So my blog posts that have been missing since September finally seem to be working. I have not posted nearly enough, but it was hard knowing no one could see them. Anyways, what’s been going on with me lately?

Most recently, a whole lot of work. For the last two days we have been preparing to start out big research projects. Tomorrow we will finally go out in the field to start collecting data. My group is looking at the ecological integrity of wildlife sanctuaries. Earlier in the week we had our big final exam (my last exam ever as an undergraduate student!) and before that we had a couple of essay assignments due. Right before all of that we went on our four day expedition to Tsavo West National Park. So yea, its been pretty hectic.

But, to talk about Tsavo. Out of all of the parks we’ve been to in East Africa, I think that Tsavo might be the most beautiful. We didn’t see the most animals or have the most eventful game drives, but the landscape was simply breathtaking and everywhere we went seemed so perfect and picturesque. We saw Mzima Springs which was like a jungle paradise where clear water came flowing up out of the ground and rushed down into a river. There were hippos and crocodiles there and vervet monkeys that tried to steal our lunches. We got to walk on the Shetani Lava Flow, black shattered crags of rock from an eruption only 500 years ago. We spent a day in the Chyulu Hills which is probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever been in my life. The steep remains of old volcanoes are now covered in lush green grass and red flowering trees. We climbed to the top of two different hills, one for a lecture on land use changes and one just for fun. From up there we could see everything, the whole Tsavo ecosystem. We also got a really cool tour of the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary during one of the days at Tsavo. We didn’t see any rhinos, but we weren’t disappointed because we saw something even more rare – a pack of African painted wolves. We were so unbelievably lucky to see them, about 30, just hanging out in the road, playing or resting. Some of our African staff members told us that they had never even seen one before. So that was definitely the highlight of the expedition. 

Location: Kimana, Kenya