And we're off to Tsavo!

Tonight is the last night we’ll be clean. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be setting out for a six day expedition to Tsavo National Park, rubbing elbows with the local wildlife. We’ll be camping out in the middle of the national park, since no fences exist within Tsavo itself. So for six days, there will be no internet, no solar power, no electricity, no plumbing systems, and no showers. However, we will have tents, cars, a full set kitchen, outdoor bathroom (hole in the grounds), armed guards (our own and also Kenya Wildlife Service guards), wildlife galore, and intense bonding opportunities. I'm intenselt excited for this experience, we will be seeing such diverse wildlife and new habitats. At this point so far, I've already visited Amboseli National Park 4 times and seen 16 lions, too many zebras and wildebeests, handful of giraffes and elephants, and so much biodiversity! I've visited the hotels and lodges nestled strangely in the center of the park, and tasted french fries in the middle of the savannas. I've also learned more about these tourist sites, and seen the negative consequences that they have left on Amboseli.

I've also learned that ornithology is not my field. At all. We had to a transect walk/exercise for our wildlife ecology class where we had to trample around the savanna trying to identify birds. It was the most difficult thing ever. Not only did I realize that I am quite unlearned in the field of birds, but I found out that its even harder trying to look at a bird, since they twitch and spazz often. However, I did manage to see a herd of giraffes with babies! And on foot. I must have been about 10 feet away from them! Some of the other students saw elephants and other animals on their walks. Very exciting.

In addition, I've become more concerned with the issue of freshwater availability in Africa. After meeting all of the local Maasai farmers, cattle owners, and townspeople, I've come to see that this problem is constantly growing and will only get worse if action isn't taken. Today, I was the MOD (monafunzi of the day/ student of the day) and presented an article on possible solutions for this pending issue. Check it out: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=facing-the-freshwater-crisis.

I'm truly excited for Tsavo. We're visiting a volcanic landscape and then the Mzima springs tomorrow, and I know we'll be seeing some new wildlife there. Specifically, the hippos (the lifeline of the springs) and the Klippspringer. And then we'll arrive in Tsavo in the afternoon and set up camp. I'll be transitioning from a 4 person semi spacious banda to a 5 person cramped tent. We were warned that we would all be living extremely close to one another, almost in an invasive way. However, I aam still excited and hope to make the best of this trip!

Adjusting

"May your cup of joy not just fill, but overflow" - Okello

Let's see, these past couple of days I've not only ventured more out of my comfort zone, but as a group, we've also ventured outside of the gates of KBC.

Last monday, we visited a boma, which is basically a little Maasai village. There we saw all of the mommas (women) and their dung houses. Its actually quite amazing that their houses are completely made out of dung and straw. If some of you recall from an episode of MTV's Exiled one of the Super Sweet Sixteen girls went to Kenya and lived in a boma. The women in the villages have numerous tasks. Not only do they have to care for their children, but they are also responsible for building the houses, making jewlery to sell, and for livestock and agriculture as well. When we visited, the mommas sang us a traditional Maasai song, which was accompanied by the jingling of their bead jewlery as they jumped and danced around. Bead craft is very important to the Maasai because for some reason, they were able to fill the niche as bead jewlery makers. So out of the 42 tribes in Kenya, the Maasai are known wide and far for their bead jewlery. In return we decided to sing the "the Moose song" in return. For ya'll out there who don't know that song, it's a camp song. The mommas really liked it though because there are a bunch of hand gestures that go with it. We got to visit some of the dung houses and talk to the Maasai women. Before we left, all of the women took out their bead work and we got a chance to purchase some awesome stuff.

The next day, we visited the nearby town of Kimana. It was market day and funny enough we saw most of the Maasai mommas from the boma the day before. The market was very crowded and everything from donkeys to batteries were being sold. One of our fellow SFS-mates tried to bargain for a donkey. The experience was interesting but some of the students thought it was a bit uncomfortable that they were constantly stared at and singled out. The kiswahili word for white person/ foreigner is "mizungu". And the whole time vendors left and right were pully us aside, shouting "mizungu", and basically trying to push all sort of goodies onto us. All in all, however, I loved the new experience. I had never seen a busier market and it was awesome getting a chance to meet some of the locals.

Since then I've also climbed a giant hill for an Environmental Policy class. It was extremely rocky and tumultuous in general, but I made it. The climb down was actually way worse. But the view was beautiful- it looked like Pride Rock from The Lion King. Seriously. But the view from the top of the hill was absolutely necessary for the lecture. We were talking about Kenya's different climates and soil zones, and from atop the hill, the distinctions were very visible. It was amazing looking at the clear distinctions between the green agricultural zones and the brown dry areas.

Yesterday, we traveled to a bigger town Oliotuotok. It was also the town's market day, but this town was much larger than Kimana and so it was more developed. There was an actual paved road, and more houses and buildings. Since it was going to be one of the SFS student's (Tori Suarez's) birthday today, we piled into a bar/retauraunt and proceeded to celebrate. Good times '08. The 1+ hour bumpy car ride back was amazing.

Then today, to learn about group ranches and the human effect on wildlife, we drove in to another nearby town and climbed another hill so we could get a broader perspective. Interestingly, according to the Kenyan Wildlife Conservation group, only about 5% of land is used for agriculture and about 90 something % is unused for wildlife. But, the land that is used, is land that is crucial for the sustainability of wildlife, and tends to be good nutrient filled land that wildlife would want to live in. Once again, it's all a matter of perspective.

Before I sign off. I would like to explain the top quote. Okello is my professor in Environment Management and his love for wildlife is contagious. As he always says in class, looking into wildlife always makes him fill with joy, especially when he sees a lion or an elephant. But it is his enthusiasm that I would like to leave you all with. Do whatever it is you do, but do it to overfill your "cup of joy".

Kwaheri,
Kim

Thorns, poison, bacterium oh my

Day 2: 09/06/08 8:51 PM

Lesson of the Day: Everything in Africa has either thorns, spikes, or poison.

Well not exactly, but from the orientation tours given today, it may as well have seemed like so. There were the African killer bees, deadly acacia bushes, the equally painful wait-a-minute bushes, and a host of other parasites, viruses, bacterium, and critters that will bascially invade your comfort zone and unleash numeorus versions of hell. The ones I'm most worried about this summer are ranked in this order

1. Jiggers- seem like the evil counterpart of chiggers that we have in the states. They're basically tick like creatures that manage to drive and dwell into any soft parts of your body, but mostly your feet (like the skin in between your toe and toenail). So, shoes are kind of mandatory. And they hit home for me because I hate shoes. Being barefoot is on my list of things that would entail making heaven on earth. So much for that.
2. Malaria- seems like I'm the only individual who decided to risk it by not bringing along malaria pills. The side effects scare me, but then again, so does malaria.
3. Salmonella- not an issue in the States, but pretty a norm here in Kenya. They exist on the shells of all chicken eggs here, but its very easily prevented. All I need to remember is to wash my hands and my eggs before eating them. Let's hope I'll be able to do that.

I'm sure there are a couple of other concerns, such as being attached by a rabid animal or being trampled by elephants when I go on my runs, but with those I feel like I have much more control, as in the option to run for my dear life.

So, as this is Day 2, I guess I should probably offer some informatiton about Day 1.

Day 0-1

Lesson: London is very expensive and not showering for more than 2 days sucks, a lot

Kim's itinerary for Kenya:

- Leave JFK at 8:00PM: I actually teared a little at the vanishing sigh of New York. Most memorable part of this leg, getting upgraded to business and sitting next to an elderly lady who proceeded to get wasted throughout the flight. She was drinking scotch on the rocks before I even sat down.

- Arrive London at 8:00 AM, and after going through customs and sorting out baggage issues, 10:00 AM. Around that same time, come to a realization that our flight to Nairobi is not until 9:00PM of that day, which was easily solved when a couple of the other students offered to watch our stuff and me and two other girls decided to explore downtown London. Although we made the mistake of taking the train to Paddington instead of taking the "tube" to Big Ben and whatnot, I still had a cool experience checking out cafes and random Chinese herbal stores. I would visit again, but it is honestly so expensive. America, we need to pump up our dollars, for real.

- Leave London 8:00 PM. Most memorable part of this leg of the journey, sitting in extremely close proximity to babies, which actually didn't end up being that bad since they were both extremely adorable. And the best part, I got another upgrade again, only 4 rows up this time, but with so much leg space regardless. My original seat was assigned next to a toddler, and his dad wanted to trade, so I gues all in all, my flights have been pretty good.

- Arrive Nairobi 7:00 AM. Most memorable moment- feeling extremely dirty. I had never experienced such a feeling ever. Not even when I went to California and worked on the organic farm.

- After exchanging our currencies and claiming our baggages, we set out for the best off road riding of my life. The ride from Nairobi to the camp was about 5-6 hours, where 2-3 of the first leg is on paved (not really) road, and the rest on a complete lack of road. Weirdly, I managed to pass out for the whole ride, but managed to wake up at significant moments to oggle at wildlife. Our driver's name was Charles, and driving in Kenya is nothing like I driving I've even seen. First off, the roads are all unmarked. And secondly, the road is simply bumpy We saw giraffes, ostriches, buffalo, gazelles, cows, and townspeople all along the way. Pretty awesome except I was extremely delirious and thirsty.

- After arriving at camp, I was just so happy to have a home. Sadly, I ended up not being able to take a shower that night, because the water we use here is cold, and I simply could not bring myself to take a cold shower in the dark while the temperature outside was dropping. Therefore, the shower this morning at 6:30 AM was awesome and so very worth freezing for.

I'll be keeping in touch, since the camp fire outside seems very desirable right now