Directed Research Sickness

Well a little bug has taken over camp and has been causing people to miss field work for directed research, myself included. Yesterday I woke up in the middle of the night and felt awful so I took the day off and to lay in bed and watch Grey’s Anatomy all day. I also drank about three rehydration things, and I woke up this morning and felt fine. Two other girls also stayed back and they were feeling fine this morning also. We aren’t sure what is causing it but it was pretty quick and painless. 

Today we went out in the field, but it rained for ever last night and the land cruisers on mud is like a mustang on ice, we were fish tailing ever where. Then we got stuck in the mud, two tires were totally submerged, so we got out to push but we weren’t getting any where. Then we noticed that the other car with the guides and the guards was also stuck so we went to help them. After about 45 minutes we got the first car out and went back to ours. We waited another 30 minutes and it wasn’t moving so we went to start our transects. We walked about 10 miles in grasses that were about up to my hip the entire way and i was caked in mud by the time we got back to our car, that was still stuck. They called in some other people from camp to help and 7 hours after the car got stuck it was pulled out. My hiking boots are fully broken in now and are no where near the color they were when I brought them here, but I guess thats Africa! 

I am still having a great time, but I am getting ready to come home. I need freedom again, which I don’t get here. I don’t want to leave the country at all but I’m ready for the program to be over. I fully plan on coming back to Africa at some point. I also have a new favorite bug which is the dung beetle. They roll the poop into a ball and then take it to their hole by rolling it with their hind legs. They are the coolest bugs, even if they are huge. 

Tomorrow we are going to a lodge and having the buffet with a pool so I’m pretty excited about that. Last non program day we planted about 100 trees and then my five friends and I went to Club K to have a couple beers and separate ourselves from the 22 other people we spend all of our time with, big groups are just a little too overwhelming. Also at the bar, there were chickens running around.