Category Archives: Africa

Location: Rabat

Lesson One: Be Flexible and Think Quickly

Location: Elizabethtown, PA to Newark Liberty International Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport, France, to Rabat, Morocco.

At 4:37 I was awake. Not because I needed to be; my train to the airport wasn’t until midmorning. I’d had a dream that I’d dropped my international credit card down some un-retrievable hole, so I was now wide-awake with worry. As if I needed more reasons to be nervous today.

My plan was to catch the train from the station in my hometown to Newark, then take a New Jersey transit train out to the airport with plenty of before my flight. I’d packed yesterday, fitting everything into my mother’s Australian backpacking backpack with plenty of room to spare, plus a few things into my normal backpack for the flight. The trouble was that I was not just going on the study abroad trip to Morocco. I’d also planned a backpacking trip in Spain, France, and England for afterwards, so anything I packed I had to be prepared to either leave behind or carry on my back. After careful consideration and a few strategic decisions, I figured out exactly what to take and how to pack it. All my outfits could be dressed up or down and wouldn’t wrinkle terribly, and I didn’t take anything that didn’t go with at least a few other things. Only three pairs of shoes and minimal toiletries; I can always buy stuff there. Even my mother, who has moved continents twice in her life, was impressed with me! I’m good. Score: Alice – 1 Trip – 0

10 weeks abroad, including backpacking in 5 different countries?

No problem

The morning passed quickly, with my dad insisting on making a huge omelette for me (though my stomach was feeling like it used to before cross country races) and my little brother relishing some video-game playing time with me, and we left for the train station with lots of time to spare. Pictures were required at the platform, and as well as many hugs from my brother. My parents had decided to spend the day in Philadelphia so would accompany me halfway. But that’s as far as the plan went, and this is where lesson one comes in. We hadn’t even gone two stops when I realised I’d left my medication to prevent Typhoid in the fridge at home. Crumbs. Score: Alice – 1 Trip – a mistake on such a magnitude counts for about 10

My first thought was to keep with the plan and I’d just get another prescription somewhere in Morocco, nervously confident that I’d actually be able to do this. But my parents were already figuring out when the next trains back towards Elizabethtown were, how long it would take to drive to Newark from here, and whether the price in gas was worth the price of medicines. Together we figured out that it was possible to get off at the next stop, take another train that would come minutes later back home, pick up my medicine, and drive to the airport. So that’s what we did. (Shout out to my parents for sacrificing their Sunday to drive me the 3 hours there and back, mercifully they were available to do this- it will not be so for the rest of my trip).

The rest of my journey to Morocco went very smoothly. Penn State once again demonstrated it’s massiveness when I found a girl who had been in my freshman French class on my flight to Paris, who was off to study in Aix-en-Provence for the summer. The Paris flight was like any ordinary trans-Atlantic flight; freezing cold, fitful sleeping, American in-flight food, although with some cool views out the window.

In Charles de Gaulle airport, I used some nervous French skills and found my gate, as well as another Penn State student and a few other students on my program (there are only so many flights to Rabat each day, it wasn’t a surprise to run into them). This plane was much smaller, with an absurdly French in-flight meal; a hunk of bread, some soft cheese, an orange tart, a warm cheesy-mushroom burrito thing, pasta salad (for some North African/Mediterranean flare) and some chocolate. (You’re going to get a lot of food photos, just a fair warning)

Our little group found our IES representative easily, and soon we were on our way to our hotel for the first night. It was hard to get a really good look at Rabat as we drove through, so I’ll save that for another post. What is worth describing through, was our group dinner that evening. We were driven to a restaurant and when we step out of the van a small group of Moroccan musicians in traditional dress and instruments start up this welcome song (I assume so at least, it was in Arabic). With their drums and tambourine and loud calls, soon the whole street was watching us as we stood outside the restaurant being welcomed. They were so happy and smiling and very welcoming. They’d invite us in to dance with them, shouting and beating the drums all the while. This lasted for a few minutes, and they started up again between the courses of our meal. WHICH WAS DELICIOUS BEYOND BELIEF.

The IES staff that dined with us didn’t tell us there was more than one course, so we were all stuffed full of the bread, lentils, pastry-wrapped meats, and various vegetable salads when we learned there was more coming; tanjine, peas, and a few other dishes I haven’t quite grasped the name of yet. All of the new flavours, combined with the wonderfully sweet mint/other herbs I didn’t understand the Arabic for hot tea. Dessert followed another round of singing and dancing in a circle, though at this point we were so knackered and stuffed that we lost our energy. All the same, they again escorted us out with another song. I was overwhelmed the whole time by their enthusiasm and joy at yelling/singing these minutes long songs multiple times through the evening. Everyone we’ve met so far has been friendly and inviting (even a random lady on the street who asked us if we were lost when we were exploring the area around the hotel earlier in the day). It’s very impressive.

It’s been so many long hours travelling, but I’m finally here and reflecting on the ups and downs of this marathon two-day journey, I can safely sum up this lesson.

When travelling, it’s okay to have a plan, especially when relying on transportation, but you always also need to flexible, creative, and open to every possibility should barriers, setbacks, unexpected circumstances, or even new opportunities arise. Yes you are away from the familiarity of home, but ways around whatever is in your way is not insurmountable, and often very easy to navigate. It just takes a little quick thinking, decisiveness, and courage.

Location: Rabat

Été au Maroc

Watching people’s reactions when I tell them I’m spending the summer in Rabat, Morocco, has been really amusing. First it’s surprise (not a very traditional location to say the least). Then it ranges from disbelief and concern to excitement and admiration. Some act as if willingly going to North Africa is an unknown concept. Others can only talk about safety and try to hide their opinion that I’m sure to be mugged or harassed or something. And then others (these tend to be my peers) actually think it’s a really cool experience and that I’m sure to have a great time.

This post is supposed to be pre-departure….but my job had me hard at work for the two weeks that I was actually home so I may or may not be sitting on my bed beside an open window that looks out to the Rabat skyline and the Atlantic Ocean right now…. So far, I can say that my peers are the ones who are right about this experience. But I’ll have more to say on misconceptions of Morocco in later posts. For now I’ll just give some background.

Through the open window I can hear smatterings of Arabic, French, and a call to prayer.

This program is located in Rabat, Morocco, the capital and is facilitated by IES Abroad. I will take two classes taught in French on North African Politics and Society and Migration, and one class in Darija, the Moroccan spoken dialect of Arabic. The program includes a weeklong trip to Senegal, as another African Francophonie nation, as well as to Tangiers and Chaouen, cooking classes, and a visit to Parliament, among other things.

I chose to do this particular program because not only am I a French minor, but within my International Politics major I hope to make the North African region, particularly with relation to the EU and US in terms of economic ties and migration issues, my focus as I concentrate further in my field. I didn’t want to go to France to study French because they will often speak to you in English if they know you speak it. No so here in Rabat. I’ll be staying with a host family, so I have no excuse not to become totally immersed in the culture, language, and traditions. Wish me luck! Cheers!

Alice Greider

Location: Rue Al Basra, Rabat, Morocco

Karibu!!!IMG_1645.JPG

Unlike the past couple of days, today was more focused on observing and understanding the Tanzanian health care system. I was really excited about this for obvious reasons. The main one is that I would like to pursue some type of health career especially within the public health sector. Needless to say, today we visited a district hospital in the outskirts of a town called Iringa. It’s a hospital clinic in partnership with Doctors with Africa that was founded by this AMAZING talented Italian doctor. The main objective of this hospital is to provide prenatal and postnatal care. The second big thing it deals with is aiding kids with severe malnutrition. This hospital was so inspiring because it honestly was a great way to see the various problems people here have. The one thing that made me really sad was the fact that a lot of these pregnant women were really young–20 to 21 year olds. It made me so sad because my only were most my age, but I also felt so helpless. Even writing about it brings me to tears since I’m reflecting on my life and education. Today was just another reminder that I need to help out and give back to this continent because it is such a huge makeup of who I am.

Pre-Tanzania

After months of planning, the day has finally come for me to start my journey in Tanzania. I haven’t even arrived at my final destination yet but I am already tired! I am currently, impatiently waiting for my connecting flight to Tanzania in Nairobi. By now, the people I’ve met in this transit, that reside in Tanzania, are most likely annoyed by me because of all the questions I am asking them. But I just can’t help it. I’m just too excited, anxious, and nervous at the same time.

As I am writing this, my thoughts are all over the place because I’m wondering if I packed too much, didn’t pack enough, how the culture and the people are, how will I fit in or not fit in. Even thisbeing said, I’m just going to take it all in and enjoy every moment.

Sadly, I have to board now so can’t say more but I be continued! 🙂

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Morocco

I guess the last time I left you all, I was about to make my way out of Spain and into the incredible continent of Africa for the first time in my life. I am so excited to share my experience in Morocco with you, but first, here are the pictures from Granada that I promised (with captions!).

Granada

We made visits to the barrios of Sacromonte, Albaicin, and to the Alhambra, which is an enormous and ancient palace that used to house the Moors. We also ate some really great food and made friends with a really nice bartender named Maryann, who worked at a little cafe/restaurant near our Air BnB.

La Alhambra on the left, and the city of Granada on the right

panorama of Granada and Alhambra from Mirador de San Nicolas

another shot of Granada/Alhambra, this time from the Mirador de San Nicolas

gardens inside the Alhambra

breakfast of coffee and a bocadillo with Spanish ham

your typical Spanish breakfast: coffee and a bocadillo of Spanish ham, olive oil, and a light tomato spread

Morocco

Granada was absolutely lovely, but what I am about to share with you about Morocco was a completely different kind of experience. It was not what you or I would normally consider a “vacation,” and I’m glad it wasn’t.

There has been a certain comfort in visiting the European highlights; though I didn’t necessarily know places like Portugal, Granada, and Barcelona before visiting them, I at least had an idea of what to expect. I knew that we would be relatively safe traveling on our own; I knew that we could easily navigate public transportation to get where we needed to go; I was aware of the social customs that should govern our behavior while visiting these places. The familiarity was comfortable, or at least comfortable enough so as not to overwhelm my travels.

For Morocco, I immediately felt like that this more or less guaranteed comfort went right out the window. We were told that the ferry from Tarifa (in Spain) to Tangier (in Morocco) might be rough. That we shouldn’t stray too far from the group once we disembarked. That when we walked through the outdoor market in Tangier, there might be bloody animals hanging from the roofs of the vendors’ stands (there were). That we should not drink the tap water or else we would risk getting sick (some did). That we should carry our passports on us at all times, because in many places, we could be stopped and asked for proof of our presence in Morocco. These warnings gave me some fear. It was with shaky legs that I followed our wonderful tour guide, Sarah, off the boat and handed my freshly-stamped passport to the imposing, uniformed guard in Tangier.

Our travel group on the bus. We were limited to one backpack each for our 4 days in Morocco.

CIEE (my study abroad program) decided to conduct our tour of Morocco through an amazing organization called Morocco Exchange. As I said, we were assigned to Sarah, who had been a Peace Corps volunteer for several years and now currently lives in Rabat, the country’s capital. We were lucky to have Sarah as our guide for many reasons, I think especially because she had an awareness of our naivety and of our touristy tendencies as Americans. But she combined this awareness with the experience of living alongside the Moroccan people and the understanding of their customs and behavior. Therefore she was able to acknowledge many of our misconceptions and gently present us with a raw understanding of how things really are in this developing country: that most houses don’t have access to hot water; that many women (girls) are forced to marry at a young age; that the illiteracy rates are high among both men and women; that children often must travel (alone) miles and miles to school on a bus early in the morning in order to attend school, and for this reason many of them drop out.

Sarah shared with us a touching story about her time serving in a small village in the Peace Corps. Her host sister, who was maybe 15 or 16 years old, was about to be married to a much older man. This sister was nervous and upset, and Sarah was trying to comfort her. Sarah classified this as both a high point and a low point of her time in the Peace Corps, and admitted that the memory always made her sad. She started crying as she was telling the story, and I think this was the point when I reflected on how real the experience was and how real the people in Morocco are and always will be, even if in the United States we can’t see or hear them.

We don’t see people sitting on the guardrails of the highways in the countryside, not because they want to go somewhere else but because they don’t have anywhere else to go. We don’t see children walking along deserted roads in the countryside, probably making their way back from school, which could be hours away from home. We don’t see the square miles of shanty towns, the groups of homes made from tin sheets and cardboard, around which often the government often builds walls so other inhabitants of the city don’t have to see the poverty. As is the case for so many of the things we do (or don’t do), it’s easier to construct barriers than to deal with the problem.

You may not be able to tell (I couldn’t), but this is an enormous field full of gravestones.

I don’t mean to convey that the people of Morocco sit around all day and think about how difficult their lives are, because this was absolutely not the case. In fact, nearly every Moroccan person I met seemed genuinely happy, not only to discuss their own lives but also to compare their life in Morocco to ours in the United States. One of the great things about this program was that, each day, we were able to sit down with a group of Moroccans–two groups of students from Rabat, one family from the rural countryside–and just talk. We talked about what their educational experiences had been like, what their views on homosexuality were, how dating and relationships function. These conversations were many things: they were sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny. But all of the time, they were informative and emotionally enriching.

In many ways, we (the members of our American group) were similar to the Moroccan students. We both expressed a yearning for quality education–for one group, it was more accessible than the other. We talked about travel–because so many Moroccans and North Africans seek a better life in Europe, it is much more difficult for them to travel north (ie, obtain a passport) than for us to travel south. Sarah reminded us on our last day that one of the Moroccan students who had accompanied us (and had served as our translator when we talked with the Moroccan family) wouldn’t be able to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta (or Sebta) with us because he lacked a “blue book.” Our passports are so much more valuable than we often realize.

I feel like I’m rambling. Let me tell you briefly about some of my favorite things:

That I was left breathless at the sight of hundreds of Muslims bowing together in prayer
The flawless hospitality of our host families, who provided us with more food than we possibly could have eaten in the 2 days we spent with them and many of whom offered us a place to stay should we return to Morocco
Being able to hear the stories of many Moroccans, young and old, and also the stories of Americans who have lived and worked alongside these Moroccans
How the presence of God (Allah) permeated not only the physical landscape in the form of mosques, but also the social landscape in the form of language (I heard the phrase “Enshallah,” meaning “God willing,” more times than I could count)

the “tucked away” mountainside city of Chefchaoen–our last stop

I don’t really know what you’re going to take away from this post, disorganized as it is. To be honest, I am still trying to make sense of my experience, though I enjoyed every minute of it. But between the time I returned from my trip and sat on my bed, exhausted and amazed, and now, two weeks later as I am writing this post, I haven’t been able to answer any of the enormous questions that Morocco put in front of me. Why have I been granted such a privileged life while millions of girls (and boys) in Morocco haven’t? Do I have a responsibility to help those who aren’t as privileged? Is there any such thing as “responsibility,” or is it just a way of justifying the process of imposing our own worldviews on others because we believe that our way is the best or only way? How will I ever be able to return to my “normal” life in the United States without that pull in my heart, telling me to remember all that I learned in Morocco?

This weekend will be the first that I haven’t traveled since…I think the end of January or the beginning of February. Wow! I am tired but have a good amount of travel still to go. It’s nice to be in Seville this weekend though, and I am slowly realizing that I wish I had stayed here for an entire year just so I could see everything I want to see and still have plenty of time to enjoy the city where I’m actually studying. I was hoping this weekend to have a chance to get to some of the museums but I forgot that the main reason I didn’t plan travel for this weekend was because I have midterms next week. I did, however, sign up for a hike in the Sierra Norte tomorrow, so I’ll be studying the day away today. Look out for another post soon about how things are going here in Seville (preview: they are going really well)!

Location: Rabat, Morocco

Week 13–My Final Days at Moyo Hill Camp

Wednesday, December 3

As Shem said, this was the day we’ve all been waiting for.. the day we presented our directed research to the community. We had breakfast at 7:30 and began getting our campus ready for our visitors. We prepared the dining hall to become a community presentation building. We set up a large canopy and helped set out tables and chairs for dining. We didn’t even recognize the place. The presentation began at 10:40 and my group (the Invasive Plant/Grassland group of the Ngorongoro Crater) was first up. All 11 of us presented our findings as a group, and were asked a few questions at the end. We were happy to have the presentation out of the way and have the ability to relax and watch our peers present their findings. After we finished presenting, we went straight to lunch time. While eating, I saw my homestay father sitting underneath the large pavilion. When I finished, I grabbed the pictures that we had printed for him and his family, and then went to talk to him.

After everyone left, it felt like a bittersweet moment. After community presentations, there was nothing left, as far as class work and research went. The next few days had been reserved for relaxing, packing and getting out to enjoy ourselves in the local community one more time.

Thursday, December 4

Originally, we were supposed to go to Lake Manyara National Park, the first park we visited where we experienced a lot of our first wildlife sightings, to complete our game drives during this journey; however, there were issues with permits for all of the agencies affiliated with the government. There wouldn’t be many animals in LMNP anyways since most migrate because we are in the rainy season, but it would’ve been nice to finish where we started, and others who went there during DR saw a large monitor and a python, which I would have loved to have seen. Since we were unable to visit any of the national parks or conservancies, we went to Burunge WMA. It was nearly a 2 hour drive. We didn’t see much, but it was beautiful and green. There were common zebra and wildebeest, and in a separate part of the management area, we saw giraffes and a waterbuck lying amongst the trees. The last time that we saw any of those animals before we left go ho home.. until next time!

Friday, December 5

Today was dedicated to program evaluations which took no more than 15 minutes.. So, we had a non-program day in Karatu! Of course, it was bound to be a ‘classy’ day, it being our last day in town. To begin, we walked from Rhotia to Karatu using back roads that we’ve never been on before. It was a pretty and entertaining walk. I’d wish that we had done it sooner. In Karatu, we went to Carnivore and had a few drinks and I ordered some chipsi mayai. Afterwards, four of us walked to the Roof Top bar for a drink. It’s incredibly cheap there. On the way back, some kids flagged us down to play some soccer with them. So, we quick played some soccer, but not even a full game. They were great kids. On the walk back to Happy Days, I stepped on an Acacia thorn, which then left me limping around for the next three days because of the toxins that Acacias contain. At Happy Days, we hung out until 6 PM, some watched the soccer game on tv until we left. When we were back at camp, we went to our mail boxes to collect the sheet with our final grades on them. I did really well, even on the finals, which had me worried! After dinner, a lot of us ended up having a giant cuddle puddle which involved a lot of crying, because most would be leaving in 2 days.

Saturday, December 6

We spent our day packing our things up and resting in our beds. We also had a final meeting with everyone on campus to give feedback on the program and to say goodbye through a few words that we shared. At dinner, we had a huge goat roast celebration. It was a nice last dinner with the entire group.

Sunday, December 7

This morning, we had a sunrise hike at 5:20 AM. We came down around 7:00. We ate our last meal as a group together, breakfast and packed our lunches for the day. We had one last birthday celebration, but in the morning this time for Erik’s birthday. Group 1 left after 9. I had some quick sobbing time with my bandamates in our banda before they left, so it was sad but we pulled it together. When everyone left and two cars came back, 1/2 of us made our way to Flamingo Lodge and 1/2 of us went to the large Karatu Market (happens 25th and 7th of every month). I went to Flamingo Lodge to relax by the pool, since I was out of money. Heidi, Natalie, Erin, Cate, Liza and I laid in the shade and talked. We decided we wanted to go looking for cheese for grilled cheese, but the other car found found some. Natalie, Heidi and I took pictures of campus. Then I played cribbage for the first time. At dinner time, all of us sat at the same table, where we had our delicious grilled cheeses. In the evening, we moved our beds to the dining hall porch where we watched a movie (Easy A) projected onto the white wall.

Monday, December 8

I woke up in the morning around 5:30 because it was noisy. But when I finally got up around 6, everyone else was waking up. I hopped up and looked across the lawn, where there were Lady and her two kittens playing. It was really sweet. She jumped all over them and rolled around with them in the grass. I said goodbye to her and her kittens, then went and said goodbye to the new mama kitty with her three kittens. I couldn’t find her, but her kittens were there laying together sleeping in a ball. I really hope all of the cats make it. I finished some packing and loaded my suitcases into the car. We said our final goodbyes to Kiri and the staff. I said goodbye to Patrica, a cook twice. She told me a few weeks ago that I reminded her of her little sister- my laugh mostly. It was weird saying goodbye to everyone and everything, including the views that the landscape offered, especially during the rainy season where everything is green and beautiful. We went on our way to Arusha, where we stopped at a market area for food and drinks. I had an iced mocha latte at the coffee shop and two tacos from a Mexican restaurant. It was actually really good. On our way to Kilimanjaro International Airport, I searched the sky for Mount Kilimanjaro, but where it should have been easily seen was covered with clouds. I was really sad that I never saw it. Either way, I plan to come back and climb it someday, hopefully. At the airport, we said goodbye to the Kilimanjaro climbing group and Gayle who was going home to Zimbabwe. We had about 7-8 hours at the airport, because our flight didn’t take off until 9:40 PM. By the time we left, it was nearing 10. I got a window seat! We had a stopover in Dar es Salam. The guy who boarded the plane moved to the seat in front of me since his tv wasn’t working. So, I had two entire seats to myself on the 11-12 hour flight. I even made a new friend,Daniel. He was from South Africa, but was flying to France. His dad happened to own a safari company in Tanzania. The plane ride was nice since I had two entire seats to myself, even though I didn’t sleep much. I had a nice relaxing night, which did involve free drinks.

When we got to Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam where I used my credit card for the first time in over three months, so that was weird, but oh so convenient. I bought some of those bourbon caramel waffles that they served us on the plane. Amsterdam is in the Netherlands, situated next to Germany. We only had about two hours until we boarded, so I was upset that I did not really get the opportunity to explore the airport. Apparently, the airport had a ton to do, and I was sad I didn’t get to experience it. I did however get to see the Casino in the airport, so that was exciting. We had a little over 8 hours to go, we flew over the Atlantic ocean for a majority of it. The plane ride was an experience in itself and it happened to be on of my favorite parts of the trip. When I arrived in New York, I was ex static. It was so weird to be home, but almost relieving to be there since it had been so long since I saw everyone. I’ll continue New York on my next post..!

Location: Rhotia, TZ

Week 10–Ngorongoro Crater Research

Wednesday, we left for our first day working in the Ngorongoro Crater inside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. I was excited but nervous to start our first day in the crater. Everyone was so happy in the morning, so it put me in an extra, extra good mood. I was realllll happy! We arrived at the Simba campsite which sits on the rim of the crater and overlooks it at 11:30 AM and began setting up our tents and getting situated. Due to logistical reasons, Dr. Shem told us that we wouldn’t be going into the crater to practice our data collection methods until 2:30. So, we got situated. I took some pictures and laid on the lawn in front of my tent and watched the clouds pass by over the crater. I have watched the clouds many times before, but I’ve never noticed them separate and regroup and pass by like they were our first day in Ngorongoro. It was amazing. It also helps that there are a ton of black kites in the area. I could see 6 soaring high, high up below the clouds. They looked like little black specs but the were fun to watch. We made it into the crater a little after 3 and got a lecture on our methods, then began practicing. I was with two other doing 1 transect per grid because we have limited equipment, and it was taking a while to even complete one quadrant, so I was worried. We went to camp around 5. It takes a while to make it out of the crater and up the side of the crater wall. The Ngorongoro Crater is beautiful though. Doing this research here continues to remind me why I love this place so much. When we leave the crater, we always drive through Leroi Forest, because that where the exit road is. It’s always beautiful. Elephants, cape buffalos, guineafowl, and bushbucks always around.

At night, we just came back to camp and relaxed until dinner. After dinner, we played “To hell and back” as a group and played ‘Bob the weasel’ which seems like a total cult game, because we chant but its really funny. There were so many tourists at the campsite–mostly Europeans and Americans– and they were mostly staring at us the whole time, some laughing. I sat outside my tent at night and wrote in my journal. It was beautiful. Black kites were calling in the night, wind blowing, and crickets all around. The moon was bright, not 100% full, but CLOSE. It was lighting the sky up.

Thursday was our first day conducting actual research in the crater. It took a long time and was actually kind of frustrating because I didn’t know how I was going to collect adequate data in 4-10 days. We left a little late and didn’t begin collecting data until 10 AM. We only got through 1 1/2 transects. It was really windy, and was hard to keep ahold of our things. Zebras, gazelles, and wildebeest everywhere. We walked over some huge holes, either hyena or warthog. We found out that warthogs back into their hole, so they can come flying out and charge at you. Pretty crazy. Also, saw 2 hyenas walking in front of a group of alert zebra. We got back to the camp site (Simba) around 6 PM, and got ready for dinner. Nights at the camp were really cold, but I had my sleeping bag to keep me warm, so it was night.

Friday was our second day in the crater. We got 2 transects completed. Pretty good day. Kind of long, but the crater was great! We saw a rhino far away when we were out in the field, and then close when we drove by one when we left. Also, saw golden jackals and BAT-EARED FOXES. So adorable. I saw some in Serengeti before, but they were so cute and so funny to watch. I also found out that there are a decent amount of cervals in the crater. One group ended up seeing one, but I’ve never seen one here unfortunately. We had our first camp fire was tonight, but had to buy the wood for the fire from the NCA. It was also a beautiful full moon. I also saw a silohette of two bushpigs walking behind us while we were sitting at the fire. I heard rustling in the plants behind us and sure, enough.. there they were! And then, I heard more rustling.. turned around and there was a big waterbuck behind me. They are so cool! We met two older guys and learned a little about them. Especially George, who was from Brazil and literally travels for nine months in a year and works in NY the other 3 months. How crazy and awesome is that!? He’s lucky!

Saturday, we finished two more grids. During one grid we were doing, I looked up and there was a warthog trotting right for us. He/she must not have seen us because it just kept on coming closer to us. I warned the others, and finally picked up my whistle and blew it to try to get it to run the other direction. He/she stopped, looked directly at us and started running to its left. There is a bigger body of water, where we always see a ton of hyenas, up to 20, and there always seemed to be a warthog or two just running around them by the water drinking and eating. Right in front of the hyenas. Makes me wonder if hyenas don’t mess with warthogs, but knowing hyenas, they probably do. It’s just weird to see the warthogs so relaxed with all of the hyenas around. We finished up half of grid 139, a grid with mostly water vegetation, but the area is dried up. Lots of wildlife in the area though. We had two large hippos in a small body of water who had their eyes on us. When we were walking to our start point, we forgot all about them and got within 50 meters of them. One of the other teams radioed us and reminded us that there were some pretty angry hippos staring us down. As soon as we heard him, we instantly looked up to our left and started quickly walking backwards. One was half out of the water, while the other was standing next to it, watching us intensely. Hippos are highly territorial, and often people are killed because people are in their path and they end up getting trampled. I’m not positive that they would’ve jumped out of the water and came at us, but if we would’ve gotten closer, they could have become threatened by us and may have attacked or not. Who knows, but I never want to find out. It was crazy being that close to them, but also almost pretty awesome. We only ever see them that close when we are in cars. Anyways, we also saw some flamingos in our grid eating from the waters nearby. When we got to the cars, Shem met with us. He told us that we would be going back to camp, packing some things to go home for a day and come back on Monday. We hadn’t expected to go back to camp until Monday, because it turns out that we aren’t allowed to skip a non-program day, which I was ok with!

Sunday, we had a non-program day. I went to Gibb’s Farm, surprise, surprise! It’s one of my favorites, especially since there is coffee. Afterwards, I went into Karatu with the rest of the group to do a little shopping. We checked out some fabric shops. I got a few things, including a Maasai shuka to hopefully get made into a sweatshirt.. Hopefully a nice one.. I don’t know though! The work of the tailors here are all good from what I’ve seen, but the make is also hard because it’s not normally fit exactly how I like it. After we bought some fabric, we walked to Happy Days, where everyone else was. I found out the Karatu cat at Happy Days name was Kilaylay and that he actually lived in a house behind Happy Days with a foreign girl who was working as a teacher at a school in Karatu. She was there too actually, along with a guy from the Peace Corps and another girl who volunteers there. I kept it together, didn’t drink because I knew we had a busy day/week ahead.I could smell Lake Manyara at our camp at night. It was weird, but also kind of cool. The lake is down over the escarpment from us. I had smelled the lake from our camp a few other times. The winds are carrying the heavy saltwater smell up the Rift Valley and even beyond us. It wasn’t too bad at first, but now it’s pretty strong. Crazy we can smell Manyara Lake here. It’s also kind of cool.

Monday was pretty good. We didn’t end up leaving camp until like 8:15. We made it back to Simba camp site by 9:30 AM. We ended up starting out transect around 11:45-12. The Cape Buffalo were in our transect and very vigilant. So, the Swaggin’ with Shem, Kiri, Peter (NCA naturalist), Fousta, and students Caroline and Julia waited until Harrison over with a ranger. Our friend, Romano and also the ranger spent the rest of the day with us. We met him before, but he spent most time with a separate group. We were surprised he was so cool. Very nice and speaks english very well! We got 1 1/2 grids done today. We start 64 tomorrow. This day was nice and short. Beautiful day though! I finally saw hartebeest while being here. There were 10 of them and they were so vigilant. When we got back to camp, we had a lovely, lovely visitor!! I didn’t even realize it. I was in my tent and heard other SFS’ers proclaim that they will “have to get a picture of that!” So, I knew right away that I needed to get out of my tent and go check it out! I ran out and there was a HUGE bull elephant drinking water from our water tank. He had his massive tusks resting on the side of the tank and had his trunk down in the water tank. It was sooooo cute! There were so many people and a lot of us were really close to him. I cannot believe he let people be that close to him. Elephants are also highly dangerous and have killed people. He is a big guy. I have a picture of him standing next to a land cruiser. It’s awesome. It then walking behind the dining hall and then behind the bathrooms, past the “DANGER, KEEP OUT” signage point. He went into the woods, then 5-10 minutes later, came back and walked right up to the back of our dining hall. One of the SFS’ers was within 2 feet of him with the wall/fence inbetween him and the giant elephant. He stared at him, and the elephant gently reached up and touched the side of the screen (in front of the SFS’er’s) face with his trunk and then put it down. He began walking again to the front of the building and across where everyone puts up their tents. There was a tarp laid down with a sleeping bag, suitcases, and a sleeping pad rolled up and sitting on it. The elephant began walking across the tarp. He gently reached his truck over and touched the sleeping bag and suitcases. Uninterested, he slowly and gently passed over the tarp, and even lifted his foot up to avoid stepping on the sleeping bag and even slipped past the tent he came within inches of walking into. It was an absolutely beautiful moment, and I’ve never seen anything like it before. He proceeded further, past Dr. Shem’s tent (who was at the time sitting outside his tent, shaving his face and paid no attention to the passing elephant). It was so funny. The elephant went down to a large tree and began pulling branches from the tree. After about 10 minutes, it continued on down past the large bathroom and into the bush. Absolutely beautiful. At night, we had a nice warm fire to sit by and even some passer-bys to enjoy watching –waterbuck. Spiders were all over the moist ground. If you had the right flashlight, you could see their eyes glow. It was creepy!

Tuesday was semi-slow. Romano went with us the full day.We saw an eland today at a distance and thought it was a lion, but there are some very serious differences between them all. Haha. Today was super hot, but ok for the most part. We climbed up the side of a hill, because that’s where our transect went. I got a nice panoramic view. Days in the field only seemed to get better, and being in the crater was truly an amazing experience everyday. I enjoyed it so much, even when I was cooking in the sun or losing my papers in the wind. It was beautiful!!

Wednesday was pretty awesome. We left around 9 AM to begin work in the crater for the day and left around 5 PM. We were within 70 meters from cape buffalos, which are also another scary group of animals! I found out that the single ones are normally the ones who are most dangerous. Romano said that! We were told by Romano that if we were charged by Cape Buffalo, that we were supposed to lay down, but SFS said we should run like hell. Romano however has been trained in this sort of thing and has lived in Tanzania all his life and I think it probably would make sense to lay down as long as they didn’t run you over! They are so vigilant and scary, yet so cute and funny to watch. They’ll run like 20 feet and stop. The leader will start running, they’ll follow. The leader will stop and then quickly turn around, and all the others turn around. It is so funny, yet so scary to watch. They’re awesome. I’ve completely gained a whole new respect for them, as all people should. They are so aware of their surroundings. We also saw an adorable warthog sitting right at the entrance of his hole on the side of the crater hill. We walked up the side of this large hill to begin our transect and on our way down, a different warthog ran out of his hole in front of us because he heard us coming. I’m glad he didn’t come out when we were down by his hole. They are so cool to watch too and funny. Early in the study, we saw a mama warthog with three tiny baby warthogs. I couldn’t believe how small and cute they were. They kept with their mom and hid behind her too. We even found a scorpion on this transect. Romano found it when he flipped over a rock. I think it might have been a three striped scorpion. He then decides to tell us to be careful and not turn over many rocks, meanwhile I’ve been in the lead the entire time, flipping a million rocks with my feet while walking, because it was an extremely rocky area and walking uphill was interesting through the bush. At night, I sat around the dining table with all the other SFS’ers while some played cards. I turned “Jump on It” on and a random younger guy walked through and he began singing and swinging his arms around his head. It was funny and entertaining. I didn’t sleep too well the last night.

Thursday

We did two transects. One where I actually spooked up a close hyena who then watched us intently but ran away. I watched four warthogs run behind it, and it almost looked like they were chasing the sleepy hyena. The first transect we did went through a wet area with streams, which made the beginning a little difficult, but there was wildlife everywhere. Sacred ibis, Egyptian geese, zebras, a falcon, warthogs, shorebirds. It was beautiful. The last transect also had parts in a wet area (in the rainy season) and had beautiful short green grasses like sedge. We then went and found our starting point for grid 45, where we would start the next day. In this transect, we drove right past another nesting shorebird –Crowned plover?– and it had three eggs in its nest but was protecting it again. Its such an amazing thing to see!! We also saw an absolutely adorable baby hartebeest with its mom. The group was about 10 hartebeest and one wildebeest. It was actually really funny to see one wildebeest hanging out and feeding with this group of hartebeest. Later, we spooked up a tiny baby Thomson’s gazelle. They are so fast! But I felt really bad for scaring it away, and I hope its mom found it. We then went to Serena Crater Lodge where I had a few drinks –Serena sundown and something I can’t remember– and also some marble cake! The two other lodges in the area are the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge and the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge. The Maasai came in and did their dances. Three SFS’ers went and danced with them. They’re always great to watch. Maasai like to jump around and make these deep sounds that come from their throat. You have to hear it to understand. They are very interesting though.

Friday, our last day working in the Ngorongoro Crater (NCA). 🙁 Needless to say, it was a sad day, but we also had some fun with it. I had planned to wake up early to see the sun rise, but I had already been kept awake the whole night with the sound of the rain pitter-pattering on the roof of the tent on and off all night. When I did sleep, it was very little. I had my alarm set for 5:05 AM to see the sun rise, but apparently my hands were tucked in my sleeping bag and I did not hear my watch go off. I was however awoken by another rain shower at 5:45 AM. I peaked outside of the tent. It was pretty dark, but light enough to highlight the fog surrounding the land and other tents outside of our tents. I ended up just staying awake at the point, and didn’t even bother trying to sleep again. At 7:30, we began packing up the soaking wet tents and brought our bags into the dining hall so that they wouldn’t get wet. Afterwards, we ate breakfast and left Simba camp to work in the crater one more time before we left.

When we got to the crater, it was hot and it looked like there hadn’t been a single drop of rain there, and there was no fog. On the rim, we couldn’t see for more than 50 meters from the road normally. On our way in, we saw another plover protecting its nest from the car. But she had three eggs! The last day went well, but it was very sunny and pretty hot. I ended up getting pretty burnt, even sunburned my scalp and ears. We saw the group of hartebeest with the wildebeest again. The baby hartebeest was watching us too. So cute! We completed two grids, 45 and 28. 45 was mostly flat and 28, our very last one, was partially on a hill. 28 was the first grid that we worked in that actually had long grass, and also some bushes. Actually more difficult to navigate through, but I was glad to finally have a long grass transect. There was a large group of about 200 Cape Buffalo standing at the bottom of the hill about 400 meters from us while we were doing our last grid. When we were finished and Dr. Shem came to meet us. Because I have been wanting all along to go on a game drive, I asked Shem if we could go on a short game drive, especially since we finished a little early. Luckily, I got my way and we were able to stay until 4:30. At this time, we drove up on top of the table mountain (or hill) (mlima mesa). We ended up seeing 2 rhinos. One far out in the distance and a second on our way out, about 500 meters from the land cruiser. We saw Thomson’s gazelle, hartebeest, wildebeest, Grant’s gazelle, and even a hare hunkered down in the grass. I did end up seeing about 3 hares while working in the field though. Two ran out in front of me when I was making my way through taller grass and one when we were driving. We drove right past it, and it hunkered down very low to the ground with its ears back and its red eyes wide open. I unfortunately never got a great picture of a hare, but seeing them was pretty cool! We also saw a large pride of lions with females, cubs, and even an adult male!! The females were laying with some of the cubs on a small hill and most of the cubs were laying down below in a muddy spot next to a small stream that runs through the area. They were absolutely adorable! The male was laying on the road in the shade of the land cruisers. When that land cruiser left, the lion got up and walked further down the road, slightly away from the pride and laid in the shade of a separate car which drove up right next to the lion and basically continued to cut the lion off until in laid down. This actually really annoyed me. Why do people have to be such jackasses when wildlife is around? Anyways, the animals were beautiful, and I was very grateful to seen every single one of them, from the raging buffalo to the Thomson’s gazelles and even the small blue beetles that crawled around on the Sodam’s Apple plants and often on me.

At 4:30, we began making our way up the side of the crater road. I snapped some quick shots of sacred ibises and wildebeest on our way out. We stopped at the Ngorongoro gate on the way out and I bought a drink and talked to my rafiki running the register in the shop one more time. It was weird to be back at camp. We were only gone for 5 additional days, but camp seemed so different. We also weren’t use to being around so many people.

Saturday, November 15 Non-program day. We went into Mto wa Mbu. On our way in we stopped at the African Galleria or what we call the ‘Tanzanite store’. I’d never been there but had also wanted to go. There were a lot of nice things including trinkets, jewelry with Tanzanite, paintings, and wood carvings. It was huge and expensive. I didn’t get anything. We went to Mto wa Mbu and went to a kitimoto (pig) place for grilled pork. It was served on a plate with veggies and chili sauce. We also had fried plantains. The food is all served on one plate and you share it as a table. It was really good! Afterwards, we went to the Maasai market. The market is fairly expensive. We ended up finding a place with cheap shukas on a side street. Then we walked to the wood carving place and than to Pizza Point. I bought a pomadoro pizza to go. Cheapest pizza on the menu. Has sauce and a little cheese, but it’s really good. Only 4,000 shillings ($2-3).

Location: Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

Week 7–Maasai Culture, Directed Research

Wednesday morning, Peter, a Maasai man came into speak to our class about the Maasai. We learned a lot of interesting things over the course of the morning. In the afternoon, I did more yoga and then did some additional exercising.

Thursday, we went to a Maasai cultural boma and learned about Maasai traditions and culture. I have been waiting to learn about Maasai culture. They are all across the area near us. When we first got there, the Maasai guides gave us all Maasai shukas to wear. They lined us up and the Maasai performed their welcome dance for us. Then we went inside their ‘fence’ (cut down Acacia bushes placed like a fence). Then we watched one of their traditional dances and were invited to join them. The women joined the group of women, and the men joined the men group. The women gave us all large circular beaded necklaces to wear, took our hands and led us through the dance. The men all got to make these cool, yet odd sounding noises and jump extremely high. The women made softer sounds and jumped only slightly off the ground. At the end, the women had to walk over to the men, any man, and rub the woman’s shoulder on the man’s. I said thank you to the women who had been leading me the whole time in dance. She only spoke Maa and Swahili. I told her “Ashay” which means thank you in Maa. She was very amused with this and was smiling and asking me questions in Swahili that I didn’t understand. I then told her “Kidogo Kiswahili” meaning I know only a little bit of Swahili. Then we laughed and she let me go on my way. Makes me wish I knew more Swahili! Afterwards, they showed us how they made fire, showed us their weapons (knifes and spears), and showed us their shield. We broke up into groups and went for a bushwalk, which was a lot of fun, because I got to talk to the Maasai guides a lot. They knew english really well. Besides english and Swahili (the language all Tanzanians know), the Maasai speak their own language known as “Maa.” One told us that one guy, the Laboni (Village leader) who lives up on the hill has 60 wives, which then have at least 3-4 children/wife. That is insane! The number of cattle a man has shows how rich a man is. When a man has a lot of cattle, he tries to have more wives because the women take care of the cattle. It’s normal for a man to have 6-10 wives who all have their own homes and children.

When we got back to the village, we went and saw the children in kindergarten. One particular 3 year old boy was very smart. He led the class in singing to us, reading numbers in english and Swahili and then telling us the alphabet. We were very impressed with them all. Next, we went to the bush to shoot bow and arrows at a target and throw a spear. Last, we went inside the Maasai bomas to see how they were built. Overall, it was a pretty cool experience. I relaxed the rest of the day since I had my work done. We’ve had a lot of free time this past week. It’s been nice relaxing. To finish off the night, we watched The Departed.

Friday, we had our poster presentation beginning at 8 AM. I signed up to go 8th and get it out of the way. I presented on the ‘Habitat Preferences of Maasai Giraffes in three protected areas’. It went better than I expected, thank goodness. In the afternoon, we learned about all of the Directed Research projects. We should hopefully find out our DR tomorrow! Today, we went to the primary school for the reading program with grade 5. This is something that some of us voluntarily do, we aren’t required to go. Today, we sang ‘If you’re happy and you know it’, then read some books and went outside to play ‘duck, duck, goose’. It was a really fun day with the kids! I think I made some new friends too.

Saturday, I woke up at 4 AM and thought I was late for cook crew because there was light outside. I didn’t have to be up until 6:15 AM. I barely slept the next few hours, but got up for cook crew in time. Today was the day we received out directed research. Our first class was a briefing on how our directed research would be graded and advice for it. Right afterwards, we walked outside the classroom and noticed the directed research groups had been posted. I got the one I wanted. The overall topics in the group that I got to choose from are encompassed in invasive plant species management and quality and quantity of pastures. I am considering researching something to do with invasive plant species. There are subtopics we can choose from, but we are also slightly allowed to branch out on them as well. So, that was exciting… now… I just seriously need to figure out what we can do..! One of the coolest things about this project is that all data collection will be in Ngorongoro Conservation Area.. near the Ngorongoro Crater! Otherwise, today was kind of a bust. Besides working on the habitat management plan, I struggled to get much done because I was not in a good mood today, which must have carried over from last night. To be honest, attempting to plan after program travel has become frustrating and stressful because of money constraints, which is partially the reason for my bad mood. I had done a decent amount of research on places on the coast, but now the plan seems to be changing and everything seems to be looking much more expensive.. and it’s bumming me out. Also, I had a group project that I didn’t really feel a part of. I didn’t feel as though my ideas were completely accepted and they should have been. I’m annoyed with a lot right now, and I wish I wasn’t! It’s my first real problem at all this whole trip and it’s causing me a little more frustration than it’s worth.. Anyways, to finish off the night we had a cook out, and got to have cheeseburgers and french fries! The cooking club made some good food tonight, and everyone was in a good mood.. so it helped with my mood. We only have 1 and a half months left in TZ. Hoping for the best!

Sunday was our full day to work on our research proposals, as everyone’s (except for my groups) were due at midnight. I was a bit of a procrastinator most of the day. I struggled to get much of anything done. I ended up completing a paragraph of my Maasai Tourism paper and 2 sections of my research proposal completed. Then at night, we watched Fight Club, which I haven’t seen in a while.

Monday was our day off. I wasn’t feeling to great in the morning, so I was deciding whether or not I should just stay here. I didn’t want to be gone all day in town with the rest of the people. I did decide to stay at camp, and thought I would regret it, but I didn’t. It was a nice quiet day. Didn’t do much.. but it was nice and went pretty quick.

Tuesday was a boring day. I spent the whole day inside working on my research proposal draft. I worked on it up til the last minute and still wasn’t confident with my work. Hoping for the best. Glad the first one is only a draft.

Location: Rhotia, TZ

Week 6– A 3 Million Old Crater, The Big 5, REAL Coffee, and Hunter-gatherers

Wednesday (Oct 8) was the big day! Possibly the day I’ve been most excited for, for a while. Ngorongoro Crater! Literally, a 3 million old crater from a massive volcanic eruption! I hopped in the passenger seat of the Toyota Land Cruiser at 8 AM, and we departed for our destination. The 45 minute drive felt like 10 minutes and before we knew it, we were at the gate for the road up through the cloud forest to the Ngorongoro Crater. At the gate, there was a visitor center. I was pretty hesitant to get out because the olive baboons in the area were charging one of my professors continuously, teeth out. So, needless to say when the baboons ran off, I crawled across the drivers seat and darted out the door to the building. After about 30 minutes of exploring the center and gift shop, we got in the cars and headed in the gate. Regularly, the cost to enter the crater is $200/car (car entry fee), $50/person (entry fee), plus the cost of a guide (which is ridiculous). TZ citizens literally pay .89 cents for the entry fee and about $30/safari car.. like what!?

Driving up the road, on the rim of the crater (about 9,000 feet) was beautiful. The landscape was covered in clouds, and I literally felt like I was in the clouds. The actual name of the habitat is cloud forest. The moisture from the clouds helps with forest growth. I was already amazed and we hadn’t even made it into the crater. We drove on the rim for about 30 minutes to the NCAA office where we had an hour long presentation about Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the people surrounding the NCA. As soon as we pulled in, there was about 6 zebras standing on the lawn. They literally looked like lawn ornaments. I didn’t think they were even real, because they weren’t moving. Years ago, NCA established a law that said no people can live in the crater. 258 families were moved outside the crater. Now, they TRY to establish peace with the local people in the area by supplying them with food, schools and care. In return, these people are to live peacefully on the grounds of the NCA. These tribes live outside of the crater. No tribes are to live inside the crater, it is for wildlife and tourism only. In reality, this conservation area has 87,851 people currently living in it. The carrying capacity of the area is supposed to be 28,000 people total. That is 59,851 more people than what should be living in the conservation area. The law currently restricts these people to graze their cattle on NCA property, but to make the people happy, NCA allows them to graze cattle, ALL illegally. The people would illegally graze their cattle their anyways. NCA has some of the best conserved land around, where not influenced by people. These people are also not allowed to build permit structures.. such as permanent homes. We were told that many people moved into the crater when they found out what was being supplied to the locals. Families will often invite friends to live there and many new families establish. I don’t know how well this will work in the end with such a low carrying capacity and such a large group of people with a growth rate of 4.2%. However, it was interesting to hear about the issues of the NCA.

Afterwards, we made our way down the side of the crater into a wonderful and peaceful place. It felt like I was in a completely new place (and I was), but it was different. It was amazing. The crater was exactly the way I pictured Africa to be (or what I wanted to see and what I’ve seen on TV..). It was beautiful to see the wildlife living peacefully and undisturbed, for the most part. The first carnivore we saw was a golden jackal. One was seen continuously and curiously digging.. we thought for rodents. A new species for me! We also saw a ton of large spotted hyenas. Most laying down near or in water. We saw large groups of Thompson’s gazelle foraging and Hartebeest standing in the background. We drove through the middle of a huge group of wildebeest and zebra.. so close, I could touch them. When we got to the top of a hill, we looked down over the crater. I wish I could’ve gotten a panoramic shot. We continued on and found 4 adult male lions laying far out in the grassland, resting. I checked them out through my binoculars. Turns, out this group of four males were lead males of one of the prides in the crater. A single pride had coexisted for more than 20 years. Crazy! But lions have been here for much longer.

We drove to a small hippo pool, where one hippo was resting with some alert Egyptian geese sitting on the water nearby. We spotted a large group of cars in the distance and went towards it. We knew something good had to be there and sure enough, it was pretty awesome. 2 adult female lions and 3 cubs snuggling together! They were laying right next to the road too, and didn’t care that 20 cars at a time were lined up to see them. At almost any given time, only two heads of the cubs could be seen. One always seemed to have its head tucked away near its mama. We then made our way to the hippo pool where we would have lunch. On our way, we stumbled across another awesome thing.. A black rhino laying down in the middle of a grassland. He was very far away but I could make it out with my binoculars. AMAZING! I had somehow and luckily reached the Big 5 (African lion African elephant, Cape Buffalo, African Leopard, and Rhinoceros) by seeing this rhino. There are only 26 rhinos living in the Ngorongoro Crater, so I was incredibly lucky! Life could not have felt more complete at that moment (although, I haven’t seen a Cheetah). I was so lucky to see what I did see though within the last 37 days in Tanzania!

At the hippo pool, we immediately saw black kites flying everywhere. Immediately, a friend and I jumped out of the car and began taking pictures of the black kites (birds of prey) flying over our heads. I got a lot of great pictures of them. I didn’t eat until we left hippo pool because I took pictures the whole time. I even got a shot of a hippo coming up for air. The black kites in the area are known for stealing food from people. On of the SFS’s was standing up in the land cruiser with his head and body out of the roof, and a kite swooped down and grabbed his doughnut right out of his hand. We had about 6-8 kites flying low over our heads in search of handouts. The birds were sure beautiful though.

After we left hippo pool, we saw a female ostrich sitting near the road on her nest. We also found a male and a female lion laying and resting in a grassland, somewhat close to the road. Later on, they lifted their heads up, and I got some decent shots of them. We drove around for a while longer and went into the Lerai Acacia forest in the crater and saw more elephants and some cool birds (hoopee, woodpecker). I also saw a lot of gray-crowned cranes. Before we left, we watched a female lion laying flat on her back, sleeping undisturbed. We also observed a second pregnant lion drinking at the salty lake Magadi for about 5 minutes. She contentiously drank and then went back behind the cattails to sleep. As we were leaving, a lappet-faced vulture was in the top of a cactus-tree on the side of the crater, telling us goodbye!

Thursday, we had Wildlife Management most of the day, where we worked on statistical lab work and then had a lecture. Didn’t do much of anything else, besides a little work.

Friday, we went to Mto wa Mbu to begin out habitat assessments for our habitat management plans for the Maasai giraffe. At 1, a group of us went to the primary school to do a reading program with the kids. I’ve been going to fifth grade. We read, played pictionary and sang a song together. The kids know some English and they’ve even taught me a few words in Swahili. The rest of the day pretty much revolved around homework.

Saturday, three words.. Gibb’s Coffee Farm. Eternal happiness for me. At 10 AM, we made our way to Gibb’s Farm for a coffee tour, coffee and an insanely good lunch buffet. We first saw the front of the building. Nice place, but nothing to go absolutely crazy over. Second, I made my way to the bathroom. This is where s*** got real. The semi-outdoor bathroom was built to overlook the farm. It was made from beautiful wood and had fancy rounded sinks. It was so nice, I had to take pictures of it.. Next, we went on a tour of the farm. First, we saw coffee and banana trees! The whole coffee bean fermenting, washing and drying process was shown to us. They showed us their gardens packed full of tomato trees, strawberries, rhubarb, broccoli, mint, spinach, tea, tobacco, and many more plants. Our guide told us what they use all of the plants in on their buffet, which of course made everything much more appetizing when we did finally eat the buffet! The guy also tried to tell us that what we saw in the garden were elephant tracks.. I had a hard time believing this, because the place is fenced in and there didn’t seem to be any damage. I’m pretty sure it was staged. When we got to the end of the tour, we went inside and got our ‘free’ cup of coffee.. BEST COFFEE I’VE HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I had Gibb’s Farm coffee at one other lodge in the area.. so amazing. After the buffet was sat up, we dug in. The buffet was packed with delicious foods.. breads, quiche, roasted chicken, GREEN OLIVES, brie, beef, rice, fresh salad and strawberry rhubarb pie, churros, and fresh fruit (papaya, mango, watermelon) for desert. By the end, we were all stuffed.. all for only 25,000 TSH ($15 USD). I bought a 500 gram bag of coffee at the gift shop for $15 USD.. which was ridiculous, but the coffee was amazing. I wish I could have afforded to buy more. Now, or whole banda smells like coffee, it’s amazing, but it makes me constantly want REAL coffee that we don’t have at our camp. Ahhhh.. coffee!

Sunday, we visited the Hadaza(be) and the Datoga near Lake Eyasi. We drove for about an hour and a half, almost two to the Hadza site. The Hadza number around 1,700 people total. The Hadza tribe are traditional hunter-gathers, meaning they gather everything from their environment. They hunt wild animals for meat, gather fruits from the bush, and use resources from the bush/woods to build their houses, etc. Baboons are a favorite meat of theirs and the skins are also used as traditional wear; however they’ll hunt anything from cape buffalo to wild cats (excluding lion) to kudu to bats for food. They even had the skin of a python stretched out and pinned across the baobab tree. We were told that they don’t normally eat pythons or snakes, but use their skins for clothes and poisons for darts (to dart and kill an animal). They hunt using spears and bow and arrows. They speak Khoisan, a click language. Within a village of Hadza, groups are separated into women/children, elder men, and young boys. Hadza are nomadic, meaning they move and never settle on one land permanently. The group we visited seemed to be more permanent, as they stay in the area/close by for cultural tourism reasons, which in the end means that they are essentially overusing the resources in the area. They’re also highly associated with baobab trees. At first, we walked around and looked at the homes and also saw some meat they had drying (we’re guessing jerky). The meat didn’t look to appetizing, as there were flies all over it, but they must cook it over the fire. The young boys also showed us how to start a fire using wood and the metal of a knife. The pressure from the rubbing of the sticks down to the metal makes hot ashes which are then put into a small pile of dried grass and blown on. These young boys were also smoking marijuana, which is something that the Hadza people traditionally do. Although, it is highly illegal in Tanzania, the Hadza are allowed to smoke marijuana and hunt without permits because it is their traditional way of living. We then went for a little walk to dig for bush potatoes. We tried baobab fruit and I tasted a bush potato. It was full of water. Didn’t really taste like anything but the baobab fruit was sweet and dry. Afterwards, we walked to the cave where some of the sleep and were shown the drawings that they made with ash from a fire of each animal that they hunt.. bat, giraffe, etc. That was pretty cool. We then went and shot bow and arrows. It was fun and I did pretty well! I’ve always wanted to buy a recurve bow and really learn how to shoot one. I’ve shot them before but these were pretty nice bows that the Hadza made with animal skins and feathers and wood. After we were done shooting arrows. The Hadza began to do their traditional songs and dances. It was one of the coolest dances I’ve ever witnessed. They even has us join in. We had a great time. I recorded them dancing at first. Afterwards, some of us bought a few things from the Hadza. They sold pipes, necklaces, bracelets and small bows and arrows.

Afterwards, we stopped at the Datoka bomas. Here, they create bracelets, rings, and arrowheads from brass. We got to witness the whole process of the arrowhead and bracelet making. A line of men sit in front of the fire and take their turn doing their parts in the process of bracelet and arrowhead making. We also got the chance to buy some of these things.

Monday, I was just completely stressed out in the morning because of the statistics lab we were doing. It wouldn’t have even been hard to follow if I would’t have missed the first step of the process completely and had spent the next hour and a half trying to fix it. The smallest step I missed made me angry the whole morning. After lunch, I was fine though. I finished my research paper for Environmental Policy about the local government system. Around 5, I did some yoga (for pretty much the first time ever-almost). I’d like to keep doing yoga and try to progress.

I realized a few weeks ago how much I miss wearing jeans and make-up. Weird, I know. But I brought no make-up and no jeans here. I mostly brought baggy or field clothes. It feels good to not really care what I look like most of the time, but a lot of the people here have brought way nicer clothes than I. However, I am in Africa, so it feels nice to wake up 5 minutes until breakfast and normally scrunge it most days. See you in a few months, jeans and mascara.

My desk is situated in front of the main window in our bedroom. I enjoy looking out our rustic window. I often watch the run around outside the window. Sometimes they fly indoors to visit us in the dining hall and our classroom. I like seeing the birds fly through the wide open doors or windows on a daily basis here. It’s funny to enjoy nature from the inside.

Tuesday, was community service (and then relax) day! The choices were help with elementary bathroom building, garbage pick up in the village or help paint the picnic tables.. So, I naturally chose to help paint.. and I’m also in the art club who is charge of painting. We worked more on table designs and continued painting the table that was started last community service day. The table is really neat looking so far. Attached is a picture. I helped paint the flamingos and mix paint.

Location: Rhotia, TZ

Moyo Hill Camp–Week 5!

We got back from expedition on Wednesday and had a non-program day on Thursday. Today, we had the morning off to just relax. I had to get up at 8 AM to help the cook crew, which was unfortunate, because I was pretty tired from expedition. Making breakfast went really fast though, and it took about half the amount of time that it normally takes us. I decided to go to Mto wa Mbu with a group of about 10 people. Everyone else either stayed at camp or went to Karatu. In Mto wa Mbu, we went to the Maasai Market to buy a few things. I have been wanting to buy a Maasai shuka (essentially a thick cotton sheet worn by Maasai peoples as a wrap, their traditional dress) since we came to camp, but the shukas in the market were too expensive. Normally they are sold to locals for about 10,000-12,000 ($6-7 US Dollars)Tanzanian shillings. Of course, in Tanzania, most items are bargained for, but we could not get the market people to go to 10,000TSH. This is because Mto wa Mbu is a tourist town and sellers know that they can cheat tourists by charging a higher price. Overall, we learned that Mto wa Mbu is expensive most places, but we got one guy down to 12,000 TSH and he threw in a bracelet, so we bought shukas. Shukas look like this: http://www.africanartique.com/products. After we bought our shukas, we went to Pizza Place to get some pizza and play cards. We played hell, ride the bus, and kings. We spent the rest of our evening at Pizza Place, and left around 5:30 to go back to camp.

Friday, we went to Lake Manyara National Park to conduct an animal count. We finally got up close to flamingos and I got some good pictures! After our animal count, we spent the rest of the day doing a game drive in the park. We went looking for the tree climbing lions, but had no luck. One group of students had car problems, so we drove a little over an hour into the park to find them before we left, and got everything figured out.

Saturday, we went into Karatu to speak to the lead resource conservationist in the area. He gave us a lecture on Conservation Initiatives. We first visited a tree nursery in Karatu. This tree nursery plants about 600,000 trees a year in the surrounding area, assuming many are used for locals’ resource use. Some also die due to water issues. Afterwards, we visited the kitchen in a local primary school where they showed us their kitchen. They had two large cauldron-like pots that were heated in an efficient way where the concentration of heat only reached the pots; therefore, creating a quicker and more efficient way to cook. Also, they used dry corn cobs instead of wood to cook. We were also shown a biogas manure system. Basically, there are three large storage/flow concrete pipes in the ground. The first area is where the cow manure and urine is put into the system. The second storage pipe collects the methane from the urine and manure, and the third pipe is where the manure and urine exits, normally to a garden or where trees are planted for fertilizer. The methane is then transferred through a rubber tube to the house where the gas is used for cooking and even for lighting, sometimes. Lastly, we visited a place where a group of people were creating bricks from water, sand, concrete, and soil. The bricks dried on their own in 7 days and then were sold for building.

Sunday, we got to sleep in a little and then had a few hours to work on assignments. The one class we had involved watching “Milking the Rhino,” which was an interesting documentary that showed the relationship between African wildlife, the local tribes and people, and the conservationists, and also shows how wildlife is utilized in Africa to generate income. We then had a short discussion on the film.

Monday, we had time scheduled to go speak to a local village council. We were to have an open discussion with them on how they manage the village council and strategies for handling issues. We sat outside under an old yellow-fever acacia tree. Sidenote: one of our professors collected seeds from this tree and planted them outside of each of our bandas about 2 years ago. They’re still pretty small. Anyways, about 14 of the 26 members came out to speak with us, including the chairman. For a small governmental system, they seemed pretty organized and seemed to know what they were doing. I also worked on my Swahili paper, and then went for a run in Rhotia.

Tuesday wasn’t a super busy day, besides the fact we had a paper due by midnight. I was the MOD for the day! Basically, I help with anything that I am asked to do, and I do RAP (Reflection, Announcements, and Presentation) after dinner, which makes this place feel even more like a summer camp to me. We didn’t have class until10 AM, and it happened to be our first Directed Research class. We learned some basic things in Excel. Later on in the day, we had a guest lecture from Kissui, the program director who also happens to do research on lions. After class, I reviewed my paper on socio-cultural changes of Iraqw people, and turned it in. After dinner, I led RAP and for my presentation, I had everyone go outside to the volleyball court where it was the darkest, so that we could startrip! Everybody had a really good time with this game, and I’m happy they did. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work, because every other time I’ve startripped, I’ve done in complete blackness. We weren’t allowed to turn lights off here, but it worked out. TOMORROW, we are going to Ngorongoro Crater… words cannot describe how excited I am! The crater was created 3 million years ago by a volcano that erupted.

“A giraffe’s coffee would be cold by the time it reached the bottom of its throat. Ever think about that? No. You only think about yourself.”

Location: Rhotia, TZ

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Week 13–My Final Days at Moyo Hill Camp

Week 10–Ngorongoro Crater Research

Week 7–Maasai Culture, Directed Research

Week 6– A 3 Million Old Crater, The Big 5, REAL Coffee, and Hunter-gatherers

Moyo Hill Camp–Week 5!