Discover, Plan & Go!

Amidst the ancient Arab Gedi ruins, you will follow Sykes monkeys as they go about their daily business of feeding, traveling, resting, and socializing. After a quick lesson in identifying monkeys and recognizing different behaviors, you will venture off into the forest equipped with binoculars and data sheets to follow individual females for one hour at a time. If the opportunity presents itself, you will also collect fecal samples for hormone analysis to take back to the field lab. You will be doing a lot of walking among beautiful dry tropical forest with some impressive baobab trees. An extended trail system will allow you to follow the monkeys more easily, although a good amount of bushwhacking will be necessary to keep up with their movements. Free time options include an overnight visit to Tsavo East National Park (home to elephants and lions), birdwatching at nearby Mida Creek, or snorkeling the beautiful Indian Ocean coral reefs.

On this expedition you will become very familiar with a group of Sykes monkeys, a forest guenon that is common throughout Eastern and Southern Africa. Like at many other places where humans slowly encroach on protected tropical forests, the monkeys at Gedi have learned to take advantage of their closeness to people and frequently raid crops and garbage pits, and are even accepting food from visitors. Over the last two years we have found evidence that this provisioning increases competition among the monkeys compared to populations that are not provisioned. Now we want to find out if the behavioral changes observed are correlated with changes in the secretion pattern of stress hormones. Deviation from normal stress physiological responses, particularly chronically elevated stress levels, are known to have various detrimental effects on the immune system, longevity, and thus fitness of human and non-human primates. However, with traditional scientific methods of evaluating fitness (i.e. reproductive success) it could take decades to discern any effect of chronic stress levels because the monkeys live long and only reproduce slowly. Our study is one of the first to use non-invasive measurements of stress levels to assess possible fitness consequences of human encroachment on wild forest monkeys in Africa. You can be sure that your participation in this expedition will help not only to advance science but to make a significant impact on conservation and management strategies of forest monkeys.

After learning to identify individual adult females, you will follow an assigned individual for as long as possible throughout the day and record its general activity (feeding, resting, moving) and particularly all social behaviors (grooming, aggression). Furthermore, you will try to obtain as many fecal samples from your focal animal as possible. Don’t worry - the collection procedures are safe and designed to minimize contact with the feces. You will also get involved in other activities such as monitoring of tree phenology (flowering and fruiting cycles) to assess availability of natural foods, and the monitoring of provisioning events. After a long day of work in the forest, you will welcome the hospitality and paradisiacal setting of our field station, the Mwamba Bird Observatory and Field Study Center, located on a deserted stretch of beach south of Watamu village. You will be treated to a wide range of local and exotic dishes in a family environment. Outside work, you will be able to experience first-hand Swahili culture with its old and rich mixture of African and Arab traditions.

As an Eons member, you'll get a free, 1 year membership to Earthwatch — a $35 value — when you sign up on any expedition. And members pay $100 less on their expedition contribution — so you save $135! Just put code EONS2007 in the comment field on the signup form, or, if you call, tell the Expedition Coordinator that you found us on Eons.

Earthwatch expedition-related costs may be tax-deductible in the US as volunteer expenses. Please check with your tax adviser.