Tag Archives: surveying

Surveys and Safaris

Crazy times in Tanzania, let me tell ya.

You may remember after my last blog we were on our way to start our work within the village. On Thursday and Friday we spent the days surveying a village about an hour away from our campus. The village, Tundu, is pretty large but only having 2 days we had to focus our surveying a bit. It was my first time collecting data and creating maps. Within our group we had 3 different groups of 3-4 people. Each group was assigned a section and was sent off with a translator and 1 or 2 village council members. My group was in charge of roads and pathways. At first glance I was completely stressed out about how many little paths there were to do, but the village council member told us that every space without a house is considered a path – meaning we only had to do “main roads”. We spent the entire day, 10 – 4:30 (including a lunch break) systematically going through paths. Surveying is kind of a tedious job. We had one member who would walk along the path and find a GPS point every 20-40 paces. We then had a member who would write down the GPS coordinates, the point number and any notes. A third member took pictures of every single point and measured the path width while I was the sketcher in charge of drawing an overall map including all the points. Keeping track of all those paths was kind of confusing for me but it worked out all right due to the aid of multicolored pens. The next day, Friday was the same schedule except we finished up the roads mid-morning and switched to mapping the houses. Houses were a little different. Since the GPS satellites in the area fluctuate we couldn’t drop GPS point of the house – instead we had to drop the point at one house corner, measure the length and width of the building, and calculate the wall’s bearing while continuing with data recording and sketching. Whew it was a long day but they did go extremely quickly once we got into a groove. I was the data recorder for the house mapping. It took a lot of patience and a lot of communication but I learned a lot from the job.

Working in the village was nice. We really got free-range. The village council seemed really grateful and pleased by our work. Having a scaled, logistical map of the town will be extremely helpful in helping the village plan for future land use and expansion. With the approval of the village council we were able to do and go anywhere. It really helped me get a better understanding of village life. The poverty would still get to me at times but in this area it is hard to avoid that.

After a few days of hard work we were treated to a great weekend and early week. On Saturday we had the opportunity to go World Environmental Day help at the local elementary school. It was a school competition between 9 schools that created skits and performances to demonstrate the importance of conservation.  Some of the dances, songs and skits by these kids were amazing! It was so interesting to see the kids doing traditional tribal dances to student-played drums. I really enjoyed it. The after the performances we were able to hang out with the kids for a while. The crowd size was extremely shocking to me. While 9 smaller school groups performed there were over probably over 600 kids there to watch. After the performances were finished, the music was kept on and our group danced with everyone. The crowd was so huge we could barely move, let alone dance but it was so fun! They got such enjoyment out of seeing us goof around. The girls in particular got bombarded. They loved to touch our hair and dance with us. I couldn’t even move my arms because I had 4 children holding on to each hand and forearm.

The experience was so amazing but we still had more to come. Sunday afternoon we left for Mikumi National Park for a 3 night 3 day safari. While we were there we stayed at the Angala Tented Camp. For a camp site this place was nice! We had actual toilets and somewhat warm water. It was such a treat! All the game drives through the park were amazing; tons of giraffes, elephants, zebras, impala, wildebeests, warthogs, baboons and the most beautiful birds. I was so surprised how close our jeeps were able to get. The highlight of the trip was Monday evening when we finished off the ride by finding a pack of 7 lions eating a wildebeest. We were so close we could hear the lions eating, and ripping the meat up. It was only 20 yards away. Despite the awesomeness of the lions my favorite animal was the giraffes. It is so big and graceful and interesting. The baboons were very entertaining to watch as well, they make the top 3.

Now we have made the return trip back the monitoring center. It is kind of nice to be back, this place is starting to feel like home! The next week and a half is going to be crazy! We are getting deep into our work and the projects we need to create for the villages. Work, work, work, work. That is all that’s on the agenda. At times I am ready for home but I think I am going to be so sad when we leave here. Oh well, I won’t think about it now. Off to do more work!


Location: Mang'ula, Tanzania

Survey Says…

This past week has been a lot of work and non-stop adventure.  It began on Tuesday when we went to Magombero Forest with a professor from the Sokoine University of Agriculture.  We went traipsing through sugar cane fields and a then through a very dense forest to see examples of deforestation.  I didn’t have much time to observe the deforestation because I was too busy dodging stinging nettles and sprinting through nests of biting fire ants.  Those things are the most malicious bugs that I’ve ever encountered!  They actually borrow through your clothes to get to your skin.  It’s like they’re out for revenge for disturbing them.  One of the guys on the trip got them all through his clothes and actually had to strip down in the middle of the forest to get them off of his skin!  Welcome to the jungle.

Wednesday was spent working on my paper about how rural land use planning can aid biodiversity conservation…whew!…a definite challenge for a marketing major.  Can’t say I’m not earning my science credits. 

Thursday and Friday were spent surveying the village of Tundu.  We took a tiny rickety bus called a Dola Dola 75 minutes each way over the rockiest dirt road I’ve ever seen.  Oh, and the horn sounded just like a carnival ride theme song – not at all like the standard “Beep! Beep!” that we’re used to.  The bus driver seemed to really enjoy the sound of the horn as he laid on it for minutes at a time (as though a bus full of white kids didn’t attract enough attention on its own)!  At long last, we arrived at Tundu and got right to work surveying the town to help them create a map.  Only a basic outline of the area exists, which makes planning for roads and other structures nearly impossible.  We spent the entire day measure people’s homes and yards.  It was a really cool way to see the culture.  Tanzanians are so proud of their homes.  One man took me by the hand and led me to a wooden crate in his back yard.  He opened the lid and out jumped four or five rabbits!  He really enjoyed my shock (an expression that translates in Swahili).  Some of my favorite highlights from surveying were the witch doctor’s house, the school of children swarming us, and a mansion belonging to a woman who is a top five sugar cane grower in Tanzania.  Rumor has it she kicked her husband to the curb because she was already rich and didn’t find any need for a man.  In Tanzanian society, especially in rural areas, that almost NEVER happens.  Women are very submissive and do intense manual labor for their husbands, so I got a big kick out of this female power house.  We made a ton of friends simply by giving high fives when they would yell out “Obama!”  It’s a good time to be an American in East Africa!

Today we saw a ton of performances from the elementary school kids for a national holiday known as World Environment Day.  They performed traditional African dancing, drumming, singing, and even skits.  It was a ton of fun to support them and all of the work they’ve put into this conservation education.  They took to us as well.  By the end of the day, I think 500 kids had pet my hair, help my hand, or danced with me.  I couldn’t walk anywhere without a giant mob surrounding me – a very strange feeling.  Tomorrow I leave for an African safari in Mikumi!  It should be absolutely amazing.  I met a tourist today who came straight from Mikumi and described it as the Garden of Eden.  I’ll fill you in when I’m back!


Location: Mang'ula, Tanzania