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.