We have now had two full days of classes! The classes are long but incredibly interesting. The teachers are wonderful and really love what they do. They are all wildlife biologists or conservationists. They all have fairly thick accents and are difficult to understand at times but everyone here is extremely patient with us and is willing to repeat things hundreds of times until we get it. I’ve noticed that trend with all of Tanzania. Everyone is very patient and care-free. Hakuna matata is a real phrase here that everyone lives by. Sometimes things don’t get done but it’s not problem and will get done eventually. Very different from the fast paced lives we American’s are used to. Classes so far have been devoted to introductory information concerning wildlife ecology, wildlife management techniques and government and policy related to wildlife management. We have been preparing to take our first trip to a national park tomorrow! We are traveling to Manyara National Park. We have been guaranteed to see many elephants and probably giraffes and lions. We will see at least 30 different species of wildlife while we are there. We have been studying structure and function of ecosystems, classification techniques, social structures of different species, ecological and behavioral observation techniques, to prepare for tomorrow. We have also had classes on the Swahili language, politics and economics of Tanzania, and natural resource exploitation my the Maasai and Iraqw tribes. The greatest stuggle for Wildlife Management Officers here in Tanzania and Kenya is finding a sustainable and effect relationship between the people and the animals. There are several different types of wildlife conservation land here. There are government run National Parks and then there are privately owned game reserves. The difference between the two is that hunting is allowed on the game reserves. It is strictly forbidden in the National Parks. There have also been 16 initiatives in Tanzania (14 successful) for communities bordering areas of dense wildlife to manage the area as a privately owned park, earning a great majority of the revenue for the people of the town (a percentage of the income still goes to the government). One major reason why there are issues involving communities bordering game reserves or national parks is because there are no established boundaries surrounding any protected land in Tanzania. Sure, there are hypothetical boundaries all over the place but there is no fence to keep the animals in or the people out. Management officers take several measures to keep animals in the park such as creating artificial water points but they have no way to physically keep the animals from attacking local villages or foraging through their farms and gardens. Many parks attempt to utilize natural boundaries such as rivers or forests but those options are limited. Managers do what they can to place natural boundaries such as large boulders or trenches but that can only do so much against a hungry lion or elephant. We have learned that Wildlife Management is an art that requires the conscious use of creativity, skills and techniques to solve issues such as this. Management is not just for recreational use and purely strives to conserve all flora and fauna, even those without known value.
    I can’t wait to use the skills that we will continue to learn here to help the people of this region build a sustainable relationship with the environment and wildlife.
    So, in addition to all that we had time yesterday to go to a gigantic market held in Karatu once a month. It was easily the size of 4 football fields with hundreds of people selling things of all shapes and sizes. The second we parked and climbed out of our large safari trucks, we were swamped by men and boys trying to sell their treasures. Many of them spoke very good English and were relentless in their efforts to convince us to buy something. I only brought 3,000 Tanzanian shillings with me (about $2) and didn’t find anything I really wanted, so I didn’t buy anything. That didn’t stop them from trying though… The other students I was with spent the majority of our time there bartering and trying to bring the price down. They charged us at least triple what anything was worth. Students bought Maasai tire sandals (to protect their feet from sharp thorns in the serengeti), beaded jewlery, drums and fabric. There is a phenomenal tailor in town who will make anything we want with fabric we buy. I spent a lot of my time there speaking with an man who could speak German, Spanish, French, Italian, English and Swahili! Many of the vendors there attend university in Arusha, Moshi and other cities in Tanzania to learn the languages of the tourists so they can more easily sell things. I though it was pretty interesting and impressive. I spoke with him in Spanish and English and he helped me practice my Swahili.
   So many other things have been happening but I would be here all day if I typed them all! I actually have a ton of homework to do…They certainly know how to keep us busy! Well keep your eyes peeled in a few days for pictures from tomorrow. I’m sure they will be incredible!

Tutaonana  

Location: Rhotia, Tanzania