Habari!

This is going to be a rushed post because we are leaving our campsite in 20 minutes for one of the most talked about hikes, but I wanted to at least show you my pictures.  So since I last talked to you, I have ventured off to two different national parks.  First was Amboseli.  We were only here for three short hours but we saw quite a lot.  Amboseli is infamous for their elephant population.  Although poaching caused the population growth to plummet about 50 years ago, Amboseli now has the greatest elephant population per km^2 now.  At our first stop (5 stops/lecture) around 6:30 AM, we saw a cheetah awaking from its slumber.   I don’t know why but cheetahs always remind me of National Geographic, I love it.  From stops 2-5, you could honestly spot clans of elephants against every horizon.  This one almost looks like he’s smiling at me, right (?)  We got to see them fight/ play.  One elephant was highly in must and was instigating fights with almost every elephant he passed by.  He actually charged one of our SFS vehicles.  Additionally, watching elephants copulate was quite a spectacle.    I will forever remember Amboseli because of its crazy sunsets. It makes photography look so easy!  Natinal park #2: Tsavo National Park.  The park of the man-eaters.  Sometime in the 1900s when the railway was being built through Tsavo, 2 male lions killed 135 humans.  A few years ago, 2 other male lions pulled a couple out of their tent and ate them.  Two years ago during an SFS stay, 8 male lions stalked a group of 3 SFS students on their way to the bathroom.  Luckily the KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) guards pulled in at the very instant (dawn) and their headlights illuminated the latrines to the point the 8 males, crouched in the adjacent tall grasses, were visible to the students.  The KWS then shot their rifles into the sky and the lions ran.  This is actually the largest park in Kenya and second largest in the whole continent.  Because it is SO vast and has a large amount of woody species, it is pretty difficult to spot wildlife but the landscape made up for it.  Tsavo encompasses both Mzima Springs, Shetani Lava Flow, and the Chyulu Hills.  We stole about 5 volcanic roks here at Shetani.  You would never suspect us right?  Yes, this next picture IS in Africa.   This was at Mzima Springs and they actually have a little cave underground with a plexiglass window.  We could see all sorts of fish and hippos.  There is actually a pretty cool, slightly disturbing, documentary we watched prior to leaving for Tsavo.  It is about Hippo infanticide (where fathers drown their babies because they want to prevent them from maturing and taking over their dominant role). At first we were a little bit disappointed that we weren’t seeing as much wildlife but then it happened.  We saw an entire herd of wild dogs.  Wild dogs evolved from wolves and are basically undomesticated dogs.  It was pretty cool to see the evolutionary route dogs would have taken if they had not have been domesticated.  We pulled around the corner and saw this.   At first I didn’t know if they were hyenas or goats or what.  Then they started barking.  It was so bizarre.  The most exciting part of this all was that our staff was equally as excited as we were.  Usually it’s us screaming about lions while our staff sits there compeltely unaffected because they’ve seen thousands…but this time was much different.  I remeber in TZ I told my wildlife management professor that I wanted to see wild dogs and he said, “I haven’t seem them since 2005, so don’t get your hopes up.”    Tsavo NP wasn’t actually even sure if the herd still existed in the park. We did see other very stoic looking ungulates  but the wild dogs were a true treat.  We also got to hike the Chyulu Hills which really was (again I hate using this workd but it looks like it’s becoming a pattern) breath-taking.   It rained just before we had arrived in Tsavo so flowers were finally starting to blossom.   Even in the most unsuspected places.  The monkeys made up for the lack of wildlife.  They honestly are so human like.  They death glare  they are SO maternal and loving (except when crawling through the windows of our land cruisers to steal chips) They rub bellies   They give back rubs   they are masters of delicate kisses  and they inspect every inch of their partner’s bodies for ticks . After camping out for 5 days (Zarah got stung by a Nairobi fly- they actually give you acid burns wherever they step on your body…a KWS askari (guard) that patrolled our campsite every single night got stung by a scorpion.  His hand was an imitation balloon), we were dropped at a lodge.  They had a Chui (leopard) bar overlooking a rhino sanctuary.  Crazy, right?  We were all most excited that we could shower…I mean jump in the pool.  But seriously, when we decide which lodge to go to, it’s solely based on the size of the pool.    Welcome to Africa.  I am totally rushing because today is a huge day for me.  I am actually going to an AIDS clinic in Loitoktok, Kenya. I have no clue what to expect but I will keep you updated.  Have a great weekend!

☮ Hannah

Mambo!

Yes I am in Africa, but yes we obviously still celebrated Halloween.  Our costumes ranged from zombies (robed with prom gowns from the 60’s that we found at the Karatu market), the Peter Pan crew (I was one of the lost boys…luckily I had a soccer game right before dinner so my costume came pretty naturally), UNC fans, Red Sox fans (embarrassingly enough, this was my own roommate), Indiana Jones, elephants, etc.  I’ve already introduced you to Zarah, but this is my other bandamate Corina (she was the pure and pristine, Wendy)  .  Here is the Peter Pan crew …don’t judge, the only decor we had to work with was mud, twigs, leaves, and safari gear.    Our site manager made us a piñata!  The staff was so confused…especially when we started doing our Beyonce, Single Ladies dance in costume .  By the end of the night the staff finally became comfortable with the whole “getting into character on Halloween” concept .

Okay so our classes here have been crazier than you can imagine.  One of our first days of class, we were informed that we were going on a “field lecture” so we thought, no big deal, the Land Cruisers will drive us to a beautiful site and we will just sit in our Crazy Creeks and listen.  Not even close.  We hiked this  and much much more…with our notebookes, with our Crazy Creeks, with our assignments…basically we brought our classroom to the top of this summit.  I even conquered Kili in one footstep ! From this spot, we examined the ecology, population dynamics, and threats of the Tsavo-Amboseli Ecosystem.  The next morning we had yet another “field lecture” (my legs were still burning from the previous morning’s hike) on Chyulu Hills, near Kuku Game Ranch.  This is my Wildlife Ecology professor…the white of a lab coat on the summit of a peak , life can’t get much better, right??  We had a few visiting students too  .  As riveting as the lectures truly are, my old roommate Kat was found sleeping/soaking up the rays “in the back of the classroom” (behind a few boulders). She got a nice Tusker tan line.  Day three: field sampling.  It’s funny, before we go out into the field for our lectures or sampling, the professors always tell us about it so nonchalantly…like, “We will just walk around the land adjacent to us and survey the vegetation and grass cover…”  It’s never a big deal.  But then we realize that “the land adjecent to us” is a wildlife corridor (migration route) from Amboseli National Park to Tsavo National Park. We were given four large sticks that were used as markers for our sampling quadrant.  We began our first, 200 m transect going 230 degrees south.  We then would make a 2m x 2m sampling quadrant with our very professional sticks (we are crazy intense researchers, don’t let us fool you).  We would then sample this area by first measuring soil cover, erosion, and trampling.  Number of trails/paths was an indicator of trampling.  For example…, look at the discoloration in the soil in this picture.  Can you make out the huge elephant tracks?? Yes they are those huge tear-drop shapes. To put them into perspective,  I could fit my whole body,equipped with a clipboard,  in one footprint! Secondly, we looked at grass cover (number of grass species, maximum height of grasses, etc. )  Here in Africa, we are currently in the transition from the dry-season to the wet-season, so basically most of the land is completely arid , waiting anxiously for the upcoming rainy season (side note: it has been raining now for 2 days straight! Bandas + rain at night = the best sleep I have ever had).  We then did the same for herb cover and woody species.  We completed 8 transect counts.  These transect counts may seem a little monotonous and if the guys were the only ones  completing them, they would be…  thankfully group 4 had us two !  Our field guide, Solonco, taught Jackie (from my homestay) and I how to recognize literally every type of mammal dropping (my proud list: giraffe, zebra, cow, goat, elephant, wild dogs, wild pigs, lions, gazelle, wildebeest, hyena…please quiz me when I get back to America). Additionally, I took two real zebra teeth for you Mom and Dad…I thought it was a fitting gift?  Solonco found a skull and cracked them out for me 🙂 We then got to experience not the night-life, but the market-life, of Kimana, Kenya.   I have never been so stressed out in my life…   This may look colorful, pleasant, and peaceful, but the Maasai mommas mean business.  They will literally just tie their jewelry around your necks, wrists, ankles…basically anywhere they can get their hands on.  At first it’s like, yes free jewelry these mommas are the best! …not at all… Well the mommas are still awesome but the not-so-free jewelry is not.  They will then say something in Maa (the Maasai language) which I learned, the hard way, means “give me money student.” …and their knots mean permanence.  To say the least, the crown cover of my baobab jewelry tree drastically increased,  whoops! So that was a quick recap of my life in Kenya so far.  Today is an extremely exciting day.  We’re starting off with a guest lecture (in an actual classroom) who does elephant research at Amboseli National Park.  We will then depart for a game drive in Amboseli.  Never have I experienced a safari during a torrential rainstorm but it should be awesome. Thank god for full-body ponchos!  I don’t think I am going to bring my camera because the mud might steal its life but I will definitely let you know how it goes! Save the last of the autumn leaves for me!

☮ Hannah

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/world/africa/31serengeti.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2

Dr. Bernard Kissui, my Wildlife Management professor, was quoted in the New York Times a few days ago! HOW AWESOME.

Also, the polls are closed in TZ & votes are being counted. Chadema was ahead but CCM now has surpassed them.

We’re going into town for village interviews at 8 so I don’t have much time to elaborate but I think the picture will be enough…I woke up this morning to 75 degree weather, yet there was a blizzard on Kili!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (we actually got pumpkins in Africa 🙂 )

You wake up bundled in a flannel lined sleeping bag.  The refreshing AM breeze holding the morning dew blows through the burlap of your banda’s window. You slip on your smartwools and prepare for your “best-way-to-start-the-day” run.  Within the next 10 minutes you spot a family of Vervet monkeys with their newborn , are shaded momentarily by the dense crown cover of Africa’s beautiful Acacia trees , make out both the sun  and the moon, and notice the summit of Kilimanjaro  peeking through the majestic clouds.  After a cold yet revitalizing rinse, you lay in the nearest hammock, flipping through your most recent photographs…carefully juxtaposing the sunrise of Tanzania to that of Kenya’s.  After finishing your 3^rd cup of Rooibos tea, discussion of the Bantu tribe alongside the analysis of the devolution within Kenya’s new constitution begins in policy class.  The entire time, more and more of Kilimanjaro is visible from the window of the chumba.  Have you ever been totally & completely content just to be? Solely to exist? I have never been so gratified by the simplicities of our world.  Kilimanjaro Bush Camp (KBC) will be my home now until mid-December and I couldn’t be more excited.  This is my actual home and I am living with Zarah again!  This is my “street”  or line of bandas/tents.  We’re next to the guys and two of them sleep talk, it’s so completely frightening.  I honestly get more afraid when I hear them speak than when I hear baboons screaming on my roof.   This is the temporary fence  that was put up after an elephant trampled through our campsite two nights ago.  HOW COOL! This is my classroom .  Kind of like the scilib, right? I already found my favorite makeshift cubicle 🙂   Sometime monkeys will get into the roof . Coolest distraction EVER.  Although I am pretty much obsessed with KBC, saying goodbye to our Tanzanian family was absolutely horrible 🙁 It was like saying goodbye to your parents when you’re 6 years old but x 20 people.  Nevertheless, our new family is AWESOME.  I already have two African handshakes made up with two of the staff members on my soccer team (“The Instigators”).  The campsite is so spacious.  On the running trail you are running through the forest, literally.  I have seen a baboon and bush babies (please google, they are adorable) every time I’ve run so far.  With new places come new adjustments.  1. There are only 5 “toilets” on our entire student/staff campsite. 2. There is only one filtered water tap (my Sigg water bottle is now my “toothbrushing” water bottle) 3. The showers feel like ice water and they’re outdoors so when the wind blows…most intense goosebumps of my life.  BUT the water comes down STRAIGHT from the snow on the top of Kilimanjaro…AND when I am showering I can see the summit of Kilimanjaro…so even beginning to complain seems humorous. 4. There is no electricity until 7:00 PM.  Luckily we have these solar panels  that give us limited electricity during the day for our assignments.  5.  Momma Judy, our cook, makes macaroni & CHEESE…yes cheese.  And she uses garlic!  Our new site manager, Molly, is one of the most interesting people I have ever met.  She went to University of Hawaii, worked in dolphin care, was a firefighter, lived in Texes while doing cheetah research, backpacked throughout Alaska, and has now been living in East Africa for the past two years.  Today she took us to visit our Maasai neighbors.  It was so exciting because it wasn’t a “cultural boma” aka it wasn’t staged for tourism purposes.  It was an authentic Maasai home and we were so lucky to be welcomed into it.  They greeted us with a beautiful traditional dance . I take showers with Kilimanjaro water and dance with Maasai women .  Sometimes when I stop and think about the life I am living right now I just laugh. It is so surreal.  We met the working mommas  and their newest daughter.  Watching the Maasai make their jewelry  was amazing.  Bracelets #19 and 20 today, wahoo!   How could I say no to them !  We have our first field lecture tomorrow morning.  We have to hike for 1 1/2 hours to our lecture site…never have I ever hiked with my backpack and pencil case to class…I love it.  We’re watching the Lion King for the first time EVER, since being in Africa, tonight. The level of excitement throughout this camp is not okay. I decide on my research topic (30-50 page paper, ah!) soon so I will definitely let you know when I do. Gotta run, happy Friday and someone dress up like simba for me for Halloween!!

☮ Hannah

It is 7:00 AM and we are minutes away from leaving our campsite here in Rhotia forever.  It is a bittersweet type of goodbye because realistically we will probably never see most of the staff again.  I can’t even process the experience I have had yet…and I have a feeling I won’t realize the uniqueness of this program until I am back home.  Nevertheless, I am so excited for the Kenya site.  This morning will be the first time I see mt. Kilimanjaro AND we get to go to a grocery store 🙂 The Kenyan campsite is much more open and “in the bush.” Anyway we’re pulling away now, I will post when I get to Kenya. Kwa Heri TZ, see you soon! 

You remember Joshua?  I’m still pretty in love.   This visit I taught the older children how to do head-balls (with their foreheads…not their head…which was confusing to them but they got it after awhile) the little ones learned to dribble!    And obviously I made them practice their game-faces…I guess I got a little too into it.   I also taught them the peace sign (young Chadema supporters, perhaps??) we then took wayyy too many pictures just “practicing”  …and still practicing… I had to squeeze them to stop  Then I had to leave 🙁 (the headband looked better on him)  but he said “sawa sawa” (it’s okay it’s okay) I’ll be back soon if I have anything to do with it!

☮ Hannah

Pole (sorry) again that I have been so MIA… but let me list all of the assignments we’ve had due in the past week and maybe you’ll forgive me: EP (Environmental Policy): Institutional Framework paper (on water regulation), SSC (Swahili & Social Culture): Swahili take-home (thankfully) final & Gender Roles paper (assessing the Maasai, Iraqw, & Kikuyu [dominant Kenyan tribe] tribes), WE (Wildlife Ecology): statistical analysis assignment on ungulate and bird population counts from the Serengeti, WM (Wildlife Management): Final  diversity, abundance, & association research poster for mammal species at Tarangire National park .  To top it off, we had another two days of classes even after our final exams/papers! The hidden camera on my laptop was painfully distracting on our last day . But as of this morning, we are now all graduated Tanzanian students!  To celebrate, I decided to do another homestay.  My friend Blake actually sprained his ankle pretty badly the week I did my homestay so he couldn’t go, hence why he had his this morning.  Although we were only there from 8-12, it was another eye-opening experience.  Our host family included grandparents, their two sons (one of which is married), 3 kids, & a newborn except this time, Floridi spoke English fairly well so the language barrier was no as omnipresent.  He was a Chadema supporter ( 🙂  ) and one of the warmest and most interesting Tanzanians I have met so far.  He is one of few Iraqw men around the age of 30 that has not married yet.  He said, “Once I am married I then have to provide.  My priority will be family.  But right now my priority is education… so I wait.”  After our homestay, we were invited to a farewell/prayer service by the primary school children and their principal.  Sounds great right? What could possibly happen on a walk down the hill to a church?  Well…let me tell you.  As I was strolling down the hill, holding the hands of six excited level 4 students, we passed by an Acacia tree—my favorite! There were a few thorns on the ground, as always, NBD. All of a sudden, the little kids looked like we had just spotted road kill…except they were saying, “pole pole pole!” I looked down to see this …thorns can pierce through the sole of a shoe FYI.  It really didn’t hurt that badly but for some reason it was bleeding so so much , I honestly was causing a scene (aka scaring the children)…so my friend Rachel & I snuck behind the church and had to be resourceful.  First we obviously applied pressure to stop the bleeding (my blood apparently didn’t bother Rach, we SFS students are wayy  hardcore) and then we found a piece paper and wrapped a dusty piece of [unidentified object] around it it was a grand temporary fix.  I rocked this look all the way back to our campsite.  It was great; it was the first time we walked through town and people didn’t stare at us because we were white…they just stared at my toe instead! The principal of the primary school (who must have seen the thorn in action) actually told our manager that “I saw America student walking back… her toe…it was off.” A lot gets lost in translation…story of my life for the past 2 months.  Anyway, this whole event was not as traumatic as I probably made it seem…it was just funny and a great example of the common occurrences that happen here.  Three more full days in TZ. It really is sad… especially because I have a work in progress.  I run up Moyo Hill every day (more or less) and a few children have picked up on my running patterns.  They now wait at the top of the hill for me so I decided hey instead of promoting boys to flex in pictures (too late) let me teach them the waka waka dance! Are you surprised? They knew every word and are the most fun dancers . Tomorrow we’re actually going to the school of these children and building a kitchen for them!  We raised $535.00 USD through an auction… the guys here auctioned off an amateur pedicure and permission to have them carry you around for an entire day…my kind of auction!  The school is currently using firewood which is pretty horrible for the environment and also depleting their resources so this upgrade should be highly beneficial to them and their surroundings. Anyway I got to get some rest…I’ve never laid cement before but in this hot African sun, any type of labor seems hard! Tutaonana (see/talk to you later)

☮ Hannah

So since the Serengeti, lots of exciting things have happened.  We went to an art gallery where I got to eat ice cream and pet domesticated dogs!!  Secondly, my bandamates and I decided to completely rearrange our room.  Zarah and I pushed all of our beds together so we could watch a movie one night…but now it’s turned into a permanent queen-sized, mosquito net bed.  We thought it was great idea… Kat was not so fond.  Lastly, we’ve really been embracing the bucket shower.   You can really go a full week without feeling dirty when incorporating the bucket shower wisely.

Well, enough of me pretending I’m going to leave a normal blog post with no lecturing…let’s just jump right into it.  The US consumes 1/5^th of all the world’s coffee (largest consumer in the world).  Only a few Americans realize that those in the coffee industry often work in “sweatshops in the fields.” — in other words, the cost of production, for small coffee farmers, exceeds the amount that they actually make…continuing a cycle of poverty.  What’s the solution I am getting at? Fair Trade!  You may wonder, in a world full of fair-trade/free-trade/certified organic/all-natural etc. what does fair trade even mean?? Fair Trade for dummies- When you see coffee that is labeled, “Fair Trade certified” this essentially means that an importer must meet strict international criteria. First, they must pay a minimum price/lb of $1.26.  This provides a very necessary credit to farmers and also covers assistance to get to the organic farms. Fair Trade indirectly helps to improve broader issues such as:  community development, education, and health.  So the crisis…Coffee prices have plummeted.  They are around $.60-$.70/lb. With world market prices being so low, majority of farmers can no longer maintain their families and their land. Meanwhile coffee companies refuse to lower consumer prices and are pocketing the difference. The drastic fall in coffee prices creates poverty and hunger for thousands of small producers in developing countries.  Fair-trade is a simple alternative that is overwhelmingly beneficial to small-scale farmers.  It also supports social justice & environmental sustainability.

Speaking of environmental sustainability, a few of us visited Gibb’s farm (Karatu, TZ) today.  It consists of 30 acres of organic coffee, 10 acres of organic vegetables & fruit, 5 acres of flowers   & herbs, and a working dairy & pig farm. The entire property is a model of ecologically sustainable agriculture. Everything is grown organically using only natural fertilizer from the farm. Reclaimed water is used whenever possible. All buildings and furniture are built using local materials and all bottles are broken down, recycled, and used in building foundations. 90% of the hot water is heated using solar power. In short, every possible element of Gibb’s Farm is environmentally friendly and sustainable.  Here is an actual coffee tree plant  the red beans seem weird right? I thought so too. They’re actually super sugary and taste nothing like coffee.  Next we got to feel    and smell  the deep aroma of the drying beans. If you are still able to bite a bean in this area then the bean is not yet dry enough to process.  Here  is where the workers sort through the beans (extract the broken or rotten beans) and place them through the grinder that removes the skin.  Seeing the intricate process of harvesting coffee beans and the dedication and time that these workers put in made me want to scream fair-trade like a crazy woman.  But luckily the owner gave us some of the first grown strawberries of the season before I could open my mouth   (note: I hadn’t eaten a strawberry since I left the states!) After the tour, we hung out by the tembo moto (“elephant-fire”)   they keep this fire burning at night to ward off any elephant visitors…but really…I thought he was kidding too but that’s the only purpose of the fire pit.  Before we left we got to relax in the gardens and taste test their coffee and fruit juices!   <– yes, this is school… TGIAfrica.

☮ Hannah

I’m so sorry I haven’t posted for a full week, our internet has been extremely fickle since our return from the Serengeti…but speaking of the Serengeti–wow, I had the most amazing experience.  But first I will back it up to the day before our arrival.  As I mentioned in my previous post, we stopped at Olduvai Gorge.  It’s actually supposed to be called Oldupai, not Olduvai.  It is the name of a plant found in the gorge and the spelling was butchered in translation…spread the word.  This is our attempt at evolution during a lunch break  .  We got to hold vertebrates of countless prehistoric animals, it was crazy.  We then continued with our journey and it just seemed like the land was never ending…because it was!! We finally, 6 hours later, reached the beautiful and microhabitated Serengeti!  I have never seen such a vast area of land…that includes every single type of vegetation…I feel like I say that about every national park but this one is different…you honestly can’t see where the land ends, it just looks like it goes on and on until the horizon meets the sky.  I’m trying so hard to encapsulate its beauty into words but it’s impossible, I guess you have to go see for yourself (…mom & dad)…or I can show you a few pictures to give you a better idea.  So we got to our “campsite” and you’d think it’d be semi-fenced off right? WRONG.  We were literally plopped in the middle of the park to pitch our tents.  There were no fences or anything.  Within 5 minutes of being there we saw a buffalo and herd of elephants…probably no more than 50 yards from our tents (I will continue with our list of visitors later…) The following morning, we were forced out of our tents at 5 AM (side note: if you had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, there was a strict protocol.  You had to unzip your tent halfway, flash your headlamp until an askari (soldier) came over, and they would have to escort you to the bathroom…equipped with a rifle, it was so awesome.) 5 AM was brutal..until we saw the infamous “sunrise at the Serengeti”  it was breath-taking…I hate using that word but seriously, it took the breath out of you.  We then continued on with our morning game drive.  Here are a few new species of animals that I got to add to my list…a chui (leopard)  he was not the most excited animal to see us in the AM  A serval cat…it was such a treat to see this animal.  They are extremely rare and strictly nocturnal…maybe he was sleep walking? Who knows but it ran away so quickly and this was the only picture I got. We saw a ton of ungulates as usual but the Serengeti held a few that I had never seen before.  This is a hartebeest (relative of the wildebeest)  and these are Topi (easily recognizable because of the discoloration of their hindlegs).   Really cool experience: we were driving along and saw a National Geographic land cruiser filming! My dream job but with photography! Anyway, we kind of followed their car (sorry I’m not sorry) and it was so worth it because we spotted duma (cheetahs)!!  Although they were kind of far, it was awesome to see how well they camouflaged themselves.  We then got to get out of our land cruisers (some distance away from the duma) to visit the Ngong rocks on a massive boulder. This is the Ngong rock  beliefs say that this rock is where livestock were given to the Maasai tribe.  Fun fact:  see the several indentations on the rock? when you tap them with little pebbles, every single indentation makes a different sound with a different pitch…this is how the Maasai used to communicate with one another.  These are my professors by the way, they’re the best.   We then spotted my favorites.  Yet another cool fact, see the collar around the first lioness’s neck?  Dr. Kisui (professor in the middle/right) actually was the one that tagged this lion for tracking purposes.  He has been on a National Geographic documentary too!  We’re so so extremely lucky to have him teach us.   Oh yeah, it rained for the first time since I’ve been in Africa that morning!! The animals loved it as you can see  they were all out hydrating and bathing. Next we have the African buffalo  these are actually my favorite to photograph.  They look so prehistoric…almost to the point they look fake right? I promise they’re not though.  Actually out of any animal in the park, most humans are killed by buffalo–I think simply because they are just that powerful.  Then we encountered…Hippo crossing!  Most tourists die from these small (?) creatures. They were not extremely happy upon our initial arrival but they warmed up to us  who knew hippos smiled?!  On our last day, we got to do a night game drive.  The sunset was even more breath-taking than the sunrise…it looked like a moving ball of fire  it was definitely an indicator of emergence of the nightlife… the giraffes were racing away from predators  and eerie species of animals woke up  we then saw this little bundle of joy heading towards our campsite…naively we didn’t think anything of it…  After dinner, a few of my friends and I were sitting out near the bonfire with our Swahili professor.  We conveyed to him that we wanted to stay up late enough to see any intruders.  We never thought he’d actually agree…but he did…(“TIA” — phrase we use almost daily) “this is Africa” for you.  So we took the huge trash can, fresh with our dinner leftovers, and dragged it out to the end of our campsite.  We then got in the land cruisers and waited/really could not contain our excitement…  …I was not lying….  We first saw a black-backed jackal and then…no joke, a hyena paid us a visit.   Every single night we were woken up by the distinct cry of a hyena next to our tents.   The first night the askaris actually saw a lion, follwing a zebra, migrate through our campsite…only feet from our tents…Unfortunately after we saw this hyena, we went to bed…but I guess only a few hours later, hippos passed through!!  On our last day in the Serengeti, our professors brought us to one of the most luxurious lodges at the park.  These were are fake bandas for the day…we wished…  I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that this…  and that…  are considered school.  I swear classes actually are so hard (I have 7 data analysis assignments/papers due before the 19th!!) but it’s days like these that I have that “Oh this is why I wanted to study abroad in Africa” feelings…truly one of the most unique experiences of my life.

Today is a day I have anticipated basically since I got here…I get to eat ice cream!! I’ve been up since 6 AM because I am so excited…and also, at this art gallery there are actually dogs you can pet! I can’t contain myself.  Kenya in 9 days 🙂

☮Hannah