Gibson’s World

Madagascar Tree Boas are probably the most interesting out of the 72 snake species in Madagascar. They are members of the Boidae family which is made up of large, non-venomous, constricting, primitive snakes. On some Boidae snakes, you can even see one or two toes sticking completely out of the skin because snakes evolved from lizards.

Madagascar Tree Boas are really beautiful snakes (in my opinion). They are grayish-green snakes with black diamonds or cross-bars all over their bodies. The only exceptions are  juveniles, which can be bright red in color but they still have the black markings on them!  Madagascar Tree Boas have triangular heads which are characteristic of both Boidae and a Viperidae snakes. They also have a thick black stripe behind the eye which is a great field identification characteristic. These thick snakes have been measured at more than 7 feet long!!

The Madagascar Tree Boa?s biology is amazing. Despite Their name (Madagascar Tree Boa),they are commonly found on the ground as well as in the trees. They also give birth to live young instead of laying eggs as most snakes do. Madagascar Tree Boas will feed on many animals including birds, lizards, frogs, and small mammals. They will even eat some small lemurs!!

While we were in Madagascar we were lucky enough to see a Madagascar Tree Boa (baby) in the wild. It was really interesting and I hope to come back to Madagascar some day to see more of these snakes and many other animals.

Southern Africa is one of the best places in the world for mammals. There are over 140 species and many are endemic. On our trip we were able to visit Southern Africa and went to South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana.We had great luck and saw almost everything we wanted to see with our guides, Trevor (Most of Southern Africa) and Craig (Cape Town) including the “Big Five” (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino, and African Buffalo). We also saw the “Super Six” which is the “Big Five”+Cheetahs. Below are the most interesting animals that we saw in the wild (except for the Eland, which was in semi-wild). Each animal description below has a matching picture that I took of the animal while we were in southern Africa.  

Impala

This is by far the most common antelope in most of southern Africa. They were everywhere while we were in southern Africa. They usually live in herds of more than 20. When a male breaks its antler off, they immediately drop to the bottom in the ranks because they can no longer fight with other males. (African antelopes? antlers DO NOT ever re-grow).

Springbok

Springbok are the national animal of South Africa and are very common in some areas. Unlike the Impala, Springbok are more solitary although you may occasionally find them in herds. They are only found in the western part of Southern Africa, since Impala have taken over the more humid East.

Common Eland

Eland are huge antelope and are southern Africa?s biggest antelope. The females ?moo?, the males bellow, and the babies bleat. Eland can easily jump 2 meters/ yards high. They are usually in herds of 8-12 individuals.

Gemsbok (Oryx)

Gemsbok have huge, long horns and are white, light-brown, and black colored. They live in herds of 12 or more and can survive for long periods of time without water. They live in the north-western part of southern Africa.

Klipspringer

Klipspringers are very small, but interesting antelope. They live on big boulders and look out for predators. They are very good at climbing boulders and usually are solitary or found in pairs. Their coat is thick to provide protection against bumping into rocks. Klipspringers’ horns are short and straight.

Bontebok

Bontebok are rare antelope restricted only to the cape area. At one point, there were only 42 left, but today there are about 2000. They are easily spotted because of their bright white patches on their head and bottom.

Blue Wildebeest

Blue Wildebeest are very common in the northern part of southern Africa and can be found in implausibility (herds) of up to 30 individuals. They can easily be told apart from the Black Wildebeest by the entirely white tail and the forward pointing horns. Blue wildebeests are often seen in large groups especially during migrating as shown in The Lion King.

African Buffalo

Being a member of the ?big five?, African Buffalos are considered to be one of the most dangerous African animals. They form huge obstinacies (herds) of several hundred while migrating only. when they are not migrating, buffalos will usually form groups of up to 30 animals.  They look very similar to cows.

Plains Zebra

Zebras are one of the most well-known African animals. They form huge dazzles (herds) while migrating and the stripes make it difficult to make out individuals or to hunt them. A few years ago, just

Cape Porcupines are really fascinating rodents.  They are also one of my favorite animals because they are so different from most other animals.  Some people don’t like them, though, because they believe that porcupines can shoot their quills, which isn’t true.

Cape Porcupines are big, nocturnal  rodents covered in black fur on the head and legs, but long, sharp quills on the rest of the body.    Porcupines are usually 10-24 kg., the female being bigger than the male.  The quills are about 30 cm. long and are banded with black and white.  The quills are also modified hairs and are hollow to keep warm. On our trip, we have found several porcupine quills and they were really sharp.

These rodents have some interesting habits.  Cape Porcupines eat plants and sometimes insects. They are usually solitary, but may share a burrow with up to three other porcupines.  Its predators are cheetah, leopard, lion, and caracal, so Cape Porcupines need to be able to run fast when they are chased.  They also will back into the predator, growl, snuffle, teeth-chatter, or rattle their tail quills.  The porcupines’ best and most famous defense, though, is the quills.  When the cape porcupine succeeds in jabbing the enemy, the predator will often get infected because porcupines have very dirty quills. 

Porcupines are very well camouflaged because their quills blend in with the tall grasses in Africa. Our guide said that is was very rare to see porcupines  because of their camouflage. Although Cape porcupines have some great defenses, sometimes predators come in large numbers and usually succeed in killing the hopeless porcupines.  They often kill the porcupine by flipping it over to reveal the unprotected throat and belly.

Cape Porcupines are fascinating animals.  While we were at Jack’s Camp, Botswana, we got to see a Cape Porcupine and it was really interesting to see it in the wild.  

A sandfish despite its name is a type of skink (see Super Skinks).  They “swim” in the soft sands of the desert and inhabit Northern Africa and parts of the Middle East.  Often times, you will see a dart of a lizard and then it will be gone into the sand.  This is usually a sandfish.

Sandfish are usually about seven to eight inches long with a tail shorter than the body which is very unusual for lizards.  They are mainly yellow/gold colored with black cross-bands and white sides and belly.  Sandfish also have short legs and a long, pointy snout.  To keep the sand out of its eyes, nose, and lungs, sandfish have very small eyes and nostrils. Because sandfish have such unusual characteristics, they are commonly sold as pets.

Sandfish have some very interesting behaviors.  They are insectivorous and eat three to four times a week with 4 crickets per meal.  To hunt they emerge from the burrow.  They can also hunt by listening to the vibration of insects walking over its burrow.  Then the sandfish will attack.  Since it is very hot in the desert, sandfish have developed the ability to “swim” through the sand in order to cool down.  They also use this method to escape predators like snakes (vipers). Scientists found out only in 2000 that sandfish created less friction than polished steel, glass, or nylon which enables them to swim through the sand so well.

While we visited Dubai, we went on a “desert safari.”  On it, we saw a sandfish, so of course we caught it.  I was amazed at how fast it could disappear into the sand.  Sandfish are very interesting animals and I am glad that we could see, catch, and hold one in the wild.

Jerash is an ancient Roman city 48 km. north of Amman.  It was inhabited for about 6500 years by the Romans and at one point had 20,000 people living there.

If you went to Jerash, the first thing that you would notice would probably be the columns.  They are huge and are in rows.  There is also a hippodrome which held chariot races and gladiator fights.  Nearly 1/2 of Jerash’s population would attend these events every day.  Other items in Jerash were fountains, a city wall, towers, the oval plaza, amphitheaters, and gates.

Jerash developed into a big town in the 4th Century B.C., but it wasn’t until the 3rd Century A.D. that the “Golden Age” took place.  The Golden Age was the most prosperous time in Jerash and it was then that Jerash held 20,000 people.  Then, in 749 A.D., a series of earthquakes took place which caused serious damage to Jerash and the population declined to about 4,000 people.

Today, Jerash is one of the largest and well-preserved ancient Roman cities.  The reason for this is that Jerash was covered in sand, so it wasn’t exposed to wind or rain.  It was rediscovered in 1806 when Ulrich Jasper Sutzen (a visitor) found part of it.

While we were in Jordan, we visited Jerash.  We saw not only the ruins, but also got to see lots of animals.  We ended up seeing Starred Agamas, a Gecko, a lizard, and a Red Whip Snake (Our guide had never seen a snake before in Jerash).  Jerash and Dana National Reserve (see Sterling’s report) were my two favorite places in Jordan and I hope to return some day.

Death-stalker Scorpions are super-cool arachnids. They are one of the world?s most dangerous scorpions and kill a few people each year especially young children and old people. The reason for the name Death-stalker is probably because when it bites you, death is stalking you, but some people keep them as pets, anyways!

Although these creatures are highly feared, they are not completely bad. One good thing about Death-stalkers is that scientists think that parts of the death-stalkers? venom may be able to treat brain tumors and diabetes. Luckily or unluckily, Death-stalkers are very rare, so not many people get bitten by them, but the medicines to cure brain tumors and diabetes are harder to find.

Death-stalkers are super interesting looking animals. They are light yellow colored with black on the end of its long, slender tail and grey on its back. The black on the end of the tail is not always present which only confuses identification. When talking about Death-stalkers, most scientists use the scientific name (Leiurus Quinquestriatus) as not to confuse it with other dangerous species of scorpions. The scientific name (Latin) (Leiurus Quinquestriatus) translates to ?Five-striped Smooth-tail?.

Death-stalkers are native to northern Africa and the Middle East and live in natural burrows and under stones in deserts and scrublands, so right as we got to Dana National Reserve, Jordan, I started flipping over rocks. I was very excited when under the first rock that I flipped over was a Death-stalker Scorpion! Right away I started taking Macro pictures of it and looking at it. Death-stalker Scorpions are really interesting creatures and I am glad that I got to see one in the wild.

King Tut or Tutankhamen was an Egyptian Pharaoh.  He lived from 1341 B.C. to 1323 B.C. and died at only the age of 19. Although King Tut lived for a short amount of time, even by ancient Egyptian’s standards, he still ruled for 10 years starting at the age of nine.

King Tut’s tomb was discovered completely intact by Howard Carter in 1922.  It was only robbed once but nothing valuable was stolen besides some clothes, amulets, and some other small items.  Even though Howard Carter was supposed to be an archeologist, it sadly turned out that he too was a robber and stole some items from the tomb. They haven’t been found yet even today.

The cause of King Tut’s death is unknown.  Some people think that he was murdered and some people think that he died of a  fractured leg bone.  In 1968, a group of Egyptian scientists did an x-ray of King Tut’s mummy.  They found a place in the back of his head that looked like it had been caused by a blow. Therefore they concluded that the King was murdered. Horemheb and Ay were both in line to be king of Egypt, so the scientists thought that one of them may have murdered King Tut.

Then, in 2005 another group of scientists x-rayed King Tut’s body.  This time, they found nothing on the back of the head besides a hole in which the ancient Egyptians used during mummification.  They also found a fracture in his leg.  They found out that King Tut had died soon after the fracture took place, so they thought that he may have died from falling off a chariot.

King Tut did not rule for very long and didn’t do anything great as a pharaoh, yet he is the most famous pharaoh.  The only real reason for this is that his tomb (not pyramid) was the only one found intact in the Valley of the Kings.  Also, his tomb was made for a priest, so it isn’t even half as big as the average pharaoh got. The reason that King Tut had a tomb instead of a pyramid was because every single pyramid had gotten robbed after only 1000 years, so the Egyptians moved to underground in order to protect the valuable buried with each pharaoh or queen.

While we were in Egypt, we got to see King Tut’s tomb, mummy, sarcophagus, and much more.  The tombs of all of the pharaohs were really amazing because the colors were still there. Some tombs  looked almost newly painted.  Ancient Egyptians especially King Tut are really interesting and I hope to learn even more about them sometime.

Common Diving Petrels are really amazing birds.  They inhabit the Falkland Islands and other small islands above the Antarctic Convergence where they live in burrows on steep slopes with tussock grass but occasionally on flat grounds.

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There are several species of Diving Petrels, including Magellanic, Common, South Georgian, and Peruvian.  The Common Diving Petrel is very closely related to the South Georgian Diving Petrel.  The only way to tell them apart is that the Common is slightly bigger, that they have different bill shapes, and that the South Georgian Diving Petrel has a black line on its leg, but the Common does not.

Common Diving Petrels are tiny birds compared to other sea birds.  They are dark bluish-grey on their back and whitish grey on their belly, much like a penguin.  They are usually about 8-10 inches long with a wing span of about 13-15 inches.  Sometimes, when you see a Common Diving Petrel at sea, they almost look like a big butterfly because of the way that they beat their wings.

On our Antarctica cruise we have seen plenty of these amazing birds (both the South Georgian and the Common Diving Petrel).  We also got to see some that had hit the ship at night.  One morning at breakfast, another passenger asked us if we wanted to see the Diving Petrels.  There were about four of them, one of which we found and released.  Common Diving Petrels are really fascinating birds and I hope to see more on our ship soon!

Rich Pagen is the ornithologist on the Explorer 2, our ship that goes to the Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica.  He has been working on the Explorers since 2004 (4 years from this year).  He started out on the Explorer 1 as a marine mammalogist, but when the Explorer 1 sank he became the ornithologist for the Explorer 2.  While we were on the Explorer 2, I had to interview somebody, so I decided to interview Rich  and learned a lot about him.

Rich has been interested in wildlife since he was a child.  At first he liked turtles and fish but later he moved onto other animals.  His favorite birds to see in Antarctica are the Wandering Albatross and the Gentoo Penguin (right).  The most amazing bird he has ever seen though is the Ground Cuckoo which lives in the Amazon Rainforest.  It runs on the ground, has a big bill, and follows army ants.  Ground Cuckoos follow army ants because the ants score lots of insects out of their hiding, so the Ground Cuckoo can then find food much more easily.

Rich usually doesn’t have a lot of free time, but when he does, he likes to be on the deck, do laps around the top deck, play his guitar, and write music and songs.  Back in the U.S., he also likes to do the Christmas bird count when you try to see as many species of birds each day around Christmas.  Rich’s favorite place to bird is Minnesota, his home, because he likes seeing the warblers fly over each year.

While we were on the Explorer 2, Rich gave interesting bird lectures to the entire ship and told us what type of birds we were seeing from the deck. I was really glad that we could have Rich on the ship with us.

Chocolate is a really interesting food.  It most commonly comes in milk, dark, and white chocolate.  My favorite is milk, but other people may have different opinions.

Many people don’t know that chocolate comes from the seeds of cacao trees.   Cacao trees are native from tropical South America, but have been introduced to tropical places all over the world including Africa, Australia, and Asia.  Although cacao trees started out only in South America, Africa now produces about 2/3rds of all the cacao for the world.  The seeds from a cacao tree are like those of a cantalope except much bigger.

The history of chocolate is really interesting.  Both the Mayans and the Aztecs used chocolate.  Most people think of chocolate as something you eat, but the Mayans and Aztecs disagreed.  The Mayans and Aztecs made a cold, bitter drink made from chocolate and mixed with chiles, peppers, and other spicy foods.  Ugggg!  The Mayans consider it to be a gift from the gods, so only the royal people could drink it on special occasions.  The Aztec’s also used chocolate, but more often. 

Did you know that the Aztecs used cacao beans as money?  Probably not.  Aztecs think of Cacao trees the way we would think of a money tree.  One turkey would cost 100 cacao beans and one fresh avocado would cost three cacao beans.  Cacao beans might be valuable to people, but they definitely aren’t to horses, dogs, parrots, small rodents or cats.  If any of these animals eat chocolate or cacao seeds, they can suffer seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding, and could eventually die from it.

During our stay in Bariloche, we went to the Fenoglio Chocolate Factory and learned a ton about chocolate.  So next time you eat chocolate, remember that without the cacao tree, chocolate would never exist.