Construction of HALI Bush Camp (Photo by D. Wolking)
This August, the Health for Animal and Livelihood Improvement (HALI) Project constructed a brand new bush camp just outside the village of Tungamalenga, in Idodi Division, Iringa District, Tanzania. The new camp is hosted by Soleil Chogela, a dred-locked Tanzanian with a warm smile and playful laugh, at his Chogela Camp, a relaxing tented camp along the Tungamalenga River, and at the periphery of Ruaha National Park and the Pawaga-Idodi Wildlife Management Area (PIWMA).
HALI’s Camp Host: Mr. Chogela (Photo by M. Richmond)
HALI Bush Camp consists of a newly constructed thatched roofed banda, 3 solar panels that power a deep box freezer and centrifuge for storing and processing samples, and a tent for HALI game scouts. The new camp enables HALI’s scouts to quickly mobilize when alerted of fresh wildlife carcasses in the WMA to obtain samples that will assist in the development of HALI’s zoonotic disease surveillance program in the area.
The HALI Project was previously hosted in the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Ruaha Landscape Program’s Lunda Camp, but needed to seek a new field site after the closure of Lunda field camp this summer. Though we were all sad to say goodbye to Lunda, HALI Bush Camp at Chogela is a nice substitute, and the HALI team is proud to call Chogela home when in Idodi.
