Updates and LIONS!

The internet has been down all week so here's a compilation of what I have been up to all week: Sunday night and Monday I had some sort of stomach bug so I spent the whole day in bed. Tuesday and Wednesday we spent in the field conducting vegetation surveys in our plots. We have 15 radial plots that are 20m in diameter and we measure each cactus in the plot, for my portion of the project I also measure proximity to native trees. Each plot had 3 days of camera trapping data to see what animals are visiting the cactus. While my boss was in town Wednesday afternoon, I accidentally spent the afternoon searching for lions instead of finishing up data collection so we finished the vegetation data Thursday morning. Today (Friday) Anne-Marie, our field techs Gilbert and Samson, another researcher and myself came into town. We treated the guys to lunch and then did some shopping and are staying at our friend Arnold's house in town for the weekend. Arnold is the one with the bunnies sooooooo I'll be resisting the temptation to take one home, but they are the cutest things ever.

Wednesday I spent the entirety of the afternoon sitting on the roof of a Land Rover, hair tossing in the wind as we bumped and bounced our way through the savannah looking for lions. We heard that seven of them had made a zebra kill earlier in the day and were also seen in the afternoon. When we showed up there were already three cars looking for them and shortly after a few more pulled in. At that point the passengers of all 6 vehicles were standing on the roofs of their cars, scanning the tall grass and whispering, okay yelling, to one another in English and Kiswahili about what the best course of action would be to get the best view. 

Gilbert drove our car through the tall grass and acacia and we spotted what we could. I have learned that if a wild animal, especially a feline, does not want to be seen, it won’t be. At least not with a clear view. As our engines got closer to the lions resting place, I was able to spot the black spots on the back of one’s head and barely the movement of shoulder blades trying to slip away without being noticed. The grass came up just above their shoulders so only when she lifted her head to check out the humans were we able to see them. Like I said, if they don’t want to be seen, you won’t see them for long. 

 

Habari Gani?

Oops, it's been nearly two weeks since I last updated the blog. Life in Kenya is quite often 'pole pole' or 'slowly by slowly', but not for me. I've been wrangling baboon poo, avoiding elephants, getting poked by cacti, enjoying the gorgeous scenery, and playing lots and lots of volleyball.


After the 3 hour ride from Nairobi to Nanyuki, full of smiles and catching up on the past year as we passed dusty shops and shambas (gardens). We made a pit stop in the local grocery store for the essentials, wine, chocolate, and wine... and had lunch in town before we made the trek in a rickety matatu up the to the highlands of Mpala. Once we arrived, we unloaded our things, got settled in and met up with old friends and new at the dining hall for chapatti and vegetable stew.

The following morning Anne-Marie took us out into the field to get oriented with the project a bit more and to see the field sites. We went to a place called Baboon Cliffs, named because they are a common roosting site for one of our study baboon troupes. We couldn't actually go our to the cliff because they were apparently at the time, "Elephant Cliffs". It wasn't the worst timing in the world because the second we got back in the car, we got a call from the head of security about a wild dog sighting. So, on our first day in the field we got to see a fairly elusive and ferocious top predator. (check out my Mammal Crush Monday blog post on Lyacon pictus for more info!!)

Samson

The rest of the week we saw a variety of animals while we were out working, collecting baboon scat and measuring cactus. We also have the best field techs in the world, Samson and James who have definitely saved our lives from buffalo multiple times. Rule #347 ALWAYS trust your field guide. Even when doing something as mundane as walking, just follow them, or you will end up being laughed at as they pick you out of acacia trees, scratch free.

We were doing cactus surveys one day when my boss sat on a dying cactus paddle. As I picked it out of her posterior, she exclaimed "Aye yei yei", to which Samson absolutely died laughing. We found out two days later that "Wai yeiyei" means "oh my mother" in Maasai. They have a sense of humor too.

  On weeknights, the staff play volleyball in the village, and Samson invited us wazungu to come play too. So for the past week at 5pm until dusk I have found myself up in the village, bruised arms and all playing volleyball against our Kenyan staff who have figured out I am good at serving and receiving the ball, but not so much spiking... or jumping. Regardless, I am learning lots of Kiswahili slang and, most importantly, getting to know our amazing staff even better.




 We also took a trip to the equator, so I was back in my home hemisphere for a few :)












Unfortunately, in field work there are many 'unpredictables' which left us with a broken vehicle and therefore we HAD to go into town a few days last week for drinks... I mean to make use of our time and acquire field necessities. Like goose wire and PVC pipe to build a bunny cage. Because as professionals, we still can't handle the cuteness of baby bunnies. My friend Arnold is raising them for meat and my boss decided she needed one (no, mom I haven't bought a baby bunny.... yet) soooo Latte now has a home.






But I named this little guy Mzee, or old man.

Sooooooo updates on bunny ownership status coming soon :)

At least I'm not trying to bring home the wild ones, right?