OK here's a REAL blog post finally! Sorry about the delay...
So today we got back from our 5 day expedition in Serengeti, which was incredible. On the way in on the first day, we stopped at Olduvai Gorge, which is where the oldest human footprints and also a bunch of fossils of extinct animals and homonids were discovered. That was really cool but rather touristy. Once we got into the park, we saw two lions pretty close up on the way to our campsite. The next day I not only saw a bunch of lions, including a family eating a freshly killed zebra and then later the same family sitting literally 3 feet from our landcruiser, but I also saw a leopard and my first (and only) cheetah! She was also really close to us at one point- she crossed the road right in front of our car! Over the course of the trip I saw a bunch more lions, another leopard, two baby crocs, a python in the road. and a lot of the less interesting animals that I've been seeing everywhere else a lot such as various gazelles, warthogs, zebras, elephants, hippos, giraffes, etc. And a lot of cool birds, which we did an exercise on one morning that some people got really into, but I personally prefer the mammals.
The other interesting thing about Serengeti was how much the animals seemed to love our camp site. One night I awoke to hear was I could have sworn was every creature in Serengeti having a party in the middle of camp, and found out the next morning was a wildebeest being killed and eaten by a family of lions right behind the bathrooms. There were also multiple buffalos and hyenas spotted within feet of my tent. I don't know exactly what the askaris do to keep us from being eaten, but they had their work cut out for them this time and they did a wonderful job. Then today on the way back we stopped at this restaurant called Happy Days that some American woman opened in town and it was really nice. They have great American food and play great American music. I had mac & cheese, which was awesome.
So before this trip we recently had 2 visits to Lake Manyara National Park, which is about a 30 minute drive, and 1 to the Ngorogoro Conservation Area/Crater, which is a bit further. Although we didn't see any animals in Lake Manyara that we hadn't already seen (except storks, which there where A LOT of) it may be my favorite park so far because it is so different and beautiful. Most of it is really lush forest with lots of little springs/streams trickling down to the lake. It was a nice change from dry, dusty Kenya. We did an exercise there where we observed baboon behaviors, which was really cool but a bit overwhelming (there were A LOT of baboons...) Ngorongoro was also really cool. We saw a few lions, although they were all pretty far away, and... 2 RHINOS! That was really cool and lucky, since they're so endangered- I think the whole Serengeti has like, 20. So I have officially seen the "Big 5," (lions, leopards, elephants, buffalos, and rhinos. )
I think that about does it for tonight. Pretty soon we're going to get into our DRs, so I will let you all know when I know exactly what I'm doing for that. And I will try to do another post sooner than I have been...
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Pole sana...
...for not posting in forever. But things have been pretty crazy since our expedition. Here's a brief summary of why I haven't posted in half a month:
We got back from Tsavo (which was awesome) and then had 3 assignments due in the next 2 days. Then we had exams 2 days after that. Then we had the next day to pack and move into tents so the other group could come in and take over our bandas. Then everything was chaotic and stressful until we left for Tanzania. We've just been just settling in here since.
And now I'm really tired and have to get up early. I will try to write a more elaborate post tomorrow.
We got back from Tsavo (which was awesome) and then had 3 assignments due in the next 2 days. Then we had exams 2 days after that. Then we had the next day to pack and move into tents so the other group could come in and take over our bandas. Then everything was chaotic and stressful until we left for Tanzania. We've just been just settling in here since.
And now I'm really tired and have to get up early. I will try to write a more elaborate post tomorrow.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Off on expedition!
OK, so I'm sorry it's been such a long time since my last post, and that this post is going to be short, but I just finished my paper that's due tonight and we have to wake up really early tomorrow because WE'RE GOING CAMPING IN TSAVO FOR 6 DAYS! So I will not be in contact with the outside world during that time, but please know that I am (probably) safe and having a great time and seeing lots of lions etc. So I will write more about that afterwards, so here's a brief summary of the past few days:
Saturday we went to a town called Loitoktok and went to the market and then visited an orphanage. The kids were really sweet and friendly, they showed us around their school and then we drew pictures. I spent most of the time with a little girl named Lucy, and yesterday when a few of my classmates went back they brought me back the following note:
Dear Terah
How are you. I hope everything is okay. I enjoyed myself very much when I was with you and I miss you very much. I hope to see you again someday soon. May be I will see you in your country. From Lucy Ndura P.S. I think you are beautiful.
After reading this, I asked our SAM (advisor-type person) if we were allowed to adopt the orphans. She said no...
I am going to visit her again when we get back, but the reason I didn't go yesterday is because the other option was to take a game drive through the Kimana Sanctuary, which is really close to our camp but we'd never been to before. First, we stopped at a pool to see some hippos pretty close up, and on the path from the Land Cruiser to the pool I came across my first (live) snake in Africa! I think it was a black mamba, but I didn't really look at it for more than a fraction of a second before turning and running directly into my friend and then continuing to run...
So after the hippos we saw a lot more cool animals like giraffes and zebras and impalas and some elephants, but the highlight of the day (and possibly my life) was that we got to go to where they had 5 captive lions that they had raised since they were orphaned as cubs. There were 4 females and a male, and the only thing between us and them was a chain link fence! They were so cute and so big! They were acting just like giant kitties! We even got to see them get their dinner- pre-slaughtered goats- and they ate EVERYTHING, feet, heads, organs, bones, everything. Then after dinner they climbed into the trees and washed and napped. I will try to get some pictures up after our trip.
OK, so I bid you all goodbye for now. I will be having a blast trying not to get eaten by lions and I will be wearing my Jayson Werth shirt until it is absolutely disgustingly dirty in hopes that they can beat the Giants without me...
Saturday we went to a town called Loitoktok and went to the market and then visited an orphanage. The kids were really sweet and friendly, they showed us around their school and then we drew pictures. I spent most of the time with a little girl named Lucy, and yesterday when a few of my classmates went back they brought me back the following note:
Dear Terah
How are you. I hope everything is okay. I enjoyed myself very much when I was with you and I miss you very much. I hope to see you again someday soon. May be I will see you in your country. From Lucy Ndura P.S. I think you are beautiful.
After reading this, I asked our SAM (advisor-type person) if we were allowed to adopt the orphans. She said no...
I am going to visit her again when we get back, but the reason I didn't go yesterday is because the other option was to take a game drive through the Kimana Sanctuary, which is really close to our camp but we'd never been to before. First, we stopped at a pool to see some hippos pretty close up, and on the path from the Land Cruiser to the pool I came across my first (live) snake in Africa! I think it was a black mamba, but I didn't really look at it for more than a fraction of a second before turning and running directly into my friend and then continuing to run...
So after the hippos we saw a lot more cool animals like giraffes and zebras and impalas and some elephants, but the highlight of the day (and possibly my life) was that we got to go to where they had 5 captive lions that they had raised since they were orphaned as cubs. There were 4 females and a male, and the only thing between us and them was a chain link fence! They were so cute and so big! They were acting just like giant kitties! We even got to see them get their dinner- pre-slaughtered goats- and they ate EVERYTHING, feet, heads, organs, bones, everything. Then after dinner they climbed into the trees and washed and napped. I will try to get some pictures up after our trip.
OK, so I bid you all goodbye for now. I will be having a blast trying not to get eaten by lions and I will be wearing my Jayson Werth shirt until it is absolutely disgustingly dirty in hopes that they can beat the Giants without me...
Friday, October 1, 2010
The post I wrote when I should have been in bed...
Hello again! I can't believe it's October already! I bet it's getting cold where all of you are and the leaves are turning beautiful colors and everyone's super pumped about the Phillies, but here it's as sunny, dry, dusty, and lacking in baseball as ever. And I have a terrible cold. Anyway, here's a quick update on the past few days:
So on Sunday we went to the big Maasai age-set ceremony, which was pretty cool. There were just a lot of people just kind of hanging out. They built a whole new boma just for the ceremony, and people were in there making tea and food for everyone. They slaughtered a bull to give to all the warriors. We were not there for that, but I did accidentally see a little more of the preperations that I would have liked to... But a lot of the people spoke pretty good English, so we just walked around meeting people. We were the only wazungu there, so people were pretty curious about us.
On Monday we had homestays all day! I spent the day with a friend at a Maasai mama's boma helping her with all her chores. We replastered the house with cow poop, (which was actually really fun and not gross at all!) made tea, cooked lunch, (ugali with cabbages- delicious!) did dishes, fetched water, (which nearly killed me...) took a short nap, played with the children, and collected firewood. We obviously didn't say much to each other, but we were able to pantimime most things, and the women laughed at us when we tried to talk, and so we laughed too. The whole day was really exhausting, but REALLY fun.
On Tuesday we went back to Amboseli to visit a cultural Manyata, which is basically a "traditional" Maasai village set up for tourists to come visit. And on the way there, we saw...LIONS!!! Four of them! We stopped for quite a while to look at them- it was so cool!
So the cultural Manyata was interesting, but after all our experiences with the Maasai we could tell that a lot of it was staged, so it was hard to enjoy as much as the tourists. For example, they lined up all the children and made them sing and do math for us, which was adorable, but also a little frightening... We've been doing a lot of reading and discussing about how what tourists want to think Maasai culture is like is more like what Maasai culture was like a hundred years ago, and a lot of people are capitalizing on letting them think that. Interesting stuff, but I won't get into that here- you can read my paper that I'm about to write when I get home if you're actually interested...
After that, we spent the afternoon at a super fancy tourist lodge. We had a BIG but expensive lunch buffet and then hung out by the pool. It was fun, but it was really weird- I felt like I was suddenly back in America or Europe. I guess I'm already starting to realize how many things I take for granted at home are actually luxuries- things like dessert, soap dispensers, clean towels, landscaping, not having to worry about monkeys breaking into your car, etc.
Anyway, ever since then I've pretty much just been hanging around camp, going to class, writing papers, and feeling ill. I'll let you all know next time something interesting happens!
So on Sunday we went to the big Maasai age-set ceremony, which was pretty cool. There were just a lot of people just kind of hanging out. They built a whole new boma just for the ceremony, and people were in there making tea and food for everyone. They slaughtered a bull to give to all the warriors. We were not there for that, but I did accidentally see a little more of the preperations that I would have liked to... But a lot of the people spoke pretty good English, so we just walked around meeting people. We were the only wazungu there, so people were pretty curious about us.
On Monday we had homestays all day! I spent the day with a friend at a Maasai mama's boma helping her with all her chores. We replastered the house with cow poop, (which was actually really fun and not gross at all!) made tea, cooked lunch, (ugali with cabbages- delicious!) did dishes, fetched water, (which nearly killed me...) took a short nap, played with the children, and collected firewood. We obviously didn't say much to each other, but we were able to pantimime most things, and the women laughed at us when we tried to talk, and so we laughed too. The whole day was really exhausting, but REALLY fun.
On Tuesday we went back to Amboseli to visit a cultural Manyata, which is basically a "traditional" Maasai village set up for tourists to come visit. And on the way there, we saw...LIONS!!! Four of them! We stopped for quite a while to look at them- it was so cool!
So the cultural Manyata was interesting, but after all our experiences with the Maasai we could tell that a lot of it was staged, so it was hard to enjoy as much as the tourists. For example, they lined up all the children and made them sing and do math for us, which was adorable, but also a little frightening... We've been doing a lot of reading and discussing about how what tourists want to think Maasai culture is like is more like what Maasai culture was like a hundred years ago, and a lot of people are capitalizing on letting them think that. Interesting stuff, but I won't get into that here- you can read my paper that I'm about to write when I get home if you're actually interested...
After that, we spent the afternoon at a super fancy tourist lodge. We had a BIG but expensive lunch buffet and then hung out by the pool. It was fun, but it was really weird- I felt like I was suddenly back in America or Europe. I guess I'm already starting to realize how many things I take for granted at home are actually luxuries- things like dessert, soap dispensers, clean towels, landscaping, not having to worry about monkeys breaking into your car, etc.
Anyway, ever since then I've pretty much just been hanging around camp, going to class, writing papers, and feeling ill. I'll let you all know next time something interesting happens!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Day...um...
OK I have not been so good about blogging, but it's only because I've been doing better things with my time like having fun with friends or doing homework! So here's a quick update on the most important things that have happened lately:
So Tuesday we had another non-program day (aka our one day of weekend which changes days every week.) In the morning we packed lunch and drove to this place where we hicked down to a gorge. It was practically a rainforest, which was really weird because we're living in dust with not much green around. It was really, REALLY gorgeous and amazing. There was even this one part where you just had to climb a bit and then you were in Tanzania! So I've been to Tanzania already! I took lots of pictures, which you will get to see when I get home.
After lunch in the gorge we went to a local HIV clinic/support group and heard some of the women tell their stories, which was really amazing. They had a little shop where they sold stuff that they made, so I bought some earings and a necklace. We then got to go to the market for a bit, and I bought a shirt.
After that, we went to Club Kimana, the local bar. I drank almost one Tuskar, a popular Kenyan beer, but it made my stomach hurt so I couldn't even finish it...
The next 3 days we just hung out here and had a lot of class, and then today we went back to Amboseli! We actually got to help the Kenya Wildlife Service do an official census of the park. I don't think we saw any different animals than the last time, but it was still really cool, but dirty and exhausting.
And tomorrow we're going to see a big Maasai ceremony that apparently happens once every 14 years or so. We're leaving super early, so I am going to end this and go to bed. I will let you all know how it goes!
So Tuesday we had another non-program day (aka our one day of weekend which changes days every week.) In the morning we packed lunch and drove to this place where we hicked down to a gorge. It was practically a rainforest, which was really weird because we're living in dust with not much green around. It was really, REALLY gorgeous and amazing. There was even this one part where you just had to climb a bit and then you were in Tanzania! So I've been to Tanzania already! I took lots of pictures, which you will get to see when I get home.
After lunch in the gorge we went to a local HIV clinic/support group and heard some of the women tell their stories, which was really amazing. They had a little shop where they sold stuff that they made, so I bought some earings and a necklace. We then got to go to the market for a bit, and I bought a shirt.
After that, we went to Club Kimana, the local bar. I drank almost one Tuskar, a popular Kenyan beer, but it made my stomach hurt so I couldn't even finish it...
The next 3 days we just hung out here and had a lot of class, and then today we went back to Amboseli! We actually got to help the Kenya Wildlife Service do an official census of the park. I don't think we saw any different animals than the last time, but it was still really cool, but dirty and exhausting.
And tomorrow we're going to see a big Maasai ceremony that apparently happens once every 14 years or so. We're leaving super early, so I am going to end this and go to bed. I will let you all know how it goes!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Day 8
Oh my God, the internet here is sooooooooooo unreliable. I promise I have been trying to post but I could not get on since last time. Anyway, much has happened in the past few days, but I will quickly summarize.
First and most amazingly- we had our first trip to Amboseli yesterday. It was INCREDIBLE. We got to ride around standing up through the roofs of our landcruisers looking at some pretty amazing animals. There were SO MANY ELEPHANTS!!! Like, hundreds! And there were two that were right next to the road which was really cool. We also saw...
- wildebeasts
- Thompson's gazelles
-Grant's gazelles
-water buffalos
-giraffes
-zebras
-impallas
-baboons
-a jackal (or something...)
-hyenas
-warthogs
-waterbucks
-lots of crazy birds
-hippos!!!
But sadly, no lions yet. I will let you all know as soon as that happens...
In other news, I had my first and hopefully only VERY MINOR health scare. I spent 5 hours today waiting at the local free clinic just to confirm what I already pretty much knew: there is nothing wrong with me. I did make some friends, though, in the form of two nine year old girls who spoke a little English and found white people (mzungu) very fascinating. They took the libertry of styling my hair into lopsided pigtails, which all the people waiting found extremely amusing. Moral of the story- try not to take doxycycline with vitamins, try not to take it with dairy (these parts I knew) but whatever you do NEVER TAKE IT WITHOUT FOOD. It will make you throw up and/or pass out. But I repeat, I am FINE, I am in very good hands, and all is very well so please no one worry. Other than that, everything here is wonderful. I am healthy and safe and very, very happy.
First and most amazingly- we had our first trip to Amboseli yesterday. It was INCREDIBLE. We got to ride around standing up through the roofs of our landcruisers looking at some pretty amazing animals. There were SO MANY ELEPHANTS!!! Like, hundreds! And there were two that were right next to the road which was really cool. We also saw...
- wildebeasts
- Thompson's gazelles
-Grant's gazelles
-water buffalos
-giraffes
-zebras
-impallas
-baboons
-a jackal (or something...)
-hyenas
-warthogs
-waterbucks
-lots of crazy birds
-hippos!!!
But sadly, no lions yet. I will let you all know as soon as that happens...
In other news, I had my first and hopefully only VERY MINOR health scare. I spent 5 hours today waiting at the local free clinic just to confirm what I already pretty much knew: there is nothing wrong with me. I did make some friends, though, in the form of two nine year old girls who spoke a little English and found white people (mzungu) very fascinating. They took the libertry of styling my hair into lopsided pigtails, which all the people waiting found extremely amusing. Moral of the story- try not to take doxycycline with vitamins, try not to take it with dairy (these parts I knew) but whatever you do NEVER TAKE IT WITHOUT FOOD. It will make you throw up and/or pass out. But I repeat, I am FINE, I am in very good hands, and all is very well so please no one worry. Other than that, everything here is wonderful. I am healthy and safe and very, very happy.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Day 4
OK, here is my first actual post that's actually happy and exciting and about my time in Kenya! So far, everything is absolutely wonderful. It is gorgeous here and the weather is perfect and everyone is amazing and getting along great. We have had four classes in the past two days, and although I'm still a little worried about the intensity/workload, they have all been really fascinating- the faculty are really smart and really passionate about what they do, which obviously makes the whole experience so much better. But so far we have just been hanging out a lot, playing a lot of card games, etc. There are a lot walks and runs on the trail that goes around the compound. And I know none of you will believe this, but I have been going to bed before ten, waking up before seven, running and taking freezing showers in the morning, and eating huge breakfasts!
So this afternoon we visited a Maasai boma (homestead)- not one set up for tourists- a real one. We were greeted by a song and dance by the mamas, which we joined in on. We then recipricated with our own song and dance, which is customary. We did the Maccarena (not my idea...) They mamas eventually started to pick it up, and seemed to enjoy it a lot. We then got to go into a house, then hung out with all the goats and children, which I loved of course. The mamas laid out some of their wares for us, mostly jewelry and fabric. I bought a really unique and pretty necklace. It was a really good time!
OK, now I'll get to what you guys really want to hear. So far I have seen...
- An antelope
- Baboons
- Vervet monkeys
- Lizards
- Lots of really cool birds, including 3 owls
- Goats, sheep, cows, donkeys, a few camels
- Dogs and a cat
- A bat
- A few crazy bugs (nothing too scary though and hardly any mosquitos!)
- Some really REALLY adorable children
I think we're going to Amboseli soon, so that will add elephants and probably a few others to the list!
I will try to put up some picutes soon, but the internet here might not be strong enough for that, so you may just have to wait til I get home...sorry!
Also I haven't been able to get to my e-mail, but I think I can fix that so I will let you all know if/when I do. In the meantime, facebook is the best way to contact me.
OK, that is all for tonight. I will post again in a few days!
So this afternoon we visited a Maasai boma (homestead)- not one set up for tourists- a real one. We were greeted by a song and dance by the mamas, which we joined in on. We then recipricated with our own song and dance, which is customary. We did the Maccarena (not my idea...) They mamas eventually started to pick it up, and seemed to enjoy it a lot. We then got to go into a house, then hung out with all the goats and children, which I loved of course. The mamas laid out some of their wares for us, mostly jewelry and fabric. I bought a really unique and pretty necklace. It was a really good time!
OK, now I'll get to what you guys really want to hear. So far I have seen...
- An antelope
- Baboons
- Vervet monkeys
- Lizards
- Lots of really cool birds, including 3 owls
- Goats, sheep, cows, donkeys, a few camels
- Dogs and a cat
- A bat
- A few crazy bugs (nothing too scary though and hardly any mosquitos!)
- Some really REALLY adorable children
I think we're going to Amboseli soon, so that will add elephants and probably a few others to the list!
I will try to put up some picutes soon, but the internet here might not be strong enough for that, so you may just have to wait til I get home...sorry!
Also I haven't been able to get to my e-mail, but I think I can fix that so I will let you all know if/when I do. In the meantime, facebook is the best way to contact me.
OK, that is all for tonight. I will post again in a few days!
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