Mambo, I say!

Exciting news! I figured out that if I wake up at 5 am before anyone else in camp (or the sun) is up, not only can I skype with my family whom I haven't vocally spoken to in weeks, I can upload my resized pictures to my bloggy blog so that yall don’t have to be bored out of your minds reading endless pages of text while I’m in TZ! (This is especially for my A.D.D. friends who just look at my photos and skip the writing part…cough cough,Andrea,cough.. haha). Oh, the sacrifices I make waking up so early (….first-world problems?). Anyways, you can thank me later. :)

The past week has been full of traveling lectures, field exercises and adventures exploring the various towns surrounding Rhotia. Now that classes are officially over (as of Friday) and exams are DONE!, I am ready to head to the Serengeti for our camping expedition!! Here’s a little about my life since my last post:

Last Saturday (March 24) we had a WM field exercise involving managing water resources and wildlife utilization. This was where we did transect walks and counted/identified piles of poop to assess the wildlife utilization of the dam in Lake Manyara Ranch–an area managed for a wildlife conservancy which is also used by Maasai for watering their livestock. Shortly after we arrived, we were joined by 5 elephants that came to drink on the other side of the water reservoir. Pretty sweet :)

That day I also woke up with Nairobi fly bite on my cheek. These orange and black bugs are small, long and skinny, and if they happen to get crushed on your skin, you are left with an acid burn because of the chemicals inside them. Lovely. So I’m still not sure how one ended up on my face. I woke up with a red and slightly raised bump that kind of just burned at first, but it turned into a blister the next day then a scab. Quite lovely. It was gone by Tuesday and just left a small red mark, but I’m hoping a scar doesn’t stick with me. A lot of other wanafunzi (students) have been getting them too… They must’ve just hatched recently because they are eeeverywhere around camp!

Sunday the 25th was our first non-program day in TZ. In the morning we went on a hike at a place called Elephant Cave, named for some crazy cool carvings/markings from elephants rubbing their tusks on a rock wall to get out the minerals and eat them. The hike was beautiful and reminded me of a weird mixture between home and somewhere tropical. We then went into Karatu to shop (I bought a green and yellow shuka to make a Packer hoodie out of! and some more fabric which I plan to get made into dresses).  Afterwards we went to a restaurant called Happy Days to get our American food fix. I split a bowl of mac n cheese and bacon cheeseburger with my friend Ally (to get the best of both worlds). Side note: burger was way better than the mac...never thought I’d miss some classic good ol’ Kraft mac ‘n cheese, but I sure do. We got back around 5 and was I working on an assignment/uploading pictures from my memory card onto my computer when I proceeded to drop my Nikon on the ground from desk-height. The lens took the brunt of the fall, which was good because the camera can still function (I tried it with my other zoom lens I use on safari) but bad for lens I had on, which was the one I used on a more day to day basis. Mega bummer. Now I’ll just have to use my little point-and-shoot digital camera for general everyday use for the rest of the trip :(

on the hike to elephant cave! can you see me? I'm very camouflaged :) 

Ally (from Washington), Mollie (from Colorado), myself and Erin (from Wisconsin) sitting in one of the caves. The markings on the wall behind us are fom elephants rubbing their tusks on the walls.

Monday morning we went into Mto wa Mbu to do a field exercise identifying birds in the flooded rice paddies. It was interesting to see and identify some cool birds and talk to farmers to get the scoop on which are considered as pests. We then had a brief lecture about bush meat and illegal poaching – a big problem for wildlife conservation in East Africa. After eating lunch back at camp and enjoying our daily siesta, we packed up again and went into a nearby town, Kilimamoja, to talk with the village’s water committee about their water resources and management.

a little boy in Mto wa Mbu that came with his siblings to stare at us during our lecture

a pygmy kingfisher

 

On Tuesday the 27^th, we went to Ngorongoro Crater in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area for a guest lecture and an afternoon game drive. It is absolutely beautiful! The crater part is literally this huge bowl in the ground with a small lake that varies in size according to wet/dry seasons. When inside the 304 square kilometer crater, you (and all the wildlife which call it home) are surrounded by 360 degrees of tall mountain-like hills.

before we descended into the crater! the road on the right is how we bumpily wound our way down into the crater.

 Before we descended into the crater, we had a brief lecture from one of the park’s head honchos about the history of the park, and the successes and challenges it faces.  Once inside the crater, we saw zebra, wildebeest, warthog, buffalo, tommys, grant’s, Coke’s Hartbeest, rhinos, lions, jackals, hyenas, hippos, elephants and ostriches. We all got really excited about the first group of lions that we saw laying on a small hill in the distance (decently far away…my zoom was just barely enough) near an elephant that was playing in the mud. We then drove past a pond where there were 4 hippos laying in the water and splashing themselves to keep cool. They never emerged very much but it was awesome to see them (they smell in real life too, just like at the zoo!) and funny to watch them randomly using their tails to splash themselves with the mucky water.  We continued driving around the park and doing our species association sheets that we do on every game drive in TZ (literally, counting and noting which species are associating within 50 m of another species). There were tonssss of zebra and wildebeest. Even though we see so many of them, I really enjoy seeing the zebra still! They are great subjects to photograph, too. The wildebeest are quite goofy looking (and semi-Brenda like, with their beards and weird tufts of fur!)

peek-a-boo!

hippos! looks like this guy ripped a big one in the water, but he's just splashing himself with water to keep cool :)

when I was a young warthoooooog!

Our second lion sighting was of 4 females that were soundly sleeping in the shade alongside the river right next to the road. After stopping to eat our packed lunches at the hippo pool, the clouds were rolling in and we could see it raining nearby inside the crater. Managing to successfully avoid the downpours, we spotted a lion sitting by himself in the middle of the crater, about 100 m from our car. Right after we stopped and turned off our car, he got up and slowly began walking towards our car—literally headed straight for us. I expected him to either plop down randomly or change direction, but he continued walking directly towards our vehicle even as another SFS vehicle approached. He sauntered right up to our car, literally brushing the front fender as he crossed the road, and stopped for a few seconds next to our SAM Whitney’s window to look up at her. I was standing through the front hatch on the seat directly behind Whitney’s, and all of a sudden wondered (read: internally freaked out) because I couldn’t remember how far open my window was. Never mind though because Whitney’s was completely open and she was basically eye-to-eye with the male lion, who stared at us for a moment, then got a little skittish and kept walking on. It was unreal! He was smaller and younger, without a full mane. Once he crossed the road, some wildebeest were staring him down and huffing at him, and then proceeded to chase him away—pretty bizarre. Day/life was officially made. The other car that approached managed to get some funny pictures that show our shocked expressions as the whole situation progressed...classic.

this was the lion chillin in the hot sun in the middle of the crater....

....he then proceeded to walk directly up to our car (I think he was going to sit in the shade of our vehicle until he realized how many of us were poking our heads through the hatches and continued on his way). I have a video of his approach, which I took while holding my blue camera in my left hand meanwhile taking pictures with my Nikon with my right hand. Its pretty awesome, but when he got right in front of our car I freaked out and nealy dropped my digital camera trying to take a photo with the other hand so it's all shaky.

We continued driving around, avoiding the rain, and happened upon some more lions. They were off in the distance in the shade sleeping (not too exciting) so we drove on looking for more excitement.

lions galore!

Our next spotting was of one tired fella was already lying in the middle of the road, while two others were about 50 m off to the side lying in the grass.  The one in the road just laid there and let us take pictures as she sat there posing and cleaning her fur. It was quite the beautiful experience!

tired kitty :)

Continuing on, we encountered ANOTHER lion just up the road that was drinking water from a small puddle in a pothole in the road.  He was so very skinny and remained hunched over the hole drinking as we took photos. We speculate that he and the other younger male that we saw by themselves were probably seeking a new pride to join, as males are essentially kicked out of their prides once they reach a certain age. They were looking pretty scraggly and mangey, but nonetheless very cool! Soon after he walked on, so we went on our way as well. (As you can see, we were the lucky car that day that got to see lions most frequently).

skinny kitty, very thirsty!

derp.
Wildebeest, roughly translated to mean Wild Beast.

jackals we spotted on the way out. also saw a muddy hyena chasing some wildbeest but Whitney said it was time to go so we couldn't watch the action unfold :(

When it was time to leave the park we were all exhausted and quiet for the ride home. Shortly after we were out of the crater, I was peering out the window on my side of the car when I saw a beautiful female lion sitting up on the ledge of a dropoff right next to the road. I could only see her head just above the edge of the cliff, but that beautiful image is engrained in my brain!

Arriving back at camp, we sipped on some deeelicious fresh mango-banana juice, courtesy of our awesome kitchen staff. A delicious treat after being out in the hot sun all day!

On the 28^th, we drove about 1.5 hours to a village called Burunge to learn about Wildlife Management Areas – places that encourage the people to conserve wildlife because they are provided with economic incentives—a true, functioning representation of what we are learning! It was inspirational to see an example of a successful project that the community is benefiting directly from while coexisting with wildlife! Afterwards, we stopped at a small store where the town’s women sell hand-woven baskets from reeds that grow quickly and abundantly in the nearby wetland areas. Their baskets were beautiful and super cheap, so we basically cleaned out their whole store and probably made their day.  We then stopped at a “tented lodge” (no tents, but luxury cabanas on stilts with canvas walls and thatched roofs) to see this type of land use and eat our packed lunches. The accommodations around East Africa vary, but are usually expensive—this one was $300 per person per night!

On the way home, I was sitting in the front seat and had a conversation with my WE prof, Kioko, about the drought problems looming this summer in Africa. While we haven’t been seeing too many problems yet in the US (or maybe it’s just our increased ability to cope with it…although, I would definitely classify this snow-less winter as a big flashing red sign), East Africa has been bearing the brunt of the consequences from the careless, wasteful lifestyles of the U.S. & rest of the world. It is impossible to NOT notice the implications of the changing global climate patterns in Africa.  They didn’t used to have such issues, but nowadays they are no strangers to both severe droughts and extreme flooding here — neither of which are good, obviously, for the people who heavily rely upon agriculture for both income and sustenance. It’s sad and very scary to think about because people here simply don’t have the money to “stock up” supplies despite the warnings of a looming drought…. that’s just not feasible here. I wish there was something I could do (and I also just wish I could ship all the ignorant people who think climate change isn’t a real problem to Africa to see firsthand what our actions are doing to the rest of the world!). Alright, sorry….rant over.

Thursday was another non-program day! I got up early to skype with my mom and Nick, who I was ecstatic to see looking so healthy and happy. Although I absolutely love it in East Africa and I’m not quiiiite ready to come home yet, I do miss my family dearly! (Love you Mom, Dad, Smelly, Nick and T!) 

For lunch, I shared an aaamazing pizza (with three different cheeses!) with my friend Sarah at a small pizza place in Mto wa Mbu. Then we walked into town and shopped around. I bought some awesome Tanzania soccer jerseys (I can't remember for the life of me who asked me to buy them one, so if you're out there and you're reading this, send me a message please!), beaded sandals and a beautiful painting of Maasai people. The artwork here is amazing and cheap! I already have visions of decorating my home someday with these beautiful paintings. When we got back, I started planning out what I want to get made at the tailor with my fabrics (naturally, instead of doing homework) and then spent the evening after dinner working on our final EP assignment before exams!

On Friday March 30^th we had our last class, a combined WE/WM/EP class. I was also MOD (mwanafunzi [student] of the day), which means I was responsible for writing our schedule on the board, and RAP (making a Reflection, Announcements and Presenting a small topic of choice at dinner). I was running low on ideas for my presentation because this is our third cycle through the alphabetical student list, so I decided to make a powerpoint of all the goofy photos I have of my weird dog Brenda to show my peers. They all loved it and got a kick out of her gangly legs and beard.  

Saturday was a full study day and Sunday morning we had our exam. So glad to be done!!! Really looking forward to going to the Serengeti on Monday to enjoy our week of expedition! We had our risk debriefing today and are all fully prepared (or as ready as we'll ever be?) to take on the lions and wild while camping literally in the middle of Serengeti National Park. Wish me luck!

I can’t believe its April already. It seems like just last week I was freaking out about packing for my trip. Lately we've all been speculating about how weird and lonely it is going to be when we go home and aren't constantly surrounded by the same people day in, day out, 24/7. We literally never have a moment alone, which has caused us to all get to know each other extremely well. Surprisingly (or not?) we all get along very well and it's just strange to imagine what it will be like when we all go our separate ways. It's also hard to imagine what it will be like back in the US with all the busy people and tall buildings and, well, just about everything else.

By the time we get back from Serengeti, there will only be ONE MONTH left in East Africa.  I’m looking forward to the change of pace that I anticipate will come with Directed Research (DR) which starts after we get back, but I know it will make time fly by even faster. I don’t currently know where the heck I’m working or living when I get back to the states (waiting to hear back from an internship, which will dictate where I’m living, obviously) but I am going to try my hardest to live in the moment and just embrace every single day I have left in Tanzania because I know I’ll be back in the states before I know it. On Saturday, I went for my second run around the hilly running trail and just as my favorite song/current theme song "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson came on my ipod,  I got to the crest of this hill and was completely awe-struck by the beauty of this place. I stopped for a short break (damn, I'm out of shape--or maybe it's the altitude?) while overlooking the breath-taking view that is my "backyard"... It's funny, but at times I forget I'm in Africa. I mean, after being here for two months, I've kind of gotten used to it. I was standing there on top of this hill grinning like a cheeseball when I laughed to myself because I never imagined I could ever "get used" to living in Africa. Sometimes its just so easy to get caught up in the swing of school, so every once in a while I just have to sit back and take in a big breath and remind myself how truly lucky I am to be in this amazing place. I can't quite put words to what I've gained (school-wise and life-wise) so far while being here, but I'm glad there are people who care about me that are interested enough to take the time to read this shenanigans I write, even if I can't quite put it into words. All I can say is life is beautiful and although I have so much more to learn and experience in this world, I am truly blessed to have this amazing opportunity to realize, ponder and appreciate the beauty in everyday life.

I'm just gonna take a quick nap, guys....

"Upside Down" by Jack Johnson -- I've always loved this song but I've felt a special connection to it while I've been here. It's from the Curious George movie...if you've never heard this song, I recommend listening to it :)

Who's to say
What's impossible
Well they forgot
This world keeps spinning
And with each new day
I can feel a change in everything
And as the surface breaks reflections fade
But in some ways they remain the same
And as my mind begins to spread its wings
There's no stopping curiosity

I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found
I'll share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs
I don't want this feeling to go away

Who's to say
I can't do everything
Well I can try
And as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren't always just what they seem

I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found
I'll share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs
This world keeps spinning and there's no time to waste
Well it all keeps spinning spinning round and round and

Upside down
Who's to say what's impossible and can't be found
I don't want this feeling to go away