September 15
Sandstorms & Beetles
3:52am
Camp 1
Gadafawa

One of the most important discoveries of the field season took place two days ago: Chris Sidor discovered a brand new, dog-sized theropod, which the team has affectionately (but unofficially) named "Sidormimus."] Small carnivores are hard to come by, and this little one may be one of the smallest dinosaurs yet. It may even include a complete hind foot. Paul loves dinosaur feet!

This new, dog-sized carnivore - perhaps one of
the smallest dinosaurs ever- was discovered by Chris Sidor.

And then, yesterday, Eric spotted a small crocodile not two feet away from where I was dusting off an enormous - and complete - 3 meter (9foot) hind limb of Ouranosaurus.

This small, partial skull of a new, unnamed species
of Cretaceous crococodile was discovered by Eric.

The expedition begins its tightrope walk .

 . between prospecting new areas, and collecting what we find. It is a balancing act of time and each morning we review our goals.

A breakfast meeting takes place every morning at about 6:30AM - even after the big sand storm. (Can you find Dino in this picture?)

We want to cover new terrain, but we need to be able to collect what we find in the time we have.  Currently we plan to work until the 23^rd of September here at Camp 1, attend the Touareg Cure Salee ("salt) festival and return for a week before shutting down Camp 1 and relocating to the north, to Camp 2.

But now, a soft rustling across the tent.  A close cloud cover in the sky. All is quiet, quiet and still.  Last night I opened my eyes to darkness and low on the horizon sat a white, round glow. The moon, full, was slowly setting.

Each evening the moon rises earlier and the night sky is brighter, shielding the stars so that even our brightest constellations are hidden. Scorpio no longer sulks across the sky as we eat our dinner.  And the planets, so sharp and clear, are only visible in the wee hours of pre-dawn.like now.

Last night, a soft, sudden patter across the tent top. Insects? No. Rain. Droplets running, quick sure. Rain in the Sahara. Barely there.

The peacefulness feels tenuous after the last few wind-and-sand-storm filled nights.

SANDSTORM

On Monday, the 11^th, we were hit by our first windstorm. It whipped up suddenly. First on the horizon we saw darkness and lightening. Then came the strong winds and soon the clouds swept, thick and grey, across the evening sky. The sun had already set and so it was the nearly full moon which was obliterated by the storm.

I was on the phone to Chicago and the DE2K tent was open; our "dust free environment" got completely dusted. The rest of the team, just settling down to feast on Chris and Hans' famed "mac and cheese," scrambled for cover - scooting into the kitchen tent with chairs in tow, or into the trucks, where they rolled up the windows quickly and ate as the trucks swayed in the wind.

Doctor Tim runs to his tent during a 50mph sand storm, to zip up the door. The circles are grains of sand caught by the camera flash.

Wave after wave of sand-filled gusts blasted the camp, with calm pauses between. At one point, the team climbed to the highest dune and, silhouetted in the moonlight like sparrows on a line, sat to watch as the next wave of sand moved in.  Dino was completely unperturbed by the change of atmosphere. If anything, his puppy-self was calmer than usual.

When the newness of it wore off and people wrangled their cots across camp to go to sleep, Allison opted to sleep IN one of the trucks. Those who placed their cots along side the trucks, thinking the vehicles would afford some protection thought wrong. Sometime in the night, the winds shifted direction and their plans were undone.

Since then the winds change direction daily and the nights have been windy and sandy. We awaken with our faces coated with dust, sand clinging to our hair, and shift throughout the night to temper the warmth of our sleeping bags with the cool- and dust-saturated air - outside.  Bido explains the phenomenon as "the season is changing."

We are finished with the rainy season and have moved into the beginning of the dry season. By late November/early December, this region will be faced with truly strong sandstorms as the cold winds of the harmattan move across the desert.

 A PLAGUE OF BEETLES

With Niger politically stable, 15,000 liters of water stored in thick rubber balloons behind the tents, and more fossils than you can shake a stick at, we have a new and unforseen obstacle: beetles!

Our camp, replete with washbasins, Dino's open food bowl, piles of burlap and other goodies, has attracted no end of animal life. For the last few days small birds have come to drink out of Dino's bowl much to his dismay.

Each night when the solar lanterns are turned on, the ground is blanketed by dung beetles, and their predator, the vicious solifuge.

A close up look at a solifuge ("wind scorpion"). Related to spiders and scorpions, these ferocious feeders lurk in the shadows of our solar lanterns and scoop up swarming insects. Their bite isn't deady, but we hear they cause a lot of pain. Image © 2000 Mike Hettwer

This spider and scorpion  relative feasts on other insects and can climb a tent pole before you can blink - hence its common name, "wind scorpion." If you get close to one while its  long mandibles have a hold on prey, you can actually hear it chewing.

Then, last night, while unloading a hundred pound bag of plaster out of one of the trucks, Eric was bitten by an insect Jack has identified as the "assassin bug."

"It hurt so much I literally dropped the plaster. It hurt way more than a bee sting," Eric said later.

Doctor Tim was close a hand with a Sawyer-extractor "which we keep around mainly in case of snake and scorpion bites" and diphenhydramine (Benadryl) "to try an block any immenint allergic reaction," explained Tim. "And I got out steroid and an epi-pen (epinephrine) -and I got out needles and syringes in case he had a serious allergic reaction. I also had my blood pressure cuff, stethescope in my emergency . just in case. I don't think the extractor actually did anything, but I've convinced Eric I saved his life."

"The assassin bug is a true bug," says Jack. "Its wings are external. It's a member of Hymenoptera - the group that includes wasps and hornets."

Notwithstanding Eric's personal encounter - which caused his hand to swell slightly, but certainly didn't assassinate him - we awoke yesterday morning to a plague of tiny brown beetles brought out, we think, by the rain. I do not use the term plague lightly. When I lifted my sleeping bag up there was a veritable blanket of them lining the cot.

"I have no idea how they got under my sheet!" said Chris.

After the sandstorm we were invaded by hundreds of beetles. This duct tape acted like an insect trap and took about 15 minutes to fill up.

They reappeared at night, swarming the lights, in everyone's cups and plates. If we are lucky, they will disappear as quickly as they appeared.

THE WATER SAGA CONTINUES

The team is drinking 140 liters a day. Unfortunately, the water needs to be filtered for rust.

Before and after:
Water on the left: rusty and unfiltered
Water on the right: filtered, clean and tasty

Agadez water is famously clear and sweet, but the truck owner failed to reseal the inside of the tank; the rust not only discolored the water it gave it a funny taste. And so, water, with Jack's increasingly unending attention, is filtered through a hand pump every day and night to keep us supplied. 

It takes a fast pumper about 6 minutes to pump 20 liters, and a slow one 20 minutes, but the water is clear, tastes great and, once the truck is repaired, the tank will be resealed and will bring out new water for us. Tim is our record water-pumper with more than 400 liters under his belt (literally - the pump is just waist high) and Jack's right hand man.

If all goes well, the big water truck will get a new motor, line its tank, fill up with new water and be in camp in a few days.

Gabrielle Lyon
Team Member, 2000 Expedition to Niger.