Welcome to England

Well, got super sick the night before I left Kenya. I got a horrible migraine, throwing up, you know the drill. Went through security and everything in a daze but started feeling so much better on the plane. Leigh and I got great seats behind the partition between economy plus and economy so we had a ton of legroom! We also met a lovely flight attendant named Kyle who snuck me some extra diet Pepsi (go virgin airlines!). The flight was nine hours long but with Leigh and I watching tv shows, stretching out our legs, and drinking ample diet Pepsi, the flight went by very quickly.

When we all arrived in England it was time for goodbyes amongst the students. It was pretty hard but, hey, we have facebook! A few of us were staying in England, either for the night or longer, so we had to go through customs. In line we got to see Bill Murray! Talk about culture shock! I then ran to the coach for the three hour ride to my cousin Amy's flat in Cambridge. I walked from the coach stop to the flat in about an hour. Amy and her family are wonderful! She and her husband, Pete, recently had twins: Isabelle and Peter. They are all smiles! In the last couple of days I have walked around city center and toured some of the colleges with Cameron, a friend of Amy and Pete's. We also all went and saw the last Harry Potter! Everything here is gorgeous. It still blows my mind that some of the architecture is hundreds of years old. I'm certainly experiencing a little culture shock, but I'm loving it! It is so strange to be surrounded by so many people with white skin. Bright lights and pavement are everywhere and there are so many accents! It is strange to walk through crowds and not be with my fellow students from Kenya. I have enjoyed being here and I think it has really helped me with culture shock. I leave for the States in two days! Seeing more of my family and friends will be wonderful!

This Is Africa

This is my last day in Africa. I can't believe it. Everyone was an emotional wreck yesterday, including myself! We held a goat roast for the staff and watched a video that Molly and some other students worked on as an attempt to summarize our adventures here. The video was amazing (I will post the youtube link soon) but I still can't explain or express what this safari (journey) has meant to me. I know I need to come back. I am leaving too much of myself here to never return. We talked a lot about reverse culture shock yesterday and that got me thinking of all the the things I will miss about this place- and all the things I am looking forward to in the States! I will miss taking a shower and seeing Mt. Killimanjaro. I will not miss taking cold showers! I will miss my banda, my bandamates, and my mosquito net. I will not miss checking for deadly snakes under the bed. I will miss standing on the seats of the land rovers watching giraffes. I will not miss the fake dust tans I received from doing so! I will miss the local staff, the SAM staff, and my peers. I will miss the friendly people, the roadside stands, the baboons in the backyard, bushbabies, chipatis for lunch, market days, and so much more.

Amboseli Orphans Project

The last couple days have been really relaxed as I gear up for the final. Yesterday some of us went to one of the local staff's (Wiper) boma for the Official Launching Day of the Amboseli Orphans Project. One of SFS's past students, Seth, is collaborating with Whiper to improve the education, health, and nutritional intake of orphans in the area. This is a local grassroot organization I can definitely see myself getting involved in! The community based organization focuses on serving and providing for Kimana's orphaned children. The day's program started with everyone greeting each other. This has happened at every event I have been to in Kenya and usually involves either shaking hands with everyone in attendance or standing in a circle and introducing ourselves. It is a really great way to immediately feel welcomed and included! Also, it is very typical for the beginning and end of events to take a long time in Western standards with many, many thanks being given. When I went to the church service a couple of weeks ago, the pastor and other people in the congregation thanked God and us for our presence for almost 30 minutes!

Anyways, the visit to Wiper's boma was probably one of my favorite events so far. About 25 children are involved in the program. Almost all of the children are siblings and everyone has a caretaker such as a grandmother, older brother, aunt, etc. Each family shared their story of how the program has helped them. One woman's husband was killed by an elephant and she could not care for her children without help. Another mother committed suicide so a family member takes care of the children. It was all very touching and real. This wasn't just a commercial with sappy music that I could flip through to find another entertaining channel. This was so real that one of the children came over and started playing with us during the speeches! I am certainly going to pray and look into pursuing this organization. I really liked how Wiper, a local Maasai, started this; it isn't a massive NGO from the States.

The link to their website is: http://www.amboseliorphans.org/

I also got to write the News from the Field article for SFS, the program I am studying abroad with. A student is chosen each term to write a little piece on how their experience has been so far. You can view it at: http://www.fieldstudies.org/blog/?p=11

Tsavo Maneaters

Home sweet home for a week.

Well my six day long camping trip in Tsavo West National Park is over. For my first long camping trip, I’ve got to say, it left a great impression! There were six of us in a tent- a tent with so little room even our sneakers stayed outside! We did have bathroom facilities that consisted of drop chos (toilets). If you have ever seen the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” then you know what I mean. At night, we need an armed guard to take us to the drop chos because of lions (maneaters) and hyenas. There was also a bat that lived inside; always an adventure! The view was absolutely breathtaking with wide vistas of various habitats and animals! I got to see some hippopotamuses and crocodiles a couple times during the week. We saw a leopard the very first night on a game drive and, when a tourist van got stuck in the sand, our driver, Jackson pulled it out. Silly tourists ;) We also saw a hyena!

Lion print! Lion print!

The next day, Jackson heard about a fresh kill a lion had made in the park so we all jumped in the car and sped off to try to find it. Even though we didn’t find it I did get to have the best car ride of my life standing on the seat and trying not to fall out as we sped around the park at 80 kmh (over twice the park’s speed limit). It was one of those moments when I thought to myself, “I can’t believe I am in Africa chasing down lions right now!” Tsavo also has some very cool lava fields and we did a small hike- but a very steep one!

Later on in the week, I woke up early (even though we usually wake up at 6am) and watched the sun rise. From my viewpoint, it was framed by an acacia tree and was so peaceful and vibrant! Then about 20 impalas came out of the dense shrubland and started grazing under the tree. The sun burned red in the sky. So beautiful; God is good! We had a guest lecturer from Tsavo National Park come and share information about the area with us. Then we worked on presentations. My group discussed research opportunities, benefits, and issues facing wildlife conservation. Opportunities include animal and vegetation censuses, human/wildlife conflict, and habitat research. Issues include western technique vs. local knowledge, funding, permits, and empowerment!

Even later in the week we went to Chuylu Hills National Park and got to see some more amazing views. We drove through some small communities who were so excited to see us mozungus! Kids ran in the dust behind the car while everyone came out to wave and smile! It isn’t uncommon to see children hold out their hands asking for money, but these children just thought we were the oddest thing: white and in a vehicle! Then we got to some very bumpy roads and went over rocks, tree limbs, and even bigger rocks. After the Chuylu Hills lecture and hike we stopeen in for some roadside shopping at a place called Mito Andia. It is literally halfway between Nairobi and Mombasa, the two biggest cities in Kenya. Everything there is a gas station, a bar, or a roadside stand with wood carvings being made in front of you.

Gorgeous baobab trees in Tsavo!

The last full day I got to go to the Black Rhino Sanctuary, but I didn’t get to see any endangered black rhinos. Did you know the main difference between a black and white rhino is a black rhino is a browser while a white rhino is a grazer? Their coloring is the same! After the lecture and a game drive we went to Sorena Lodge. Oh. My. Goodness. It was an entirely different Africa experience! We got to do the lunch buffet and I must admit I had three plates of food! It was fantastic! Afterwards I went swimming with some of my peers and “burned off” the extra calories.

All in all camping was incredibly dirty and crowded (no tent space remember?). BUT who can say they went camping in a National Park in Kenya? All in all, it was a great experience but I sure am glad to be back at Kilimanjaro Base Camp (KBC)!

Check it out: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Man-Eaters-of-Tsavo.html