So, we just finished all of our exams, hense we finished our classes for the semester. We are packing for our NPS (National Park Site Camp) where we stay for a week. Then from there we are going to Lake Nakuru to stay for another week. We will be back by the 7th of November and I won't have internet until then.
I will be able to post once we get back!
Talk to you all in 2 weeks!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
study days turn into prank days
Day 48 (10/22)
Today was a study day, and tomorrow is too. I had cook crew, I made chocolate honey pancakes again. I’m getting so good at multi tasking and having two pans of pancakes cooking at once. But this morning I had one regular pan with a long handle and one pan with 2 handles (like ½ circles), which was hard because they are all metal and get really hot, so you can’t touch it without a hot pad. But the pan has two handles and you can’t pick it up without holding both handles with hot pads. It worked out though.
I spent the morning semi-studying and then after lunch we started to prank people because we were bored. Haha. We locked people in the study banda from the outside, and then took water bottles and played hide and go seek. And then…we stole a bed from a banda and hid it. Hilarious.
My banda mates also decided to COMPLETELY rearrange our banda. With my permission of course. We have 4 beds, and two cabinets/closets (with two sides so they fit 4). I only live with two other people (Pallavi and Tiffany…love them). Anyway, they put the 3 of our beds together so it makes one large bed, but the mosquito nets separate them. And the other bed is on its side, and our suitcases are on the frame. The cabinet/closets are toward the back and perpendicular with the wall so both sides are accessible. It looks awesome.
Before, each bed was in the corners of the banda, and the long side of the bed touched the wall. The closets/cabinets were separating the beds and there was an isle down the middle of the banda. So its really different but its great.
Today was a study day, and tomorrow is too. I had cook crew, I made chocolate honey pancakes again. I’m getting so good at multi tasking and having two pans of pancakes cooking at once. But this morning I had one regular pan with a long handle and one pan with 2 handles (like ½ circles), which was hard because they are all metal and get really hot, so you can’t touch it without a hot pad. But the pan has two handles and you can’t pick it up without holding both handles with hot pads. It worked out though.
I spent the morning semi-studying and then after lunch we started to prank people because we were bored. Haha. We locked people in the study banda from the outside, and then took water bottles and played hide and go seek. And then…we stole a bed from a banda and hid it. Hilarious.
My banda mates also decided to COMPLETELY rearrange our banda. With my permission of course. We have 4 beds, and two cabinets/closets (with two sides so they fit 4). I only live with two other people (Pallavi and Tiffany…love them). Anyway, they put the 3 of our beds together so it makes one large bed, but the mosquito nets separate them. And the other bed is on its side, and our suitcases are on the frame. The cabinet/closets are toward the back and perpendicular with the wall so both sides are accessible. It looks awesome.
Before, each bed was in the corners of the banda, and the long side of the bed touched the wall. The closets/cabinets were separating the beds and there was an isle down the middle of the banda. So its really different but its great.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I'm finally caught up...lots to read!
Day 45 (10/19)
This was the big day! The home stay! We stayed from 8 to 5 and did everything the Mamas did.
We had our day-long home stay with a local family. We were grouped in pairs and then assigned to a family. We brought with us water, cabbage, cornmeal, cookies, sugar, tea, butter, cameras, and a radio for each pair. There was a group of 4 assigned to our boma, and then we were paired for each Mama. Our boma was close enough to the camp to walk to, the four of us walked with an askari (our camp guard) over to the boma. On our way there was an elephant and he had tucked himself in large bush, he was big too…we could only see the top of his head and back. The askari thought he was sick because usually they are not near people when morning comes, he ended up just hanging out there all day. He wasn’t near our boma but he was near the path to get back and forth between camp and the boma.
I was with Lauren, and we were assigned to a Mama named Agnes, she is an askari’s wife. The other two girls were assigned to the askari’s mother. Neither spoke English, and not a lot of Swahili. And lucky for us, we didn’t speak Maa, which was their main language. So there was definitely a language barrier but the it turned out to be part of the fun. I learned that I knew a lot more Swahili than I thought and it was helpful because Agnes was much better at Swahili than English. She mostly just said “yes” and “sit down” in English, and she said that every time we asked her something she would say “yes.” So after we realized that asking her things in English didn’t really work, we either would act it out or say it in Swahili. We got better at it throughout the day and our Mama was really patient with us, if there were misunderstandings it usually just ended up being funny.
We spent the first 45 minutes sitting and smiling at each other, meeting the children and watching some livestock. We discovered 2 female dogs there (one with week old puppies and one who was very pregnant) they also had a really cute little boy gray cat, who was actually really sweet (nothing like our kitchen cats at the camp).
After that we made a fire pit, in Agnes house (they put 3 large rocks in a circle and light a fire underneath and put the pots on top of the rocks to balance it) and filled a pot with water. Next she made us chai, and showed us how to do it. We added loose tea, milk, sugar and water, I spilled sugar all over the place, and when I was mixing the chai, I spilled that too (lucky me, it was a dirt floor). They drink chai all day, some people literally have 8 cups a day. After mixing, we sat and drank it, then we put it in thermoses (and surprise surprise we spilled the chai then too.) Agnes was a good sport about our cooking abilities though.
Their actual house consisted of a tin roof, mud/cement walls (it looked like it was mixed together) with logs on the outside supporting it all. You walked in the front door (and they all had actual wooden doors that locked) and there was a bench to sit on (it fit 3) and then chairs set up, sort of like a living room. And then within the room, a little further down there was a fire pit and benches around the sides of the house to sit on. She also had good sized windows that had a wooden door that you could open or close. The other room was the bed room, we actually didn’t really go in there but it had a cloth door and a bed that was on the floor. Agnes’ house was actually quite nice compared to come of the other bomas, most have a grass roof, walls mixed with mud and poop, and small holes in the walls for windows.
After we finished our first cup of chai, Agnes’ friend Susan came over, and she is crazy! She tried to teach us words in Maa, but didn’t know what they meant in English, and she was very high energy, a lot of fun. She insisted on a lot of photos, doing things like stirring food and pretending to eat. We let her take pictures and they ended up being completely off center or cutting off our heads or just showing an arm. They are so funny. We then drank our second cup of chai because we had to offer a cup to our guest and drink a cup with her.
We started to make lunch around 10:45 and Agnes had me cut cabbage, and Lauren cut tomatoes. I used the sharpest knife I’ve ever touched and was a little scared of chopping my finger off. We then cooked the ugali (which is corn meal and water..it basically it a really really thick oatmeal-cake mixture, and it has no real taste) and cooked the cabbage and tomatoes. At times the smoke was intense and made our eyes burn so we had to go outside, but other than that it was really cool to see how they cook every day.
One time, when we were hanging out outside the boma, Ohlibor, another one of our askaris came walking into the boma. Apparently he lives there too. He is older than the other askaris and doesn’t speak any English. I yelled to him and just said hi and he was SO happy to see us in his boma. He came over to me and gave me a huge hug, said something in Maa that sounded really happy…we laughed and then he walked away. Haha he is too funny, I wish we could actually understand what he says.
Then we ate what we cooked and ugali is extremely filling, they gave us huge portions and we couldn’t even eat it all…the little kids ate more than us. After lunch we sat around for about 30 minutes and then went to go get water. As in taking jugs that held 20 liters of water and walking about a mile to the closest stream (which happened to be right behind our camp). On the way we saw a heard of gazelle! We filled them up, and then tied leather straps to them so that we could carry them with the strap across our forehead, so that the barrel is supported by your lower back.
Neither of us could carry it like that, so we put the strap across our shoulders and supported it in our arms. Everyone we saw on the way back laughed at us….everyone. But we made it back and sat around for a little while again. Then we made some bracelets. Agnes told us the colors she wanted us to make and we put them on wire (but she did set them up for us) I made an all yellow bracelet (with about 4 beads that were different colored) and Lauren made an all red bracelet. Haha, I think she was trying to make it simple for us because she knew we wouldn’t be very good at making complex designs (which is very true.)
Throughout the day people were talking on the radios and fooling around with them. And then they made up stories about what they did, like someone said over the radio they saw a leopard…which was a lie. It was fun to play with the radio and communicate with our whole group…even though the idea was to be able to use it if you had questions or needed help. Our mama had NO idea how to use it, but a couple times her husband said something to her (and trying to show her how to use it was…interesting.)
The next task was to get firewood, we walked a little ways away from the boma and then happened upon a fallen tree. She proceeded to chop parts of the tree up with a machete. I was shocked at how good she was and how sharp the machete was. Lauren and I mainly just watched her cut and gathered the wood into one pile. Then we put it into 2 piles, that had to weigh 40-50 pounds each. Again we wrapped rope around them and Lauren and I had to carry them in front of us because it was easier for us then putting the strap on our heads. Again, everyone laughed at us. Agnes carried part of a decent-sized tree trunk back to the boma, holding it on her back.
When we got back, the all little kids had came home from school and they all wanted to greet us after that they started playing and there was lots of screaming and wrestling, boys will be boys…even in Kenya. We rested and watched them play, drank MORE chai and hung out. Finally we cleaned dishes (that seemed to magically appear), I think she was trying to find things for us to do. And then it was time to go. The whole day was a great learning experience.
After getting back, we had learned what others did…and we had it pretty easy. The guys went with the men to herd livestock and farm the fields. Some of the other girls helped to build the mud huts, others built fences, and milked livestock.
Something that was solidified for me today was the presence of SFS within the Kimana community. So many people thought so highly of our staff and how they have helped individuals throughout the many years that SFS has been around. It is truly an honor to be a part of something that not only has a strong foothold in the community but also a program that makes a real difference in community members’ lives.
Day 46 (10/20) and Day 47 (10/21)
These last two days everyone has been finishing up papers that are due, and today (21st) was our last real day of class. We have 2 study days and then finals are the next two days after that. So its been a little hectic getting ready for finals.
Then, after exams we are going right to SFS’s National Park Site for one week, and then camping at Lake Nakuru for another week. We start our Directed Research project for the remainder of the trip and have a few assignments in the middle of it. (And of course our big research papers to present to the community at the end of the program.)
This was the big day! The home stay! We stayed from 8 to 5 and did everything the Mamas did.
We had our day-long home stay with a local family. We were grouped in pairs and then assigned to a family. We brought with us water, cabbage, cornmeal, cookies, sugar, tea, butter, cameras, and a radio for each pair. There was a group of 4 assigned to our boma, and then we were paired for each Mama. Our boma was close enough to the camp to walk to, the four of us walked with an askari (our camp guard) over to the boma. On our way there was an elephant and he had tucked himself in large bush, he was big too…we could only see the top of his head and back. The askari thought he was sick because usually they are not near people when morning comes, he ended up just hanging out there all day. He wasn’t near our boma but he was near the path to get back and forth between camp and the boma.
I was with Lauren, and we were assigned to a Mama named Agnes, she is an askari’s wife. The other two girls were assigned to the askari’s mother. Neither spoke English, and not a lot of Swahili. And lucky for us, we didn’t speak Maa, which was their main language. So there was definitely a language barrier but the it turned out to be part of the fun. I learned that I knew a lot more Swahili than I thought and it was helpful because Agnes was much better at Swahili than English. She mostly just said “yes” and “sit down” in English, and she said that every time we asked her something she would say “yes.” So after we realized that asking her things in English didn’t really work, we either would act it out or say it in Swahili. We got better at it throughout the day and our Mama was really patient with us, if there were misunderstandings it usually just ended up being funny.
We spent the first 45 minutes sitting and smiling at each other, meeting the children and watching some livestock. We discovered 2 female dogs there (one with week old puppies and one who was very pregnant) they also had a really cute little boy gray cat, who was actually really sweet (nothing like our kitchen cats at the camp).
After that we made a fire pit, in Agnes house (they put 3 large rocks in a circle and light a fire underneath and put the pots on top of the rocks to balance it) and filled a pot with water. Next she made us chai, and showed us how to do it. We added loose tea, milk, sugar and water, I spilled sugar all over the place, and when I was mixing the chai, I spilled that too (lucky me, it was a dirt floor). They drink chai all day, some people literally have 8 cups a day. After mixing, we sat and drank it, then we put it in thermoses (and surprise surprise we spilled the chai then too.) Agnes was a good sport about our cooking abilities though.
Their actual house consisted of a tin roof, mud/cement walls (it looked like it was mixed together) with logs on the outside supporting it all. You walked in the front door (and they all had actual wooden doors that locked) and there was a bench to sit on (it fit 3) and then chairs set up, sort of like a living room. And then within the room, a little further down there was a fire pit and benches around the sides of the house to sit on. She also had good sized windows that had a wooden door that you could open or close. The other room was the bed room, we actually didn’t really go in there but it had a cloth door and a bed that was on the floor. Agnes’ house was actually quite nice compared to come of the other bomas, most have a grass roof, walls mixed with mud and poop, and small holes in the walls for windows.
After we finished our first cup of chai, Agnes’ friend Susan came over, and she is crazy! She tried to teach us words in Maa, but didn’t know what they meant in English, and she was very high energy, a lot of fun. She insisted on a lot of photos, doing things like stirring food and pretending to eat. We let her take pictures and they ended up being completely off center or cutting off our heads or just showing an arm. They are so funny. We then drank our second cup of chai because we had to offer a cup to our guest and drink a cup with her.
We started to make lunch around 10:45 and Agnes had me cut cabbage, and Lauren cut tomatoes. I used the sharpest knife I’ve ever touched and was a little scared of chopping my finger off. We then cooked the ugali (which is corn meal and water..it basically it a really really thick oatmeal-cake mixture, and it has no real taste) and cooked the cabbage and tomatoes. At times the smoke was intense and made our eyes burn so we had to go outside, but other than that it was really cool to see how they cook every day.
One time, when we were hanging out outside the boma, Ohlibor, another one of our askaris came walking into the boma. Apparently he lives there too. He is older than the other askaris and doesn’t speak any English. I yelled to him and just said hi and he was SO happy to see us in his boma. He came over to me and gave me a huge hug, said something in Maa that sounded really happy…we laughed and then he walked away. Haha he is too funny, I wish we could actually understand what he says.
Then we ate what we cooked and ugali is extremely filling, they gave us huge portions and we couldn’t even eat it all…the little kids ate more than us. After lunch we sat around for about 30 minutes and then went to go get water. As in taking jugs that held 20 liters of water and walking about a mile to the closest stream (which happened to be right behind our camp). On the way we saw a heard of gazelle! We filled them up, and then tied leather straps to them so that we could carry them with the strap across our forehead, so that the barrel is supported by your lower back.
Neither of us could carry it like that, so we put the strap across our shoulders and supported it in our arms. Everyone we saw on the way back laughed at us….everyone. But we made it back and sat around for a little while again. Then we made some bracelets. Agnes told us the colors she wanted us to make and we put them on wire (but she did set them up for us) I made an all yellow bracelet (with about 4 beads that were different colored) and Lauren made an all red bracelet. Haha, I think she was trying to make it simple for us because she knew we wouldn’t be very good at making complex designs (which is very true.)
Throughout the day people were talking on the radios and fooling around with them. And then they made up stories about what they did, like someone said over the radio they saw a leopard…which was a lie. It was fun to play with the radio and communicate with our whole group…even though the idea was to be able to use it if you had questions or needed help. Our mama had NO idea how to use it, but a couple times her husband said something to her (and trying to show her how to use it was…interesting.)
The next task was to get firewood, we walked a little ways away from the boma and then happened upon a fallen tree. She proceeded to chop parts of the tree up with a machete. I was shocked at how good she was and how sharp the machete was. Lauren and I mainly just watched her cut and gathered the wood into one pile. Then we put it into 2 piles, that had to weigh 40-50 pounds each. Again we wrapped rope around them and Lauren and I had to carry them in front of us because it was easier for us then putting the strap on our heads. Again, everyone laughed at us. Agnes carried part of a decent-sized tree trunk back to the boma, holding it on her back.
When we got back, the all little kids had came home from school and they all wanted to greet us after that they started playing and there was lots of screaming and wrestling, boys will be boys…even in Kenya. We rested and watched them play, drank MORE chai and hung out. Finally we cleaned dishes (that seemed to magically appear), I think she was trying to find things for us to do. And then it was time to go. The whole day was a great learning experience.
After getting back, we had learned what others did…and we had it pretty easy. The guys went with the men to herd livestock and farm the fields. Some of the other girls helped to build the mud huts, others built fences, and milked livestock.
Something that was solidified for me today was the presence of SFS within the Kimana community. So many people thought so highly of our staff and how they have helped individuals throughout the many years that SFS has been around. It is truly an honor to be a part of something that not only has a strong foothold in the community but also a program that makes a real difference in community members’ lives.
Day 46 (10/20) and Day 47 (10/21)
These last two days everyone has been finishing up papers that are due, and today (21st) was our last real day of class. We have 2 study days and then finals are the next two days after that. So its been a little hectic getting ready for finals.
Then, after exams we are going right to SFS’s National Park Site for one week, and then camping at Lake Nakuru for another week. We start our Directed Research project for the remainder of the trip and have a few assignments in the middle of it. (And of course our big research papers to present to the community at the end of the program.)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Day 43 (10/17)
This morning we had a lecture on invasive species, which is one of my favorite ecology topics because its so interesting and complex. After that we headed off to Loitokitok. It took almost 2 hours to get to where we were going …which is farther outside of the town than where we usually go. This time we didn’t go to the AIDs clinic, we went to a school to help with the nutrition project. Basically we weighed kids, and measured their upper arm to assess if the kids are overweight, underweight, or an appropriate weight. And then we give them Vitamin A, de-wormer, and necessary supplements if they need extra nutrition. Then there was a clinic set up for people with small issues, such as a hurt foot, or stomach ache.
For the most part, there were too many of us to all have jobs the entire time, I helped to weigh kids which was a done with scales that look like grocery store scales. We put the little ones in cloth baskets and the bigger ones hung off a hook. Haha, there were lots of screaming, crying babies hanging by the scale. There were people recording weights and giving out vitamins. We didn’t have anything to do, so a couple of us made charts for them to use.
We played soccer against their 8th grade team and they won, 1 to 0. It was a pretty good game though, their field is pretty huge so there was a lot of running. During the game, the girls on the side lines got their hair braided by the school kids (mostly girls.) They braided it so there were lots of medium sized braids that were going every direction and people looked absolutely ridiculous. But the girls loved to braid our muzungo (foreigner) hair, most girls have shaved heads.
We went to the market, and we were allowed to have about an hour in the market. Kyle and I walk through the gate, and literally 3 steps into the market 3 little children come up to us and start asking us how we are, and following us around. So then, they started to talk to us and helped us find things in the market. They were really cute, and literally did not leave our side, for the entire hour. We also saw Adam, the guard who saved me from the mama a couple weeks ago. He was so happy to see us again and we talked for a while.
We drove back and roads are always so much more terrible than the drive there. The road from KBC to Kimana has actually been redone, but the road from Kimana to Loitokitok makes up for the road that was repaired to Kimana (because you have to go through Kimana to get to Loitokitok).
Haha, the kids tend to yell to us while we are driving by “wazungo” which means foreigner, and we’ve started to yell watoto which means children. They don’t mean it in a bad way, its kind of like saying Hi, but the few that we have yelled to are stopped in their tracks and are shocked that we know any Swahili at all.
This morning we had a lecture on invasive species, which is one of my favorite ecology topics because its so interesting and complex. After that we headed off to Loitokitok. It took almost 2 hours to get to where we were going …which is farther outside of the town than where we usually go. This time we didn’t go to the AIDs clinic, we went to a school to help with the nutrition project. Basically we weighed kids, and measured their upper arm to assess if the kids are overweight, underweight, or an appropriate weight. And then we give them Vitamin A, de-wormer, and necessary supplements if they need extra nutrition. Then there was a clinic set up for people with small issues, such as a hurt foot, or stomach ache.
For the most part, there were too many of us to all have jobs the entire time, I helped to weigh kids which was a done with scales that look like grocery store scales. We put the little ones in cloth baskets and the bigger ones hung off a hook. Haha, there were lots of screaming, crying babies hanging by the scale. There were people recording weights and giving out vitamins. We didn’t have anything to do, so a couple of us made charts for them to use.
We played soccer against their 8th grade team and they won, 1 to 0. It was a pretty good game though, their field is pretty huge so there was a lot of running. During the game, the girls on the side lines got their hair braided by the school kids (mostly girls.) They braided it so there were lots of medium sized braids that were going every direction and people looked absolutely ridiculous. But the girls loved to braid our muzungo (foreigner) hair, most girls have shaved heads.
We went to the market, and we were allowed to have about an hour in the market. Kyle and I walk through the gate, and literally 3 steps into the market 3 little children come up to us and start asking us how we are, and following us around. So then, they started to talk to us and helped us find things in the market. They were really cute, and literally did not leave our side, for the entire hour. We also saw Adam, the guard who saved me from the mama a couple weeks ago. He was so happy to see us again and we talked for a while.
We drove back and roads are always so much more terrible than the drive there. The road from KBC to Kimana has actually been redone, but the road from Kimana to Loitokitok makes up for the road that was repaired to Kimana (because you have to go through Kimana to get to Loitokitok).
Haha, the kids tend to yell to us while we are driving by “wazungo” which means foreigner, and we’ve started to yell watoto which means children. They don’t mean it in a bad way, its kind of like saying Hi, but the few that we have yelled to are stopped in their tracks and are shocked that we know any Swahili at all.
Friday, October 16, 2009
locals always laugh at us when we speak swahili.
Day 42 (10/16)
Today we went to talk to farmers again, and this time it was mostly about wildlife conflict with humans. Our guide/translator was awesome. He was so funny and in our group I was the one who asked the questions so there were a bunch of times that funny things happened that only the guide and I picked up on. And I was picking up on the swahili words, so even before he translated what they said I had an idea and I sort of guessed what they would say and he was shocked that we knew the amount of swahili. AND everyone thinks its hilarious when we speak swahili...literally we will talk to them and they just laugh at us because they "dont expect white people to know their language" because they mostly see or talk to tourists.
After lunch we watched a movie about some of the national parks in Kenya and their management practices. For example, Kruger National Park will cull elephants to keep the park ecosystem balanced, Zimbabwae allows controlled trophy hunting to bring in money for the government/park management, and Kenya takes in money from tourism mostly.
I went for a run today, and the running trail is right next to the fence that goes around the camp. The askaris were fixing a section where an elephant went through the fence last night. Apparently it was the second night in a row that an elephant came through and ate the tiny plot corn thats in the camp. The first night I didn't believe them, but after I saw the hole in the fence its hard to believe anything but an elephant could have damaged that much of the fence. It came in at 11 pm (as in people were still awake, brushing their teeth and hanging out) I was in my banda, and laying in bed talking to my banda mates at 11. We didn't even hear anything! My banda is pretty far away from where it was though. The askaris knew quickly got it out so that no one knew, they are awesome.
After that I did yoga with some people and it was really relaxing and nice.
Today we went to talk to farmers again, and this time it was mostly about wildlife conflict with humans. Our guide/translator was awesome. He was so funny and in our group I was the one who asked the questions so there were a bunch of times that funny things happened that only the guide and I picked up on. And I was picking up on the swahili words, so even before he translated what they said I had an idea and I sort of guessed what they would say and he was shocked that we knew the amount of swahili. AND everyone thinks its hilarious when we speak swahili...literally we will talk to them and they just laugh at us because they "dont expect white people to know their language" because they mostly see or talk to tourists.
After lunch we watched a movie about some of the national parks in Kenya and their management practices. For example, Kruger National Park will cull elephants to keep the park ecosystem balanced, Zimbabwae allows controlled trophy hunting to bring in money for the government/park management, and Kenya takes in money from tourism mostly.
I went for a run today, and the running trail is right next to the fence that goes around the camp. The askaris were fixing a section where an elephant went through the fence last night. Apparently it was the second night in a row that an elephant came through and ate the tiny plot corn thats in the camp. The first night I didn't believe them, but after I saw the hole in the fence its hard to believe anything but an elephant could have damaged that much of the fence. It came in at 11 pm (as in people were still awake, brushing their teeth and hanging out) I was in my banda, and laying in bed talking to my banda mates at 11. We didn't even hear anything! My banda is pretty far away from where it was though. The askaris knew quickly got it out so that no one knew, they are awesome.
After that I did yoga with some people and it was really relaxing and nice.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
SNOW!
Day 41 (10/15)
We woke up this morning and found out that while it was raining here, it was snowing on Kili. It was amazing, most of the steep parts of the mountains (and all the deep gullies) were completely covered with snow. And you could see the peak behind the highest peak really clearly, and the smaller peak to the left (which looks mostly like rock) was also completely covered with snow.
It sort of gave the illusion of the mountain being closer than before, the sun was shining on it and it lit up the peak, which totally showed a completely different side of the mountain...it looked just like it does in the pictures.
During class, a baboon stole a watermelon and ate it by the fire pit. Its amazing how that will never get old. Even the professors are intrigued when baboons steal food.
Daniel (our Swahili teacher/resisdent gypsy/local guru) brought his kids to the compound for a couple days. One is 10 and one is 5, they are SO adorable, and amazing at soccer, already. They usually at are boarding school but for some reason have a break, so they will be here with us for a couple days.
After dinner we played a game where everyone has a piece of paper taped to their backs and people go around to write nice things to them, but in the end they don’t know who wrote it. And we got snickerdoodle cookies for being nice to each other. I was excited.
We woke up this morning and found out that while it was raining here, it was snowing on Kili. It was amazing, most of the steep parts of the mountains (and all the deep gullies) were completely covered with snow. And you could see the peak behind the highest peak really clearly, and the smaller peak to the left (which looks mostly like rock) was also completely covered with snow.
It sort of gave the illusion of the mountain being closer than before, the sun was shining on it and it lit up the peak, which totally showed a completely different side of the mountain...it looked just like it does in the pictures.
During class, a baboon stole a watermelon and ate it by the fire pit. Its amazing how that will never get old. Even the professors are intrigued when baboons steal food.
Daniel (our Swahili teacher/resisdent gypsy/local guru) brought his kids to the compound for a couple days. One is 10 and one is 5, they are SO adorable, and amazing at soccer, already. They usually at are boarding school but for some reason have a break, so they will be here with us for a couple days.
After dinner we played a game where everyone has a piece of paper taped to their backs and people go around to write nice things to them, but in the end they don’t know who wrote it. And we got snickerdoodle cookies for being nice to each other. I was excited.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
RRRRRRAAAAAAIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNN
Day 38 (10/12)
Today was an all rest day, which basically meant we were allowed to recover from camping, and do nothing. So some people slept, some watched movies, and some worked on papers.
Turns out that sometimes girls even decide to cut mohawks into their hair, and others just cut it drastically short....the girl with a mohawk actually pulls it off quite nicely.
I've been joking about shaving my head but the thought of actually cutting off all my hair is terrifying.
Day 39 (10/13)
Today we had a few lectures, nothing too exciting or different. We also learned an elephant had been in camp last night. Shem (one of our professors told us we should never sleep without one eye open...lol thanks Shem.) I dont believe him though because all of the fences are up, and unless they opened the gate to let it in, you would notice a fence knocked down by an elephant.
We found a walking stick and some tennis balls and played base ball. and then we found ping pong paddles and a single ping pong ball. and then converted our tables into ping pong tables and put up tuperware for the nets. its pretty ghetto but a lot of fun.
Day 40 (10/14)
Today was another class day, we had swahili, and watched some movies on Kruger National Park...and hung out for the rest of the day, wrote a paper or two and then....
IT STARTED TO RAIN! everyone was so excited, we all immediately ran outside and played in it. it was so exciting because they need it so badly here. we were out in it for about 3 minutes and i was completely drenched.
Today was an all rest day, which basically meant we were allowed to recover from camping, and do nothing. So some people slept, some watched movies, and some worked on papers.
Turns out that sometimes girls even decide to cut mohawks into their hair, and others just cut it drastically short....the girl with a mohawk actually pulls it off quite nicely.
I've been joking about shaving my head but the thought of actually cutting off all my hair is terrifying.
Day 39 (10/13)
Today we had a few lectures, nothing too exciting or different. We also learned an elephant had been in camp last night. Shem (one of our professors told us we should never sleep without one eye open...lol thanks Shem.) I dont believe him though because all of the fences are up, and unless they opened the gate to let it in, you would notice a fence knocked down by an elephant.
We found a walking stick and some tennis balls and played base ball. and then we found ping pong paddles and a single ping pong ball. and then converted our tables into ping pong tables and put up tuperware for the nets. its pretty ghetto but a lot of fun.
Day 40 (10/14)
Today was another class day, we had swahili, and watched some movies on Kruger National Park...and hung out for the rest of the day, wrote a paper or two and then....
IT STARTED TO RAIN! everyone was so excited, we all immediately ran outside and played in it. it was so exciting because they need it so badly here. we were out in it for about 3 minutes and i was completely drenched.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
day five and six of camping. no rhinos(kifaru), more lions(simba), and fighting baboons (nyani)
Day 36 (10/10)
Cook crew wake up at 5:15. I made pancakes, and watched the sunrise, it was utterly fantastic. After breakfast we drove to the Rhino Sanctuary (just under 2 hours of driving to get there, but it was still within the Tsavo National Park.) This is a fenced sanctuary which has 65 rhinos, giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala, and warthog. They used to also have elephants and buffalo within the fence but had to relocate them because of the destruction they caused and the competition with the rhino. We saw zero rhinos. After driving around for a little while we met up with the group for another guest lecturer (this time the KWS rangers who manage the Black Rhino Conservation Project talked about what they do and their goals and the project.)
Right as the lecture started, we were within 100 meters of a watering hole and we saw giraffes and zebra drinking! Warthogs also came over to drink and then a buffalo came over (apparently they missed a few in their relocation) and he kicked out the giraffe and zebra who were drinking. The whole thing reminded me of the movie Madagascar 2 with the watering hole and environment. They also pump water to the watering hole if needed because of the drought and feed them when necessary.
After leaving we headed up the mountain to a lodge for another buffet. This one was not as good as the first one but we got to swim again. And it had been overcast and looking like it was going to rain the whole day. Finally, we were in the pool and it was the one day all week that it was not searing hot. I was actually really cold and had to get out. Then all of a sudden it started to drizzle and lightly rain. Which was really cool but it didn’t do too much, it was like a passing shower.
We headed back down and our car stopped because some people had to pee. Then we heard on the radio that there was a simba, which is lion in Swahili. The boys that were out of the car raced back and we went over to the car that was a little bit in front of us and we were watching a lion on the left side of the road, off in the distance.
Then out of nowhere, we looked to the right and this HUGE, MASSIVE, ENORMOUS male lion casually crossed the road. He must have been just about 3 ½ feet tall, which is as big as they get. His head was so wide and his body seemed to go on forever. In Tsavo, male lions don’t have manes and no one knows exactly why but they make up with their lack of mane with their intense size. Just after he crossed the road we heard him calling to the other lion and they were bellowing back and forth. We stayed there for a while, all fascinated with the interaction. We never actually saw them meet because they were far away from each other and then the big male that crossed the road disappeared into the brush.
We all played the game Mafia after dinner which is a great group game that is so much fun around a camp fire because there’s killing and accusing and yelling. We heard lions calling again around 11, and then we went to bed.
Day 37 (10/11)
This morning was another early morning, we all got up at 6, packed our stuff, ate breakfast, took down the tents and loaded stuff into the white rhino. All before 7 AM.
For about 10-15 minutes we watched Baboons go through the trash pit that was right in back of the camp-site. It looked like there were 2 groups, and they were all trying to get to the trash. There was one huge, muscular, scary male that was kicking all the little Baboons out of the pit. The smaller ones chased each other around and tried to steal each other’s trash. And then, all of a sudden a few of the sub-adults ganged up on the big male and he had to run out of the pit but he turned around and started to chase the smaller ones. It was so entertaining, but we had to leave.
We drove back to camp, unpacked and just hung out for the rest of the day. And tomorrow is an all-rest day so there is nothing planned, just catch up on work and laundry and things.
Cook crew wake up at 5:15. I made pancakes, and watched the sunrise, it was utterly fantastic. After breakfast we drove to the Rhino Sanctuary (just under 2 hours of driving to get there, but it was still within the Tsavo National Park.) This is a fenced sanctuary which has 65 rhinos, giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala, and warthog. They used to also have elephants and buffalo within the fence but had to relocate them because of the destruction they caused and the competition with the rhino. We saw zero rhinos. After driving around for a little while we met up with the group for another guest lecturer (this time the KWS rangers who manage the Black Rhino Conservation Project talked about what they do and their goals and the project.)
Right as the lecture started, we were within 100 meters of a watering hole and we saw giraffes and zebra drinking! Warthogs also came over to drink and then a buffalo came over (apparently they missed a few in their relocation) and he kicked out the giraffe and zebra who were drinking. The whole thing reminded me of the movie Madagascar 2 with the watering hole and environment. They also pump water to the watering hole if needed because of the drought and feed them when necessary.
After leaving we headed up the mountain to a lodge for another buffet. This one was not as good as the first one but we got to swim again. And it had been overcast and looking like it was going to rain the whole day. Finally, we were in the pool and it was the one day all week that it was not searing hot. I was actually really cold and had to get out. Then all of a sudden it started to drizzle and lightly rain. Which was really cool but it didn’t do too much, it was like a passing shower.
We headed back down and our car stopped because some people had to pee. Then we heard on the radio that there was a simba, which is lion in Swahili. The boys that were out of the car raced back and we went over to the car that was a little bit in front of us and we were watching a lion on the left side of the road, off in the distance.
Then out of nowhere, we looked to the right and this HUGE, MASSIVE, ENORMOUS male lion casually crossed the road. He must have been just about 3 ½ feet tall, which is as big as they get. His head was so wide and his body seemed to go on forever. In Tsavo, male lions don’t have manes and no one knows exactly why but they make up with their lack of mane with their intense size. Just after he crossed the road we heard him calling to the other lion and they were bellowing back and forth. We stayed there for a while, all fascinated with the interaction. We never actually saw them meet because they were far away from each other and then the big male that crossed the road disappeared into the brush.
We all played the game Mafia after dinner which is a great group game that is so much fun around a camp fire because there’s killing and accusing and yelling. We heard lions calling again around 11, and then we went to bed.
Day 37 (10/11)
This morning was another early morning, we all got up at 6, packed our stuff, ate breakfast, took down the tents and loaded stuff into the white rhino. All before 7 AM.
For about 10-15 minutes we watched Baboons go through the trash pit that was right in back of the camp-site. It looked like there were 2 groups, and they were all trying to get to the trash. There was one huge, muscular, scary male that was kicking all the little Baboons out of the pit. The smaller ones chased each other around and tried to steal each other’s trash. And then, all of a sudden a few of the sub-adults ganged up on the big male and he had to run out of the pit but he turned around and started to chase the smaller ones. It was so entertaining, but we had to leave.
We drove back to camp, unpacked and just hung out for the rest of the day. And tomorrow is an all-rest day so there is nothing planned, just catch up on work and laundry and things.
day three and four of camping. lions, tigers, and ants going off to war
Day 34 (10/8)
This morning we went on an early morning game drive, left at 6AM. We drove up to the KWS base, and there is a small watering hole that is behind the building that they made because of the drought. All of a sudden we saw a lion cross the road!! It looked like it was watching the Impala but the KWS guards were trying to get it away from their campsite so it ran up a rocky hill and we got to watch it go up the hill and disappear into the brush. It was really cool, it was a big lion, and it only had a 1/3 of a tail.
Side-note: during our game drive we saw a tourist vehicle, and our land-cruiser stopped to talk to them. They were all Indian and one of the ladies in the car leaned out the window and asked “have you seen any big predators? Like tigers or lions?” We all immediately said no (because we hadn’t seen the lion yet ) and they drove off. After about 30 seconds we realized that she asked for tigers. There are no tigers in Kenya. Haha
At the watering hole there were a bunch of elephants (including sub-adults and babies) so we watched them, and cape buffalo interact around the water.
During the day we had a guest lecturer come (the director of research in Tsavo) and he talked about what projects they are doing, the lack of staff and resources, and how tourism affects the animals.
At Tsavo, it gets intensely hot. So from about 12-4 the sun is so strong that its hard to be anywhere without a breeze. Its not hot from humidity (there is zero humidity) but it is SO hot just purely from the sun that it heats up really fast and then cools down fast too.
After dinner we all hung out and played music around the fire-pit for hours, and of course we made s’mores. Its amazing the things that can entertain you when there is no internet, or computers but just a solar-speaker and an iPod.
Day 35 (10/9)
We had a transect count today. We split up into groups and drove around for hours in different sections of the park, counting animals. We saw a bunch of cool predator tracks on the road (cheetah, wild dog, lion), we had a stand off with a cape buffalo, and saw ants go off to war with termites…all before 8AM. The buffalo was basically just was in the middle of the road and we stopped about 200 meters away, we waited to see if it would move, or maybe charge the vehicle (because buffalo by themselves are often most dangerous). We ended up waiting for a few minutes and then just driving up to it and it moved off the road. The ants that were going off to war were crossing the road and there were at least a thousand. It looked like a big dark line on the road, so we stopped just in time not to run them over and waited until all the ants crossed. They were all carrying pieces of termites and or pieces of leaves.
After we were done with our area we drove up through the rocky parts of the Chyulu hills and it was, again gorgeous. This area gets more rain because its higher up so everything was very green and there were a lot more animals around. We drove up to a lava-flow hill. It was completely black and was made of little loose stones. And in SFS fashion we climbed it. It was hard because you took one step up and slid down a ½ step. The view from the top was great and when we came down we all just took huge steps and let the momentum take us 3 extra feet, and this was a lot easier than attempting to traverse up.
On the way back we stopped for ice cream again and then hung out at the truck stop eating cookies and drinking cold things. We went back to camp and after everyone went to bed, Lia and I stayed up talking to a couple of askaris, Sapaya, and Arthur, for hours. We were talking about snow, winter, America, and we could hear the lions calling (not roaring, more like bellowing) which was cool because you knew they were in the area but far enough away not to be a danger. Plus we were with people who had guns and spears around a camp fire so I felt safe.
This morning we went on an early morning game drive, left at 6AM. We drove up to the KWS base, and there is a small watering hole that is behind the building that they made because of the drought. All of a sudden we saw a lion cross the road!! It looked like it was watching the Impala but the KWS guards were trying to get it away from their campsite so it ran up a rocky hill and we got to watch it go up the hill and disappear into the brush. It was really cool, it was a big lion, and it only had a 1/3 of a tail.
Side-note: during our game drive we saw a tourist vehicle, and our land-cruiser stopped to talk to them. They were all Indian and one of the ladies in the car leaned out the window and asked “have you seen any big predators? Like tigers or lions?” We all immediately said no (because we hadn’t seen the lion yet ) and they drove off. After about 30 seconds we realized that she asked for tigers. There are no tigers in Kenya. Haha
At the watering hole there were a bunch of elephants (including sub-adults and babies) so we watched them, and cape buffalo interact around the water.
During the day we had a guest lecturer come (the director of research in Tsavo) and he talked about what projects they are doing, the lack of staff and resources, and how tourism affects the animals.
At Tsavo, it gets intensely hot. So from about 12-4 the sun is so strong that its hard to be anywhere without a breeze. Its not hot from humidity (there is zero humidity) but it is SO hot just purely from the sun that it heats up really fast and then cools down fast too.
After dinner we all hung out and played music around the fire-pit for hours, and of course we made s’mores. Its amazing the things that can entertain you when there is no internet, or computers but just a solar-speaker and an iPod.
Day 35 (10/9)
We had a transect count today. We split up into groups and drove around for hours in different sections of the park, counting animals. We saw a bunch of cool predator tracks on the road (cheetah, wild dog, lion), we had a stand off with a cape buffalo, and saw ants go off to war with termites…all before 8AM. The buffalo was basically just was in the middle of the road and we stopped about 200 meters away, we waited to see if it would move, or maybe charge the vehicle (because buffalo by themselves are often most dangerous). We ended up waiting for a few minutes and then just driving up to it and it moved off the road. The ants that were going off to war were crossing the road and there were at least a thousand. It looked like a big dark line on the road, so we stopped just in time not to run them over and waited until all the ants crossed. They were all carrying pieces of termites and or pieces of leaves.
After we were done with our area we drove up through the rocky parts of the Chyulu hills and it was, again gorgeous. This area gets more rain because its higher up so everything was very green and there were a lot more animals around. We drove up to a lava-flow hill. It was completely black and was made of little loose stones. And in SFS fashion we climbed it. It was hard because you took one step up and slid down a ½ step. The view from the top was great and when we came down we all just took huge steps and let the momentum take us 3 extra feet, and this was a lot easier than attempting to traverse up.
On the way back we stopped for ice cream again and then hung out at the truck stop eating cookies and drinking cold things. We went back to camp and after everyone went to bed, Lia and I stayed up talking to a couple of askaris, Sapaya, and Arthur, for hours. We were talking about snow, winter, America, and we could hear the lions calling (not roaring, more like bellowing) which was cool because you knew they were in the area but far enough away not to be a danger. Plus we were with people who had guns and spears around a camp fire so I felt safe.
day two of camping. ICE CREAM, paved roads, and elephants playing with our tents
Day 33 (10/7)
This day was our big day trip to the Chyulu hills to have a lecture. On the way to the lecture spot we saw paved roads! Its been a month since we had seen any paved roads so we were all shocked. It ended up being the Nairobi-Mombasa highway and there area we were in was a huge truck stop so there are big rigs all around us, people selling things, bars and truck-stops. All of it looks very American. We stayed on that road for about a minute and immediately turned off and the road progressively got worse and worse.
We drove for 2 hours, saw a lot of schools (which means lots of screaming kids in uniforms, some were hanging out the windows and others ran up to the fence.) We had to leave the park to get into the area we were trying to get to, which is why there were schools and farms. So we went up this literal bolder-road for a while and then finally we started to drive in the Chyulu Hills. It was all so stunning and beautiful. It kind of reminded me of Jurassic Park, with all the trees and hills and you could see animals grazing really high up on the hills, which just looks so wild.
Long story short, we hiked up this smallish hill but that went straight up and had a lecture. Our professors love bringing us up hills to teach. Which is cool because then in lecture we can look around and see for miles. After lunch and the lecture we climbed down, some people hiked up an even bigger hill for fun and some hung out around the KWS base. The view was spectacular but the climb was intense at points. Very steep and you feel like you could fall right off the hill if you sway at all.
We stopped at the truck stop (in that paved section) on the way back, and got ICE CREAM. So amazing, ice cream is really hard to find in Kenya because no one really like sweet things and most places don’t have electricity. When we got back to our camp there was an elephant hanging out behind the bathrooms. He had to be 10+ feet tall, and I guess earlier in the day the askaris had to chase him out of our campsite because he was checking out the tents. Haha only in Kenya, right?
I forgot to explain the campsite. The bathrooms consist of 2 stalls, about a 20 foot ditch and a concrete bottom with a hole. There is a 2 roomed brick building that we used for food and water. We brought an iron-stove, tables, and all the food and water we needed. It was amazing that our cooks were able to make the same food they could at our base camp (KBC). Arthur even made a cake over a camp fire..and it was DELICOUS. And it was basically just a cleared area. Our tents were set up closer to the middle of the site and staff tents were on the outside. The campfire was about 30 feet from the kitchen but outside of the cleared area was a decently dense brush-shrub land. We brought 2 of our own askaris, 2 of our cooks, the professors, our SAMs (they are sort of like managers), and then about 5 of other staff, including the mechanics and others to drive the cars. At night there were 2 of the KWS guards (with AK-47s) that would come to stay up and night and watch over the camp site.
This day was our big day trip to the Chyulu hills to have a lecture. On the way to the lecture spot we saw paved roads! Its been a month since we had seen any paved roads so we were all shocked. It ended up being the Nairobi-Mombasa highway and there area we were in was a huge truck stop so there are big rigs all around us, people selling things, bars and truck-stops. All of it looks very American. We stayed on that road for about a minute and immediately turned off and the road progressively got worse and worse.
We drove for 2 hours, saw a lot of schools (which means lots of screaming kids in uniforms, some were hanging out the windows and others ran up to the fence.) We had to leave the park to get into the area we were trying to get to, which is why there were schools and farms. So we went up this literal bolder-road for a while and then finally we started to drive in the Chyulu Hills. It was all so stunning and beautiful. It kind of reminded me of Jurassic Park, with all the trees and hills and you could see animals grazing really high up on the hills, which just looks so wild.
Long story short, we hiked up this smallish hill but that went straight up and had a lecture. Our professors love bringing us up hills to teach. Which is cool because then in lecture we can look around and see for miles. After lunch and the lecture we climbed down, some people hiked up an even bigger hill for fun and some hung out around the KWS base. The view was spectacular but the climb was intense at points. Very steep and you feel like you could fall right off the hill if you sway at all.
We stopped at the truck stop (in that paved section) on the way back, and got ICE CREAM. So amazing, ice cream is really hard to find in Kenya because no one really like sweet things and most places don’t have electricity. When we got back to our camp there was an elephant hanging out behind the bathrooms. He had to be 10+ feet tall, and I guess earlier in the day the askaris had to chase him out of our campsite because he was checking out the tents. Haha only in Kenya, right?
I forgot to explain the campsite. The bathrooms consist of 2 stalls, about a 20 foot ditch and a concrete bottom with a hole. There is a 2 roomed brick building that we used for food and water. We brought an iron-stove, tables, and all the food and water we needed. It was amazing that our cooks were able to make the same food they could at our base camp (KBC). Arthur even made a cake over a camp fire..and it was DELICOUS. And it was basically just a cleared area. Our tents were set up closer to the middle of the site and staff tents were on the outside. The campfire was about 30 feet from the kitchen but outside of the cleared area was a decently dense brush-shrub land. We brought 2 of our own askaris, 2 of our cooks, the professors, our SAMs (they are sort of like managers), and then about 5 of other staff, including the mechanics and others to drive the cars. At night there were 2 of the KWS guards (with AK-47s) that would come to stay up and night and watch over the camp site.
day one of camping. hippos, crocodiles, and boys who aren't good at camping
Day 32 (10/6)
We left right at 7AM. And then we drove an hour-ish (Kiringe was our driver, and he was too funny with his iPod…he listens to his “mother tongue music” and when he dances he sort of sticks his belly out and waddles, it is absolutely hilarious)
Took a detour to have a lecture on a hill, one of the small Chyulu Hills.
It took a long long time to get up to the Tsavo gate, and the whole time the road was so bumpy that the land cruiser sounded like someone was shaking a can of pennies. But we finally got there and opened up the hatches, went to the lava flows which is as far as you can see black lava, polka dotted with bright green trees that are growing up through the cracks. Around the lava flows it’s much more of a bush-forest with dense low vegetation and the majority is basically dead/eaten because of the drought. It’s a gorgeous park with a lot of hills (the Chyulu Hills) and some areas are much greener and healthier that are teeming with wildlife, its really cool to see the wildlife grazing up a large hill. It just seems to natural and wild. (We saw these areas later in the trip, mostly around the lava flows there isn’t too much life.)
After the lava flows we went to the Mzima springs (Mzima means life in Swahili) and we ate lunch. The vervets were EVERYWHERE. Some literally tried to run up to us and take the food out of our hands when we weren’t paying attention. But we managed to eat our lunch…we’ve learned enough times that the vervets will stay a good distance away if you throw rocks at them or act like you’re going to hit them with a stick. Haha.
Theres a path around the spring that you can walk around, and its really cool because you see hippos and sometimes crocodiles, and bright blue fish. There’s also an underwater viewing area and an overlook of some of the spring. We saw like 10 hippos, that were decently close and I’m always surprised at their shear wideness and mass. At the time we didn’t think we saw any crocodiles, but after looking at the pictures we realized that there were a couple-rock like things that were actually crocodiles.
The elephants in Tsavo are HUGE. For a comparison, I would say that Alice, Kate and Ginny (the elephants at RWP Zoo) are a little more than half the size of these elephants. And for the first 2 days we only saw very big, mature elephants in groups of 5 or 6.
The sunsets were intensely beautiful, it sets right behind the Chyulu Hills, and we went on an afternoon/sunset game drive. We saw Kudu, which we haven’t seen very many of, Zebra, lots and lots of Dik-dik, Elephants and Giraffe. The animals in Tsavo are a lot more wary of vehicles because Tsavo has far fewer tourists, and Tsavo used to have a poaching problem years ago and elephants remember so most don’t get too close to the road or to vehicles.
At the campfire/ dinner, Kiringe told us all about the close calls with lions they have had at the campsite, and Daniel told us about how he got attacked by a Buffalo when he was a kid. We eventually settled into our tents (that we set up earlier that day), I had a 6 person tent with 4 people. The boys all had 4 people to a 4 person tent…some complained and some didn’t. But the ones who complained made it hilarious about how cramped they were and I loved how all the girls were allowed to spread out in bigger tents. They were eventually given extra tents to spread out more. Haha
The moon is also insanely gorgeous. It started out orange-yellow, huge and close to the ground and slowly works its way around the sky throughout the night.
We left right at 7AM. And then we drove an hour-ish (Kiringe was our driver, and he was too funny with his iPod…he listens to his “mother tongue music” and when he dances he sort of sticks his belly out and waddles, it is absolutely hilarious)
Took a detour to have a lecture on a hill, one of the small Chyulu Hills.
It took a long long time to get up to the Tsavo gate, and the whole time the road was so bumpy that the land cruiser sounded like someone was shaking a can of pennies. But we finally got there and opened up the hatches, went to the lava flows which is as far as you can see black lava, polka dotted with bright green trees that are growing up through the cracks. Around the lava flows it’s much more of a bush-forest with dense low vegetation and the majority is basically dead/eaten because of the drought. It’s a gorgeous park with a lot of hills (the Chyulu Hills) and some areas are much greener and healthier that are teeming with wildlife, its really cool to see the wildlife grazing up a large hill. It just seems to natural and wild. (We saw these areas later in the trip, mostly around the lava flows there isn’t too much life.)
After the lava flows we went to the Mzima springs (Mzima means life in Swahili) and we ate lunch. The vervets were EVERYWHERE. Some literally tried to run up to us and take the food out of our hands when we weren’t paying attention. But we managed to eat our lunch…we’ve learned enough times that the vervets will stay a good distance away if you throw rocks at them or act like you’re going to hit them with a stick. Haha.
Theres a path around the spring that you can walk around, and its really cool because you see hippos and sometimes crocodiles, and bright blue fish. There’s also an underwater viewing area and an overlook of some of the spring. We saw like 10 hippos, that were decently close and I’m always surprised at their shear wideness and mass. At the time we didn’t think we saw any crocodiles, but after looking at the pictures we realized that there were a couple-rock like things that were actually crocodiles.
The elephants in Tsavo are HUGE. For a comparison, I would say that Alice, Kate and Ginny (the elephants at RWP Zoo) are a little more than half the size of these elephants. And for the first 2 days we only saw very big, mature elephants in groups of 5 or 6.
The sunsets were intensely beautiful, it sets right behind the Chyulu Hills, and we went on an afternoon/sunset game drive. We saw Kudu, which we haven’t seen very many of, Zebra, lots and lots of Dik-dik, Elephants and Giraffe. The animals in Tsavo are a lot more wary of vehicles because Tsavo has far fewer tourists, and Tsavo used to have a poaching problem years ago and elephants remember so most don’t get too close to the road or to vehicles.
At the campfire/ dinner, Kiringe told us all about the close calls with lions they have had at the campsite, and Daniel told us about how he got attacked by a Buffalo when he was a kid. We eventually settled into our tents (that we set up earlier that day), I had a 6 person tent with 4 people. The boys all had 4 people to a 4 person tent…some complained and some didn’t. But the ones who complained made it hilarious about how cramped they were and I loved how all the girls were allowed to spread out in bigger tents. They were eventually given extra tents to spread out more. Haha
The moon is also insanely gorgeous. It started out orange-yellow, huge and close to the ground and slowly works its way around the sky throughout the night.
Monday, October 5, 2009
camping with the man eating lions
Day 31 (10/5)
A month ago today I left Rhode Island. It is crazy that its already been a month but at the same time it feels like we’ve been here for way longer than a month. This morning we had class about our expedition which we leave for tomorrow! We basically just learned about Tsavo’s history and the types of animals they have there, and how the lions there are nick-named “man eaters” because of when they were building the railroad in 1898 and there were 2 male lions, (9 feet long (nose to tail) and almost 4 feet tall at the top of their head) who killed like 150 people, natives and railroad workers in 9 months (plus livestock)…Kahlia taught us all about it last night at RAP too. The lions in Tsavo are actually very interesting because the males do not have manes and nobody exactly knows why but there are a lot of theories.
After that we had a risk management and safety awareness class. They basically just explained to us how the camp will be set up and how we are picking up armed guards because of the car-jacking that can happen on the road that goes to Tsavo, and the fact that we are going to a non-fenced camp ground. Its basically an area where the grass is shorter and there are three stalls with a hole in cement that you use; we are bringing a big gas stove (there is a building for a kitchen, and to put the food in) and we will bring about 1000 gallons of drinking/ cooking water with us along with a ton of food and cooking things. I think I will be able to explain it better once we’ve been but that’s the basic idea. And we sleep in tents with the askaris and armed guards keeping watch and you need as escort to go anywhere after dark. Haha it will be some real African camping, I’m excited but there are so many things that you need to remember could hurt you out there.
Then we were given our tent assignments and jobs based on our cook crews to help the staff pack. We helped get the 70 liter-jugs, clean them out and fill them with drinking water. And then we loaded them into the White Rhino (the BIG van-like truck that carries our bags and things when needed.)
After that we watched a movie about hippos and baby hippopotamuses are so cute. And it was basically about how important they are to the ecosystem and how without them most streams and river beds would be life-less.
Everyone is just getting ready and packing. After this post we won’t be back until Sunday. A week after that, we have a day home stay in a local boma to get an idea of what they do on a day to day basis. And in a little more than a week and a half we have our final exams. Right after finals we go on another camping trip, for 2 weeks this time. And then when we come back we do the directed research portion for around a month and then it’s time to leave. AHHHHHH.
A month ago today I left Rhode Island. It is crazy that its already been a month but at the same time it feels like we’ve been here for way longer than a month. This morning we had class about our expedition which we leave for tomorrow! We basically just learned about Tsavo’s history and the types of animals they have there, and how the lions there are nick-named “man eaters” because of when they were building the railroad in 1898 and there were 2 male lions, (9 feet long (nose to tail) and almost 4 feet tall at the top of their head) who killed like 150 people, natives and railroad workers in 9 months (plus livestock)…Kahlia taught us all about it last night at RAP too. The lions in Tsavo are actually very interesting because the males do not have manes and nobody exactly knows why but there are a lot of theories.
After that we had a risk management and safety awareness class. They basically just explained to us how the camp will be set up and how we are picking up armed guards because of the car-jacking that can happen on the road that goes to Tsavo, and the fact that we are going to a non-fenced camp ground. Its basically an area where the grass is shorter and there are three stalls with a hole in cement that you use; we are bringing a big gas stove (there is a building for a kitchen, and to put the food in) and we will bring about 1000 gallons of drinking/ cooking water with us along with a ton of food and cooking things. I think I will be able to explain it better once we’ve been but that’s the basic idea. And we sleep in tents with the askaris and armed guards keeping watch and you need as escort to go anywhere after dark. Haha it will be some real African camping, I’m excited but there are so many things that you need to remember could hurt you out there.
Then we were given our tent assignments and jobs based on our cook crews to help the staff pack. We helped get the 70 liter-jugs, clean them out and fill them with drinking water. And then we loaded them into the White Rhino (the BIG van-like truck that carries our bags and things when needed.)
After that we watched a movie about hippos and baby hippopotamuses are so cute. And it was basically about how important they are to the ecosystem and how without them most streams and river beds would be life-less.
Everyone is just getting ready and packing. After this post we won’t be back until Sunday. A week after that, we have a day home stay in a local boma to get an idea of what they do on a day to day basis. And in a little more than a week and a half we have our final exams. Right after finals we go on another camping trip, for 2 weeks this time. And then when we come back we do the directed research portion for around a month and then it’s time to leave. AHHHHHH.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Day 30 (10/4)
This morning was another early morning. Cook crew reported at 6:00AM and we cooked with Susan. It was so dark and cloudy outside (rain coming?). I was responsible for cutting potatoes. I did it wrong about 3 times before Susan actually showed me how she wanted it. Haha she gets so flustered sometimes, and honestly all you can do is laugh because she speaks half Swahili and half English (even though she is fluent in both) and calls everyone baby girl. After cutting the potatoes I fried them in about 3 cups of oil, added some peppers and tomatoes. Good ole’ Kenyan cooking.
Breakfast was at 7 AM and we left for Amboseli right at 7:30. Harrison was our driver and he is seriously the best. Honestly, there are no roads here, just tire tracks and at times it’s at least 5 inches of dirt/dust and the Land Cruisers are so beastly that they just power right through. And the pot holes/HUGE ditches are unreal. There are times when the truck is at a 45 degree angle because the roads are so degraded and they just keep on truckin’.
We got to Amboseli and we put the tops down as usual (got our normal greeting of local Mamas and guys selling bracelets and necklaces, carvings and things at the gate) and then had about 5 stops to have 10-20 minute lectures. After the lectures we went back to the lodge that had the buffet last time. We didn’t have enough time to go swimming but we all hung out by the pool and ate lunch.
AND again, the Vervets are always watching you. This time we didn’t have an askari and quickly realized they are not at all scared by wazungos (white people/ foreigners in Swahili). They tried to go through our stuff if it was left un-guarded and then if we tried to chase them away by just clapping or yelling they acted like they were gunna jump on us…which didn’t happen. But if you acted (really aggressively) like you were going to show a shoe or rock at them they sort of ran away but quickly came back. They are pretty afraid of sling-shots though. And flying objects. Haha they are more or less harmless and really entertaining. As we were leaving they were all trying to jump into the truck as we took the tops off again lol they are EVERYWHERE.
We hung out for a while at the lodge, interrogated Daniel about his wife and kids (haha) and hung out and talked. It started to rain while we were there which is really exciting because hopefully that means the actual rains are coming soon! (in the mountains but you could smell it in the air and the dust was so thick because of the downpouring). On the way home we did a game drive (which just doesn’t get old) and saw lots of hyaneas, and elephants really close up…Harrison was awesome at getting us right up to them at the right time (as they were crossing the road or just passing the other Land Cruisers if we couldn’t see…lol)
Harrison..again is an amazing driver. We took a back way home and somehow managed to spend 10 minutes less in the car and come up completely on the other side of Kimana, which is not a small town. I’m starting to think that to be a driver for the school it is required to be a gypsy. But to their credit they are extremely skilled drivers, they know exactly how to maneuver around these “roads”… most American drivers would flip these huge land cruisers in about 5 minutes trying to drive here.
This morning was another early morning. Cook crew reported at 6:00AM and we cooked with Susan. It was so dark and cloudy outside (rain coming?). I was responsible for cutting potatoes. I did it wrong about 3 times before Susan actually showed me how she wanted it. Haha she gets so flustered sometimes, and honestly all you can do is laugh because she speaks half Swahili and half English (even though she is fluent in both) and calls everyone baby girl. After cutting the potatoes I fried them in about 3 cups of oil, added some peppers and tomatoes. Good ole’ Kenyan cooking.
Breakfast was at 7 AM and we left for Amboseli right at 7:30. Harrison was our driver and he is seriously the best. Honestly, there are no roads here, just tire tracks and at times it’s at least 5 inches of dirt/dust and the Land Cruisers are so beastly that they just power right through. And the pot holes/HUGE ditches are unreal. There are times when the truck is at a 45 degree angle because the roads are so degraded and they just keep on truckin’.
We got to Amboseli and we put the tops down as usual (got our normal greeting of local Mamas and guys selling bracelets and necklaces, carvings and things at the gate) and then had about 5 stops to have 10-20 minute lectures. After the lectures we went back to the lodge that had the buffet last time. We didn’t have enough time to go swimming but we all hung out by the pool and ate lunch.
AND again, the Vervets are always watching you. This time we didn’t have an askari and quickly realized they are not at all scared by wazungos (white people/ foreigners in Swahili). They tried to go through our stuff if it was left un-guarded and then if we tried to chase them away by just clapping or yelling they acted like they were gunna jump on us…which didn’t happen. But if you acted (really aggressively) like you were going to show a shoe or rock at them they sort of ran away but quickly came back. They are pretty afraid of sling-shots though. And flying objects. Haha they are more or less harmless and really entertaining. As we were leaving they were all trying to jump into the truck as we took the tops off again lol they are EVERYWHERE.
We hung out for a while at the lodge, interrogated Daniel about his wife and kids (haha) and hung out and talked. It started to rain while we were there which is really exciting because hopefully that means the actual rains are coming soon! (in the mountains but you could smell it in the air and the dust was so thick because of the downpouring). On the way home we did a game drive (which just doesn’t get old) and saw lots of hyaneas, and elephants really close up…Harrison was awesome at getting us right up to them at the right time (as they were crossing the road or just passing the other Land Cruisers if we couldn’t see…lol)
Harrison..again is an amazing driver. We took a back way home and somehow managed to spend 10 minutes less in the car and come up completely on the other side of Kimana, which is not a small town. I’m starting to think that to be a driver for the school it is required to be a gypsy. But to their credit they are extremely skilled drivers, they know exactly how to maneuver around these “roads”… most American drivers would flip these huge land cruisers in about 5 minutes trying to drive here.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
catching up!
Day 29 (10/3)
Today was another mainly class day, its so nice to know that we only have a few more weeks of class and then the research part starts. AND tomorrow is another Amboseli Day. Monday we are getting ready to go on a camping trip and then Tuesday we leave for 4 days.
Other than that, there isn't too much going on, but people are all feeling much better so thats good.
Day 28 (10/2)
This morning, breakfast was at 7:30 and at 9 the local Mamas are came to do beadwork with us. As in show us how to make bracelets. I failed miserably. It took me 2 hours to make one bracelet; in the meanwhile, the Mamas made about 3, and helped us all start them. But some people took even longer so I didn’t feel like a complete failure.
After lunch we went to a local primary school to play soccer and volleyball. As in grade 4 to 7, in soccer they beat us 5 to 1. They were all just so fast, and ran so much that no one could keep up. But to be fair they’ve played every day for years together and we’ve only been playing together for a few weeks. It was still pretty absurd. After the game the kids wanted us to show them tricks. Basically that’s them telling us to “dance, monkey, dance!” and never mind that everything we did, they could do 10 times better. Example, someone did a hand stand; one of the 7th graders did a handstand then walked around on his hands…for a while.
Today I was MOD, which is basically just an assistant to the professors (but it was a non-program day so we didn’t have class) and then after dinner I was responsible for RAP. For the “P”(presentation) part, I played a game called “Bob the weasel” where everyone stands in a circle, and one person in the middle. You pass a small object behind your backs from person to person and chant “bob the weasel, keep it going, keep it going” and you try to pass the object/ trick the person in the middle. And the goal of the person in the middle is to correctly guess who has the object, then if they guess correctly the person who had the object goes in the middle. It was actually a lot of fun, and it’s a game for like 1st graders. Then after that I played Madagascar 2. Love that movie.
Day 27 (10/1)
Wow, I cannot believe it’s the first day of October. When I think of October I think of leaves changing and falling, pumpkins, brisk-cold morning air and Halloween decorations coming out. There is no hint of any of that happening here. It is getting hotter by the day and everyone is just hoping for rain.
We spent the majority of the day in class and just hung out for the rest of the time. We have a few papers within the next few days. So most people were working on them.
Today was another mainly class day, its so nice to know that we only have a few more weeks of class and then the research part starts. AND tomorrow is another Amboseli Day. Monday we are getting ready to go on a camping trip and then Tuesday we leave for 4 days.
Other than that, there isn't too much going on, but people are all feeling much better so thats good.
Day 28 (10/2)
This morning, breakfast was at 7:30 and at 9 the local Mamas are came to do beadwork with us. As in show us how to make bracelets. I failed miserably. It took me 2 hours to make one bracelet; in the meanwhile, the Mamas made about 3, and helped us all start them. But some people took even longer so I didn’t feel like a complete failure.
After lunch we went to a local primary school to play soccer and volleyball. As in grade 4 to 7, in soccer they beat us 5 to 1. They were all just so fast, and ran so much that no one could keep up. But to be fair they’ve played every day for years together and we’ve only been playing together for a few weeks. It was still pretty absurd. After the game the kids wanted us to show them tricks. Basically that’s them telling us to “dance, monkey, dance!” and never mind that everything we did, they could do 10 times better. Example, someone did a hand stand; one of the 7th graders did a handstand then walked around on his hands…for a while.
Today I was MOD, which is basically just an assistant to the professors (but it was a non-program day so we didn’t have class) and then after dinner I was responsible for RAP. For the “P”(presentation) part, I played a game called “Bob the weasel” where everyone stands in a circle, and one person in the middle. You pass a small object behind your backs from person to person and chant “bob the weasel, keep it going, keep it going” and you try to pass the object/ trick the person in the middle. And the goal of the person in the middle is to correctly guess who has the object, then if they guess correctly the person who had the object goes in the middle. It was actually a lot of fun, and it’s a game for like 1st graders. Then after that I played Madagascar 2. Love that movie.
Day 27 (10/1)
Wow, I cannot believe it’s the first day of October. When I think of October I think of leaves changing and falling, pumpkins, brisk-cold morning air and Halloween decorations coming out. There is no hint of any of that happening here. It is getting hotter by the day and everyone is just hoping for rain.
We spent the majority of the day in class and just hung out for the rest of the time. We have a few papers within the next few days. So most people were working on them.
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