walking swamps and writing stuff

Oh hi!

Grey crowned crane (Amboseli National Park)

After my last post, I had a few more days of work in the field. We had two more days in the community swamps, neither of which had nearly as much water as the first two days in the swamps. In fact, my boots hardly got wet at all. Then, we went and censused Amboseli National Park for three days. Since it's a national park, we weren't allowed to get out of the safari vehicles and walk through the swamp on foot; Instead, we recorded our information from the cars. We saw many more cranes in Amboseli National Park than in the community swamps, and we also saw a lot of other cool wildlife, including an elephant in musth who walked after our vehicle, a caracal cat (and my professor said he wasn't aware that there were any living in the park, so this was a very rare sight!), some itty bitty elephants (my professor thought they were less than a month old), and 14 hyenas in one day (who had just hunted a baby hippo, which the very pregnant alpha female was carrying around the head of). I do love Amboseli and am going to miss it. We have one more optional, all-day game drive next free day, so I'll be able to see it one last time. It'll be a very bittersweet moment.

Community swamp

Elephant in musth

A beautiful grassland mosaic in Amboseli National Park

A baby vervet visitor during lunch!

Me, zero, and mom as elephants

We finished the field work portion of DR a week ago. Then we worked on creating data tables summarizing our group results. We also had a very quick crash course of QGIS so we could make a map showing where exactly we saw each crane. A few days ago, we split into small (2 to 3 person) groups to begin writing the research paper. I'm working with two other students. So far, we've revised the introduction, drafted the results, and revised the methods. Next, we'll work on the discussion, which is both the most difficult part and the part I'm most excited for. We'll be done writing our paper in about a week. After finishing our paper, our whole DR group of 8 will get back together to create the community presentation, which we've invited all of our interviewees, other members of the community, and some NGO employees to attend. 

A curious giraffe (Amboseli National Park)

Aside from schoolwork, I've been trying to figure out my class schedule for next semester (they dropped me from stats but then made an exception for me, which, while nice, made all of my searching for replacement classes at the other 4 colleges for naught) and I've been helping the chef at KBC in the kitchen! I've made guacamole and salad for dinner a few times, and I made nana's lemonade recipe for the end of DR fieldwork (everyone loved it!) and deviled eggs for Easter (people also loved these). I've been enjoying being in the kitchen. I'm waiting to get back in the kitchen again so I can learn how to make chapati and egg curry. I also learned to bead a few days ago when one of the mamas came to teach a small group of us. I've made a bracelet and a necklace since then. 

Cranes prepping to fly (Amboseli National Park)

Yesterday, we took our free day to go to Tsavo West National Park. Though there weren't a lot of animals there, the Chyulu Hills and the lava rocks made it beyond worth it. Also, I saw five baobabs! That's a lifer. 

Baby gator in Tsavo

Klipspringers standing on the Shetani Lava Flow with the Chyulu Hills in the background

Momma and baby hippo in the Mzima Springs (Tsavo)

Mzima springs pond

Yawning hippo (Tsavo)

The first baobab I've seen! (Tsavo)

With only 13 days left of the semester (and 14 days until I'm back home), I'm starting to get nostalgia for this place that I haven't quite left. I feel like I've done a fair bit of reflection on the last 13 weeks. This has been a wonderful and unique experience. I hope to one day come back to Kenya, but I'm not sure that'll happen. So, with these last two weeks, I'm trying to absorb as much as possible. It's amazing how much faster each day goes by the older you get. This is one of the times where I wish it would go a bit slower. I'm grateful for the experiences I've had here, and I know I'll carry my knowledge with me through the rest of my life. 

An awful photo of the caracal (Amboseli National Park)

The reflection of Mt. Kilimanjaro in a pool of still water (Amboseli National Park)

Thank you all for tuning in!

Jaedyn

Tiny baby elephant (Amboseli National Park)

Hyenas post-hippo hunt

The Chyulu Hills

Beginning directed research

Hello and happy April!

With the last month in Kenya, we're completing our directed research projects. After my last blog post, we spent a bit more than a week working on writing up our proposals for our directed research projects. As I understood it, I believe it was supposed to mimic the process of requesting grant money. There are seven other students in my directed research group, so we split it up and submitted a draft, revised the draft, and then submitted the final version. Then, we started field work!

The directed research I'm participating in is examining the health of grey crowned crane habitats (swampland) and how it is affecting their populations. The grey crowned crane is an endangered species and is heavily reliant on healthy swamps, especially for breeding. There is conflict between the cranes and the local community, who utilize the swamps for agriculture, livestock grazing, and settlement. The redirection of water and the use of swamp land are contributing to the decline of grey crowned cranes. Our research involves two parts: a quantitative assessment of the vegetation state of the swamp and interviews with locals on the communities' opinions of the grey crowned cranes. 

The infamous grey crowned crane

Our first day in the field, we did a vegetation assessment at the Iichalai community swamp. I haven't ever really been in a swamp, so I didn't know exactly what to expect other than the one comment my professor made on how you're on solid ground and then, all of the sudden, you're in water up to your calves. As it turns out, this swamp was rather tame. Aside from the occasional puddle and the one stream we had to cross, which brought the water up to above my knees, there wasn't much water or mud. There also weren't very much agriculture happening. However, it was wet enough that I had to get accustomed to having perpetually wet boots. Gombe was just a preview, I suppose!

Crossing the stream

My research director on a phone call and literally knee deep in water

The next two days, we did community member interviews. The interviewees had already been decided, so we just had to go meet them. Two students and one local guide interviewed two informants at a time. We did two sets of interviews the first day and another two the second day. It was interesting and I enjoyed talking to the community members, but I'm grateful that we only did a couple of days of interviews. The other two directed research groups are doing all interviews, nothing in the environment like we are. I'm grateful I got the research that has hands-on environmental sampling. 

Puppy at the boma

The fourth day in the field, we went to Namelok community swamp. This swamp was much denser, much more wet, and had much more agriculture. In the last swamp, there weren't very many active agricultural fields (it's okay for us to walk through out-of-season fields, but not active ones), so we didn't have an issue until our very last transect, where there was an active field directly in our path. However, in the Namelok swamp we weren't able to sustain any one transect bearing. We are supposed to have a transect bearing and continue in that direction for a certain number of transects until we change bearings, but in Namelok we just had to walk on the path in between the fields. Where we were walking, it was very muddy. We also were walking in shallow water more often than not. Luckily, Nana let me borrow her gators, so my pants didn't get too muddy. My shoes turned into elephant feet, but I'm happy to pay that price for some fun field work. 

Agriculture fields

Elephant feet

After a few hours in the field and a run-in with a river, one of our guides, Francis, was kind enough to get us some sugar cane from a family living right by where we were walking. Sugarcane is a common snack in the area, and I've seen people taking breaks and eating some in town and at the livestock market. I had just been thinking about asking our lovely chef, James, to get some for us to try, so I felt super lucky that Francis got some for us! You peel off the hard outer layer with your teeth (or, as was in my case, you have Francis take a machete to it) and then peel off small strips, suck on/chew them until you get all of the flavor out, and then spit out the pulp. It was delicious! It tastes like sugar water (big surprise). It was a very refreshing snack and got us through the last leg of the transects and back to the cars, where we had our lunches. 

Sugarcane snack!

Today, we went to the Nice Place Foundation, a boarding school for some of the local children. They have a few great programs there and welcomed us with song and tea! We split into groups and had some team-building games. The kids were lovely. Then, we had a KBC vs NPF soccer game! They beat us 3 to 1 (even though we had some of the KBC staff playing with us), but it was still super fun to watch! I chose not to play and instead sat and watched. There were a couple little ones who were having a good time looking through the photos I've taken of Kenya, playing with my watch, and examining my skin and hair. I also talked with some of the older girls. The whole experience was a lot of fun, and we're hoping to come back to play some volleyball (which I likely will participate in). 

The rainy season has started, so we're getting wonderful downpours nearly every day. I love the rain (especially when napping), but it admittedly does make it rather hard to get my laundry dry. It's funny to watch the animals spook just before the storms roll in. Other than field work, I've been working on figuring out my classes and housing for next year. I've been having a lovely time and am really enjoying field work. We'll be done with field work in a bit over a week, after which we'll start working on writing our research paper and our community presentation. I'm admittedly less excited for that part, but I know I'll still find fun in it! The duality of missing home and wanting to be fully present here (because I know I'll miss this just as much when I'm without it) is not lost on me. I love Kenya and know I'll miss this place and this time for the rest of my life once I leave, but I'm also excited to go back home for the summer, see my friends and family, start my summer job, and eat all of the food I've been missing. Sometimes it's hard to live in the present when you're simultaneously planning for the future and developing nostalgia for the moment you're in. Taking photos, writing in my travel journal, talking to everyone back home, and writing the blogs have been good for me. 28 days isn't enough time left here. It's really too bad the world isn't closer together, isn't it. It would also help if we all had unlimited money and no jobs. But alas, those things probably keep us grounded (or something... if I'm being honest I don't really know how to transition from this topic).

A walk to town in my CC shirt! (photo cred Sophia Fabrizio)

Anyways! Thank you all for sticking with me. I enjoy sharing my experiences and having the chance to write down the memories I'm making. Hopefully I'll be able to make two to three more blog posts before it's time for me to go back home. 

Until next time,

Jae

P.S. I totally thought it was "great" crowned cranes until two weeks ago. Honestly that's a way better name for them anyways though. 

Tanzania and exams

Hello again!

The shore of Lake Tanganyika from Gombe National Park

When we last 'spoke,' the cohort was still in Angiri camp in Kenya. The day after my last post, we went to the Nairobi airport and shipped ourselves off to Tanzania. We had a layover in Dar Es Salaam, which I absolutely loved flying over. It was so beautiful! We boarded a sketchy little boat and had a three-hour ride to Gombe National Park, where Jane Goodall started her research on chimpanzees. Gombe was beyond gorgeous, and I loved being in the forest. My first lodging was seriously at least three-quarters of a mile from the beach where we arrived, which was not even a little ideal to walk at 10pm after a full day of travel. However, I woke up the next morning feeling much more at peace with my mildly rustic shack and all of the cutesy spider inhabitants who allowed me to stay in their spare room. I started my day with a swim in Lake Tanganyika, which has the clearest water I have ever seen. The depth was deceiving because of the clarity of the water: more than once I thought I could touch the bottom, just to reach down and realize that where I was wading was easily ten feet deep. 

The aforementioned Sketchy Little Boat™

Later that day, they told me that my stay in Spider Inn was a one night special, so I lugged my stuff back to the beach and then another quarter-mile beyond that to a cutesy little tent with some super adorable ants rotating a dead lizard they had found! It just spun and spun! Seriously though, I know I joke, but being in Gombe was most certainly one of the best experiences of my life and I don't have anything genuine to complain about. I woke up every morning and walked 3 feet from baboons, and I fell asleep at night to the waves of Lake Tanganyika.

The chimpanzee feeding station

In Gombe, we had a tour of the veterinarian's lab, the herbarium, and the osteology lab, many lectures, and two field exercises: one on chimpanzee vegetation, where we got to see Jane's Peak and ran back down the mountain as it down poured, and the other we were chimpanzee trekking! My group went chimp trekking after it has been storming all night and into the morning, so the path the other group took was flooded and we got to go through the bush rather than on the trail. We detoured again, going along the shore of the lake, and the waves were crashing up to us on the shore. I was not able to appreciate the beauty of wet boots in the moment, but I'm there now. A bit further into the hike, we climbed what our guide called the "baby hill" which was very deceiving. The baby hill consisted of the steepest incline and decline I've ever had the pleasure of hiking, and a muddy hillside where we inched side by side downhill with our hands uphill in front of us. We learned about how slave traders planted mango trees to mark their paths. Those same mango trees stand today. We followed four chimps: a baby, a mom, a grandma, and a male. At one point, the male came down his tree and walked right by me. I expected him to walk around me, but if I hadn't side-stepped at the last second, he would have brushed up against me. It was a really incredible experience. We took the boat back to the research center and visited Jane Goodall's house. 

Baby, mom, and grandma

Walking up to our vegetation study plot

Once leaving Gombe, we went to Kigoma, Tanzania, where there's the Kigoma branch of the Jane Goodall institute. We got to go canoeing on the lake on our free day, and the next day had lectures on TACARE, Jane's holistic approach to conservation and the betterment of local communities, and on the national forest. We got to swim in the lake one last time and went to the director of the TACARE program's house after dinner. The next day, we headed back to Kenya. 

Once we got back to KBC, we had a debrief, a day of rest, and then one day working on our final films for our human dimensions of the environment class. After presenting those films to each other and a few members of the community, we had two days of studying for our three finals, and then two days of actually doing the finals. Yesterday, we were introduced to our directed research options and had many hours of statistics class.

Mount Kilimanjaro! It's good to see her again.

Yesterday marked the crossing over of the halfway point in this program! It's a bittersweet moment: I've loved my time here and I've learned so much, I'm also excited to go back home to see my family and friends, and part of me never wants to have to leave Kimana. I'm sure that the final half of the program is going to speed by and be over before I know it, which makes me sad. On a happier note, I immensely enjoyed my time during expedition and am excited to properly start directed research. The project I'm in is on grey crowned cranes and the degradation of their habitat. 

My habitat study group and me in front of a waterfall in Gombe National Park

Kitwe Forest Conservation Area

Jane's Peak

Canoeing on Lake Tanganyika

Thanks for tuning in! Hopefully I'll be able to update the blog more consistently now that I'm back at KBC. Til next time, 

J

Nanyuki!

Hi again!

Look how good I'm being about posting regularly. Josh owes me a cookie now. I would also settle for a coffee.

A sign in Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Tomorrow is out last full day in Nanyuki, Kenya. On Tuesday, we'll drive to Nairobi to catch our Wednesday morning flight to Kigoma, Tanzania. 

Sunrise in Maasai Mara

Nanyuki River Sign

Giant bluegum

Nanyuki has been lovely. We started with two free days, which I spent writing two papers, calling family, and napping. The sixth was an academic day. We had a guest lecturer talk about Grevy zebras and then we went to the William Holden Education Centre (WHEC). The center itself was very interesting: they had some interesting ideas on composting, energy use, and environmentalism as a whole. They also had an arboretum which anyone who knows me will know that I LOVED. However, I found their animal rehabilitation center very cruel. The animals were in VERY small enclosures which were all much too small for them. They had lions, hyenas, a leopard, a hyrax, Sykes monkeys, baboons, and a few more animals all in cages. They said that all of the animals were either being rehabilitated for release in the wild or were severely injured and wouldn't survive in the wild. Even if this was the case, it was still (in my opinion) completely unethical for them to have the animals in as small of enclosures as they did. They had a baby giraffe, some llamas, an ostrich, and a mountain bongo just walking around on the grass right next to us. The mountain bongo tried to lick my professor. It was all very random and fever dream esque. 

Albino zebra (WHEC)

Fever dream

Lioness and lion at WHEC

Anyways, the next day we went to Ol Pejeta and got a lecture on black rhinos! I really, really enjoyed learning about the ecology and rehabilitation of the rhinos. After our lecture, we got to go visit Baraka, Ol Pejeta's blind black rhino. He was very friendly, and we all pet him. Then, we had another quick lecture on the white rhinos and the rehabilitation efforts for them. Ol Pejeta has the last two northern white rhinos in the world: Najin and her daughter, Fatu. We were lucky enough to go into their extra special enclosure to see them which was an incredible experience. Then, we visited the chimpanzee sanctuary, where 35 chimps share 140.54 square miles. Chimps are a lot bigger than I thought they were. And we'll see them without an electric fence between us in a week. Finally, we went on a game drive in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Najin

Baraka

Fatu

Yesterday, we had an exercise on the population dynamics of whistling thorn acacia as well as the species' symbiotic relationship with ants. I also really enjoyed this. We divided the study area into grids and recorded the height, length, damage, and presence/absence of ants on each seedling found. Then, we recorded the height, damage, presence/absence of ants, and diameter of tagged trees. The conservancy has been collecting data on this for 23 years if I remember correctly. Then, we were able to go see the critically endangered Grevy zebra in their special enclosed area. They're much bigger than the common zebras and have a lot more stripes. They got very close to us which was really cool. On our game drive later that day, we saw a hybrid Grevy-common zebra. On the game drive, we also saw a warthog mud bathing, a lot of giraffes, elephants, rhinos, and cape buffalo, and some hartebeest and water buffalo. Then, I finished yet another paper. Tomorrow, we have one class and then the rest of the day free to pack and write (you guessed it!) another paper. I've really enjoyed my time in Nanyuki and am excited to go to Tanzania! 

Thank you for keeping up with my time in Kenya! Til next time!

Mount Kenya

Grevy zebras

Baby zebra!

Hybrid zebra