Lake Nakuru National Park

Once again we had an incredible expedition, although the car ride to get to Lake Nakuru National Park was ten hours, I enjoyed seeing all the different landscapes. We also got to drive through Nairobi which was awesome. They are really modern and it was nice to so a whole new side of Africa that we are never able to see. This time we did not stay in tents, instead we stayed in a hostel and slept about 13 girls to a room. One of the girls kept singing Annie songs because we lived like orphans for a couple of days in bunk beds. We at least had a real bathroom, even though I’m pretty positive that someone has ben murdered in it before. The baboons on and around the camp are also insane, and often had to be chased away by the guards and professors. We found a Leopard Tortoise in camp so we decided that we needed to save it, but when Claire picked it up it peed on her so we made the boys take care of it.

The next day we had A LOT of class, which really stunk, but we went on a game drive that night. This is a fenced in park so the animals are not able to leave, so we got to see some new animals like waterbucks, black and white rhinos, and seagulls. We also discovered the creep of all creeps which is the Marabou stork, he is ugly and eats flamingos, I may be one for breakfast club. 

The following day we had a traveling lecture where we went to different sights and talked about how the people and animals affect each other. We also went through a neighborhood and it was nice to see some real house that were super nice. They cost about a half a million US dollars. Obviously I figured out where I want to live. I also saw the first Veterinarian clinic in Africa, so there is still hope! That afternoon during the game drive we saw a leopard and a really awesome owl.

We also did a field exercise where we watched white rhinos and zebras for about 4 hours, which was really just driving around and looking at animals. We saw five lion cubs that were about a year old hanging out under a branch and they were adorable. After that we went to the lodge and had another buffet where they had unlimited desserts, and some really delicious chicken, so we all got really full and then laid by the pool for a while. A couple of us then spent an hour watching soccer and talking with one of the staff members which was a nice change.  That night at the campfire we had debrief and one of our professors, Shem, went through and thanked everyone and it was a really nice time to bound with all the staff.

The drive home was long, mostly because I was dirty and ready for a shower, but I was able to just sit, listen to music, and read so it was pretty relaxing. Now we are back at KBC and we have a relaxation day. We were just discussing how we have adapted to African Life very well because writing e-mails makes us tired, and this blog will be the hardest thing I have to do. We will start our directed research soon, I just hope I get the topic that I want. Once again African living is the way to go, I don’t know how anyone ever leaves here.

Expedition Preparation

I’m getting along with Kenya just fine. Between the food and the amazing view I’m pretty happy with this camp. Yesterday we had a traveling lecture to a hill where we had a great view of the mountain. Then we had 4 hours of Economic Policy which was quite awful. Today we had another traveling lecture where we went to a bunch a different sites to have lecture. One site there were monkeys sitting right above our heads in the trees so it was kind of hard to concentrate. Then we went over all the rules for expedition tomorrow. We are going to Lake Karuku and it is about a 10 hour drive.  We are going to get to see a bunch of rhinos and hopefully some more leopards.

This morning I was woken up by baboons “barking” at each other. They were so loud and I don’t know what happened, but every time they would calm down the birds would start to egg them on again so it probably went on for about 5 minutes. There is a ton of wild life on this camp but luckily I haven’t had anymore run ins with baboons on my runs again. 

It is definitely a lot hotter here than it is in Tanzania, but they say that it gets very cold at night while camping. We aren’t staying in tents this times, we are in a dorm situation because everyone was so cold last time. Also we can’t eat outside because the baboons are crazy and they will come up and snatch food right out of your hands. The rest of the day will be spent packing and preparing and then we are leaving at 6 tomorrow morning to head to the park!

Hello Kenya!

We have been welcomed into Kenya with open arms, and even though we don’t have the Tanzanian staff with us, the new staff is still pretty awesome. We left Moyo Hill this morning at 6:30 and we had about a 4 hour drive to the boarder where we had to say our good byes to Whitney and the drivers and we checked out of Tanzania. Then we met our new SAM, Tara, and we walked across the Kenya boarder which was pretty awesome, I never thought I would cross a country boarder on foot.

After we checked into Kenya and got our new home we went to eat lunch, at a lodge, what’s new lol. Then we took a “road”, which was not a road at all it was just random land that we drove on to get to our new camp, which is HUGE. The camp is probably four times larger than our old camp and its amazing. We have four people per banda, the only down side is that the bathroom is not attached so we have to walk to it. Also they have warm water for showers here. We do have rules like camping though, because we can not use the sink water for brushing our teeth and we have to wear long pants and close toed shoes to dinner because of the snakes and scorpions. There are so many animals on camp including reptiles, dogs, baboons, vervet monkeys, and bush babies. I think I am really going to like Kenya and I am thrilled to be here.

Today we went to the market and I got some fancy tire shoes with beading on them which I’m pretty excited about. We also got some ice cream, which will make any day 15 times better. We also woke up to the most incredible view of Mt. Kilimanjaro this morning. There is snow on it and everything and its beautiful. This camp is so much better just for that reason. The bathrooms aren’t attached to the bandas, but the amount of water pressure the showers have makes up for that totally, it was the best shower I have had since home. I went running today and made it about half a mile where I encountered a male baboon so I got scared and went the other way which caused me to run about two miles today, I guess I can’t really be too mad. The food here is also wayyyy better than the food in Tanzania, I love the cooks in Tanzania but the Kenya cooks are amazing. So chapter two is starting off really great plus we leave for expedition on Friday already! Another 5 day trip to a National Park.

Goodbye Tanzania

Well its our last day in Tanzania and its pretty depressing. Next time I pack my stuff up it will be to make the long journey back to the US. The last 7 months have gone by way to fast. Last night to thank that staff a bunch of us cooked an amazing Italian dinner and it was the best I have eaten since I have been here. We had pasta, meatball, pizza, and bruschetta. Then the staff surprised us with ice cream, so I went to bed with a food coma last night but it was absolutely worth it.

The day after we got back from the Serengeti we went into the “big city” and did some shopping and I got my Tanzanite to make a ring when I get home! I’m pretty excited about it. We also received our exams back and so far I have A’s and B’s in all my classes so I can’t complain. We had debrief earlier today and said bye to a lot of the staff and spent about 20 minutes taking pictures, it was like the last day of high school all over again. 

One thing I will miss is being a Rhotia celebrity every time I would leave camp a bunch of children would know my name. One day Kristin was asked, whats your name? where are you from? who’s your president? and where’s Jessica? They all love me its very weird lol

6 of us went to Moyo hill even though we aren’t suppose to but we had to see it for the last time. So we sat and looked over the edge for a while. Then when we got back we went to Happy Days to have some drinks and get some food. We also played our pictionary game which is always entertaining.

When we got back we had a goat roast and sat around the fire and enjoyed saying good bye to everyone so it was a really awesome last day. Now it’s time for some grey’s and bed! Tanzania is the most beautiful place and I absolutely love it here, I think I will defiantly come back at some point!

5 Day, 4 Night Serengeti Expedition!

This is going to be a long post, but trust me it’s worth it to read the entire thing because the Serengeti was amazing!!! We left early on Sunday morning and began the long drive to our camp. We had to travel through Ngorongoro so we went past the crater again and it is amazing what a little rain can do to the place because it was 10 times greener than the first time we were there. We made our first stop at Olduvai which is where we think the human race began, we had a speaker and he was quite hilarious and gave us a lot of great information.

Once in the Serengeti we were able to see the wildebeests on the Great Migration!! There were 5,000 wildebeests grazing, and I wish this was an exaggeration but there were at least 5,000 of them it was incredible. When we got to camp it was raining so we had to set up our tents in the rain which was kind of a bummer, but that was the only time it rained besides in the middle of the night and all the professors were saying that it rains every year multiple times so we got lucky.

The next morning we went on a game drive at 7 and watched giraffes. It was a pretty calm morning and we saw lions and some other animals. Then after lunch we went to a lecture were we talked to two people, one who is a graduate student from minnesota, about their lion research. They live in the Serengeti and go look at lion prides all day, I’m completely jealous. After lecture we went on another game drive and we saw LEOPARDS!!!! Which means I have finished the Big 5 and I have seen all of them (leopards, elephants, lions, rhinos, and buffalo). The leopards were defiantly the highlight of the day. At night we sit and play cards and talk to the staff then we are always dead tired. The staff likes to play “Last Card” which is like uno but with normal cards and they get a kick out of it. I lost so many times Yohana kept telling me I had to buy all his candy bars.

Tuesday morning we woke up and went birding at 7 again and then we did another game drive. We had the old car and we weren’t able to turn off the engine because it was break down and then people had to get out and push. We were sitting and watching lions at one point, and then all of the sudden we heard a hissing noise... we randomly got a flat tire. So Ninah and Yohana had to get out of the car and fix it with the lions about 50 meters away. Then we went to the visitors center for another lecture and to just take a look around for a little break. Then another game drive! We were on the hunt for cheetahs but we ended up driving around forever and seeing no animals at all. We found some lions sitting about 10 meters from our car and we watched them for a while, it was a male and a female. We were getting ready to leave and we say something running towards us, when it got closer we realized it was a baby wildebeests who must have gotten separated from its mother, and it ran right to where the lions were. Everyone began to freak out and then the female lion attacked it. Honestly watching this happen was awesome. So we saw a lion hunt, kind of... more like home delivery. That night there were about 4 buffalo hanging out by the bathroom, slightly alarming.

Yesterday we went on another morning game drive and we went to the hippo pool and we got to see hippos fight! We also so giraffes fighting, which is a very slow process. We went to the lodge and had the buffet, I finally got to eat a salad! And then we went swimming for a bit. After swimming we went on yet another game drive! Yesterday all before 9 A.M. we saw a leopard and a cheetah and two hyaenas ,  one of which was sitting in a mud puddle and looked like a little bear. Then last night we had an SFS first, a male lion came to camp. Everyone was sitting by the fire and all of the sudden we heard a roar and all the professors got real tense and Whitney told us to go to our tents. Other tour guides with the other people who were at our site hopped into their cars and chased it away and we all saw it leave. All the students thought it was awesome. 

This morning we packed everything up and headed home. We all finally got to shower and I washed the layer of dust off me. I’m sure I missed a bunch of stuff that occurred but I hit the main points. The trip was awesome and I can’t wait for our expedition in Kenya!

Finished With Finals!

I’m gonna be honest, studying for finals without Hicks Library and a Den Pop is a rough life. But the finals are over and none of them were too bad. This also means we leave for the Serengeti in like 36 hours!!! So we are obviously going to have the best spring break ever! Everyone is getting really excited and we can’t really control ourselves. We also don’t have anything due for the next 25 days so we get a pretty long break which is great.

Also I am very, very, very, depressed that Manning is not longer a Colt. I really didn’t think I would ever see the day and now that it has occurred I am depressed. Hopefully he gets drafted to a team that I can handle watching. This is now another reason that I need cable next year, because I don’t think its acceptable to sit in Jakes for 12 hours on Sunday, and I don’t think anyone likes me enough to join me for that.

This morning me and a couple girls woke up early to go for a walk before breakfast and it is so beautiful here that I don’t ever want to leave. We found out that since in Kenya we are in the middle of no where we aren’t allowed to leave the box, so we want to explore as much as we can while we are still in Tanzania. Plus it is just a beautiful country. We then went to a coffee farm and had a tour and then went to the pool to relax all day. Except you can’t really sit in the chair for more than 15 minutes without feeling like you are going to die so it was a lot of jumping in. 

A couple of us have started watching Breaking Bad which is a pretty awesome show and I also had the second season of Grey’s Anatomy put onto my computer so now I’m really happy and I get my Grey’s fix every once in a while. Besides that it’s just been a lot of studying and tomorrow we have debrief about the Serengeti and then just packing the rest of the day so things are good. Like I told my mom I’m still considering not coming home. Nothing bad can happen in Tanzania and you never have any worried. Also I thought I would share some swahili words that make me giggle.

Jenga- to build

Pilipili hoho- green pepper

Pumba- warthog

And warthogs are one of my favorite animals here, I think they are so funny!

Studying Begins

Lately it has been a whole lot of work. We didn’t leave the box for a couple days so I figured writing about adventures in the box weren’t that exciting. For class we were each given 500 shillings and we were sent to town to work on our Swahili skills. We managed to get 4 cokes for the price of 3 and a half so we were pretty happy and we sat outside and enjoyed them. They use real sugar here so the coke is really rich and delicious. We also went to the tailor but since rainy season just started he has been tending to his farm and is behind on all of our dresses, hopefully it is done by the time we leave for the Serengeti!

Speaking of the Serengeti we leave a week from today!!! Unfortunately we have to make it through finals before we can start to get excited and I have a lot of studying ahead. We have one exam on Wednesday and two on Thursday and we have a Swahili exam tomorrow. But then we are home free and we will only have a day at the pool separating us from the Serengeti for a 5 day camping trip. Rumor has it there is an amazing buffet in the Serengeti so I’m hoping for some good ol’ American food and maybe some less carbs in my life. 

Yesterday we had a non-program day so we went into town to get pizza and shopping. Once again I think my bargaining skills worked pretty well and I got some deals. We went to this banana stand and this guy asked if we wanted a banana and we were like ehhhh since we didn’t want to pay for them, but instead he was just feeding us bananas for the fun of it. They were like different kinds of bananas and they tasted amazing. This one guy had a bracelet that I kind of liked and he asked for 2000 shillings and I only had 1500 in small bills and he just gave in and took that amount so I got it for about a dollar, great success. 

Also yesterday we had spear throwing class. I’m not the greatest at it to say the least. I can throw it straight but I have a hard time getting it to stick in the ground. But maybe with some practice I will figure it out. Today everyone has just been studying and hanging out. We have started to watch breaking bad in our spear time which is a pretty good show and I received word today that one of the girls has season 2 of Grey’s, so I will be borrowing that.