• There’s no such thing as an enjoyable shower…nor is there such a thing as hot water.
• I almost ran into a cow on my run today, no exaggeration.
• If you want to work on interval running, come to Africa.  Stopping & greeting every…single…person…is a must in this culture.
• Scorpions love to hide in hiking boots–beware.
• Forgetting to tuck in a mosquito net before falling asleep at night can cause serious nightmares.
• If you come to Africa, bring only red shoes…there’s no avoiding the dust.
• Studying abroad is not a breeze in Africa…today we had five 2-hour lectures.
• Dogs are not pets and you cannot cuddle with them. They are undomesticated.
• Toilets don’t always need to be flushed. Mostly because holes don’t have handles.
• Lights are not needed. Headlamps are way more fun anyway.
• Uploading one picture takes a full hour (hence why I have yet to give you a tour of my banda).
• I thought McDonald’s was greasy…little did I know.
• Just because the village kids wait outside with Dixie cups of water when you’re running does not mean you are a pro athlete…or anything close to one.
• The best indication of a specific animal is the shape of their dung.  There are 34 known patterns.  (Our first field assignment at Lake Manyara is locating these “shapes”).
• There is such a thing as donkey crossing.
• Never take peanut butter, cheese, and Doritos for granted again.
• Water is only drinkable here after being filtered through four high-power filters. Britas do not suffice.

 Lake Manyara tomorrow, first day in the field!  I hope to see simba, wish me luck!

 ☮Hannah

After arriving in Nairobi on September 6^th, we were notified that we had yet another…10 hour layover in Nairobi before flying into Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.  Luckily there was a sports restaurant near our gate that I literally sat at with a friend for seven hours.  I became close with our waitress & after giving her my clutch, she gave me her address and email and said, “You come live with me, you leave the states.” (sorry mom, I gotta go back now).  So arriving into Kilimanjaro was bittersweet.  The Acacia trees and many “Karibu” greetings (welcome) were beautiful don’t get me wrong, but only 8 out of our 46 pieces of baggage arrived…and it was a four hour ride to our campsite.  Luckily they let us stay at a nice little hotel in Arusha, Tanzania.  The next morning we drove through Karatu to our home on “Moyo (Heart) Hill” which is adjacent to the town of Rhotiya.   Since being here I have learned a few phrases…”If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.” Followed by “No need for lights, you shine already!”  I joke about this but it truly is an amazing experience to be surrounded by 27 other students who share the same passion for conservation and sustainability as you do.  The town of Karatu is experiencing a severe drought because the duration of their rain season has decreased…most likely due to global warming….so each and every one of us is extremely conscious of our water usage. 

Today we had an orientation and learned about our four courses for the semester: Wildlife Ecology, Wildlife Management, Socioeconomics & Environmental Policy, and Intro to Swahili and Eastern African Culture.  Along with familiarizing ourselves with our curriculum, we were also informed that we will be doing our safaris and research throughout the Maasai Steppe (Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara).  Our last Safari will take place on the Serengeti which should be a once in a lifetime experience.  On our drive throughout Karatu, I casually saw 4 baboons, 2 zebra, and 3 giraffes.  It’s amazing that squirrels to us, are like wildlife to them…okay maybe that’s not a 100% accurate analogy but you get the picture…it’s crazy!  We were eating lunch in our land cruisers and a baboon started charging at our SAM (Site Administration Manager)…naturally she tossed her food behind her and coincidentally (or not) there was another baboon waiting behind her waiting patiently for her sandwich.  They are so smart it’s crazy.  Today we also walked into the town of Rhotiya to put our new Swahili skills to use.  I guess you could say it was a little intimidating…which is why I targeted the kids.  My friend Jess and I started talking to a group of three children…after twenty minutes 3 turned into 14.  They loved learning clapping games and correcting my Swahili…as we taught them a few English words…every time I said “Cool!” they shivered…I’m going to have to work on that I guess.  After 30 minutes of getting laughed at by the teenagers for our Swahili attempt we had to say Kwa Heri…and as we did they said “Goodbye ladies!”…in English…they could understand us the whole time but thought it’d be funny to let us struggle.  Tough crowd huh? Anyway I got to get some sleep, I’m on breakfast crew with the staff at 6 AM tomorrow.  Not sure when I will have internet again but I will be sure to post my Lake Manyara pictures from this upcoming Saturday as soon as I can!  Maybe put the phrases I have learned to use in America?  Just for a day? Asante sana! (Thank you very much)

☮Hannah

So the “even more dreaded layover” ended up being an unforgettable one…in a good way!  We arrived into the Heathrow London airport an hour earlier than scheduled this morning so I, along with 7 other students in my program, decided to leave the airport and go out and tour London.  We got into London around 8:30 AM and our flight for Nairobi wasn’t scheduled to depart until 9 PM so we had half a day in London- obviously I had to see it!!  We went to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, The Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Park, a few of the guys tormented the British guards, and we even got to eat lunch at an English Pub (soccer themed…I was praying to see Beckham)!  Also, there was a cycling event called “SkyRide” that happened to be going on today.  Besides almost getting taken out by a few fairly aggressive bikers, seeing 75,000 cyclists all in uniform was amazing. I’m happy that we walked around all day today because I am so ready to pass out now for this upcoming 8 hour flight…unfortunately on the way to London, the cutest little baby sat two rows in front of me…he was cute until he screamed and cried for the last 6 hours of the flight.  Luckily my mom packed ear plugs for me.  It’s weird to think that I will be in Africa in less than 12 hours-I cannot wait! Talk to you soon!

☮Hannah

British Phonebooth!  Big Ben    Buckingham Palace      not quite a real lion…yet

And the journey begins!

September 4^th

3:00 PM Depart Cleveland

4:30 PM Arrive in Newark

[the dreaded layover] *I am only at this point L

9:10 PM Depart Newark

September 5^th

9:25 AM Arrive in London-Heathrow

[the even more dreaded layover]

9:00 PM Depart London-Heathrow

September 6^th

7:50 AM Arrive in Nairobi, Kenya!!

From here, we will obtain our Pupil’s Pass & Visa and then Group 1 (which I am in) will take another short flight to Karatu, Tanzania.  So I will actually be in Tanzania for the first 45ish days and then trade places with Group 2 students who are stationed at the Kilimanjaro Bush Camp in Kenya (about 3 hours south of Nairobi).  There are ~30 students in my group and I cannot wait to meet them in London!  I’m hoping the jetlag isn’t too too horrible (as my mom has warned me) because I want to be wide awake for my first view of Kilimanjaro.  It may take me a little while to figure the internet out “in the field” but I will post beautiful pictures as soon as I can! In the meantime I am going to sit here and wonder what animal I will spot first. Family- I miss you already, friends- hope you’re enjoying your first weekend back to school.  Someone cheer on the Browns for me and cross your fingers that there are some good movies on the plane!

Phrase of the day (thank you Will): Safari Njema (Safe or Good Journey!)

☮Hannah

Jambo! (Hello) 

Can’t believe I’m already writing my first post. I never thought this day would come.  Everyone keeps asking me, “Are you so scared, Han?” And honestly, I feel like I should be, but I’m not.  Maybe after all of the anticipation I’ve become sort of numb to any anxiety.  I am just so excited.  I can’t wait to get this adventure started! Fourteen days from now I will be arriving in Nairobi, Kenya.  336 hours to conquer my packing list, complete my to-do list, and come to terms with the fact that I won’t see the faces of my family and friends (and dog) until Christmas time.  With all of this in the back of my mind, I fortunately received extremely exciting news this morning.  I DON’T HAVE TO SLEEP IN A TENT IN TANZANIA ANYMORE! Instead of living at the Haven Nature Camp in Tanzania as originally stated, I will now be at the Moyo Hills Field Station.  They are both located in Karatu, Tanzania with the exception of Moyo Hills having bandas (cabins) instead of tents.  (Bandas)

This morning I also received my textbooks for my upcoming semester: Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania, The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, The Safari Companion, The Kingdom Field Guide to African Mammals.  Ditching my Physics textbook for these seems like a pretty awesome tradeoff, huh?  

Well time to get back to my packing.  Today I need to get converters/adapters, binoculars, iodine tablets, and this crazy wand-like device that actually emits UV rays into drinking water so that any harmful bacteria is killed.  Seems too good to be true…I feel like I should suffer through the iodine tablets and get used to that new, far from appetizing, taste of water…but I’ve got two weeks to decide. Pray for me! Kwa Heri (Goodbye) 

☮Hannah