It’s slightly unreal for us being back in the western world where what you eat is such an important topic for so many people. Talking to friends and family, following social media and even reading the newspaper it’s a topic that can’t be avoided. Of course good food is important for a healthy body and a healthy mind! But how to make sense out of all the articles, studies and opinions? It’s something we can’t be bothered with.
Evil carbs
Not saying we don’t care about what we consume, simply that there’s no point creating the perfect diet being out in the bush. You will have to make do with what is available. Generally that means plenty of fruit and vegetables, limited amounts of meat, limited amounts of dairy, no candy, limited amounts of alcohol and plenty of carbs. Evil carbs?! Yes, we actually need them to make it through long days with plen
ty of activity. Our main ingredients: lots and lots of tomato, onion and green pepper. Getting ridiculously creative to keep it fun and tasty. And then the vegetables that are in season. With our big favourite: mushroom season!
Where we would take giant delicious mushrooms from the forest which nobody would cook for us in case it killed us. All this combined with either rice, (sweet)potato or pasta. Both for lunch and dinner.
Since we got up so crazy crazy early, breakfast was a simple homemade sandwich with homemade peanut butter. Fruit as a snack and desert. Everything we made was prepared on a fire, so slow-cooking every day. Seems like we were actually quite trendy! Or is that so-last-year already?
Strict diet
It may sound like a strict diet and quite tough but you get used to it so quickly you hardly realize what you’re missing. It’s simply not there. Out of sight, out of mind. Cooking in an open kitchen in the middle of a national park does help you take your mind of things too. Visitors include hippo’s, civets, bushpigs, pukus and elephants. That doesn’t mean you never miss anything at all. Random things like cauliflower, smoked salmon, goatcheese and all kinds of nuts. And although we were never big meat eaters, working with animals and caring about the environment, we did miss the occasional bacon or steak. And for the lady in this troupe, I truly did miss my chocolate!
But then the exercise regime to go with this diet for a maximum result. None. No running. No gym. No ‘Insanity’ programme. Just walking through the bush, following monkeys. Every day, twelve hours a day. Through dense forest and open savannah. Crossing rivers. Avoiding buffalos. Avoiding all prickly or stinging plants and insects. Retrieving panicking running monkeys who lost the group or trying to keep up with the group on a massive exploration spree. We did have lovely breaks, sitting in the sunshine watching monkeys play and dine if they found a beautiful spot with lots to eat. Fruit and vegetables, them too!
Return to temptation
It was hugely effective. We were slim and fit. And felt more healthy than ever. Besides the occasional and inevitable malaria. We both lost more than twenty pounds. We felt amazing. We loved our strong fit bodies and enjoyed the compliments we got. 
The Malawians worried though. They love people full and round. They said Kasungu was eating us. Well, they would love us now. We left the Bush-diet and returned to temptation. Maybe even more temptation since we missed so much for so long. Still you would think you would stick to the diet that worked so well for you. But our new western diet may have included lots of cheese and sauce and pizza. And beer and wine and crazy amounts of chocolate. Is that the famous yo-yo effect? Well we’ll return to the Bush-diet soon and let it prove it’s worth!
Imagine; you’re dropped in an unknown town, you don’t know anyone except the group of friends you’re with, you don’t know where you can sleep or where you can eat. You don’t know where it’s safe and what the dangers are. Everything seems hostile, smells are weird, so are the buildings, plants and trees, all the creatures you meet and actually you don’t know why everything changed all of a sudden. Welcome in the life of a released vervet.
d in their new town the gang has been able to stay out of danger since May. No-one was lost due to predation anymore. The result of the hard lessons learned in the first few months. Although less playing and grooming was seen at first, bonds between animals improved. Being in such a dangerous situation could drive a group of friends apart. But our vervets stayed together. They are feeding together, warming up in the morning sun together and walking together, the groups stability is something to be proud off. Babies became juveniles, who became sub-adults, who became adults. That’s a good thing because besides predation another challenge awaits our monkeys. Other monkeys.
And our group with only one big guy left seems attractive, because the group has what all the other guys want…..girls! And our gang has plenty. Yet the bonds between the animals in our group are strong and only female Florence decided to take off and go for a romance with one of the rivals. This lasted for almost 2 weeks but in the end she decided to get back with her friends in the group. Now she is pregnant….Is it from our Madson or from one of the other guys?
mayor success. It will also bring new genes into the group and we hope Madson won’t kick them out again. At this point there is physical contact between the guys and the rest of the group and they seem welcome. Integration in the new town is complete!
Primate Adventures 