Expedition Post 2 of 3

Hamjambo fellow mzungus!

Sorry for the delay in the post, internet has kinda been fritzy lately and I've been busy. Anyway, here is the second installment of Expedition Nakuru 2012. I ended my story at seeing the female leopard, but that wasn't the end of the day. No, there was plenty more to come.

We first sat through a guest lecture by Emily,  a scientist studying the Lake Nakuru National Park ecosystem. I am unsure as to what her research exactly was, but her lecture was mainly a means of understanding the ecosystem, the reasons for the way things are now, and some unique information about the park. The park serves not only as a haven for the local wildlife, but also the critically endangered black rhino and the globally threatened Rothschild giraffe, the largest giraffe in the world.

In the afternoon, we then went on a game drive around the park, familiarizing ourselves with the habitat types, counting animals, and of course, taking a ton of pictures and video. The picture above,  is of the migratory colony of lesser flamingos that call the lake home for specific times of the year. It was there that we also got to see white rhinos up close, and man, were they big. We saw a mother and young calf at a distance, but then were able to see a group of four about ten feet from our vehicle. It was incredible, but did it end there? Of course not! As we were driving back to camp in the evening, we spotted dark shapes on the side of the road and quickly stopped. There they were, a pair of lionesses, just sitting about 20 meters from the road. They were of course sleeping off the day, and were only just waking up enough to put their heads up a couple times, yawn, roll on their backs, and maybe flick their tails. But even with that little activity we stayed captivated, hoping they would move more of course, and sat there for about 45 minutes. Eventually we would head back to camp to go to sleep ourselves after eating a good dinner and settling around the campfire for around a half hour.

The next morning, I was awoken suddenly by the grunting and roaring of grazing hippos outside camp. It was around 4:30, but I still couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to venture out and make a fire. After the fire started burning brighter, I grabbed some chai and sat down with the night askaris (guards). We talked a bit in Swahili and some Maasai, glad I got to learn a few new words.

After breakfast we went out on a transect field exercise, counting the animals in the particular habitat types, so we could use the data to assess the relationship between species and their habitats in the park. As we drove on to start the exercise, the first animal we came across was a large male lion. You could see the power in his body as he crossed the grassland. He was a BIG cat. I think the manes on the cats at the Center are much fuller and nicer, but he was huge by body size comparison. He was definitely taller and more muscular, and as he crossed the road in front of us you could really see how big he was, even in comparison with the vehicle. What a way to start the day...

TO BE CONTINUED....

Swahili Word of the Day: baridi which means "cold"

Maasai Word of the Day: sidai which means "cool" (like "poa" in Swahili)

Expedition Post 1 of 3

 Hello dear friends and family. Hamjambo to you all. Hope I haven't missed too much since I've been gone. Apparently Davidson made it to the tournament again. That's bitter-sweet to hear, but all the same it's exciting. Hope I can find a  bracket so I can do March Madness here.

Anyways, about Expedition Nakuru 2012... After about eight hours of driving our caravan arrived at the park in the mid-afternoon. We got out of our vehicles to stretch our legs only to observe a menagerie of wildlife around the perimeter fence (Lake Nakuru National Park is a completely closed system, surrounded entirely by electric fence and the town of Nakuru).

First, there were Vervet monkeys, Olive baboons and impala. Our car saw a monkey literally jump into a visitor's car and take her trash. Man they were crazy. Plus I got super close; so close I could have grabbed it I think. There was a multitude of young monkeys climbing all over the gate as the antelope grazed in the background. We also saw the Defassa waterbuck, well known in Nakuru, especially by Dr. Shem Mwasi, our Wildlife Management professor. They're his favorite.

After arriving at camp, we went over the conditions of the stay and set up our tents. We only ran into a small conflict with the baboons, everyone got away. They just aren't afraid of white women. And the only reason they ran from me is because I had a slingshot or a knife. Granted that was the only real close call.

The following morning, I woke up around 5am and saw buffalo standing right outside camp (If I could upload the video I took I definitely would). I knew then that I was gonna love this particular camping trip. After a quick morning class, we went up to a place called Baboon Cliff to enjoy an incredible view of the lake. On the way, we saw zebra, waterbuck, impala, gazelle, hundreds of buffalo, and even a group of white rhinos. It was an incredibly beautiful place, covered in green. Absolutely gorgeous. While heading back to camp for lunch, one of the cars had stopped in front of us. We had no idea why, but it became quite evident as we looked across the canopy. A breathtaking spotted cat emerged from the shadows and danced across a tree branch. Finally, I'd seen a leopard. My Big Five sightings are now complete. It was absolutely amazing.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Swahili Word of the Day: chui which means leopard

bro tip #1649
sometimes complicated problems have simple solutions. chill out, dude.

Tutaonana,
-Ian

Adventure Time

This will be my last blog entry for a while. We are heading on expedition to Lake Nakuru National Park in the morning around 5:45. Its about to go down. I'm definitely excited and I plan on taking a ton of pictures. However there will be no internet nor will I be bringing my computer. I'm super glad that this past week is behind me, but time does seem to be flying by. Really hope that I get to see a leopard in Nakuru otherwise I'll have a low chance of spotting one in Africa for the trip. Apparently the baboons there are crazy too. Not afraid of white people in the least. That should make things interesting, considering that we are basically camping. Anyways, I'm excited to go and I'll be sure to write about it once I get back.

SWOD: safari, which means adventure or expedition

Tutaonana
-Ian

Untitled Post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhb2S8LUr80

That's all I got. Miss you bro...

To all the friends and family I left behind, I love you all and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.

Swahili Word of the Day: kaka which means brother and dada which means sister

bro tip: "you be who you are and people will love you for it" - Taylor Loomis
bro tip #1644
you can alwaysget back money that you waste. you can't do the same with time.

hakuna matata y'all

Hamjambo wanafunzi! Habari gani?

As for me? Hakuna Matata. Things are going well. Yesterday we visited Oloitoktok which is nearer to Kilimanjaro and the Tanzanian border. We went on a hike into a ravine, and there we found one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. There was a small river full of pure, clear water, a waterfall, huge rain-forest trees, and moss covered rocks. Pretty sure that's where Timon and Pumbaa lived.

Later we went to the VCT where we learned the stories of five incredibly strong women who were living with the HIV virus. Ya know I think Africa is rubbing off on me, considering I shook their hands without a second thought. Pretty sure I would've thought about it if I was in America. I also should have been more concerned about when I donated blood a week ago. But as the title of this blog post suggests... no worries.

After buying a few things at the clinic and the market in Oloitoktok, I got all dressed up to attend a Maasai wedding. We got invited pretty much last minute, but I was so pumped to go. Man it may be the coolest ceremony I've ever been a part of. Jumping, dancing, having fun. Patrick and I also got to see our homestay brothers. All the girls here have a major crush on him too. Gosh I wish I could give him a bid now. Maybe he can't speak English, but he is still the man.

To all the friends, family, and the significant other at home. Check out the new look! I think red is an okay color on me personally. Comment and tell me what you think.

Swahili word of the day today is actually maasai:

Maasai Word of the Day: ashe oleng which means "thank you, very much"

bro tip tomorrow!

Tutaonana
-Ian

You gotta be kidding...

 So... Hamjambo everybody

I cannot describe to you how disappointed I am in the Elon men's basketball team. Can't believe they lost... oye.. how can I defend myself from across an ocean? Shout out to my mom. dad, and sister for being there and all over the highlight video.

Anyways, I've been incredibly busy as of late. A ton of assignments are almost due and they seem to just keep adding up. Everybody is super stressed. I've suggested chilling a couple times.

Being around all these women is probably going to take years off of my life, but I love 'em anyways. They're really a ton of fun, granted they have a very skewed view of men. Maybe I can change their opinion. ....Nope....

African business is going as usual. I'm enjoying the experience and waiting for everything to fall into place. Field exercises confirm that being a wildlife manager is something I wanna do for the rest of my life. I'm even into African plants now. Who would've guessed? All I know is I love this place, and this high will probably last the rest of the trip.

I have two Swahili Words of the Day again: "peponi" which means paradise
                                                                              "pasipo mwisho" which means in perpetuity

Africa ni peponi, pasipo mwisho.

Tutaonana mzunguli!
-Ian

The White Maasai

 Habari rafiki

I'm doin pretty well as it were. The homestay was really awesome. I definitely loved being a Maasai moran for the day. It really is hakuna matata. We also went back to Amboseli to do the large mammal count. Man it's tough tryin to count a herd of almost 500 moving animals, age them, and identify their genders. Really tough. Almost impossible.

Friday was a ton of fun. At least for Patrick and I. In Maasai society, The women do all the cooking, cleaning, and house repair. All we have to do is scout around, chop a tree here, herd cattle there, maybe get some hair braiding in, and then do some dancing and jumping. Just chillin with the Maasai bros. Our homestay warrior tried his best to be helpful in learning kiswahili and kimaasai, but sometimes it was incredibly difficult to communicate, so maybe sitting around was for the best. but I learned a lot, and they were really cool.

We also went to the lodge on Sunday. A well-deserved break after a really long week of exercises. All we did was chill by the pool, go swimming, and hang out with friends. I also got absurdly close to a bull elephant. On foot. They are definitely the largest land mammals on the face of the Earth. Absolutely massive.

Swahili Word of the Day is "Sijafanya" which means "I didn't do it"

kids be sure to use that one in my mom's class. ;)

bro tip #1621
wake up, do whatever the hell you want, go to sleep. repeat.

Tutaonana
-Ian