Serengeti

I am so far behind in what has been happening here in Tanzania. But instead of trying to make a blog post for every day in Serengeti National Park, I will just cover the highlights. (Which is still a lot because Serengeti was amazing)

We left for Serengeti early on the 5th and we got to visit Ngorongoro Crater again because going through was the fastest way.

Ngorongoro Crater

When we arrived at our campsite, we all helped unload the White Rhino (the lorry) and set up our tents. I was sharing a tent with Allison, Mallory, and Natalie and was really excited. At least one of my tent-mates was normal...

Not these two....

 Our group was the last to get our tent set up. And somehow we still ended up next to a fallen thorn tree and directly facing the side of another tent. But our tent definitely had the most fun every night. We read chapters form books we were reading out loud, told scary stories, were suffocated by Allison spraying bug spray directly in our faces, and stayed up for over an hour one night listening to a lion snoring right outside our tent!

Sunrise at camp

While we spent a lot of time relaxing and having fun, we also did a lot of work. Every morning we woke up early to do some data collection. We recorded the behavior budgets of zebra, impala and wildebeest, recorded every species of bird we could identify, and watched how long tourists spent watching each species of animal. 

Mara and Shannon birding

 And we also got to see some amazing animals. My personal favorite was a leopard we found taking a nap on a picnic table. When I was thinking about seeing big cats in Serengeti I mostly thought about lions and cheetahs. I didn't give much thought to leopards. But I can definitely say that seeing this cat was one of the highlights of the trip. It looked so cute and peaceful napping there on the table. It acted just like a domestic cat.

Sleepy kitty

 But once in a while, it would really wake up and turn extremely intense. It no longer looked like a cuddly kitten, but a fierce predator. I just have a lot of respect for these beautiful animals.

Then to make the end of that day even better, we got to see two wildebeest galloping through the savanna at sunset. These wildebeest are some of the first scouts of the great migration to reach Serengeti. 

On our last day in SNP, we finally got to see what we had been hoping for all week. A lion hunt. There were 11 lions and one cape buffalo. The buffalo was extremely large and healthy but very outnumbered. 

However, there was only one or two lionesses that were actually brave enough to attack the buffalo. The others were just keeping it cornered so it couldn't run away. 

It is obvious who was doing all the work...

Eventually, the two lionesses that were doing everything got worn out and gave up. Against all odds, the buffalo was able to make an escape. It got away with no fatal wounds....just a bloody back end and tail.

Everyone cheered as the buffalo ran off

Momma lion was not very happy with the rest of the pride

It was really inspiring that the buffalo did not give up even though its chances were so slim. And the lions were able to catch another, smaller buffalo so they did not go hungry.

Kwaheri Serengeti!

It was sad leaving the park after our week was through, but I think everyone was excited to get to sleep in our own beds and take a warm shower. 

We got our Directed research topics yesterday and are already into the full swing of research. I am very excited to start this next step of the program. 

Gotta have my zeeb picture

Home-stay with Mama Rita

The last few days have been absolutely insane here in Tanzania! After our non-program day we went to Ngorongoro Crater for a field lecture and an all day game drive. Then we had our second homestay with an Iraqw tribe family. Next was our last full day of classes where we spent all day traveling around Manyara, Mto wa Mbu, and Burunge. Yesterday was a study day and today we had our finals and final project for Wildlife Ecology was due. So I have had very little time for anything except being here in Tanzania and trying to enjoy all the cool things we do without being too stressed.

This post is going to be about my home stay. My partner this time for the home stay was Allison! I was very excited to get to spend the day with her. Neither us are particularly skilled at Swahili but she is crazy and a lot of fun.

Allison and I

When we first arrived at our "home" for the day, we got to meet our mama, baba, wadada, and wakaka (mom, dad, sisters, and brothers). They seemed like such a happy family. They smiled at us, laughed at our horrible attempts to communicate, and put us right to work. We were taken inside the boma and they started a fire. We were asked to help blow air on it, to get it to light. I guess we were doing something wrong because the whole family was laughing at our attempts. We did not really have much impact on the fire and as soon as Rita took over, the fire lit right away.

This is not hookah, but me trying to start a fire

We started to heat milk, tea leaves, and sugar in a pot for chai. Then we got to meet our best friend for that day, Reynaldo. He is a 10 year old student. When I asked him why he wasn't at school, he said "I want to watch the wazungu (white people)." So I felt a little bad that our presence was causing him to miss school, but he was a great person to spend the whole day with. He actually reminded me a lot of my cousin Patrick.

Cutting cabbage with my rafiki, Reynaldo 

I really love this kid

So they kept us busy all morning with cleaning, weeding, laundry, cooking lunch, sweeping the ground outside(still do not know why we did that), raking up corn stalks around the livestock pen and burning them, and playing with the kids.  

Doing laundry

After we eat our ugali, cooked cabbage, mystery meat, and rice that we cooked for lunch, they put us in the shade and told us to rest. I think SFS must have told them not to break us or something. Allison and I were full of energy and ready to keep working, but they wanted us to rest. So we played with the kids for about two hours. They taught us some songs and we taught them ring around the rosie. But the littlest kid in the family was a little too small for that game and would fall over as soon as we started moving.

The kids grabbed my hands and started skipping away until
Mama Rita yelled at them to "bring the white girl back" :)

They were very interested in our cameras so we handed them over to the kids and taught them how to use them. We didn't get them back for a very long time. After they got tired of taking pictures of us and their family, they decided to run off to take pictures of their neighbors. Looking through those pictures was hysterical! There were a lot of crooked and unfocused pictures of course. But there was also quite a few of people who looked less than enthusiastic about being photographed. There was one picture of a man asleep in his bed. There was another one of a woman in a towel who looked like she was yelling at him to leave.

Sorting the dirt clumps out of the beans 

After they thought the wazungu had enough rest, they pulled out the beans that our friends Rachel and Kris had collected. We sat down on a woven mat and they showed us how to take out the dirt clumps and bad beans. We did this for about an hour and Mama Rita had sorted twice the amount that Allison and I had sorted together.

Herding the cattle and shoats (sheep + goats)

Then we were told to help the boys graze the livestock. They had about 10 cattle and 15 shoats. We used weeds to herd them to the "pasture" and then kept them from running away. There was one sheep that had a very young lamb with her. The lamb was not keeping up with the group very well. It kept lying down in the shade and was not grazing with the rest of the group. I went over to it and pulled at its skin. The skin took at least 3 seconds to stretch back out like normal. Also, the lambs mucous membranes were pale and took a long time to regain color after touching them. These are all the classic signs of dehydration. So we decided it would be worth telling Reynaldo that the lamb needed some water. It apparently did not translate very well because he came back with a bucket of soapy water that we had used for laundry. He then tossed the lamb in and started scrubbing at it. So Allison and I ended up giving a bath to a lamb...

Washing a lamb due to misunderstanding

Non-Program Day!

Today was our first non-program day in Tanzania. This means that we do not have classes but this does not mean that we get a day to relax or sit around camp. I got up early and went on a run around Rhotia with Em and Elizabeth. Em is a D1 runner for the University of Richmond and Elizabeth is also in great shape. It was definitely not a relaxing run but it was fun and a great workout!

Melanie, Natalie and I

After breakfast, we drove to Mto wa Mbu for our non-program day activities. The options were you could either learn how to make knife paintings or go for a bike ride to the bank of Lake Manyara and around town. Due to my absolute lack of anything that resembles artistic ability, I chose to do the bike ride. Our guide was named Nixon and he was great! The bikes we were riding were a little questionable and I almost wiped out in the first few seconds. Most of the roads (loose meaning of the word) in Tanzania are composed of rocks covered in loose soil. 

Beautiful knife painting of the Maasai 

Some of my classmates knife art

Herding cattle from our bikes

However, once we got out of the city area, the ground was much easier to navigate. We rode through vidigi (Swahili word for villages that Nixon taught us), yellow acacia woodland, and across the dried section of Lake Manyara. At one point, we ran into a group of Maasai cattle and shoats (sheep and goats) and were herding them from bicycles. It was pretty difficult trying to make sure we weren't going to run over a cow while watching the path for acacia thorns that would cause a flat tire. 

Nixon our guide in front of Lake Manyara!

The bike ride was really beautiful but my favorite part of the morning was talking to Nixon. He talked to us first in fast Swahili and if we gave him blank stares, he would repeat in English. Though I was surprised that he had to resort to English very few times. I was able to understand and even respond in Swahili. It was really cool to get to really put the language into use. We also had to ask for directions to people who only spoke Swahili later that afternoon. It is obvious that we have A LOT to learn still, but being able to communicate with the locals is such a good feeling. Daniel (Swahili mwalima yangu) would be proud of us I think. 

At RAP (Reflection, Announcments, Presentation from the student of the day) tonight, Meg raised her hand to give us information about what the Holiday committee was doing tonight for "Halloween countdown." Once she began to talk, Ellie ran into the chumba with a kanga around her head and another wrapped around her shoulders like a robe. As she ran in she was yelling, "TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! I thought you'd all like know..." and then fainted. This was their way of telling us that they were going to show Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone tonight. I really do love our group. 

Then Allison was the Mwanafunzi of the day and for her presentation she got pictures of all of our parents. She made a PowerPoint and we had to guess whose parents were being shown. She also asked people to give her baby pictures and pet photos if we wanted. So we were able to guess those too. Of course I put Snape and Tasha's pictures in the slideshow. People guessed Mom like in the first second, so I guess I look just like Mom. I take that as a good thing. She won't like that I am talking about her though.

Em and I at the pizza restaurant in Mto wa Mbu

This morning was spent in the classroom with lectures about the ecology of the common wildebeest and lion pride dynamics! Wildebeest were an animal that I can honestly say I never thought about much before coming here but they are slowly becoming one of my favorite African mammals (after zebras). I really hope we get to Serengeti National Park when they are coming through for the Great Migration. We should be there right when it is supposed to start. Getting to see a huge herd of hundred and hundreds of wildebeest and zebras would be a dream!

 So we had a break after lunch where I was able to get some laundry done. They do not have washing machines here. You get a bucket and I had a scrub brush and biodegradable soap. Then you sit for hours cleaning your clothes. It is kind of relaxing if you listen to music. You can pay for a local  Maasai mama to do it for you for 5,000 shillings (only like 3 US dollars) but I think it is a character building experience. I will never complain about doing laundry at home ever again!

Here is a picture of my new banda (room). It is very spacious and fancy compared to the bandas in Kenya. We have an electrical outlet and even our own bathroom with HOT water! No more freezing showers outside in the cold wind! I share it with Meg and Vivien. They are awesome roommates and I am excited to get to know them better this half of the semester. 

This afternoon I also got a chance to go into town and go to the tailor. She has all sorts of beautiful fabrics and can make anything you want. Many people have already had pants, skirts, sweatshirts, and dresses made by her. I think I going to get a sweatshirt made out of Maasai warrior cloth (called shuka fabric). It is thicker than the kangas and softer too. 

Rachel and I did not notice until we were walking out of camp to go to
the market that we were completely matching and completely patriotic.
'MERICA!

Then for our Environmental Policy class we drove to Mto wa mbu to talk with the Mahande Irrigation Scheme leadership committee. We first listened to the head chair person describe what they do to supervise irrigation practices in the community. Then we had the chance to ask questions. Our assignment was to ask questions in order to identify strengths and weaknesses related to their leadership, management, human resource feedback, and strategic direction. They did not know this though. So when we asked questions like "How are women and members of different social classes represented on your board?" they would give us weird looks or laugh at us. It was very interesting hearing about their plans in case of a drought or for farmer conflicts. 

I had RAP tonight and for my presentation I did musical jeopardy. I had 5 categories: Musicals, Country, Pop, 80's, and Rock. I would play a clip of the song and the first team to have a member stand up and answer correctly got points. It got a little nasty between the groups because the score was close. In the end, the final jeopardy question was the deciding factor. I played "Tennessee Pusher" and asked for what band sang that song. Everyone here knows Wagon Wheel, but only Reiva knew that particular song.

Then as a final treat to my day, this evening I was sitting in the chumba doing homework and I had a little visitor drop by. One of the night guards found a baby hedgehog wandering around outside near the door. Apparently he was here last night too and they fed it warm milk and so tonight he came back. He is very friendly and we named him "Sonic." I had never held a hedge hog before. It was really neat.

 

This morning we went back to Lake Manyara National Park to do some data collection. Our assignment was to do an ethogram about the behavior of the olive baboon. We drove around until we found a group of baboons and we started recording what they were doing. They spent most of their time foraging for food items and there was a lot of the young baboons playing. 

He stopped mid-bite to stare at me

 Once the baboons walked away, we would drive around to find another group to observe. We did this for two hours and recorded our observations every 5 minutes. It was a fun exercise and I was with a great group of people. Somehow we spent almost 30 minutes singing the parts we knew to various VeggieTales songs. I still have "The bunny, the bunny, oh I love the bunny" -King Nebuchadnezzar's song stuck in my head.

Mom trying to eat and ignoring her baby

 We saw a lot of babies and their mothers this morning. Baby baboons are so much tougher than human babies. They fall out of trees, get pushed around by older baboons, and their mothers do to not hold them. They have to hold onto the mother's back or belly themselves.

This little guy is trying to eat the sap from the acacia tree

I will say that spending all morning looking at baboons has made me like them a little more. I still do not trust them but they are pretty amazing animals.

Another jammed-packed day at Moyo Hill Camp! First we had two classes this morning. The first was about primate ecology and the second was elephant ecology. In Kenya we spent a lot of time learning about large ungulates and plants so this was a nice change. Tomorrow we go to Lake Manyara National Park to observe baboon behavior for 2 hours. I have to admit I think it will take me awhile before I could say that I like baboons. They were a little too close for comfort at KBC and all of us were tired of poop in our sinks and our Tupperware getting stolen.  However, watching the babies play is pretty amazing.

Male yellow baboon that was following me one morning on the running track

This afternoon we drove to Lake Manyara National Park to get to look around. They have found in the past if they do not have a game drive just for fun first, the students aren't good at focusing on the assignments. 

But we were given a challenge for extra credit. If we could identify 20 bird species, we would get 1 extra credit point for Wildlife Ecology. Every single point in our classes is a percentage point so this was a big deal. Plus this was the first extra credit opportunity that we have been offered. So my car was very excited to get 20 birds as fast as possible. It turned out it was much harder than we expected. It didn't help that 1pm is not prime time for birds to be out. But it took us almost 4 hours to get just 20 species. There are supposedly 500 different species in the park, so 20 was not much to ask. But we saw some really beautiful birds and we did find 20 eventually, so it was definitely worth it!

Red and Yellow Barbet

Bee-eaters

Then I also got the chance to see (and take pictures) of some zeebs. So I was very happy. For some reason, I cannot get enough of zebras... I get excited every single time that I see them in the parks. They are as common as Illinos deer (or elk in RMNP) but I just love watching them graze and play.

Zeeb butt

Today was very eventful and very different than any class days we had in Kenya. First thing after breakfast we jumped in the Land Cruisers and headed off for a whole day of Field Lectures. The first was on Kilimantembo (Elephant Mountain... more like a hill) where we discussed the human-wildlife conflicts that are different in Tanzania versus Kenya. For example, big game hunting is allowed in special game reserves in Tanzania where it was illegal in Kenya. We also got to see the entire landscape around the Rhotia and Karatu districts. A big problem is that certain habitats overlap into both districts but they each have separate (sometimes conflicting) wildlife management plans. 

Kenyan Sunset... nothing to do with the topic though

Then we got back in the Land Cruisers and went into Karatu for a guest lecture about the same topic by a local authority. He was extremely nice and helpful but you could tell he was sugar-coating the problems. I asked him about the relationship between the pastoralists (livestock ranchers) and the farmers when it came to sharing resources and my classmate, Shannon, started humming the song from Oklahoma ...The Farmer and the Cowman should be friends. I couldn't stop cracking up for the rest of the lecture. We decided that for our presentation to the community at the end of the program, we were going to incorporate that song into a skit :) 

Kili!

Today there was a lot more of missing Kenya talk, but  I can  tell that we are starting to adjust here. Though I do miss the beautiful view of Mt.Kilimanjaro that we had every morning in Kenya and our intense soka (soccer) games. 

Soka!

After lunch, we drove to Lake Manyara Ranch (conservation area that also promotes pastoralism) and drove around. It was nice to get to relax and look at all the beautiful animals that are in East Africa. And we even got to stop in town on the way home to get ice cream! Tanzania is a lot more "westernized" than Kenya in a lot of ways. 

My favorite part of this picture is the hippo in the background

So today started off with a quick lecture about birding and sampling techniques for bird counts. We learned similar techniques in Kenya before going to Amboseli National Park to assist in their monthly census count. But we focused on mammals in Amboseli and birds are much different. A mist net probably wouldn't do much to catch an elephant for body condition analysis. 

After the lecture, we packed up for a hike up the namesake of our camp, Moyo Hill. We brought our binoculars, our textbook Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania, cameras, and water. The first species we ran into was a kuku (chicken), but Dr. Kioko said that didn't count. We struggled a lot during the transect walk trying to communicate exactly where the birds were once someone spotted one. Which branch? Which tree? Is it to the right of the truck of the 2nd to last tree in the bunch? But Kioko was very patient with us and we all improved by the end.

I have decided that I enjoy looking at the birds but identifying them isn't my strong suit. I had spotted a bird and was almost through identifying it before Chris pointed out what I was looking at was a piece of bird-shaped bark.

Once we got to the top of Moyo Hill, we had time to walk around and enjoy the scenery. I have to admit, Tanzania is not how I pictured Africa back home. It is green with lots of grass, trees and rolling hills. Everyone here keeps comparing it to Tuscany. I have never been so I'll have to take their word for it. But it is definitely beautiful here. It was actually pretty chilly at the top with the breeze which was perfect after our hike up. Everyone was taking millions of pictures and I tried to. It is just hard for me to stop looking at the surroundings long enough to get out my camera and take a picture. I am getting better, but I really still do prefer to live an experience outside the camera. Sometimes it is easy to see something and think "Wow this would make a great Facebook profile picture, but that isn't why I am here. 

So this blog is getting a late start and I've never done a blog before. But due to suggestions from my family, I am going to give it a try. I am already half way done with my semester abroad! I have been in Kenya that last few weeks and yesterday we had to say goodbye to the amazing faculty and staff in Kenya and start all over again in Tanzania. It is beautiful here! There is actually grass (not just a field of sharp, pokey things) and supposedly it should be cooler here, but it was pretty warm this afternoon. I think we are all a little homesick. Actually I know we are because I keep hearing little bits of everyone's conversations and they have all been mimicking the sayings of KBC. 

"Mwanafunzi! Mwanafunzi! Let's go! Let's go! Let's Go-o!!"- Kiringe
"Kwa nini.... and.... why?" and "Miracle mzungu!" -Arthur
"I am not trying to crucify you."- Daniel
"You have made my cup of joy overflow!"- Okello
"I am an old man. Go easy on me."-Sapaya (...as he kicks our butt in soka)

New Home for the next month and a half

 I think it will be easier once we start to make friends with the staff here. I am sure they are just as sad about the first group leaving them as we are about leaving our family at KBC. But I am very excited to start directed research and go to Tarangire, Manyara, and the Serengeti! I think a game drive would really boost everyone's morale. I miss seeing zebras. They are like fat, striped horses with round ears.

My favorite African animal