Catching up...sorry guys!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Today for my culture class we went back to Amboseli NP to visit a Maasai tourist manyatta. It was neat comparing thhis experience with the tourist manyatta to the experience we had at the "real" Maasai boma we visited in the beginning of the semester. Side note: I can't believe I've almost been here a whole month...CRAZY!!!! We were welcomed with song and dance, shown around in their village (or manyatta if you so choose to use), told about the traditional Maasai life, learned about different natural remedes (NEAT), shown how they traditionally made fire, given a tour of their houses (pretty big), and then herded into a market like lost sheep. It was fun, but you could definitely see the impact tourism had on this boma. They hadn't moved in 15 years (Maasai are normally known as nomadic), there were lots of men (at the other boma the men were out tending to the cattle and shoats), the houses were really big (relatively speaking), and lots of other things. Basically today was our day to be tourist...and we totally played the part. Afterwards we game drove to a lodge in the park and had probabaly the best meal I've ever had in my life (sorry mom). Then we went for a dip in the pool and ended the day with a game drive back home. All-in-all a good day...except for the 5 assignments that are due before we leave for Tsavo looming over my head. Oh yeah! Since we're entering the rainy season Kili is starting to get more snow on her:)

Does anyone want to hear a funny story? You might have had to have been here to fully appreciate, but here goes... So I am learning Kiswahili. I am not good at Kiswahili. I always mix up my words and phrases. So Hapana asante means "No thank you" and Kwaheri mean "Good-bye". I know...not even close. But today when we were leaving the park I was yelling to say good-bye to the Mamas (who are constantly puching their good on you so you say "Hapana asante") and instead I ended up yelling "HAPANA ASANTE!" So hopefully I don't look too rude:/

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

So today we had wildlife ecology alllllllll day. We were split into groups of 5 and sent out with a guide to Kuku group ranch to assess the terrain. Our guide's name was Samuel and he was pretty cool. He could glance at the spot where we were taking our survey and tell us how many different specious of grasses, herbacious, and woody species there were in like 5 seconds! He tried to teach me, but well...you know. Anyway (this part gets excitin g so pay close attention) we were walking along to our next survey spot- picking up different animal poop, smelling different roots, taking in the sights- when we saw a massive termite mound. We stopped to take a picture (seriously, who woudn't want a pic of a 4 foot tall termite mound?) when we spotted a TORTOISE!!!!! Needless to say, I was stoked! Reptiles= awesome. Turtles/tortoises= the ULTIMATE!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Today was a really eye-opening field lecture! We went around the Kimana, Kuku, and Brikani Group Ranches to see the state of availability of natural resources. I'm here to say that the situation is sad. Our first stop was just outside our camp and we were asked to look around and observe what was happening to the land. When you're in the cushioned environment of KBC you often forget how dismally bare everything is outside. The locals must honestly hate us at times when they're walking their cattle and shoats around to find food and the only greenery is inside our camp. The second site we went to was a river...or what was once a river. Due to lack of organic resources and minerals, massive soil erosion, and the diverting of the normal flow of water, the river is dying...literally. We also learned about all of these water wars that have taken place nearby. When the government is shooting people from helicopters you know it's bad. SFS has received a grant to try and rehabilitate different water sources throughout the Kimana group ranch, however, they can't do anything without local community involvement.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

7 hours of class...woohoo:(