Day 21

Day 21

Today was another non-program day, our day to sleep in. And it is Sunday. So they gave us the option of going with some staff to church services, a Lutheran or a Catholic one. I gave up sleeping in to go to church. Only one other person went with me, and she is not even Catholic. But the Church was so cool. It is really well maintained. The children sing and dance to the music, and they incorporated some traditional dance moves that made it really interesting. The service was two and a half hours. It usually is not that long, but one of their sisters was leaving and a new one was coming, so they said good bye to them. It was awesome to see. The service was all in Swahili, so I did not understand it at all, but still is was great. Next time some other people want to come with us.

After that we could go to the bar Happy Days or to the Kudu Lodge in Karatu. I went to the lodge and had chicken for lunch. It was great. After I sat at the pool and read, so it was a great day. When we got back to camp, I watched The Devil Wears Prada with a group of friends while we did homework.

Some people drank a little too much, so M’Lis, our supervisor/coordinator was not happy, but they were funny to watch.

And we are not doing anything interesting for the next few days, but going to the Ngorongoro Crater on Friday, so I will say more then. And our internet does not enjoy working well, so it will be a bit before more pictures.

Kwa heri

Kylie

Days 15 and 16

Day 15 and 16

Yesterday was a great day. We got to go to Tarangire National Park. We drove for an hour and a half to get there. Once we got there, we had to do this project that involved counting animals. There were herd of up to 200 wildebeest and zebra, and large groups of impala, elephants, baboons, giraffes, and elands. Trying to count them all was fun.

We had lunch at the lodge in the park. It was so very nice. It overlooked the river so you could see many animals, and I got to have a cheeseburger for lunch. But the best part was the bathrooms. They had liquid hand soap!

After lunch we got to drive around for a bit. I even got to see half a lioness! (She was walking through tall grass so you could only see her top half.) We then go to see where our director works. He is running a project tracking the lions in the park, so we got to see the collars and other devices they use, as well as their base camp. It looks like a lot of fun to work there.

 The half of the lioness

 The wildebeast that almost trampled our stuff.

There is a full grown elephant in front of this baobob tree.

We then drove back and today we had four hours of class, and then the whole afternoon and evening to work on our papers.

But now 3 out of the 4 of us in the banda have a cold, so that sucks.

Kylie

Days 12-14

Days 12 and 13

These past two days were not very interesting. We had classes and then time to work on the three essays due later this week.

Last night we watched Sherlock Holmes. Someone had brought it over. It was nice to get a piece of home.

But we did get cake today, and tomorrow is our day off so expect something exciting.

Day 14

Today was our second day off. We had to get up and extra half an hour early, but then we went bike riding. We rode near Lake Manyara. As we rode through the fields, there were herds of wildebeest and Thompson’s gazelles running in front of us. We also got to see thousands of flamingos on the lake. After that, we went to a place where they carve wood, then to a place where they create paintings. Only half of us went on the bike ride, the other half wanted to see in or “work on their papers,” but they probable just slept in too.

Once the rest of the people joined us, we went shopping. I spent about $100 worth of shillings today, but I got a lot. We also then went to a pizza place. I got the plain pizza, but because it took so long, they put chicken on there for me.

Then I came back to camp, read a little, and work on the papers. But the power is enjoying going out. It will be off for hours, then a few seconds. It is pretty entertaining actually. Except the internet is connected to the power, so that’s been out for a while too.

Kylie

Day 11

Day 11

I just got back from being in the field for 4 hours. We went to the same area we were two days ago, also instead of looking at poop we looked at plants. We were supposed to do 100 plots, but after 3 hours they said 40 was fine. But then we had to walk back to the trucks. That was a long walk through grassland.

But along the way we did see some Thompson’s gazelles and a herd of wildebeest almost trampled our things.

Kylie

Day 10

Day 10

Today we got to learn some more Swahili, but we are moving so fast it is nearly impossible to keep up. I am lucky that I have a Zulu background.

We had a guest lecture this morning, so we all sat on the ground outside. It was great, except that I got bitten my two mosquitoes. The lecture was Iraqw and our teacher is Maasi, which is interesting because those two cultures do not get alone very well.

We had time this afternoon to work on the three essays that are due next week. I have one done and one started, which is more than some people…

There is no dairy here, and now I desperatly want cheese.

Kylie

Day 9

Day 9

Today we had classes in the morning, but then we had a field lecture in the afternoon. This consisted of going to the community land near Lake Manyara. When we got there, we were told that we could walk to the lake for 10 minutes. So we all started walking. 15 minutes later we were not even near the lake yet. This lake dries up greatly in the dry season, which is we are at the end of right now. As we were walking out, the land got smushy and we would sink a little. It is a salt lake, so all our shoes smell salty.

After we turned around and trekked back to the trucks, we started with the project. It consisted of plotting out a 4x4 meter square in the ground. Then we had to see what feces were in the area. We then moves 60 meters away and did this again. Each group of 5 had a Maasi guide. They helped us identify the droppings. We were in the sun for hours. While everyone else was happy with their tan lines, I was happy to not have burned.

And I found out that the village we visited yesterday, Karatu, was on the Amazing Race last season.

Kylie

Day 8

Day 8

Today was our first non-program day, meaning that there were no classes. To start off the day, we went to Elephant Cave. It is a hike through a forest to an iron deposit, where elephants come to get minerals for their diet. It was really steep at some points, almost a 45 degree climb. The trail we used is also used by animals, so now I know how to identify elephant, buffalo, and baboon poop. That was fun to try and avoid along the path. There also was a beautiful waterfall. After the hike we got to eat lunch out of our Tupperware. It contained a peanut butter sandwich, my favorite, so along with the chocolate pancakes for breakfast, today had great food.

                After that, we went to Karatu. I bought 40,000 shillings worth of things, about 35 dollars. I got cloth, a necklace, and a bowl. You have to barter for the goods, if you take the first price they offer, you will be laughed at. And if you are insistent, you can get some good deals.

                Then, we went to a bar called Happy Days. It is pretty American, and our 30 people were the only ones there. Only four people decided not to drink. I not have a cool Coca-Cola bottle to add to my collection.

                We got back and then most people took a nap. Today was a great day, but now we have class again tomorrow.

Kylie

Days 6 and 7

Day 6

I just had one of the best days ever. After a morning of classes, we went to Lake Manyara National Park. Everyone was ready half an hour early and we stood by the trucks waiting. We rode in Toyota Land Cruzers with tops that could pop up. We could stand in the car as we were driving in the park. There is nothing like going 40 km per hour down a dusty road with the wind in your hair watching for animals.
We saw baboons, waterbucks, elephants, zebra, wildebeest, giraffes, impala, warthogs, buffalo, birds, and my favorite of the day, dik-diks. They are deer, but are only 1.5 feet tall with large eyes. We also got cut off by a herd of 20+ elephants. They were so close that we could tough them if we wanted (but we were specifically told not to rile up the elephants).

We get to go back tomorrow to study the baboons. But if there is more time we will be able to see some more animals.

Day 7

This morning we got up and went to Lake Manyara again. We saw many animals, including a herd of elephants in a stream. We had to spent 2 hours watching baboons, which was no fun at all. I have sitting, watching, and eating as the things that they did most. But I did get to see some hippos that we missed yesterday, so that was exciting. Now I have to write three research papers using the data we supposedly got in the park. We also have to find articles (at least 15) to include in our papers, and as the internet is temperamental, that will be interesting.

I also got to play cribbage with some friends, and apparently it is a Wisconsin thing, because that is where they learned it. I also have a very strong Wisconsin accent that I am the only one who does not notice.

Kylie

Day 5

Day 5

Today I got to get up an hour earlier because I am on kitchen crew. We helped make breakfast, and I got to chop onions, peppers, and tomatoes. My hands still smell like that no matter how often I wash them. We then had another class for three hours.

Lunch and more classes were after that. But tomorrow we get to go to TANAPA (Tanzania National Park) Lake Manyara. We will have to fill out a worksheet and write two papers about it when we get back, but it will still be fun and I might finally see some animals.

Tonight I learned how to do hair wraps, and most people in the camp are getting one, even the boys. I will be very interesting.

Kylie

Day 4

Day 4

We had an Environmental policy class this morning, and then I got to play volleyball again during break. We then had another class where we got our first assignment. The directions are very vague and we are a little confused, but I am sure it will eventually be clarified.

We had one more class after lunch that went for 2.5 hours. Then Kirsten and I went for a walk outside the camp. On the final leg, we meet some school girls who were talking with us. They knew English very well as one of the first things they said was that I have a big nose. When we reached the camp we asked to take their picture, and they ended up taking our picture and pictures of each other. They loved the cameras and would take pictures of anyone who was passing by. There was also a little kid who would hold two peoples’ hands and then we would swing her back and forth. They loved looking through our old pictures. I still have my photos from home, so they got to see my whole family and what snow looks like. There were also pictures of spring green on there and they liked those too.

Kylie

Day 3

Day 3

Mambo!

Today we have had two classes so far. They were wildlife ecology and Swahili. In wildlife ecology we went over things that I have already studied, but in Madison it took us a week to cover what we did in a day here. We learned greetings in Swahili. Disney's Swahili might need some updating, mambo is said to multiple people, not jambo. We just have lunch with this amazing rice and meat dish, and in an hour we will have two more classes.

We have not left the camp today so there are no animal sightings.

After lunch I played some volleyball. I am one of the few girls here who know how to play. There is some good in that, because my minimal skills look stellar, but then it can be frustrating when you set someone a perfect spike and they bump it backwards. I also think my forearm is turning into a huge bruise because I was the only one who would try and bump the others team’s good player’s serves.

We had two more classes after that. It was exciting because we talked about some of the project we get to do, involving counting animals. After class some people played soccer and I went for a walk with some others. We have some cute pictures with local children and then I got some good pictures of the soccer game.

I will try to write again tomorrow, but the spotty internet may not allow me to.

Kylie

Day 2

Day 2

Today we got a tour of the camp then visited the local village, Rhotia. The paths we walked along are red dirt, so everything we are wearing is slightly redder. We learned a few Swahili words and more about the local plants. After lunch of mostly carbs we sat in the classroom for a long time for orientation. They went over the rules and what to expect. There are three classes, Wildlife Ecology, Wildlife Management, and Wildlife Policy. Sometimes there will be guest lecturers, and sometimes we will go out into the field for class. There will be exams near the end of October, and then we will be spending 4 nights in the Serengeti. There are days where we will be taking a trip into the different parks near here. Overall, the schedule looks amazing.

Day 1

The beginning. My flight from Chicago to New York was good. I sat next to a girl my age from Manchester, UK, who was visiting relatives. I was in the way back next to the window. I even fell asleep for a bit. On the way in, I saw the statue of Liberty. Twice. We had to circle around.

When I got to New York I made my way to the gate, and soon other SFS students were arriving. Together there were 23 of us on that flight. Everyone is really nice and we all made sure we were together when we got off the plane. On that flight, I got a window seat with a middle aged lady next to me. I watched Captain America and then slept some. A SFS student was kitty-corner to me, so we were able to talk some.

When we arrived at London, 3 people had to claim their bags, so while they were doing that the rest of us went to the terminal to check in. After a few of us got our boarding passes, the attendant told us that if we planned on going into the city, she could not give us our boarding passes because there was a high chance of us missing the flight. So, we sat in the airport for 11 hours. Long, tired hours. We did not want to sleep because we wanted to be able to sleep on the flight. Other people came and join out group there, so 28 out of 30 were on that flight.

It turns out the people who claimed their bags got to go into the city. But, oh well. The flight to Nairobi was 8.5 hours. I sat between a woman from Australia and one from Brittan. I only slept a little. When we arrived, we got to exit the plane via stairs onto the tarmac, then take a bus to the airport. Our next flight was 2 hours later and lasted for 40 minutes. Then, we arrived.

A representative for SFS met us when we got off the plane, and helped us acquire our visas. They cost $100. But now I have a stamp in my passport. Good news, everyone’s bags arrived without any problems. One guy who flew in from Nepal met us there. It turns out that the last person missed the flight in New York, so we have to pick him up tomorrow. We made our way out to the parking lot, where they did pile our bags on top of the Toyota LandCruzers. We drove for an hour to Arusha and got lunch.  I had a mini banana, and it was so sweet that it tasted like candy. Then we drove for two hours to reach camp near a village called Rhotia. Along the way we stopped to see a lake that I cannot remember the name of right now. We had dinner of mashed potatoes, green beans, beans, pork, beef, fruit, spaghetti, rice, and cake. It is really good. I am sharing a room with 3 other girls. But in conclusion, I slept 10 of the last 50 hours, so now I am saying good night.