TSAVO- Land of the Maneaters!

TSAVO!

Hi everybody! Sorry for the long break, but I just got back from the “Land of the Man-Eaters,” Tsavo National Park. If anyone has seen the movie, The Ghost and the Darkness, then you know where I’ve been for the past week. That movie is based on the true story of Colonel Patterson who is famous for killing the two lions that when on a 9-month killing spree of Indian workers who had been brought to Kenya to build the railroad going from Mombasa to Lake Victoria. While I never actually saw a lion while I was in Tsavo, I did fall asleep to them roaring in the not-so-far distance. Also, I know I look like a dweeb in most of these pics, but since we didn’t have access to showers the whole week I hope you can understand.

My story begins on March 3 at 5:00 in the morning…

This morning was my turn for cook crew. Battling the beetles and bats flying at my headlamp, I got ready to cook breakfast with my team, Kikuyu, before the whole camp left for expedition. Since we packed all the food our cook, James, just brought back from Nairobi, we didn’t have much to work with. We managed to whip out a healthy meal of scrambled eggs, toast, oatmeal and freshly sliced watermelon before the sun was up. After shoveling our food into our mouths, we packed our things into the Rhino, the big white truck we carry all of our supplies in, and hit the road. We stopped for a 2 hour wildlife management class on top of a hill just outside of Kimana. Afterwards, we scrambled into the cars once more to continue on our journey to Tsavo. About 45 minutes before getting to Tsavo, we had to stop and pick up a couple of KWS guards to accompany us to the gate. Apparently the road we take to Tsavo has become popular to tourist targeting, but we were absolutely fine:) When we got to the gate, we found out that something had gone wrong with our smart cards (a system used in Kenya to get into all of the national parks and protected areas). After about 30 minutes we were allowed to continue on our way to our campsite. Literally 3 minutes into our drive we saw 7 giraffes browsing by the roadside and startled a huge warthog from where he had been hiding in a bush. We continued on our way to Komboyo campsite where we set up the tents and unpacked the Rhino. Then we ended the day with a nice game drive through the park. We saw elephants drinking water from a watering hole by KWS headquarters, lesser kudus, guinea foul, impala, gazelles, zebra (punda mulia), and more giraffes. After a filling meal, we sat around the campfire telling scary stories and listening to the elephants trumpet and lions roar.

March 4

Today we went to the Chyulu Hills for a lecture and a nice hike. Chyulu is often advertised as the secret of Kenya…and I can see why. It’s gorgeous! The scenery reminded me of the picnic scene in Out of Africa. It makes me sad that my camera can’t capture the beauty…but then again it might be the photographer:/ Anyway…we had a 2 hour long environmental policy class where I managed to get really attractive sock tan lines that are about halfway up my calf. Fall has started to set in where I am, so it’s really funny to see all of our professors basically wearing winter coats and sweaters while all of the students are in shorts and t-shirts, and are still sweating. After class we ate lunch (I imagined I was on a lunch date with Robert Redford) and then, for those who wanted to, went on a hike with some really good-looking KWS escorts. While hiking we saw a herd of Coke’s Hartebeest galloping over the hills. On my way down with Isobel and Anna, some of the boys decided to hide behind a bush a scare us…it worked. Our staff surprised with a visit to the town right outside of Tsavo NP for ice cream! It honestly felt like I was back in the States, because the roads were paved and there was a Shell station on the corner. There was even a flush toilet…weird! On the way back to camp we stopped in at the Visitor’s Center and did a game drive the rest of the way back to camp.

Funny, sort of, instance that happened to me at night. Well I woke up really having to go to the bathroom at night. When we need to go to the choo, we are supposed to flash our flashlights at the eskaris so that they can accompany us to the bathroom and protect us from whatever happens to be lurking in the tall grass nearby. So deciding that I couldn’t wait until morning, I flashed the eskaris and was accompanied to the choo. While I was on my way back, the biggest roar ever came from the darkness. AHHHHHHHH! Actually I wasn’t that scared because the eskari that accompanied me is famous for killing a lion back in the day. The eskari rushed me back to my tent and joined the other 3 guards to assess the situation. In the morning we found out that a male lion had decided to take a stroll by camp and have a quick cat nap in the middle of the road that runs by our campsite.

March 5

Today we had a low key day in camp. We got to sleep in this morning (6:30 am)…yay! After breakfast we had a preparatory lesson for the animal count we will be doing tomorrow for wildlife ecology. Then we went for a short game drive where our professor showed us the difference between shrubland and bushland. I’m not gonna lie…they look pretty much the same. On the way back from camp we found some honey badger poop! I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but my professors (ALL of them) LOVE picking up poop. Fortunately the poop was still fresh, and kinda runny, so they refrained from picking it up and passing it around even though I could totally tell it was killing them to not pick it up. When we got back to camp, a scientist working for Tsavo West came to speak with us about the health of the park and the problems being faced. It’s sad to hear the poaching is still a problem…although it’s not as bad as it once was because KWS has really been able to crack down on the bad guys. We ended the day with a, you guessed it, a game drive!

March 6

Today was an early day! We woke up at 6 to do our animal counts in our different transects. My group saw lots of cool animals: hippos, klipspringers, lesser kudu, impala, warthogs, dik-diks, zebra, giraffes, monkeys, baboons, and lots of pretty birds. At lunchtime we met the rest of the group at an inactive volcano and hiked to the top for a little R&R…and lunch:) The lava rocks are sort of loose so it was funny watching all of us slowly make our way to the top. We ate lunch, took lots of neat pics, and then headed down so we could go to Mzima springs, where the fish give hippos pedicures. On our way down, a bus full of boys from one of the secondary schools in the area came and totally put us to shame as they sprinted up the side of the mountain.

At Mzima Springs we enjoyed seeing all of the hippos, crocs, monkeys, and birds. I was even lucky enough to snap a shot of an African squirrel…whoa! There was a neat underwater observation deck where you could see these really big fish. They looked really tasty. I also saw a crocodile sitting by a waterfall with his mouth open waiting for the fish to come his way.

Word of Caution: When visiting Mzima Springs, beware of monkeys. They like to come up and say hi!

March 7

Today we went and visited the Ngulia Rhino sanctuary where Kenya is in the process of rehabilitating a population of black rhinos. Supposedly there are 69 black rhinos living in this sanctuary…well we were there for 4 hours and never saw one! We did however see the cutest scene of guinea fowl running to this watering hole, getting quick drink of water, and running back into the long grass for protection. We also saw the prettiest giraffes, the ugliest warthogs, and zebra.

After the sanctuary we went to a lodge for another killer buffet and some swim time. This lodge is known for baiting leopards with goats to show the guests. We didn’t stay long enough so we didn’t get to see it (Side note: It is not good to feed wild animals because they lose their natural ability to stalk and kill their prey…so don’t do it).

March 8

Today we packed up camp and headed back to KBC. I really miss Tsavo but it feels good to be home.

Catch up (Part 2)

Sunday, March 1, 2009 (The BEST month EVER)

Today we went on a travelling lecture to Amboseli National Park. This was our last time going, so it was a sad day:( We’ve been learning about 10 major problems faced by wildlife management areas and today we got to see the effects of those problems. We looked at the dying woodlands due to elephants and overuse by humans, the baboons with human diseases (heart disease and diabetes) due to tourists feeding them, the overgrazing that has been done in the grasslands by wildlife and livestock, and the competition at the swamps. At the end of the lecture we game drove out of the park and saw lots of neat animals. On Tuesday we leave for Tsavo National Park. If you’ve ever seen The Ghost and the Darkness (about the man-eating lions), that’s where I’m going. I’ll be sure to keep a detailed journal so when I get back I’ll have lots of neat stories:)

Saturday, February 28, 2009

So today was another non-program day…yay! We went to our favorite town Oliotokitok. Instead of a day of fun-filled shopping, we had a fun-filled day at the orphanage one of our staff members worked out when she first came to Kenya. As usual, we were welcomed with singing and dancing. They even sang an English song that we got to sing and dance to: When I say one, you raise your hands. When I say two you sit on the ground. When I say three, you jump in the air. When I say four, you turn round and round. My buddy was Lukas. He loves animals and wants to be a policeman one day. I had so much fun with him. He showed me where all of the animals were kept…even their five new puppies! Then we played soccer, tag, and duck-duck-goose for the rest of the afternoon.

When we got back, I practiced throwing my Maasai spear. I'm getting better. It actually stuck in the ground a couple of times!

Catch up (Part 1)

Sorry guys! The internet has been acting funny, so I haven't been able to post anything lately:(

Friday, February 27, 2009

Today we got to go on another field excursion for Wildlife ecology. We spent 3 quality hours bird-watching. I pretty much see a bird and think, "Oh what a nice bird" and then go on my way. That’s not the case in Kenya. Everybody LOVES birds here. We even stop classes sometimes to look at a bird. And I’m not talking about a pretty parrot or an eagle in attack mode…I’m talking a sparrow-like bird. However, today I had a pretty neat bird experience. We saw a Superb Starling attacking a field mouse. Since, starlings do not eat meat this was a bit weird...but a bit cool. So we just stood there watching this bird go to town on the tiny field mouse. My professor was so funny. He kept saying, “What the hell is this bird doing? Doesn’t he know that he doesn’t eat meet? That mouse is too big for him to eat anyway.” In the end it realized it couldn't even carry the mouse much less eat it. My professor just shook his head and kept saying, “So wasteful!”

We also happened across lots of animals on our walk. We saw a dik-dik, gazelles (Grants and Thomsons), impala, and a warthog. At the end of our walk, we happened across a family of elephants. They are huge! On our way back to camp we saw a poor wildebeest that looked like it was dying from starvation and dehydration. I don’t really know why, but apparently it’s quite normal for little kids from around the area to come and slash the wildebeest, and the earlybird gets the tail. It seemed kind of cruel to me to tease a poor defenseless creature, but again I don’t really understand a lot of things about African culture yet so I think I will research this incident further.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

So I feel like I should tell you about my first experience with a scorpion. I was up at the bathrooms would by bandamate brushing and flossing before I turned in for the night. I was looking around and spotted a scorpion. I was like "Oh cool! A scorpion!" and my bandmate was like, "Gross it looks like someone stepped on it." So she moved it with her bott and nothing happened. Then one of our fellow students came to the bathroom to brush and floss his teeth and we were both like, "Oooo Mike come look at this scorpion. It's dead, but it's still kinda cool." So Mike came over and we all 3 bent our faces down to it and IT STARTED RUNNING AROUND! Well Mike started screaming, which got me screaming, and Anna was just standing there laughing with toothpaste dripping out of the side of her mouth. She finally came to the rescue and squashed it...CRUNCH.

Today we learned how to throw our Maasai spears with the help of our Maasai professor Daniel. He, of course, is awesome at it. I, of course, am not. We each got two supervised throws with Daniel. The first one was terrible and the second one was only bad. Afterwards we had some "free-throw" time (under supervision of course). It was kinda scary standing there with 20 other people throwing spears around you, so I went to a secluded area and continued to be bad at throwing my spear in private. Well you can't be good at everything.

Tonight was our first night walk. It was really neat because the night really does have eyes. Everywhere I turned there was a pair of glowing orange eyes staring out at me from the trees. We must have seen 5 bushbabies...they are so cute. We also saw a really pretty owl:)

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:(

Oliotoktitok...yeah!

February 21
Today was our day off! Woohoo! We started it off with a 2 hour nature walk...OUTSIDE OF THE FENCE!!!!!!! We saw zebra and giraffes. It was really cool not seeing them from inside a car. When we got back we got our Maasai spears and swords that a local made for us. They are all different and it was fun to see our professor throw them. We are going to learn how to throw them sometime this week. Around 11:30 we left for Oliotokitok. We've never been to Oliotokitok on their market day, so it was really different then before. Isobel and I got lots of passion fruit and mangos. We got six mangos for 20 shillings! That's a deal...and they actually taste good. Walking around and seeing the different stands, while being chased by the Mamas, was fun too. There were stands with hand-woven baskets, tons of beautiful fabrics, and other stuff too. I love going into market!

February 20
So today Economic Policy was actually a little more my speed. We separated into groups of 4, drove to a small village outside of Kimana, were dropped off with our translaters (Solomon was my grop's translater), and were picked up 4 hours later. Our goal for this project was to talk to as many people as we possibly could about the problems they face being farmers. We talked to about 11 farmers (it's kind of a far walk in between farms). The most common problems were wildlife, costs, market, labor, and water. I thought since the short rains did not come this year that water would be more of a problem, but I was wrong. Across the board wildlife was the main problem. These farmers hate elephants, zebra, antelope, and hippos. I can't say that I blame them. It was really sad to visit these farms and see the damage that the animals had caused just a few hours ago. It was good for us to be able to go out first hand and see this. In the class you feel bad for these animals, but in the field I felt bad for the farmers. I also realized that this was not a black-and-white- argument like I did before. Do you punish the people for killing wildlife for trespassing, when these crops are all they have? Or do you kill the wildlife even though this land was once where they grazed? Tricky...

Once upon a goat slaughter...

February 19, 2009

Today after class we had a goat-slaughtering in the woods. Once again I felt like I was watching a scene from gladiator as my classmates gathered around with huge smiles on their faces and twinkles in their eyes as they got ready to take videos and pictures of a cute goat breathing its last breath. I was expecting them to start foaming at the mouth and break out into a riot when our teacher told us to wait for our fellow classmates to join up with the rest of the group. I tried to look at it as a cultural experience, but at the very last minute, when they were tying it down so it could not escape and approaching it with a sharp knife with the sun glinting off of it, I decided that I could not handle seeing a poor, defenseless goat die. I did come back afterwards to examine the four-chambered stomach, as that was part of the lecture. Some may think I am a weenie, but I still think I’m pretty ok.

February 18, 2009

Today we went on another trip to Amboseli National Park. On the way over my professor told an excellent story about how he was once in a supermarket in Idaho (he went to Idaho for college) buying a bag of M&Ms, his favorite candy, when he noticed a little girl who was crying hysterically and pointing at him. He went up to mother and asked her if everything was ok and she said that her daughter had never seen a man with his skin color before and was scared. He then began to explain to the little girl why his skin color was different from her skin color. He asked her if her mother had a garden and she said “Yes.” He then asked her which flowers in that garden are her favorite colors. She responded, “The red, yellow, and pink flowers.” He then explained to her that God is a gardener like her mother and that we are his flowers…we’re all different colors.

While we were waiting to get clearance to enter the park, I saw a lizard! He was all different colors and kind of metallic. Not everyone in my car was quite as excited as I was, but they just don’t know how cool reptiles really are:)

Once we got into the park, we split off into 5 groups and headed to different sectors of the park to begin our project for my Wildlife Management class. For the project we went out for about 4 hours to take a sample survey of all of the large mammals (well any mammal…dik-dik and up) within 500 meters on both sides of the road…so basically I got to count really cool mammals ALL DAY! My group was by Lake Amboseli but since the rainy season hasn’t begun, it was bone dry. We did however have a few smaller swamps that were populated with all sorts of animals that had come to get their daily drink and graze on…so many zebra, wildebeest, and gazelles.

When we were heading back to meet the rest of the group for lunch we drove through this abandoned large. It was really eerie! Windows were broken, weeds were growing everywhere, and monkeys and baboons were running around. One of the girls in my car starting humming the theme song to Jurassic Park as we were driving through the lodge. No joke…if I had seen a T-Rex run by and snatched up a goat, I would not have been surprised.

After lunch we had a lecture on a hill facing Mt. Kili. I couldn’t believe I was actually having class with Mt. Kili behind my professor. We even had a little visitor during lecture. A trouble-making vervet monkey came up to one of my classmates and wrestled her for her Tupperware that still had scraps in it. Fortunately my classmate won and got to keep her Tupperware for further expeditions.

We finished the day by doing a couple more hours of game driving…without counting :) As my group was staring at a couple of hippos just chillin’ in a swamp (with the little bird friends on their backs), I looked over to my side of the car and saw...A BLACK MAMBA!!!!!

When we were about to leave the park we were passing a swamp by the front gate of Amboseli and noticed a lioness making her way to get a drink. You would not believe how fast the other animals split as she sauntered down to the watering hole. It was hilarious to see all of the wildebeest, zebra, giraffes, gazelles…giving her a wide berth of about 200m. We, the animals included, were all waiting to see what she would do. Then someone in my car noticed the lame cow laying on the ground…apparently the lioness noticed too. The cow started to struggle to get up as she made her way towards it and the lioness sprang into action. She made her way to the cow in a few quick leaps and pounced on its rear. I felt like I was watching a scene from gladiator because all of the people in my car were muttering under their breath, “Get it!” “Grab it by the throat!” “Kill the cow!” Meanwhile, I’m thinking, “Oh my gosh! I don’t know if I can handle this. I know it happens, but that poor cow.” Well the lioness sat there for a little bit and then walked away. I don’t know why she walked away…maybe she was waiting for the rest of her pride, maybe she didn’t like the crowd that was watching, or maybe she knew it was so weak she could wait. In the end, only the driver and I weren’t completely bummed that the lioness hadn’t ripped the poor cow to shreds.

The internet has decided to be my friend:)

February 17, 2009
After class a few of the students decided to go into Kimana town. It’s always nice to get out of the compound every now and then. Isobel and Catherine, two girls from my group, and I ventured into the crowded market and braved the ever-insistent Mamas to find 4 perfectly ripe mangos. They were delicious!!!!!! Tomorrow we go to Amboseli National Park for our first large mammal count so I hopefully I’ll have lots of fun stories!

February 16, 2009
Today was our second rainy day! Yay! I decided to go for a walk around the running trail while it was still drizzling and saw some vervet monkeys. They were so cute until they started throwing berries at me…thank goodness it wasn’t their poop. Also I saw my first AFRICAN TOAD!!!!!!! I was starting to think I wouldn’t see any reptiles or amphibians while I was here, but he just hopped my way :)

February 15, 2009
Today was our second non-program day!!!!!!! We started the day off going to church for a little over 3 hours. It was a great experience. We got there and everybody was singing and dancing. The sermon was spoken in Kiswahili, but one of our staff, he is a member of the church, translated for us. The lecture focused on looking past people’s differences and accepting them for who they are. At about 12:30 we left for Oliotokitok to go to the VCT clinic. The VCT clinic offers free testing, education, and medicine for those who have contracted AIDS. We were privileged to hear the life stories of the men and women who started the support group. We also met the woman who founded VCT. She was a little 80-year-old nun from Pennsylvania who had been living in Kenya since the 1970s. At the end of our visit, they showed us to their shop where they make different crafts to help raise money to buy food for their family.

February 14, 2009
Well today was pretty much the best Valentine’s day ever! We woke up this morning and had a bird watching class. I got to see an up close and personal view of my favorite bird the Hadada Ibis. Most people actually hate this bird because it has a very annoying call (HHHHAAAAAHHHHAAAAAHHHHAAAAA). I, however, think this bird is hilarious! Sometimes we’ll just be sitting outside having class and the next thing you know these birds are bursting into laughter…I like to think one of them just told a funny joke.

After class we packed some lunches and headed towards Rombo, a teeny tiny town, for our community service project. From there we took a road, I think we were actually driving in a dried up riverbed, to this school way out in the middle of nowhere. When we got there the Mamas and the children welcomed us with singing and dancing. Our group decided to teach the kids the Hokey Pokey (they all pointed and laughed) while the doctors set up different stations: diagnosis, prescriptions, baby weighing, de-worming, vitamin dispersal. Then my group split up and went to different stations. I was at the prescription area. My job consisted of filling a bag with whatever the doctor told me to fill it with…pretty simple.

I hope that my Kiswahili gets better so I can communicate with the children more:)