Nitarudi Kenya

Well, it's official! Nitarudi, I am returning to Kenya this summer!! Words cannot express my excitement to travel back to my "home across the globe". It's been two years since my adventures in Kenya came to a bittersweet end, TWO YEARS! It really was the experience of a lifetime and opened so many doors for me, including a chance to return to work with amazing scientists.

I will be headed back in May as a field tech for Ph.D. candidate Anne-Marie Hodge. Her research lies broadly in the realm of carnivore community ecology. Let her explain more here; Anne-Marie's Scientific American Expeditions Blog .  This summer, I'll be assisting with field work and collecting data involving an invasive cactus and it's impact on the Laikipia Plateau carnivore communities.

During my study abroad experience, I completed my independent study (*see IDS post!) at the Mpala Research Centre  which, coincidentally, is where I will be again this summer! Mpala is located just north of Nanyuki, Kenya on the Laikipia plateau, 200 kilometers north and slightly east of Nairobi. The Laikipia Plateau, sits between Mt. Kenya and the Great Rift Valley and is composed of savannah habitat, home to elephants, lions, reticulated giraffe, African wild dogs, hyenas, cheetahs, Grevy's Zebra, and black rhino, just to name a few :).

Having been there before and having frequently partaken in what ecologists refer to as "sundowners" (Finding an escarpment or any high rock/boulder/mountain to sit on, enjoy a beverage, and be in the stillness of the sunset) I can attest, it is truly a beautiful landscape.


The initial draw to visit a place like this is the wanyama na mazingira, or the animals and environment, but the reason you go back ni watu wote. The people of Kenya are very much alive. If you take time to listen, you will learn much more about life than you expected, and probably ingest more chapatti and chai than you bargained for. Although I know this experience is going to be much different than the KSP, and am maintaining an "expectation-free" mindset, I am excited to see what Kenya has to teach me this time around.

Karibu Nyumbani

Last Wednesday, I hopped in a taxi at midnight to head to Nairobi International Airport to catch a plane back to the USA. Before I could leave however, our now tight-knit group had a campfire and small wrap up of the semester complete with paper plate awards, many laughs and goodbye tears. Its so hard to believe we were once a group of eighteen strangers, awkwardly saying hello in the airport just four months ago and now we have become so close that we melt to tears when it's time to go. I feel so lucky to have met these crazy kids, I know they will all go out to do wonderful things and they have shown me what I am capable of as well.

I am so grateful to have been able to go to Kenya, and to come back with a new lens on life. 
Sitting around, telling my family about all my adventures has really started to bring my experiences full circle for me. You know, when you are there, you don't really realize how much an experience has changed you, its only until you can share it with someone back home you notice the difference in yourself. I am starting to see the difference in my way of thinking, along with the occasional Kenyan habits that come out in action or conversation, like saying "sawa" (Okay) in response to a non yes-or-no question. This experience has really impacted my life in so many ways. I have a new respect for other cultures and a deeper respect for my own upbringing. I have learned to appreciate the comforts of home, but understand that it is okay to leave them behind.

Its hard to believe that my time in Kenya has come to a pause, a pause because I have other things to do, like graduate college before I can go back. I am so thankful for having an amazing group of people to travel with and to have met some absolutely inspiring people along the way. My host families really helped me to feel like family, and we will have that bond forever. Mama Maggie with Dorobo taught me to ishi sasa. I have hiked across the Great Rift Valley, hunted with the Hadzabe, lived with multiple different Kenyan families, played with orphaned elephants, became close friends with pro rugby players, gained insight to who I am, and most importantly, made a difference. 

The most beautiful thing that I have witnessed on my trip, and the one thing that really stuck out to me, was the genuine happiness of people who have absolutely nothing. Here in America, we have so much pressure to grow up, be responsible, go to school, get a job, go to more school, get a high-paying job, pay off your loans, pay for a house, have good insurance so you can what? so you can rush through life and FINALLY retire and be happy when you're 65 and halfway out the door? I am not saying I don't appreciate the opportunities I have and I am certainly not saying don't go to school and don't work hard, I repeat, STAY IN SCHOOL. What I am saying, however is find something, even just one thing in your life that makes you truly happy all the time, and use that one thing to inspire yourself to not only better yourself, but try and give other people a reason to be happy too, and maybe we can make the world a little bit brighter. I am so privileged to know what it feels like to be completely genuinely happy with what I am doing and where I am in life and I understand that not many people get that chance, but I think that if you can find at least one thing that makes you genuinely happy, you're doing pretty well.

Tutaonana

The Big Five

"The Big Five" was a term given to the five most dangerous, and therefore most desired to hunt. Although there is still a significant amount of poaching, and it is again on the rise, The Big Five is mainly a tourist term.

Last Thursday I finished my Big Five checklist which was super exciting!

So who are the Big Five?

The Cape Buffalo, Syncerus caffer

These animals are known for their unpredictable nature, sometimes they'll run away and sometimes they'll run you over (in which case, you better be a good tree climber). They can weigh between 1,000 and 2,000lbs and their horns can't always be penetrated by rifle bullets.

Leopard, Panthera pardus pardus

Classified as vulnerable on the IUCN red list, these gorgeous cats have faced excessive hunting for their pelts and skulls as well as habitat loss and fragmentation. They have incredible adaptability and have a wide range of prey that they drag into tall trees to consume.

African Lion, Panthera leo

Otherwise known as "simba" the swahili word for lion, these cats are one of the biggest faces of African wildlife. Currently lions are threatened by human wildlife conflicts occurring due to lack of land for pastoralists. The Living with Lions project works to maintain peace between communities and lion populations by warning people when the lions are near.

Black Rhino, Diceros bicornis

Critically endangered because of magical properties in ivory horn which, if within your possession, can cure hangovers, act as an aphrodisiac, bring back the dead, and possibly allow you to fly. This of course is completely idiotic, but rhino poaching sadly, is a huge issue still today. SAVE THE FAT GREY UNICORNS!

African Elephant, Loxodonta africana

A member of the big five as ivory tusks are of huge value, actually, they are worth more than any fine for poaching. These charismatic megafauna are incredibly intelligent, being able to remember individuals for over fifty years, which paths to take during droughts, and even feel grief of loss of loved ones.




So that is the Big Five, some absolutely incredible animals. I am so so so happy I got to see them all!

Workin' Hard

As the second week of my independent study comes to an end, I realize that I only have 3 weeks left in Kenya! Ahhhhhhh. Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that I was sitting on my bed, wondering if my suitcase was going to actually close and if I really needed that extra pair of shoes. I'm very much excited to go home and see my family and friends again, but I really really don't want to leave.

I've been working hard here at Mpala... I have successfully watched 3 seasons of Game of Thrones in two weeks. Seriously though I have been able to go out into the field and learn a lot about surveying and fecal collection, all sorts of fun stuff going on! I really am enjoying research, and am going to miss the views. How can you hate your job when you see at least 5 species on your walk to work alone, when a hornbill visits you on a daily basis, when you get to watch the sunrise over Mt. Kenya, and the sunset on the cliffs with the baboons.

Yesterday I went out to help with giraffe surveys and I was pretty excited to see Tatu, a young male leopard, sitting in a clearing, only 10 yards from the road.

1 more of the Big Five to go :)

Hippo Easter!

So as the first week of my independent study comes to an end, I can definitely say I have learned a ton about research in Kenya, ecology, hippos, myself... lots of brain usage this week for sure. I have been able to go out into the field and see the hippo pool which is a mini paradise. We saw elephants and giraffes at the edge of the river and the crocodile. I used telemetry to chase lizards on the river edge and had an official sundowner on baboon cliffs and have gone on a few game drives on the property. This past weekend we went into Nanyuki and had dinner and dancing, then today we hung out at the pool at a ritzy hotel and walked around the rose gardens with the peacocks. Life here at Mpala really isn't too shabby :)

I moved into my banda...

 I've made new friends...

Accidentally killed my roommate...

Before it killed me.

 Went on a few Game drives...

 Was in two places at once...

Attended my first passover ceremony...

Strolled through a rose garden with the peacocks...

After spending the day sitting by the pool...

Which was awesome until this guy showed up,

I hate clowns.




Saw this full moon:

  And watched the sun rise from my front door...












So in brief, that's what I've been up to this past week. Hippo Easter Everyone!
 

How hungry hungry ARE the hippos?

I'm off on another adventure! Shocking right? I can't believe how fast my time here has gone. Were on the last leg of the journey, our Independent study! As mentioned before I am going up north to work at the Mpala Research Center (click the link to see where I'll be!) for a month working on a hippo project! I'll be in the field and doing some work in the lab, so exciting!

Looking back I've done so much here, and I really couldn't ask for more. I am having the chance(s) of a lifetime and am still so thrilled and excited to be here. As my friend just pointed out to me, we only have a paper and a presentation left of our junior year! Only four days back on the compound (in  a month) and then we make our way back to the States. For now, I SHOULD have internet, but this is Kenya so it could be very slow or even nonexistent but I'll be posting every now and then. Wish me luck, and pray I don't get eaten by those hungry hungry hippos.

Elephant Orphanage

So on Thursday we went to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and got to play with baby elephants! YES! The foundation was set up to rescue orphaned elephants whose mothers were killed by poachers, because of the human wildlife conflict, or even natural causes. They hand raise them until they no longer rely on milk for nutrition and then they can bring them to Tsavo (not necessarily where they are rescued from) where they will be "adopted" hopefully to a new herd and can grow up.

When I came to Kenya I was so set on doing research with elephants, I absolutely love them. I was really interested in working with babies of course at this foundation. I am now realizing that there are many issues when it comes to their "conservation" practices. These include the ability of these orphans to interact with wild elephants as they grew up around humans and since elephants are very social creatures, the inability to interact with the herd can be life threatening, especially for females. 

 Another thing that I really questioned was, if these babies are so traumatized that they are often found defending their mothers corpses is how do they feel when only a part of the group of orphans is taken away? When all of a sudden your friend you were growing up with in the orphanage is gone and you don't know why. Its like they died too.

 Don't get me wrong, I completely support helping any being that is suffering. However, my biggest knock on this organization is that once they release the orphans, they don't collar or chip them as that would be too "invasive" they claimed. More invasive than hand raising a baby elephant? Because they don't track their orphans or allow any outside research, there are no statistics on exactly how effective the Orphanage is toward the conservation of elephants.

These animals really are incredible (as I have said about 67839 times in this blog) and when you look into their eyes you really can see their intelligence and their emotion. Listening to the deep pitted grunts of excitement and watching them play in the water, but rush to their friends when they get too far away shows you the emotional capacity these animals have. I do appreciate the compassion from people that want to help them, especially when they are orphaned because of HUMAN conflicts. What I would advise anyone who wants to get involved in helping elephant conservation is to really research the NGO you sponsor, see if there are any studies or papers on their success. The biggest thing is education, ivory poaching is starting to flare up again and something like 70% of people in Asia don't know that ivory comes from elephants. Also, because since colonialism Africans have been left out of conservation (look at who runs parks and NGOs) many in rural areas really don't see how African wildlife is an asset other than for tourism. What the Sheldrick foundation does so very well is educate people on the beauty and importance on saving these animals. When we were there, a large group of school children were very nervous to see the elephants and jumped back and screamed multiple times. During the visit however, the keepers were incredible teaching everyone about the elephants and toward the end the kids behavior completely changed from being scared to being eager to touch the elephants as they walked by.