Iris Malina

 

You may think now that I'm all pleasure and no business, after all those elephant pics - however not true! I have completed the first two objectives, out of three. The first being a survey of the study area, i.e. the urban section of Likangala River, with observations and photos, connected with GPS-points that I have plotted on a map in Arc GIS, with the help of excellent cartographer Gwaligwali (best name ever).

And yesterday, I set out on a mission to measure the water discharge at the main road culvert, using the super accurate (notice the sarcasm) 'orange method'. That is having a floating device (e.g. an orange, hence the name) travelling down a section of a known length, with a known geometry, and from that estimate the water discharge. I went there on my own, bumping along the road construction site on my bicycle. The spectacle of me walking about in the shallow water, with a measuring tape and a range of floaty thingies, caught the attention of a small crowd! Before I knew it, I had five school children inside the culvert, and another 15 outside 'helping' me!

Next thing is the third objective, which is the actual water sampling and laboratory work, but I don't have to think about that until next week!