys in the shop were when I went to get a few essentials with my pidgin French.  This is something that has struck me time and again since that first day, how friendly people in Reunion are.  I think it must be the island mentality!
• Lying on a deserted beach with A and the kids and realising that this was home now.
• Making friends with the guys in the hostel and how well they took care of us.
• Watching the kids blossom with the outdoor, barefoot living.  In Dublin we didn't have the garden space, let alone the weather to just kick the kids outside and let them off.  Here the door is open all of the day and while playing in their room or watching somthing on the computer is always popular so are water fights, or playing in the hammock, or on the swings, or rugby etc.    
• Getting smashed by the giant waves at the beach in Vincendo.
• Ela getting swept from my arms by the same giant waves!
• Dealing with island time, even the French comming from the mainland get driven mad by how long it takes to get things done - you have just got to go with it, its not going to get any quicker!
• The local market.
• Fruit from our garden.
• Getting rid of most of our stuff and really realising how little we really need to be happy.
• Aurelie telling me how happy she was with the move, this was always my dream for the most part.  To have her being so happy with how it worked out makes it so much more worthwhile!

Simandou Moths (and a beetle)!

One of the things that suprised me about Simandou is the huge variety of moths, varying greatly in pattern and in size from itty bitty tiny ones to some bigger than your hand!  Right now there aren't so many about in the rainy season but earlier on in the year they were everywhere.

Drilling here continues through the nights so when we go up to visit the rigs there are huge numbers of them to be seen attracted to the lights of the drilling rigs.

Of course moths aren't the only small beasties about (they are just the easiest to photograph, we had ants stealing bits of pringles that had fallen on the ground outside the bar a few evenings ago) and noise they make, especially in the evenings, is spectacular as is the sound of all the birds that feed on them!

One of the sad things here, for me anyway, is the lack of big wild animals.  They were here in the past there but they have been hunted out (one of the passes over the mountain is called elephant pass and one of the geologists here found an elephant's tooth not so long ago).  Of course compares to many other places there is still a fair bit of wildlife, dik-diks (tiny deer), monkeys of various types and chimps in the protected forest as well as lots of snakes and lizards!  One of the good things about the operations here that I've mentioned before is the amount of effort being put in to protect the environment from both the operations setting up and running the mine as well as from the local population through education  (bush meat is a big problem here.

On the dinner table!  I wonder what it's fuzzy rear is for?

Love the patterns on the big one.

By the door to my room, the corridor to my room is open to the air so we often have large numbers of moths attracted by the lights.

 

This photo was taken by my another geologist at night at one of the rigs.

 

And the promised beetle, for variety!

 

 

 

 

Above the clouds

At this time of year at Simandou (its the rainy season) we often have fog in the mornings and it can occasionally last all day.  The photos below were taken from the camp helipad which is above the camp, the camp is in the clouds below!

It can be fairly magical standing above the sea of white watching the sun rise (we have early starts onsite!), its a beautiful country out there as I've said before how fab it is to have this as a workplace!

First day at School

Tomorrow is Ela's first day at school and Sam's first day at his new school.  Exciting times in our house. 

Last year the school closest to us was too full for Sam to go to, so he went to the next closest school which is just a bit too far to walk for little people (about 1.4km compared to about 0.5km for the closer school).  So even though Sam enjoyed the school he was in (and we liked it too) he is starting in the closer school tomorrow so we can walk to school each morning (plus the kids in his class will likely live closer to us). 

Last year when Sam went to school Ela wanted to go too but was told she couldn't until she was three, she was not a happy bunny.  Her third birthday was back in February and one of the first things she said on her birthday was "can I go to school now?".  We had to explain that school wouldn't start until August, she was sooo disappointed!  This year there have been occasions when Sam has been dropped to his class when Ela has had to be carried out of the school all the time wailing "but  I want to stayyyyy (in French of course)!".  So as one might imagine now that school is finally here she is one excited bunny!

I'm pretty sure that I mentioned here before that the system here is a bit different to the one we are used to in Ireland. First off you can start school at three and you must start by six. The first three years (from three to six) are called "maternalle", play school really, but the kids still go to the same primary school from 8am to 4pm four days a week, a long time for little people (they get naps)!

Secondly everyone who is born in a particular year goes into the same year.  So Sam who was born in 2007 started school last year when he was four and went into the second year of maternalle even though he hadn't been to school before.  Tomorrow all the children born in 2009 (including Ela) can start school.

Another thing that I have mentioned before is that they have full canteen lunches for all the kids who want them.  The food served isn't "kid" food but rather it consists of proper meals that wouldn't look out of place in a restaurant!  Its not free but its not expensive either (and I'm sure there are free lunches for those kids who's families can't afford them).  Also before leaving the school for the day at 4pm each child is given a healthy snack to take away, fruit or some bread and a fruit spread or similar.   

Its pretty impressive the primary school system they have here, plenty of teachers assistants etc as well a no prefabs as far as I have seen!  I suppose it part of the French social compact that still exists here (even if they haven't figured out how to pay for it yet!).

So right now the kids are in bed (if not both asleep yet), clothes are picked out for tomorrow and everything prepared.  A big day ahead tomorrow for our little people and all is well in our little part of the world.

Army Ants and back online

In the photos below you can see where army ants have made their own path across one of our paths through the forest.  If you look closely at the you can see where the ants have made little earth walls along the sides of their path.  what you can't see are the scouts that flank the path.

I didn't get to take more photos as I was too busy swatting at the ants that had swarmed over my shoes and up my legs and were biting EVERYWHERE!

I for one would like to welcome our future ant overlords.

On a completly different note you may have noticed that there hasn't been any updates on the blog over the last few weeks.  That was due to truely lously net access at camp that prevented me from uploading anything.  Right now I'm in transit home from site so expect more updates about life on site and on Reunion once I get home.

Winter Barbeque!

Well I'm back in Guinee again, working away for the next four weeks (I leave here for home on my birthday, I'll celebrate it in the departure lounge at Conakry airport, sniff sniff). 

Before I left though we had a barbeque at the house with some friends (it's winter at the moment, see Aurelie's poncho and the kids layers of clothes).  Our barbeque isn't fancy, just a ring of stones, wood from the garden and a grill, it does the job though and it was great to catch up with friends before I headed off again.

Barbeques are a thing they do well in Reunion, all the one's we've been to have been simple set up's just grills over stones or half barrels.  With tastey Creole food (pork or chicken usually, there is very little beef or lamb here) and drinks with family and friends, what could be better!  Ours was a small affair but when it's a bit warmer you'll find tent encampments everywhere down by the beach with groups of 20 to 30 or more family and friends all having weekend long barbeques!

Aurelie and the kids

Marie and the kids, my hammock was popular!

Looking beautiful!

Laurance and Jean-Fabien take control of the barbeque

And the result!



Waterfight!

So that's the waterfight marked off the list!

Sam's To Do List!

I'm back home now for a couple of weeks. I got in on Monday morning and Aurelie and Ela headed off to France on Tuesday morning for nine days, leaving Sam and myself  to have a boys week together! 

'Cos Sam knew he wasn't going to get to go to France to see his mami and papi this time he got to make a list of things that he wanted to do with me for the week that we would be by ourselves.  So when I got back he eagerly showed me the list magneted to the fridge.

• Watch movie Episode 6 (Return of the Jedi)
- Over the last couple of months Sam has seen all of the other Star Wars movies (see Aurelie's post on this!) but has been waiting for me to get back before watching the last one.  We are planning to watch it tomorrow, there will be popcorn, exciting times! 


• Eat bouchon sandwich
- bouchon are sort of like dumplings, and they are tasty!  One of the most popular snacks here are bouchon in a baguette with melted cheese on top, double tasty!  For some reason his mother doesn't make them for him (so far this week I've made them at home once and we had them at a snack once (a snack is the name of little places that sell snacks here).


• Go to Etang Sale
- Etang Sale is a black sand beach which Sam likes to go to but the waves tend to be a bit much for Ela so Aurelie doesn't take them there by herself.  we have been once already this week and had a great time.  If the weather is good in the morning we'll be off there again!


• Play Rugby
- Well, Sam calls it rugby, mainly I call it cheating!  Lots of running and tackling in the garden.  At least Sam knows enough about rugby to cheer for Ireland rather than les bleus!


• Look at space ship Lego on PC
- The Lego website has a lot to answer for!  And not just any Lego, Star Wars Lego.  Sam is building up quite a collection (and he doesn't know what is stored on top of the wardrobe, amazon.com is a dangerous, dangerous place with lots of Star Wars Lego!).  Really how evil are the people who came up with the idea?  Lego and Star Wars, it's like crack for geeks!


• Do water fight
- Self explanatory really, we have supersoakers and water balloons, there will be war.


• Play Ben 10 cards
- Apparently if he can find them we'll be playing the Ben 10 card game.  Not sure what this entails but I'm pretty sure that Sam doesn't intend to lose.

• Have a BBQ
- Planned for tomorrow evening.  We've made a circle of stones where we and rest a grill and have lots wood from the garden.  Sausages and husks of sweet corn have been bought so there will be burnt food for dinner tomorrow!


So that's what our five year old wants to do with his Dad.  On writing and thinking about this a few of things struck me, prominant among them were;


Firstly, how profoundly lucky I am to have such a happy healthy little boy who wants to do all these things with me and how lucky I am to be able to do all these things with him.


And secondly, how lucky he is to lead the life we lead.  Spending time in Guinea and things that have happened there has reminded me how little so many people have, how privilaged we are and how precarious our lives really are. 

Things you need to know before introducing your kids to Star Wars.

Aurelie's take on Star Wars and kids from her post from Facebook: ·

This one is kind of about parenting. Not that I want to give advice to anyone, this is more like a warning in case you are as unprepared as I was.

First I want to say that I was not (am I now?) a Star Wars fan. I had watched all the episodes once, the old ones about 12 or 14 years ago, the new ones whenever they came out. So this was not my idea, it was Stephen's.  After being assured that it was not too violent for a (sensitive) 5 years old, I said why not, I would probably enjoy watching it again too in this family bonding time. The only issue was that Ela (3) ended up watching as well, hopefully she'll be ok and won't have long term damage!

At first Samuel refused to watch the movie cos it was too scary, but curiosity won and well, it was a hit, and with that a few unexpected consequences:

1) From breakfast to bed time it's all about Star Wars. Don't expect any other type of conversation. Any attempt of normal conversation is either interrupted by some Star Wars related question, or just ignored until a Star wars statement feels appropriate, probably with no relation at all to the initial conversation subject. I'll give a list (not exhaustive, that would be impossible as more come every day) of questions I get on a given subject, light sabers:

• Are light sabres stronger than metal?
• Why do Jedi have blue or green?
• How do they get them?
• Why only Jedi have them?
• Why do the bad ones have red?
• Can I get a real one?
• Can you make one?
• Would they cut through anything?
• Is it the same button to turn on or off?
• Can they be other colour? And what about black?
• Why can you not make one?
• Can good guys have red ones too?
• If I become a Jedi, can I get a real one?

This only about light sabres, now you multiply this by the amount of possible subjects (size and shape of space ships, planets, characters, relationship, clothing, robots, lack of toilets...) and you get my day.
This can be fine if you are a Star Wars expert, if not it may lead you screaming (out loud or in your head, depending the frustration level) “I don't know, I don't care, it's only a f*** movie, light sabres don't exist, it's all made up, just like f*** Santa!" - oups-.

2) Don't be a fool thinking “its just a movie, its cheap entertainment!”. Even Sam, who never bgets to see adverts on television has managed to get a glimpse of Lego Star Wars. So as the weak parents we are we got something small to make him happy. This has lead to the discovery of the existence of more lego space ships (the lego instruction booklet helpfully included some ads for more Star Wars lego!). Someone may even have been be foolish enough to show Sam the Lego web site, where they have ALL the space ships. I now have Samuel's christmas wish list ready in May, and mentioned every day to be sure it's not forgotten, and no pressure to get anything before, just because he is a good boy and he wants it so much....
Also I have a request to come up with Dark Vader costume for Halloween (at least the Emperor (Ela) will be easy to make).

3) Of course kids don't watch movies once, or twice. They have to watch it over and over without apparent limit. Who said I was against TV in their room? Or maybe even just a TV, so I could actually use my computer in the meantime (which is the only audio/video media around when Stephen is away).

4) Being the 1st "grown up" movie they have watched, it has also raised a lot of more existential questions for which I had to come up with accessible answers from a 5 and 3 years old.

• Death. If death by guns shots was no problem, other death causes had to be clarified. Yes, people on board of exploding spaceships in space will be dead. Is Obi-Wan really dead if he still can talk, I'm not sure... it could a Force thing. it was a tough one to explain Anakin's mom and Padme (which he has not watched, just been told - and now I'm so glad I don't have to explain child birth!)
• Slavery. People working without getting paid, I know crazy stuff, and the worse part, it was actually quite wide spread until recently on Earth. And still happening...
• Deception. How to pretend to be a good guy when you're a bad one so they don't thing it's you. Please don't learn from that.
• Turning from good to bad. Proof of a weak mind, never trust a bady, he is just going to use you and get you killed at the end.
• Gender equality. Women can lead and use guns, good. Still there is a lacking of women Jedi and pilots that I can't explain. They are probably around, just not on camera.
• Emotions. Yes it's possible to feel so sad you want to die, and to feel so angry you want to kill every one. But it's better to talk about it before getting to this extreme. Anakin and Padme did not talk enough.
• Power. Some people like it so much, they always want more, and will do anything for it. And then get killed by someone who wants it even more. Not a good thing to be interested in if you're not willing to share. and give it up after a while.

So that's it. We have watched all episode but the last (Return of the Jedi). We are waiting for Stephen to be back to see it so HE can get all the questions. The problem is that now Samuel finds it easier to talk in French than English, so unless Stephen boosts up his French comprehension, I'm going to end up answering anyway...

The Emperor versus Luke!

Make love not war ;-)

More from Simandou

This week I took some long distance photos on the point and click camera that I am using for work using the inbuilt zoom.  When the sky is blue and the air (mostly) clear its spectacular here.


Big Sky



A local village in the distance


Home sweet home!



One of our neigbours

 I know the last few posts have been short on words and long on photos, it'll be a longer post next time, honest...

And you think your commute is tough....

Today I took some photos along the route up to where we are doing some of our work (we are working on two ridges, Ouelaba and Pic de Fon, the photos are from Pic de Fon).  It really is spectacular here!

Looking North

Looking South

Looking East

We got a kitten!

In my absence the Bradley-Trombetta household has grown.  Toffee (briefly known as Obi-Wan) has joined the clan.

Toffee's first photo

Play time

Getting to know the new family member

Ela examining Toffee

Pig tailed girl and kitten

Pouncing!

More lunar landscapes from Pic de Fournaise

Pictures from the moon

Well I'm back at work in Guinea now but while I was home my brother Michael and his son (my godson) Matthew flew over to visit us for a couple of weeks and to enjoy the island.  It was great to have them over and we have more visitors promised later in the year so we are looking forward to them too.

Their visit gave me the excuse to go see some of the Island that I haven't gotten around to yet, including the active volcano, Pic de Fournaise.   And oh my, is it spectacular!  The barren "lunar" landscape is such a change from the forests and shoreline of the rest of the island.

We were able to drive to the wall of the outer caldera and look accross to the inner caldera (there is a footpath to the edge of the inner caldera but we didn't venture that far, next time we will).

The last eruption was in 2008 (I believe) so there hasn't been that much time for plants to recolonise the volcano as can be seen from the pictures below.

A mini vent from an old eruption

A view of the inner caldera

Lunar landscape

I hate plastic bags!

One of the good things that happened in Ireland during the Celtic Tiger years was the introduction of the plastic bag levy.  For those who don't know what that is ten years ago last month the Irish government introduced a 15c (later raised to 22c) levy on all disposable plastic bags, almost overnight those ubiquitous scraps of plastic pretty much disappeared from life in Ireland. 

Both before and after the introduction of the levy my work took me all around the countryside of Ireland and it was phenomenal the change that simple levy made.  In my memeory most trees and bushes had sad scraps of plastic dragging in the wind, after the levy they disappeared. 

The reason that this is in my mind is twofold. 

Firstly we were recently at a turtle refuge here on Réunion and saw how much plastic gets ingested by sea creatures, as a soft greenie it upset me no end. 

Secondly because I was passing through Conakry (the capital city of Guinea) a little while ago and a collegue and I took some time to go for an amble about the neighbourhood where the Golder office is based.  The neighbourhood includes a beach where we walked and came across part of the beach strewn with sand filled plastic bags.

Sand filled plastic bags on the beach

Because the bags are filled with sand they aren't going anywhere

A part of the beach that gets cleaned up (the photo was taken from a beachside bar, the life of an itinerant geologist can be tough)

Now this isnt a rant about Guinea or the people, they have enough problems and don't have the wherewithall to have city workers down cleaning their beaches. But rather a comment on what a lot of other beaches in wealther parts of the world would be like if they weren't maintained and cleaned by local authorities.  We generally don't see the problem because somebody else is cleaning up our mess.

Yet it such an easy problem to address, make people pay for their plastic bags and suddenly they realise they don't seem to need them so much.

So basically what I'm trying to say is that I really hate plastic bags!  Right, rant over.