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Back at Camp

Finding the fossils is just the beginning.  After they are removed from the ground and taken back to camp, every last bone and bone fragment gets catalogued and packaged for shipment back to Chicago.  During this process we take lots of data about each specimen including the location of each fossil site, the type of bone or tooth it is, and (if we can identify it) the kind of animal the remains are from. 

Guarded against the blowing dust and sand, Ronan continues his work exposing the bones of a large sauropod dinosaur.

Although we are prospecting what is now desert in search of 90-million-year-old fossils, in more recent times the Sahara was lush with water, vegetation, and teeming with life on land and in large flowing rivers. Dinosaur-age fossils are not the only interesting old objects we find.  Between ten and five thousand years ago, the desert plain was occupied by humans - and we find evidence of their occupation nearly everyday. Luckily the stone tools, pottery fragments, and other signs of ancient human life are identified with the help of the Nigeriene team members and Jeff Stivers, our resident archeologist.  We are also recording archaeological sites for later work by Nigerien teams. Although from a totally different time, signs of ancient human occupation are of interest to all of the team - it's incredible to imagine how our field area has changed over the last 90 million years.

Fourteen tons of water ran from the giant tank atop a truck and into every container in camp

Ever gone three weeks without a hot shower?  The closest thing to a shower for us is a bag of water attached to a hose that we hang on one of our trucks.  It is not fancy, but it gets at least a few layers of dirt off.  The center of camp is the stockpile of thousands of gallons of water we poured into huge rubber water ballons that we siphoned off from our water truck.We also have two large tents (one for supplies and one for food), a bunch of tables and a couple of rechargeable solar lanterns.  Camp is simple, but it is home. 

Precious cargo, a 55-gallon drum of deisel fuel
is downloaded gingerly from the truck by Nels and Paul.

So what do we do for entertainment?  We watch bugs.  The Sahara is home to a large variety of creepy-crawlies that have given us hours of "ooh's" "ahh's" and "eww's!"  Our favorites are solifuges.  The Saharan Solifuge is a two-inch long arachnid that devours its prey with the use of gargantuan scissor-like jaws.  When we find them in camp we capture them in cans - and then spend many an hour gazing at these marvels of nature. They both fascinate and revolt us.  We have even kept one as a pet. We call her "The Mistress" and we regularly feed her grasshoppers, crickets, beetles or any other insect silly enough to wander into camps. She appears to be pregnant.  We'll let you know when she lays her eggs.

Dinner Disasters

Spending 12 hours a day in the blazing Saharan sun is a real physical challenge. However, after a long day prospecting for fossils there is one great joy that makes us forget the heat and our pains - dinner!  We take turns cooking dinner in pairs and each of us has had our successes and, well, failures. 

The most notable creation yet was a concoction by Andy Gray, created the very first night in the field.  Famished from setting up camp, we all waited longingly for the "Macaroni and Cheese." Andy was creating it from white cheese powder and dried milk.  With high expectations and gurgling stomachs we dished out our first field-cooked meal, shoveled generous portions into our mouths and started chewing heartily. It smelled right, and was the right consistency, but then the flavor hit our taste buds.  Almost on cue we all registered the taste with our tongues.  It was awful!  As quickly as it had started, the meal was over and granola bars were dispensed to each of us.  We've had plenty of practice over the last week and our field cooking is getting better - we promise.

Josh Miller