Kilimanjaro Bush Camp and Africa Conservation Experience – Day 45 and Day 1– 5/10-5/11/11

picture above is me administering the antidote to wake the eland up!

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 45 – 5/10/11

I had cook crew this morning so the alarm went off quite early.  Most of my bags were already packed so it was just packing my sleeping bag and mat along with a few odds and ends.  I was 15 minutes late to the kitchen but no one said anything.  Options for breakfast were a bit limited and I slightly burned my third finger in hot oil but otherwise it was a normal start to the day.  We had program debrief at 8am so people filtered in to eat before grabbing a chair and forming a circle in the shade beside the volleyball court.  Since I walk fast I was the first student to start the circle and I choose to sit next to the only other person out there: Shem.  Once everyone was there Okello began going through all the usual program aspects; the academics, the housing, the food, the staff, and all manner of other things.  By the time we wrapped up the sun had moved so much that we were now sitting in the sun roasting.  We officially graduated to become SFS alumni and we went around hugging each other.  After this people organized a trip into town to celebrate while I plugged my last few electronics in to charge.  I had the last of my things packed and was relaxing with a few students until about noon.  I was supposed to leave at noon so the kitchen let me make a plate a bit early which I quickly ate.  Then it was quick hugs all around, lug bags to small emergency truck, and drive away.  Jackson was driving me and we made a few stops to get groceries for his family.  One in Sultan Hamud and another in Emali.  Armed with bread and other foods off we go along the bumpy roads toward Nairobi.  At some point we hang a sharp left and drive over the usual rough roads to Jackson’s house.  Lots of open space with the usual collection of skinny dogs and a sturdy but small house was Jackson’s house.  His brother came out the door and introduced himself while Jackson walked into the house and I followed.  His grandmother was taking a nap but asked to meet me, kissed my hands, and insisted I take one of the big traditional Maasai collars she had made.  I got a brief look at the Spartan three room house before Jackson dragged me out and off we went again.  We made one other stop to pick up Jackson’s mom and then really hit the gas for Nairobi.  We had made excellent time and I was dropped off with plenty of time.  After getting my ticket I went up to the counter to check my luggage only to find out that my bag was over weight.  So I was sent to the packing counter and removed the extra weight, paid the fee for overweight bags, and checked both.  Going through customs was a different experience because they take digital finger prints and my picture before letting me continue into the terminal.  From my long layover in February I knew the terminal really well and immediately walked to the café at the far end.  I had been dreaming the whole way to Nairobi of the avocado, cheese, tomato sandwich I bought at the café as well as the large glass of fresh squeezed mango juice.  Oh it was fantastic to eat food completely different from the KBC kitchen and the juice….words really can’t describe it.  After my decadent meal I changed my remaining money to South African rand and walked to my gate.  Before we boarded I got to sit in the gate area and watch a portion of a Kenyan tv show and what was going to be the last Swahili I would hear.  We walked across the tarmac to the plane and I was amused to see the clothes on the seat head rests had the typical profile of an acacia tree with a lion pride under it.  I was seated next to a very nice Australia couple who were on holiday.  We took off and were served drinks and dinner before the lights were dimmed and I was able to doze.  Waking up as we began to descend into Johannesburg, I found out that South Africa is an hour behind Kenya.  Getting off the plane and walking to bag claim I realized how dirty I was from living rurally and hand washing my clothes.  I got all my bags and breezed out into the arrival area looking for the Emerald Guest House person who was suppose to meet me.  After walking all over the place there was no person.  It was after midnight Jo’burg time now (so 1am on my clock) and I had no phone.  A tour driver saw me looking confused and offered his cell phone.  I was able to contact a guy at Emerald name Marius who directed me to wait and that he would be there in a few minutes.  It was a relief to meet him and a shocking pleasure to get into a plain but very clean and comfortable car.  Marius and I chatted easily on our way to Emerald as I internally laughed at my surprise to find myself driving along excellent paved roads with traffic lights and lines to divide the road into lines.  Emerald was very close to the airport and Marius ducked into a building to grab my room key before leading to the door.  By this point I was bone tired and almost asleep on my feet.  The room was another wonder of modern comfort.  For one the lights worked (and it was after 11 pm), the bathroom had no spiders or moths, there was a shower I was sure would produce hot water later in the day for a shower, and a big bed with no mosquito net!!! While all of this was great I was beat and quickly went to bed. 

Africa Conservation Experience – Day 1 – 5/11/11

I woke up early out of habit and was just thinking about rolling over when I hear a knock on my door.  It was the hotel letting me know that my driver would be here in half an hour.  That had me scrambling to pack and take a quick shower.  Even though I was rushing the hot shower was so wonderful I wasted a full five minutes just marveling at hot water.  After getting everything zipped up I dragged my bags around front and met my driver who would take me out to the vet I will be following for the next two weeks.  He offered to load my bags in the car while grabbed a quick breakfast which I gratefully accepted.  The breakfast lay out was nice but to me coming from the bush it looked like heaven.  They had a lady making eggs and bacon that were so good I nearly cried.  Bacon was never part of our meals in Kenya or Tanzania so this was a special treat.  One guy noticed my undisguised happiness at fairly ordinary food and asked where I had been traveling.  We got to talking and it turns out he is a safety officer for a huge energy/petroleum company.  In the course of his training, he lived in the bush for six months so he completely sympathized with my amazement at modern life after being away for several months.  After chatting while I ate my toast, fried eggs, and bacon I said good bye and got in the car.  My driver and I had a great conversation on the several hours drive to Lephalale.  The driver told me about the government and politics since a provincial election was going to occur on the 18^th.  The ruling party (the ANC-African National Congress) holds all cities in South Africa except Cape Town which is held by the tiny party of white politicians (the DA – democratic alliance).  Incidentally Cape Town is the only town in South Africa with a clean audit.  From politics the conversation turned to agriculture, rugby, language (there are 11 official languages), and tourism.  About an hour from Lephalale (the town where I will be staying and working) we stopped for lunch where I got a chicken and mushroom pie.  Pies are pastries filled with various fillings.  They are really good and I’m sure very bad for you.  Driving into Lephalale showed that area to be nice and a small town that is still expanding.  The clinic we pulled into is a small unassuming brick building with red iron gate across the glass sliding front door.  A small plaque next to the door stated in afrikaan that the vet was Daniel Kriel.  Inside the clinic is white walls with bright pictures of wildlife as well and bags of dog food, collars, leashes, and worming products.  The front half of the entrance is divided from the reception area by a half wall with chairs and a small couch in the waiting area and a counter dominating the reception.  Taking this all in two girls walked out of the hall way leading away from this front room.  One was tall, thin, with straight almost white blond hair and a nervous air about her.  The other girl was several inches shorter than me, dark brown hair and a quick smile.  The brunette stuck her hand out and introduced herself as Imogen and indicated the tall girl as Jess.  Both girls had clear british accents.  Jess was leaving today so she said her goodbyes, loaded her bags in to the truck I had just pulled mine out of, and drove off.  Imogen, or Immi for short, helped me drag my stuff down the hall and into a small storage office room on the left where I put everything in the corner by what looked like and unused desk.  Immi was very easy to talk to and we both sort of clicked immediately.  Everything now stored, Immi gave me the tour.  Next door to the storage room was the operating room with a stainless steel table and a large cupboard in the corner holding suture material and other operating necessities.  Just inside the doorway was a machine I have seen previously used to anaesthetize dogs and cats for surgery.  It was not in use and seemed to be there only to hold a roll of cotton wool.  They had just finished surgery when I arrived and clean up had just begun.  The cleaner of the clinic was a tall black man by the name of Philamon who unfortunately did not speak any English, only afrikaan which is a combination of English and Dutch long ago by the white farmers that colonized the cape and moved into the interior.  On the other side of the hallway on the right from the waiting area was an area to make tea and coffee and also held the steam sterilizer.  Next door to this was the consultation room.  In here there was a counter at the back that had a sink and microscope, shelves on the left wall holding medicine, a fridge next to the shelves, and a rickety tall table in the center for examination (it looked at be made of scrap metal).  The right wall had windows and a door that looked into the covered car park area.  If you went out this back door, the metal kennels were enclosed to the right, and two white trucks (one quite big and one pretty small) were parked under the metal overhang.  Beyond the overhang two large heavy duty green metal trailers were parked as well as two normal compact cars.  Back inside Immi introduced me to the staff at the clinic.  Neil is the owner and main vet of the practice.  He had to be about 6’4” with sandy brownish hair.  He was polite and seems not to be a big people person.  The other vet in the practice is a woman named Shannon. She is much shorter than me, light brown hair streaked with blond, sturdily structured with a tendency to mumble.  I had come to realize that the afrikaan accent is very different from Swahili so understanding everyone was a bit challenging.  The last person to meet was Talana the secretary and good friend of Shannon.  She is tall with dark hair and a loud voice and doesn’t take crap from anyone.  I had just gotten my bearings and met everyone when Neil walked past and just said “Get your stuff” and had Immi and I scrambling to grab our backpacks and jump in the big truck.  Neil pulled out and drove into town where I bought another pie and drove out of town.  Driving from Jo’burg this morning the bush had been the only scenery but fences were everywhere.  Large farms had elaborate entrances and lines of wire fences stretching around the entire property.  Neil pulled into one of these farms and drove up to an impressive house complete with parking area and fenced area that had a few fat ponies resting in the shade.  Neil and the owner who introduced himself as Clive began speaking in afrikaan and walking into the house with Immi and I following.  Until we reached a small shed behind the house (which was a impressive inside as out) we had no idea what we were here to do.  In the shed was a very small calf of some antelope species.  Crouching besides its head was the farmer’s wife and his son who told us it was a Gemsbok calf (the English name for gemsbok is Oryx).  Clive had seen this little guy in the field and h just did not look good.  Neil injected him with a booster of vitamins and minerals and started him on a fluid drip.  The rest of the instructions were in afrikaan but from the gist it sounded like there was a 50-50 chance he would pull through.  Back by the truck, Neil packed his meds up and told us we were going across the road to dart an eland.  Clive and his son (Tristan) drive their truck over and we pull up at a nice and neat house that faces the feeding area for the eland.  There is a tall wire fence keeping them away from the house with about six huge eland standing in the shade.  Neil starts making a dart.  This dart is a small metal tube with a double barbed point that Neil injects the drugs into.  The cocktail was a mix of stress reducing drugs and anesthetics.  Once the dart was made, Neil reaches behind the back seat and pulls out the dart gun.  Its a standard .22 calibur rifle that has been modified to hold a dart while firing a blank.  While all this prep was going on a few tourists came out of the house and came over to see what was going on.  I’ll freely admit I found them forward and distasteful but they did not go with from the truck.  Neil walked over to the fence that has some vegetation near it, found a spot and darted the eland in question.  As soon as the dart struck him the whole herd jumped and scattered.  We transferred into Clive’s smaller truck (or bucky as they call them out here) and drove into the fenced area, keeping our distance until the darted eland dropped to the ground.  Neil and two farm helpers jumped out; Neil injected just a little more anesthetic, one helper held the eland’s horns (this keeps the eland from hurting anyone and ensures he keeps his airways open and doesn’t suffocate in the dirt) and the other blindfolded it with an old cloth.  Examining the whole animal not much looked wrong with it.  There was a tiny amount of swelling around the ankle of the right hind leg but I have seen worse on my horses at the height of the show season.  Even the number of ticks on him were minimal.  Neil allowed me to inject with antibiotics and a vitamin booster and he helped Immi administer the antidote to the anesthetic.  Then it was back in the bucky and out by the house again.  The guys stood around talking in afrikaan for a while so Immi and I got to chat a bit more before we packed up and headed out.  Back at the clinic Immi and I took the dog still in the kennel area for a walk on the lawn and Alfie pulled up.  Alfie is solidly built with black hair flecked with gray, bright dark eyes and an infectious grin.  He gave Immi a big hug before introducing himself to me.  Alfie is Neil’s father in-law and I will be staying in Alfie and Jackie’s (Alfie’s wife) guest house.  Immi had been having problems with her camera so she and Alfie left for the camera shop while I stayed to see a few dogs get shots before the clinic closed.  Neil nicely gave me a lift to Alfie’s with all my bags in the back of his truck.  The house is in a nice quiet area with the the local elementary school across the street.  There is a large black iron gate with a complicated lock that I had to figure out before walking up the short drive.  Alfie and Jackie’s house was all one story, white with blue trim on the roof.  The guest house was around back, also one story, and white.  Immi (the keeper of the keys) unlocked the door which opens into the living room which has a two big couches and a big chair facing a coffee table and tv.  Further exploration showed that the kitchen was next to the living room, the bathroom just down from the kitchen and the two bed rooms to the right and back of the living room.  The larger bedroom faces the bathroom and the smaller bedroom is next to the bathroom but can only be gotten to by walking through the larger bedroom.  For just Immi and I it was spacious and comfortable.  It I had thought I had experienced culture shock this morning it was nothing compared to now.  There was carpeting in all rooms except the kitchen and bathroom.  I had a bed without a mosquito net and in a room to myself! There was air conditioning if we wanted to use it and I had a kitchen at my disposal.  Immi was a good sport as I expressed my excitement over such ordinary items and laughed with me at my exuberance.  After putting my stuff in the little bedroom, Immi and I headed over to Alfie and Jackie’s for dinner.  The house inside was comfortable and homey.  Jackie is tall with dark hair and also had a lovely smile.  We sat down to dinner at the table, said grace and dug in.  The food was good especially because it was different from the food I had been eating at KBC.  After dinner Immi and I washed the dishes before sitting on the couch and comfy chairs in the living room to chat with Alfie and Jackie.  It was a lovely welcome but I was exhausted so I excused myself and went to bed.

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 43 and 44 – 5/8 - 5/9/11

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 43 – 5/8/11

The morning started a bit slow with breakfast and time to check email.  But at 10am some people left for church and a game of capture the flag was organized.  I ended up on the blue team and we hid our bandana (aka the flag) under the satellite dish in the back corner of our territory.  We had seven people on our team and divided into Luke and I running the offensive, Julie guarding jail, Mel and Jess as floater middle watchers, Erin and Courtney as watching near the flag but not obviously.  It was a really good game even though we lost.  I was very tired by the end since I have not sprinted since December and I did a lot of that.  To prove how epic our game was we had two twisted ankles, a bruised knee, and one very scraped leg from sliding on gravel by the end of the game.  While Erin’s leg was being treated by an amazed Ernest the rest of us mixed up and played volleyball until lunch.  After eating the majority of the sliced cucumber and tomato salad I retreated to shower while most everyone else loaded into the cruisers and headed to town.  It was a quiet afternoon doing laundry and reading.  Being mother’s day I gave my mom and grandma a tour of the camp via skype.  Everyone returned in time for dinner, some a bit tipsy.  After dinner a campfire was lit and the tables pushed to the walls on the chumba so that a “dinosaur themed dance party” could happen.  We had tiny speakers and only about six people came.  Still it was fun to tape papers on ourselves in the shape of beaks and spikes and dance for a bit. 

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 44 – 5/9/11

Today began with program evaluations.  We divided into three groups and each group was given 30 minutes to complete the online survey so the internet would not crash from all of us being on at the same time.  It was straight forward and we were all done by 10am when we all grabbed chairs and walked out to the far fire pit.  Once we were all assembled and Woozy Mittens (local stray that hangs out with us in camp) was begging to be petted, we began closing activities.  Molly talked about how we might feel when we get back and the reverse culture shock we will experience.  We went around and talked about the things we are most excited to go home for, things we are nervous about, and favorite memories from this trip.  We were talking for about an hour and a half so I had time to get a good start on my packing before lunch.  Our grades and papers were released at 2pm and the calculating of grades and looking through exams and papers took another hour.  This was a MUCH better experience than Tanzania and I only knew of one person who went to talk to the professors.  At loose ends a group of us played volleyball for about two hours which was lots of fun but really warm in the sun.  A cold shower felt really good after the last game while more people joined in a camp wide game of hide and seek.  By dinner I was finished packing and now feel really prepared to head out tomorrow.  During dinner we turned off the light and watched a prepared “Yearbook” slide show of pictures from throughout the trip.  It was really fun and we all laughed a lot.  So now all that’s left is to get copies of the yearbook slideshow, and tie up all the loose ends before program debrief and leaving tomorrow. 

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 42 – 5/7/11

 

Breakfast bell was rung at 6:23 am and kicked off quite a day.  After we had all eaten the tables were removed from the chumba, the floor swept, and every chair on the premises squeezed back in.  A space was left open at the front for each group to present but all other available space was taken.  This all took until about 9 am and afterwards we had nothing to do but get ready and hang around.  I found a book in the library and settled in to read until it was show time.  As more and more people arrived the chumba looked smaller and smaller.  Before the first group went in, everyone got together under the trees outside and took a group picture.  The Wildlife Ecology DR was up first and they presented on water quality in the area.  It was a good presentation even though they went over their time limit by 15 minutes.  What was really interesting were the questions and comments following the presentation.  In attendance were several members of the district government, ministry of agriculture, water management association, and Kenya wildlife service.  The questions and comments mostly aimed at the government, asking why they have not been doing anything about the problems WE had just spent the past ¾ of an hour talking about.  The frustration of these locals as they spoke to the government officials was clear.  There were also a few questions to the research team but most of the questions were aimed at the government.  Environmental Policy was next up and their presentation went just over an hour, double the allotted amount of time.  They spoke about water quantity in the area and again generated lots of questions.  More of these questions were directed at the research team (for example:  how did you decide the amount of water at each farm, measurement or perception) but the vast majorities were again directed at the government officials present.  A short soda break was taken before the WM DR could get started.  By this time it was nearly 1 pm.  Once everyone was back in their seats, we walked to the front of the chumba and prepared to give our presentation.  I had the job of welcoming everyone, introducing our study, and stating our objectives.  I was happy with the job I did and happily handed things off the Greg to continue with our methods.  Our entire presentation with translation was only 26 minutes.  We also had questions but, as they are on a less touchy topic than water, they were easily answered and KWS (Kenya wildlife service) did not get too many jabs from the audience.  After we were done, the government and other people of note were encouraged to speak and give their reactions to all that had been said.  My group and I had left by this point on to the porch where we whispered congratulations.  One group member tried to convince me that since we were now completely finished we were seniors.  I strongly disagreed stating that until the current Swarthmore seniors graduate I remain a junior.  In the midst of this debate I got drafted to help serve lunch to our guests and got pulled into the kitchen.  The best part of getting drafted as kitchen crew was that we got to eat lunch first.  After eating we set up the tables with plates, cutlery, and huge bowls of food which each of us got to serve out of.  I got the salad bowl (not actually a salad….just cut up tomatoes, peppers, and onions) with Mikayla next to me serving beans and Greg serving green beans.  Of course just because we had everything set up did not mean everyone was done talking in the chumba.  They were still going full speed and we were left to relax in the shade by the food.  Greg had to inspiration to go get his Maasai clothes and spear to dress up as a Maasai warrior which we all enjoyed laughing at.  Christina and I got to talking about the GRE and vet school until the final round of applause came from the chumba and people began trickling out.  I was not very busy (the Maasai are really into meat and not tempted by veggies very much) but enjoyed talking to the staff that came through the line.  The Maasai mamas that came to watch all ate as a big group under a tree a good distance from the rest of the guests, making a cluster of bright colors on the green grass under the tree we had taken a group picture under just this morning.  Lots of the local guides came to hear our presentations so it was a fun gathering chatting with them.  Eventually our guests got back into the cruisers and they were driven home while we, the student, swarmed over the chumba.  Chairs were taken out and returned to their usual spots, the floor reswept, and the tables replaced.  Molly had pinned clothes up on the walls and these were taken down and folded.  At loose ends Kira, Allie, and I decided to take a walk around the camp.  After one loop we sat under the gazebo by the far fire pit and talked about preparing to go home and the foods we missed the most.  Kira soon departed but Allie and I stayed talking until after dark.  The food here is repetitive and recently has lost all charm.  Neither of us really wanted to eat dinner but the mosquitoes were coming out and we should get closed toed shoes on before we got bitten by a snake.  RAP was a fun slide show of pictures taken by a fellow student and arranged alphabetically based on the subject. Tomorrow is my last non-program day in Kenya.  I need to start packing and do laundry but we shall see what fun things there are to do tomorrow also.  It is true that as of today we are completely done at SFS.  However I refuse to have my adventure end just yet so I have organized another one.  I will leave Kenya on the 10^th of May and fly to Johannesburg, South Africa (SA).   In SA I will be working with a conservation project in the Limpopo area as a wildlife vet assistant.  It is only for two weeks but I am so excited.  I will be staying on the private game reserve owned by the vet’s in-laws and working with the vet all day.  I am really hoping for some work in the field on wildlife since at this moment that is the career path I am aiming for.  Not only will I get u close and personal experience, I will also have a vet to answer my questions about vet school and specifically vet schools that will get me to be working outside with fascinating wildlife every day.  It took a lot of finagling but I got SFS approval and my flights arranged so two days from now I will be in the air!!!  On that exciting note I am going to go enjoy the campfire burning brightly in the fire pit close to the chumba.

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 38 through 41 – 5/3-5/6/11

5/3-5/5

These past days have been a blur.  Writing, writing, so much writing in Shem’s tiny office.  I revised everything several times, ask questions and revise again.  At our final Wachezaji meeting Shem clarified format questions and told us which maps to include as appendices.  Our papers must be handed in hard copy by 10pm on the 5^th as well as in soft copy with all of our data too.  At 9 pm I gave in and printed my paper, stapled it all together and put it in the box.  I wish I could say it lightened me but really all I felt was relief that I did not have to sit in Shem’s office any more.  Some people cheered and took pictures when they handed their DR in, all I wanted to do was get away from my computer and watch the stars until my head stopped hurting.  Sitting in the dark on the ground is really not recommended in the African bush so I made do by sitting around the impromptu fire a few students had started in the fire pit close to the chumba.  I was exhausted from writing but I did not go to bed until after 1am. 

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 41 – 5/6/11

Today did not start very well since I woke up on three different occasions with intense leg cramps. I suppose that is my punishment for not running much while writing my paper.  Well I decided to sleep in (aka read in bed) and did not actually get up until 8 am.  Our DR papers were done but we are not yet finished.  Everyone convened in the chumba and we had an hour long class talking about the community presentations that will occur tomorrow.  After this class we broke into DR groups to begin putting our slide shows together.  Wachezaji hammered out our slideshow by lunch (we included fun pictures we had taken while out in the field so it’s a fun slide show) and had a practice run through at 3 pm with Ernest who is going to serve as our translator tomorrow.  It was surprisingly difficult to adjust our presenting styles to accommodate translation.  We all have done presentations before so when we start we just want to keep talking.  Remembering to stop after every sentence was hard but we worked it out and by 4pm when we did our mock run through for Shem it was mostly smoothed out.  Of course we got comments from Shem after the mock run through which left me just enough time to shower before dinner.  After dinner Wachezaji met again to make the change Shem had recommended to be ready for tomorrow.  It is expected that 100-150 people will be here tomorrow to hear each DR group present.  Members of various government ministries, managers of lodges and sanctuaries, as well as many other local people have been invited and will come.  Each DR presentation is to take 30 minutes: 15 for the group to talk in English, and 15 for the translation to maa (language of the Maasai).  WM somehow got pushed to being the last group to present so we will be waiting around for a while.  Early morning tomorrow so I am off to bed.

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp - Day 29 to 37 - 4/24-5/2/11

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 29 – 4/24/11

Today is not only non-program day but also Easter!  At 8am the Easter 5k started and I was official timer.  It was fun to cheer people on since quite a few have been training for this since we got to Kenya.  After the race we had a short awards ceremony for the top three guys and girls who were awarded a variety of fruit.  While the runners quickly ate breakfast and showered the rest of us put on our Sunday best and organized to go to church.  Because it is Easter Sunday a few of the local churches are combining for the service today.  It was a short drive down the road and we pulled up outside a small cement building with two tiny windows high up near the roof.  The room was no more than 10 x 10 feet and crammed with chairs and benches.  As we entered the choir at the front began singing very loudly and somehow I ended up in the front row right in front of them.  The music was very upbeat and everyone was dancing to the beat being beaten out of an old drum by one of the choir members.  It was quite a welcome.  Once the song ended we were welcomed by the church officials and asked to introduce ourselves.  The actual church service was not long but definitely more of the fire and brimstone variety.  The pastor was very animated and at time straight up yelling.  There was some verse reading and the pastor interpreted and expanded on what we had just read.  I must admit his claim that he is never sick and in perfect health because of his faith in the Lord did not convince me that I was missing must by not going to church.  We had another song in between the first and second service and at the end of the second service both of which were equally upbeat and danced to.  By the time we left my ears were ringing but I was glad I had gone.  Most of the time the people we meet here are quiet and reserved, doing their work and maybe offering a shy smile.  In church they let loose singing loudly and dancing exuberantly which was fun to see and join in albeit a bit less boisterously.  Back at camp we had a good lunch while three people hide Easter eggs.  The Egg Hunt began at 1pm on the dot and everyone raced off in different directions to search.  I look along the bandas on my side and promptly found two eggs.  Despite ranging all over the remaining area where eggs were hidden I had no more luck.  Each egg had five pieces of candy so I was pretty happy with my ten pieces.  The rest of the afternoon I spent relaxing in the chumba while a group of students went to the tourist bar in town.  Christina had been in the kitchen for a long time and when she emerged I was recruited to help decorate the chumba for Easter dinner.  We hung colorful streamers over all of the beams in the ceiling, cut flowering branches off the shrubs for the tables, and arranged eggs.  Molly made no-bake cookies and one of the kitchen staff had decided to spoil everyone and make deviled eggs with capers.  I was not as excited as the other students about these pre-meal treat but the dessert was fabulous.  Christina had been slaving away in the kitchen making red velvet cake for all of us.  Molly had even brought back sugar flowers back from Nairobi so we had more flowers nestled into the frosting on the cakes.  We all were stuffed like it was Thanksgiving.  I took a walk down the driveway admiring the stars before heading to bed.

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 30 – 4/25/11

Breakfast was at normal time and Wachazaji gathered to begin work.  We began by going over our project objectives again and trying to make more sense of the statistics we should do.  This was very difficult because Shem our advisor is still not back.  We heard he was at a funeral which casts a shadow on this week and so we are doing the best we can in his absence.  About two hours later we had solidified our objectives to more focused areas and had worked out a plan for data analysis which we had divided between the ten of us.  Erica, Nicky and I were assigned to perform an ANOVA and posthoc Tukey test on the densities for each sanctuary.  These tests supposedly will tell us if there is a significant difference between the sanctuaries and which ones.  I am not good at statistics probably because I find it boring beyond belief.  To make this even more fun the software we are suppose to use to do these tests refused to do the tests despite us entering the data differently and trying all sorts of variations.  By the time lunch rolled around we had made no progress and were in a forced holding pattern until the WE professor returned from fieldwork since he has a thorough knowledge of the program we were trying to use.  The one area we did make a lot of progress in was in making the animal density maps.  Using the maps we had used to plan our daily transects we laid a grid on top of it.  By looking at the GPS points we recorded for each animal we determined which cell on the map it fell in and colored that cell a certain pattern depending on whether it was wildlife, livestock, or both seen inside.  It is a very slow process but at least we were able to do it.  The comparison tests for various things within the sanctuaries, animals, and habitats were also completed by another group of Wachezaji.  Mid afternoon WE returned to camp and we got to ask Kiringe our questions.  Unfortunately he recommended that we hold off until Shem got back due to his not knowing what Shem wants us to get from this data.  This makes sense.  We have not heard back from him about our proposal, our objectives, or any of our ideas on statistical tests.  For all we know at this point we might have to redo everything except the maps.  Since there was nothing else for the three of us to do we went for a run.  It was not yet 4pm so the sun was brutal but the run got rid of all of my frustration.  While I was taking my shoes off after I looked up and saw a kingfisher perched on the volleyball net post not 30 feet away.  His bright blue feathers and red beak made him stand out as he casually looked around.  He sat there the whole time I removed grass and prickers from my socks and pants almost like he was keeping me company.  When I got up to go shower he finally flew away in the direction of the swamp and lots of little fish.  We had salad at dinner so I was pumped on endorphins and eating cucumbers and tomatoes….I couldn’t be much happier.  Tonight at midnight our materials and methods section of our paper is due.  As I have already said we have had no feedback so we all are just guessing what we have planned is correct and turned in our rough drafts.  I just turned mine in and am headed for my sleeping bag.  Lala salama

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 31 to 35 – 4/26-4/30/11

picture is of some visitors I had to my banda the other day!

There really is not much to tell about the past five days.  Shem returned, looked over our work and pointed us in the correct direction.  Unfortunately this meant a lot more work for us plus our methods would need to be revised to reflect the tests we now were running on the data.  Data analysis is always frustrating making these past days seem very long and unproductive.  The amount of data we have from all our field work and the field work from the past two semesters is intimidating in size.  Combing through lots of numbers has so far not brought any great insight or revelation of trends as I had hoped.  Yesterday (4/29) was a non-program day.  A group of people went into Loitokitok while another group went to Amboseli National Park to game drive and eat the fancy buffet at the tourist lodge.  I would have loved to go game driving in Amboseli but instead I was stuck at camp making tables and figures for my paper and trying to draw conclusions from the data to write a good results section.  I did get it written and turned in but it made for a very late night, or early morning which would be more correct given it was 2am before I went to bed.  This morning again was spent trying to organize the data, this time to write the discussion.  Several hours of this got me nowhere and our advisor, seeing my frustration, agreed that we should wait another day before turning in our discussion.  We should get the rough draft of our results section back tomorrow morning which I will use as my outline for writing my discussion section.  So this evening will be spent reading other scientific papers to cite in my writing tomorrow.  As a fun side note, this evening at dinner the MOD gave out his own SFS Awards to everyone in the group.  My award was Most Likely to Live in the Jungle for a Year and Survive.  I must admit that I was flattered and right about now a year in the jungle without a huge paper to write sounds idyllic. 

Kilimanjaro Bush Camp – Day 36 and 37 – 5/1-5/2/11

Again not much to report.  I spent today and yesterday (5/1) in Shem’s office writing.  I take a break when I feel like I’m going to scream from staring at this screen and to eat meals but otherwise I’m just in here.  I took over Shem’s office to escape the noise of tension of the other students in the chumba and in general it has worked out well.  Besides having my own space and dealing with less noise, having Tome (the environmental policy prof pronounced Toe-may) and Molly as neighbors is pretty hilarious.  Molly has led such a different and interesting life that she has the most wonderful stories and they just come up in conversation.  Since these buildings have burlap walls and I’m in the office next to her’s many of my breaks are me simply going into her office while she tells one of her stories.  Tome also pokes his head in the door every time he passes to say “Hi neighbor” and probably make sure I don’t go insane in my little cell.  I do feel slightly bad for taking over Shem’s office.  Evidence of my moving in is scattered across his desk.  My dusty backpack is beside the chair, my water bottle has a prominent place between my snacks and the power strip and of course my piles and piles of paper surround to the point of hiding my computer.  In my defense Shem never was in or seemed to use his office and he did say it was fine for me to work there.  The definite high points of the past two days have been hearing news from my wonderful track team which competed in the conference meet this past weekend, learning a brief history of plaid from today’s MOD, and printing the rough draft of my discussion about 10 mins ago.  Tomorrow I will write a rough draft of my research paper introduction and begin tossing around ideas for a title, key words, and abstract.  Until then I’m going to bed to try and catch up on the many many hours of missed sleep.