I woke up sore this morning, many hours in jeeps and trekking into Asa territory meant tired muscles and a mind that needed coffee. There was also blood all over the bed. The leech you see in the first image was one I extracted from my back as I passed through Leopard Camp (2nd image), I suspect that it was ultimately the cause of the bleeding, it can take hours to stop in the first place and will often start again. This particular leech isn't that big but it's actually the small ones that cause me the most trouble. I use several methods to ward them off but the problem is I'm moving quickly and often have camera gear meaning my hands aren't free quickly.
The clearing where you see Leopard Camp is not typical of the terrain I'm in when maintaining cameras in Asa's territory. Most of it is thick jungle which at this time of the year, monsoon, is very lush with a lot of wet ground vegetation, ideal for leeches. Different species mean different tactics however and they'll also inhabit trees. I've had leeches bite me everywhere... and I pretty much mean everywhere... but legs and feet cop it the most. When I put my socks in a bucket this morning the water turned red.
It was a hard day, upwards of twelve hours, just over five of which were in jeeps. Travelling through landslide country isn't easy on the nerves, jeep drivers in the mountains have dangerous work. Where a slide has been cleared off the road and two jeeps meet, only one will go through at a time, just in case. I'm usually sharing a jeep with locals, chickens, bags of rice, all sorts... but we all go quiet when we go through areas where landslides have hit, it's usually a narrow mud track with a wall of broken rock and dirt on one side, a sheer drop on the other.
Sometimes when the jeep has gone as far it can go I'll end up walking with locals and mules carrying supplies to outlying villages. These mules are worked up and down trails all day long, it's a hard life as it is also for the guys working them, check out the footwear in the third image.
Once I'm into the jungle I move as quickly and as quietly as I can. Depending on camera locations it can take several hours trekking and of course half that is up... and up and up and up. Hardly anyone goes into the jungle at this time of the year (the leeches see to that) so trails are overgrown and visibility is often poor. However I know the area well, I lived there, with a leopard.
And it is the leopard I am there for. I know I will not see him in the flesh, Asa is wild and free now, he does not want or need the contact. Several times in the last few weeks I have wondered if he is watching me...
Sometimes I get images from the camera traps. In the fourth image I've cropped out the data, care has to be taken, leopard skins are worth a lot of money. Seeing Asa in these images brings back a lot of memories but I stay focused on the big picture, the plight of his species, a mysterious cat in a struggling country.
I've left a trail of blood from Leopard Camp to the last part of my journey. I say sorry to the jeep driver, he laughs, he knows what I do and a bit of blood on the floor is the least of his worries. On the way home as the light lessens it's just the two of us, we don't talk about landslides or leopards, it's usually family and football, anything to distract from the physicality of our work, we're both tired but I keep up the chat, just quietly, it's better when jeep drivers don't fall asleep on the job. No complaints, just suck it up and get on with it.
It's been a tough week. Bless you Ellen, just want you to know Asa, the Leopard of Hope is doing ok...
Tomorrow it's more time in jeeps as Chiran, Binod and I drive to meet Suresh and a gang of porters before setting off by foot to carry in furniture and other supplies for the school we've built in Simjung. At this stage the carry should take a couple of hours but who knows. Nature is dictating everything.
Let's see what happens...
