| May. 1st, 2008 @ 11:23 am Travel Journal: Africa (pt.2) |
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April 22, 2008: Kruger National Park, Skukuza, South Africa.
(1015)
This entry is continued from the last. Today started off well enough. Dave and I started working on the bundle adjustment again and things have been running fairly smoothly. However, today we may have experienced a fatal problem with our spectrometer. If we can't fix it then we have to pull it out of the plane and completely and substitute it for the survey camera. This would mean a complete uninstall of CASI as well as a new install of the camera, which would mean a new bundle adjustment. . . .
(1345)
Update: as one of the few people here with any significant electrical know-how, I've been picked to help out with the trouble shoot of the spectrometer problem. The remote tech says that its probably a blown capacitor but there is no way of knowing that until we pull off the access panels and get our hands in there.
April 23, 2008: Kruger National Park, Skukuza, South Africa.
(1415)
Last night we had a birthday celebration at the houses for Shawn and Robin. There was a bbq (or Brye as they call it here) and beer, and lots of our contacts in the park who came out to join us. Matt Colgan drank far too much wine and ended up praying to the porcelain god for a while last night. No one really got a decent amount of sleep, so work today has been somewhat numbed. We started the day much as we ended work yesterday: pulling off the spectrometer casing and the IMU to troubleshoot the problem. Unfortunately we are no closer to having discovered the actual cause of the problem, but at least we flew for a while today. In fact, I got to come along for the ride and sit in the co-pilot's seat. It was a lot of fun. Now we're back at the lab doing what we can with what we've got.
Greg has cancelled his trip to DC to deal with this.
. . . No entry for April 24, 2008 . . .
April 25, 2008: Kruger National Park, Skukuza, South Africa.
(1515)
So, after having a day off to wait for the status of the CASI, it appears that the sensor has unexpectedly started working properly. The Engineers, Greg, and everyone are at a complete loss as to explain why, but as long as it keeps working I see no reason to question it. The engineer said "Well, it looks like CASI is happy now." . . . whatever that means. Once we get home I imagine that we will need to send the spectrometer to Canada for diagnosis to hopefully prevent this from happening in the future. In other news, Ruth and I took a game drive today. We saw a huge pack of babboons on the road, and a giraffe came almost right up to the car. I got some great pictures.
. . . No entry for April 26, 2008 . . .
April 27, 2008: Kruger National Park, Skukuza, South Africa.
(????)
In a strange turn of events, it appears that I will be going home earlier than expected. Instead of May 8th, I'll be leaving to come home tomorrow, which means that I will be home with just enough time to celebrate my birthday.
Yesterday and the day before I was out with the field crew taking tree measurements. Like I said before, its not difficult field work, I've just grown to dislike being out in the field. Yesterday got stabbed in the leg by an Akashia Grand tree (or Horned Thorn Tree). As I was maneuvering through the brush to get a DBH, a branch whipped around and stuck me in the leg. It wasn't all that painful, but certainly surprising. After I pulled the thing out of my leg, ten minutes later I realized that there was something sticky on my leg . . . I'd been bleeding into my pants and socks. The puncture wound soon closed with the swelling, and I now have a very lovely bruise to show for it. (Yay internal bleeding)
Later last night, Ruth started an arm wrestling competition between her and I. Afterwards, Matt Colgan wanted to try and beat me. I won them all, but of course everyone started making excuses: 'your seat was higher!', 'you weigh more!', and 'you bent your wrist!'.
-Lame excuses.
Today, Dave and I are going to take another game drive down to the Lower Sabie. Should be fun.
April 28, 2008: Kruger National Park, Skukuza, South Africa.
(10:45)
Today is my las day in Africa. It has been a very interesting trip so far. This morning I was woken by Matt scrambling to get out the door with the field crew cause he'd overslept. My morning was fairly relaxed after that. I ate breakfast and chatted with Ty and Dave, and then Dave and I spent a few hours securing a ride to the Neilspruit airport where our plane to J-burg is picking us up at. I sold my green laser to Hayden, our pilot, who has been completely enthralled by it since I showed it to him the first time. I traded it for $50, which should be enough to buy another one to modify in the same way. Also, I left my travel speakers with Ruth so she can borrow them for the rest of the trip. Finally, I gave my field hat to Villy, our favorite game guard, because he was admiring it the other day and I really had nothing else to give him to show my appreciation for all his work for us.
We spent only an hour or so in the lab this morning trying to trouble shoot more of the sensor problems. At this point I think one of the sensor engineers has to step up and go through it, because our collective knowledge and experience are certainly not enough to fix it before the campaign is over.
I am going to miss South Africa, but thankfully I have many pictures and stories to share. Hopefully one day I'll get the chance to return.
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