Gone!
I’m sure folks are thinking that I’m the one that’s gone since I haven’t posted for a bit, but a bit on that later. For now, just accept that in the past two weeks I did a rush trip to DC to attend a World Bank conference, then turned right around and came back to Monrovia to do 1 week of training (which means I’m running nearly two weeks behind on work . . .).
Anyway, last Monday on my walk to work eager anticipation was growing to see my new friends, the bats. As I cleared the compound gate I immediately noticed something was wrong. It was quiet. My eye flashed over to the biggest group of bat trees - no bats flying around (there should be a decent swarm at that hour of the morning, and no bats dangling on the tree. I glanced over to the new bat trees to the west of the embassy - no bats there either. The skies were blue, and only blue, and there was no bat chirping in the air. It was very eerie. I was gone for a week and when I come back, they’re gone, all of them.
I’ve asked around and no one knows for certain exactly what happens, but that they do disappear for the rainy season. One driver told me that they build pods in trees where they hibernate (and store foods) - that the hot season is when they hang on trees to stay warm. Other theories are that they migrate like birds, but no one knows where. I just know that they aren’t flying around when I’m looking!
It’s kinda sad because, the day before I left I was out taking some Flat Stanley photos (that’s another blog post, or several) and I actually got some distant shots of the bats flying and the bat tree while coming back towards the embassy. They were taken with my point-and-shoot, with limited telephoto capabilities, and I was going to go back and do it right with longer lenses. I guess I’ll have to wait until the bats return.
These pictures are taken from Robert Street (duh!) and Benson Street looking up towards the embassy. That barren tree is the primary bat tree and all those specks in the sky are bats. I should have waited at that corner for a bit because by the time we got to the embassy a few minutes later, they were in full swarm (patience can often be golden in photography!).
Here’s a blow-up of the photo above. All those things hanging down on the tree limbs are not fruit, or leaves, they’re bats! And as you can see, you can walk to within 30 feet or so of the tree with hundreds, if not thousands, of bats on it. Oh well, hopefully there will be a next year!
As for my trip to DC, it was very busy with little free time and I came back exhausted (hopefully it’s not old age). So you don’t leave with visions of bats in your mind, here’s a picture from the trip to take with you.
