Back blogging again, but now I'm up to date! Enjoy!

October 29, 2008

Lake Nakuru Expedition: Day 1

This morning we left bright and early for Lake Nakuru National Park! The drive was paved road all the way, quite the novelty considering what Kimana area roads are like. The best part of the drive, we drove up along the Great Rift Valley, Kenya's most fertile and well known region. For the first time in Kenya I saw evergreen trees and tall evergreen trees at that! It was pretty spectacular! In addition, it was green everywhere!!! The dust is far behind us now, and the next couple of weeks are going to be luxurious!

A new encounter we had along our journey was getting pulled over by the Kenyan police. Apparently this happens to each vehicle at least once a semester, but nevertheless Daniel, who was driving the car I was in, thought that it was pretty ridiculous that we got pulled over. The cops said we needed to have this certain sticker on our Cruiser since it's a passenger vehicle, but actually since they are research vehicles they have different stipulations on them. The real kicker of getting pulled over is that the cops really just want you to buy your way out with a bribe which they pocket. So the cops got away with 1000 Kenyan shillings from Daniel and Maurius. (That's equivalent to about $13 or so.) Daniel just laughed about the situation because the cops basically made up the reason to threaten Daniel and Maurius with a possible ticket.

Anyway, about half way to Lake Nakuru we stopped at a curio shop right on the edge of the road. The men selling all the souvenirs were determined as usual to make a deal with us, but once you could break through the crowd of them and see the view, it was spectacular! So much green and a ton of cultivation! Emma and I also bought some cute little guinea fowl statues that are now very dear to our hearts. So all in all the drive was very nice, lots of pretty scenery, some Swahili music playing on the tape player, and of course cattle and shoats along the roadway to keep things interesting.

We pulled into Lake Nakuru National Park around 3 or 4 and had to wait around the entrance for awhile. Luckily there were plenty of Vervet monkeys around to entertain us. You could definitely tell that the monkeys are pretty used to having people around, a couple came right up to us and stole fruit from people's hands. Besides that, one actually jumped into one of our vehicles and jacked a PB & J, then on the other side of the parking lot a couple of the little guys jumped up onto a school bus full of local kids and stole some lollipops. Fortunately everyone seemed to enjoy the free entertainment.

Our campsite here is pretty posh, for camping standards. First of all, we're not even camping, we have nice little round dormitories, or so they call them. Basically they're round buildings filled with beds, for sleeping purposes only, but considering where we're living, no one is going to want to be inside anyway. Anyway, the site is fenced with a pretty weak looking chain link fence, no worries though, our trusted askaris have accompanied us once again. There's also a large kitchen, dining area, classroom, and a fire ring. The site is kept up by the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, and Francis who is from the clubs is here to let us know all we want to know about Lake Nakuru.

Thursday October 30, 2008

This morning we had a guest lecturer, another KWS employee who specializes in Lake Nakuru and its catchment area. He discussed some of the major problems the area is currently facing, including water pollution sourced at the quickly growing Nakuru town. Less than 20% of the town is hooked up to the sewer system and therefore less than 20% of the waste water in town is treated before it reaches the lake. Seepage is a huge problem, as is raw sewage in the rivers that feed the lake. After our lecture our guest went out on a game drive with us to point out some of the problems on the ground.

We stopped at the Njoro River where we could see the frothy water indicating sewage contamination. Gross! We continued on to Baboon Cliff, an overlook that gives you a great view of the entire lake. The shore is ringed in pink from the thousands of flamingos that hang out in the lake foraging during the day. As we took in the view a flock of flamingos right below us started taking flight. At first no one knew why, but then a hyena was spotted running through the shallow lake in the direction of the flamingos. One entire flock got away so the hyena continued on to the next flock. That flock almost all got away, with the exception of one that was struggling to take flight. Then fate caught up with it and the hyena chomped down on it! Nothing like flamingo for breakfast I guess! That was by far the highlight of this morning!

Our day was only bound to get better though as we went for a game drive in the late afternoon. We drove around the entire lake, which isn't as large as you would anticipate. Besides that the park itself is rather tiny. Anyway, we came across a ton of zebra, buffalo, and waterbuck: all of which are causing huge problems in the park due to their overpopulation which itself is a result of the park being entirely fenced in. We also saw jackals and RHINO!! Several rhino in fact, at one point we had 5 in our view, all munching away happily. We also spotted Rothschild giraffe, a ton of birds - Crowned cranes, pelicans, flamingos, hawks, rollers, spoonbills, ibis, and storks (Lake Nakuru National Park is a birders paradise), more hyena, and baboons galore. However, by far, the highlight happened just as we were heading back towards camp. A LEOPARD! We didn't see it for long, but let me tell you, it was still fantastic! Apparently there are approximately 100 leopards in the park, but it's still lucky when you see them. WHOO!!

Then later tonight we were gathered in the dining room chatting and playing cards when Josh ran in saying you could hear lions roaring. So we ventured outside, but were cautioned by Sara not to go too far due to the weakness of our fence. We ended up not hearing lions again, but instead another low grumble. An askari came around with his high powered flashlight and illuminated a dozen or so buffalo within 20 meters of the fence!! They weren't to happy to be caught in the light either, so we all backed away and let them go on their way! Yes darkness in Africa brings a lot of interesting things out!

Friday October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween! We had the pleasure of spending to at Hell's Gate National Park, which is located right near Lake Naivasha. Our first stop in the park was the KenGen Geothermal Power Plant. We had a lecture that explained how geothermal energy is harnessed and how much power the plant provides to Kenya. Apparently the resources have yet to be fully explored and Kenya has enough geothermal resources to supply a pretty large fraction of its power geothermally. The lecture was actually pretty boring, we were all in a tiny room with no air circulation (ie it was hot) and the lights were off, so a lot of us dozed off here and there or fell asleep altogether. Definitely not the most effective lecture, but interesting at times.

The really interesting part of the geothermal plant is the fact that it's located in the middle of the national park. The plant requires a lot piping to get water and whatnot where it needs to be. So there's an interesting maze of above ground large white pipes that cover the landscape. It's not at all what you would expect to see in a national park. However then again, it's not all that different from things like Grand Canyon Village along the rim of the Grand Canyon or the mega parking lots at Mt. Rainier National Park. Parks are designed to be visited by people after all.

After lunch we game drove through the park and then drove along Lake Naivasha to see what we have been discussing in class. Lake Naivasha (and Lake Nakuru to a similar extent) is almost surrounded by huge flower farms, some with as many as 80 greenhouses in a row. There are stretches along the road where all you see are greenhouse after greenhouse. The greenhouses are home to thousands of flowers produced for cut flower export, mainly to Europe. As you can imagine these greenhouses require huge amounts of water and energy to operate. Water is diverted from other areas in the catchment and energy comes from differing sources, one of which is the KenGen facility (though by no means is that the main source). Basically it's the international horticulture industry at its worst. At the same time, it's important to look at all the jobs created by the flower farms, thousands of people are employed at them. In fact as we were driving back to camp the work day was ending and the roads were FILLED with people walking or biking home from work. The farms also sometimes provide housing for their employees. So the farms aren't all bad, but like anything else that people do, there's room for improvement if the industry is going to be considered sustainable.

This evening, continuing one of Halloween's finest traditions, Emma and I carved a pumpkin, or a Kenyan version of a pumpkin. It was green and a little warty, more of a squash I would say, but nonetheless, we had a great time carving the little guy. He was christened Richard and his face was set off with an attractive moustache. Some other students carved pumpkins to, but in my personal opinion Richard definitely has the most character! Besides that, two pumpkins ended up in the fire, so I don't understand why they were even carved. I still get angry when the so-called conservationists in our group do stupid and wasteful things.

Saturday November 1, 2008

I forgot to mention earlier that we've had an SFS alumni staying with us at Lake Nakuru. Since his study abroad with SFS in 1996, Jonathan has gone to medical school and is now in Kenya working near Lake Victoria on HIV/AIDs. This morning he gave us a guest lecture on HIV/AIDs in Sub-Saharan Africa and implications it has on conservation. It was a really engaging lecture, by far the best one we've had at Nakuru. Jonathan is a great guy, and his wife, also a doctor, is really fun too. He though could especially be used as inspiration for us as students. There's a lot more that we could do to help Kenya besides looking at wildlife if we ever decide to return here.

This afternoon made the day even better! We left at 2:00 for a nice long game drive around the lake. We had Haren, a student who is working with Francis at the park, join us. He has some insider information on where people have recently seen lions and other wildlife so we were more than happy to have him in our car. He certainly pulled through!

As we were heading in one direction he politely asked if we could turn around and just go see something quick. Of course we all agreed, so Sara whipped our Cruiser around. When we headed right down the road we just came from and saw nothing we were all a little doubtful, but then as we pulled up to the top of a hill and rounded a slight corner: LIONS IN A TREE!!??! Yes, the lions here at Nakuru climb trees to relax and get a good luck at potential pray.

We spent at least a half hour just watching the lions. They weren't in any hurry to go anywhere, and didn't seem bothered by our presence at all. There were 5 lions, three in one tree, on in another tree and then one lying in the grass at the base of one of the trees. Watching them climb in the trees was actually pretty entertaining, they're kind of awkward when then do it, not like the cats I've had growing up who were all expert tree climbers. Anyway, it was impressive and I got some really amazing pictures of the lions which I can't wait to share with all of you! The rest of our game drive was filled with zebra, waterbuck, rhino, flamingo, buffalo, jackal, giraffe, guinea fowl and baboons. It was a great game drive to end our time at Lake Nakuru with.

The excitement didn't end when we got back to camp though! I was sitting down reading The Prince of Tides when all of a sudden Emma ran up saying there were lions outside the camp! So I raced over to the fence where everyone was gathered and sure enough, a pair of lions was stalking its way towards our camp! When they got within probably 100 meters they split up, the male headed towards the lake and the female headed towards the stand of Acacias on the other side of our camp. They weren't hunting us, but it made things much more exciting to say that they were! We watched them until night fell, but lost them in the dark of course. Later while we were all gathered around the camp fire discussing the pros and cons of our two expeditions we heard lions roaring! Again it sent shivers down my spine but was exciting! Great way to end expedition at Nakuru!

Sunday November 2, 2008

Well today we drove back to our National Park Site outside Kitengela/Nairobi. It was a pretty uneventful drive. We stopped at another curio shop for one last look at the Great Rift Valley, we won't be seeing that again as a group. Everyone is pretty worn out and the days ahead aren't looking too nice. We have 4 papers due on Thursday,and an exam on Friday. The only fun between now and Friday will be tomorrow's nonprogram day and of course, the election!! GO OBAMA!!

Monday November 3, 2008

I love Nonprogram days!! Today we drove to Machakos, a town that we pass through on our way to KBC. Our destination was a woodcarving 'factory' and a Sisal bag 'factory.' Neither place was a factory per say. The woodcarver, is located in the area where woodcarving apparently originated. The first tribe to mass produce wood goods is the Kamba. So the woman at the carvers told us the history of wood carving among the Kamba and all about what led to is popularity today, which is pretty much geared at tourists and souvenirs. We got to walk through the carvers work stations and see them at work, it was really interesting and gave us a good insight to what goes into tall the things we bargain for along the side of the road.

Next we traveled to a Womens Group center to see how and where they make the bags that are popular among Kenyans and tourists alike. The bags are made of Sisal, a large agave-like plant that's pretty easy to come across in certain areas of Kenya. There were several women there to work on dying the fibers, weaving bags and to put handles on the bags we bought. There were rooms filled to the ceiling with the handmade bags! Unbelievable really! It was hard to make a choice, but thankfully I only brought a little money with me, so that was the deciding factor.

Once we got back to camp I tried to hit the books again, but progress is slow. It's really hard to be motivated when I want to do anything but school work. Somehow I'll manage though!

Thursday November 6, 2008

OBAMARAMA!! I know it was a couple days since we found out Obama won, but I'm still in disbelief! I can't believe America finally got it right! His victory has made the past few days a little easier, despite all the homework we have due tonight.

I realize I forgot to mention that the rainy season has officially began! Apparently even Kimana is going to be no longer dusty once we return!

Anyway, in other news, yesterday I was MOD again. I gave a presentation on the difference between horticulture and agriculture. I won't go into any details now except to say that they are different, and I love both of them in different ways! (If you want more info let me know and I'll send a copy of my powerpoint to you.)

Tomorrow we get to have a beer to celebrate for Obama! Only a few days late, but still I'm excited! Can't wait to get back to America and see the change put into motion!

Monday November 10, 2008

Well we left NPS on Saturday to return home to KBC. Friday, on our day at NPS I went for a walk with Jess and Emma. Walks at NPS are great because we actually got to go outside the fence! We got about half way around the path and got caught in the rain!! It was not a gentle rain either, we were soaked from head to toe by the time we got back to camp and of course by that time it had stopped raining. It was fun, but now I have a cold. L Oh well.

Saturday was dedicated to driving. The mud caused the Rhino to get stuck twice, but luckily the Cruisers can be hooked to the front of it and can pull it out. We have been warned though that that is just the beginning, more mud and getting stuck is on the way!

Okay, the real reason I wanted to write about today. I'm feeling very crunchy! We just had our directed research choices released. I am doing Tome's which will focus on community conservation efforts. I love the topic, Tome and my group members (In my opinion, the best group!), but it wasn't my first choice. I really had my heart set on doing Kiringe's because he is dealing with plant ID and soils! That's right up my alley and where my personal interest lies.

So I'm going to do a little b****ing now, because that's what blogs are for and I had held off thus far. I know for a fact that not everyone who is in Kiringe's group chose it as their first choice. I also know and have heard at least two members in that group say they hate plants and hate soil (and they aren't even majoring in anything science!!) So therefore though I know it will be fine that I'm in Tome's, it irks the hell out of me that someone who doesn't care one bit about Kiringe's topic is going to be working on it. However, now after finding out Kiringe's group I'm glad I'm not in it, it's home to all the cliques! So fine, I'll just deal with it, but I will not help anyone who asks for me to tell them about soil. (I'm sure some of you probably are laughing at that, but I don't care.)

Well, time to go cool off now. Things will work out, but for the time being, I'm pissed.