Well, here we are at our remote campsite in southern Kenya...we can't believe there's an internet connection! We'll try to cover as much as we can because we don't have much time. We're in the same room with our guide, Mary Wykstra, as well as a bunch of masters students and assistants who are looking at the pictures of cheetahs they captured with a hidden camera earlier. Wonderful people doing crazy things!
Traveling wasn't so bad- the flights were smooth and we all watched lots and lots of movies. Swiss Airlines was incredibly nice, we all had our own tv screens with a wide variety of music and movies and tv shows, it made the two very long plane rides bearable (thankfully). Total it was 28.5 hours of traveling and we were all extremely loopy at the end when we finally arrived at the Mennonite Guest House in Nairobi! At last.
The Guest House was absolutely beautiful - all stone buildings with lots of old-style windows, patios, and French doors. Mary ordered our group 6 large Kenyan pizzas from down the road - barbeque beef, spicy chicken, and veggie! Delicious...and we were all starving since most of us had slept through the second flight and missed our meals. We settled in, chatted a bit about our agenda for the next day, and went to bed. In the morning we packed up the backpacks for the kids after a wonderful breakfast with fresh coffee and were picked up by our drivers, Joseph and JJ, to travel once again.
Our drivers told us the usual time traveling estimate, "It'll take about 10-15 minutes." Instead it took about 45 to get to the money exchange and then back on the road! We headed to Mamba Village for lunch, which is named after its huge crocodile population. They served us a huge buffet style lunch that was extremely delicious and we all left stuffed and refreshed to travel to Kenya Wildlife Services. Here we toured the animal orphanage and got close to leopards, lions, giraffes, and lots of other beautiful creatures. It was a lot of fun!
Next we had a two hour drive to the campsite we are at now. Upon arrival, many of us were having small panic attacks since few of us have ever TRULY camped before - here they collect their own water in a rain basin (though as a backup source there is also a house which can connect its hose to the basin) and boil and filter it to purify it. We had to set up our own tents (which, actually, was not so hard) and got settled in. We went to the main campsite, started a fire, and waited for dinner to be ready. We, VERY fortunately, have a cook who will be preparing our meals all week. Tonight's was white rice with a minced meat dish (broth, vegetables, spices). Very yummy.
After dinner, we all bonded with stories over the bonfire. We played "The Poop Game" and talked to the masters students. Its been a lot of fun and you can tell that everyone here is unbelievably passionate about their work, its extremely inspiring and admirable. A couple researchers here only work with poop- that's dedication. Its beautiful here, although very cold at night, and being without technology is really freeing. We'll blog more when we can :)
No comments:
Post a Comment