I'll be back on the 20th of December

As I'm posting this, I can hear local women celebrating something nearby in a Boma. I think it must be a birth or another type of big ceremony. Its really nice to be so close to the locals to be able to hear them when exciting things happen.

11/17
5th day of DR…went on the road to Tsavo, about an hour drive away, had Simon as my guide. I enjoyed it a lot. We switched e-mails and he wants me to send him postcards and things to let him know how he is doing and stuff like that, cute.

We finished by 11:30, had lunch. Then went to the community center, and waited for Sapaya for 40 minutes. There was a nice young man who spoke English, and most people did say hi to us. There was a drunk person singing the oddest little jig-like song but he was just walkin through town, and we hung out on a porch until Sapaya came to get us.

In the car as we were waiting for the other group to finish, we discussed Sapaya starting a roast meat place in America (I told him we didn’t really eat goat, so he wanted to start his own business). So the plan is for him to go in my suitcase, and we will write “strictly, do not open, and put on top of the rest of the luggage” and we will cut air holes in it, and that way he can breathe and tell when they are about to throw it he can jump so its easier. And they way if he’s on top of the luggage he won’t get squished either. It was hilarious, he knew it was rediculous but he made it sound so possible.

On the drive back, it rained and the roads were completely washed out and there was a river on the side of the road. I couldn’t believe how fast it washed out and how terrible the road became.

11/18
6th day of DR…it rained all night. The camp wasn’t too flooded but as soon as we woke up there was talk of how flooded the roads were and it might be difficult to get out to the sampling area. But everyone got ready as usual and we heard that Shem and Judy got stuck on their way to Nairobi for their days off, and Ngala and Martin got stuck trying to get KWS guards and guides. But we went out with Sapaya at 7 am.

We saw Simon, and Edson on the way in another car with Ngala, and we picked them up. And got Pastor Peter in Kimana. I was also in the front seat so the ride wasn’t too bad (it gets really bumpy the farther back you are.) Sapaya was funny, thinking that I was scared we would get stuck and things like that. At times we were going sideways, and it was funny as long as we kept moving forward. Good thing the tar roads are coming soon, for the main road in town, but the side roads will still be very bad. The soil just washes away so fast that the roads don't stay nice for more than one good rainy night.

We finally got to the first spot and I got out with Pastor Peter, who is very nice…I like him a lot and the first man we interviewed had to leave to go get his cattle. The bomas were pretty far apart and it gets SO hot in the sun that you don't even want to be in the sun for any longer then you have to be.

Not many people wanted to talk to us either…the Mbirikani clinic was doing interviews a couple days before and they were writing down false answers and taking ID cards which people didn’t like, so some people didn’t want to be interviewed. It was only until later did we realise what had happened, and then we had to explain to people that we were from a different place, and there to help them.

We also happened upon a group of men chillin under a tree, which is basically what men do here. It was pretty funny because they all had watches, none of them said the same time as the others and none were the correct time. But at least they had them ha.

We drove back and it wasn’t too bad on the way back. The same people we saw in the morning (stuck in the mud on their way to chyulu) were still there with one goat, and a large truck, drinking chai out of plastic bags and milk cups.

11/19
Non Program day…we celebrated thanksgiving today. We slept in til 9. Which was fantastic. There was a turkey trot at 9:15, Chris and I went down by the southern part of camp (by the stream) where it’s a lot more slippery after it rains. We went down there to watch people slip because it had been raining. No one fell but it came pretty close.

Brunch was at 10, we had omlets and cinnamon buns.
My mama came to thanksgiving, and so did quite a few of them. Along with some morans and a couple guides. There really isn’t anything to communicate, so I sat with her for a bit and played with her baby. Her husband is Kinyokou (who is a staff member at camp)

Then we started a slide show and they loved it. Everyone complied pictures from their home stays and animal pictures, which really entertained them for about 1.5 hours because they aren't used to seeing themselves in pictures. After we ate dinner and they had to leave to get home before dark.

We found out today that we can stay til the 19th!!!! I’m so so so excited. We are planning to go over to the coast, Mombasa, Lamu, Watamu, possibly Malindi, and Diani Beach. Snorkeling in the Indian Ocean, laying on the beach, boat trips through mangroves, and the only coastal forest in Kenya, Gede ruins.

11/22
The last few days we've been doing a few interviews (people have been coming to the camp, like key informants and people from local NGOs and people like that.) So we have about an hour of interviews and then the rest of the day to ourselves.

Other than that, not too much has been happening. It has been raining nightly. Its been about a week since we've seen our last snake...one went into a Banda (the door was open by accident) but someone saw it go in, so the staff could go and get it (Daniel ended up killing it). It was a spitting cobra, about 2-3 feet long.

We also had a spitting cobra in our fire pit hiding in the leaves. Unfortunately all the snakes found have to be killed because they are all deadly. But after the cobra was found in the fire pit, we burned all the leaves in it. That cobra was pretty big too..around 1-2 feet

There was also a big black momba by the chumba about a week or 2 ago. We watched the askaris (locals who are the camp guards) kill the snake, and it even made them nervous...