Boat on the edge of Lake Boringo.
Hornbill enjoying lunch in the open-air restaurant... Kinda looks like ZaZu from Lion King.
Randy sitting on the porch at Lake Boringo.
We left ILRI once again today to head to Lake Boringo. The day started uneventful except we stopped at the equator to take a tourist picture. We had a snack there, bought some curious and head on to the lake. When we arrive at Soi Safari Lodge we found out that our reservation was never paid for… so they did not have a place for us. They made arrangements with Lake Boringo Club and so we went their instead. The club is a little older place, but well worth it. The birds are amazing!!! This lake is known for its birds and I can se why… WOW!!! The club looks out onto the lake and the birds that feed in the lake are very numerous also. We wake up in the morning, and find footsteps of hippos on the grass. I guess the hippos graze on the grasses at night, and return to the water during the day. I have had deer grazing on the grounds of hotels around here in Colorado… but who would have thought it would be hippos. Tomorrow we head to Samburu Lodge. Boat on the edge of Lake Boringo. Hornbill enjoying lunch in the open-air restaurant... Kinda looks like ZaZu from Lion King. Randy sitting on the porch at Lake Boringo.
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Our goal today was to visit a primary school around 11am and then find a wildebeest. The primary school is one that helped collar the wildebeests last year. They have a wildlife club that works with students to teach them the importance of wildlife conservation. The wildlife club sponsor is a science teacher. He asked them to draw a picture of what makes them happy. Jared talked to Amy and I about collaborating with the school and have our students draw pictures with the same prompt and send them back to the school. Jared wanted to go to the school to pick up the pictures. We got to Kitengela to meet Jared and Sauna, who had Kisham and Judith with them. The school was about one hour from the road and so we started on our way, and then the adventure for the day started. It rained a lot last night and needless to say the dust we had been complaining about has now turned into greasy mud. About ½ hour into our drive, we got stuck in the mud with the Landcruiser. We all piled out of the vehicle and started to gather rocks to put under the tires. Alfred and Sauna took off their shoes and went right in the mud. For about 1.5 to 2 hours we all worked together to try to get the Landcruiser out of the mud. At that point a decision was made to have Amy, Judith, Kisham and I head on up to the school and pick up the pictures. That left Jared, Paul, Sauna and Alfred to continue to work to get out of the mud. We went on ahead and got to the school in about ½ hour. The Landcruise stuck... really.... really... stuck in the the greasy, slick, gooey mud!!! Amy, Paul and Judith survery the situation how are we going to help???? Naserian Primary School Mission, Vision and Motto. The school was a primary school that had grades 1-8. In Kenya there are called standards instead of grades and they follow a Kenyan government syllabus. There were a few students that who were older that the typical 8th grader, and went up to age 18. There were about 220 students at that went to the school. As in the rest of Kenya, there is a school uniform and limited supplies in the classroom. There was a young boy, about 2-3, who was the son of the science teacher. He was a little cautious of me because I was a white person. It got my camera out to show him my pictures, and before I knew it, there were kids of all ages, maybe 30; clamoring to see the pictures and movies. Once they realized I wanted to take some pictures of them, they really decided to ham it up. I got some great shots of faces, fingers, toes and shoes. I finally stood up and looked around and Amy had about as many kids around here wanting to see her pictures also. We talked with the head teacher, Jonathan, about his students, and then decided to leave and head back to the rest of our crew. We had heard they were on their way. As we got on our way, we intersected them and few minutes later and found out they had got stuck again. Jared really wanted to visit with Jonathan, so we drove back to the school again and sat and visited some more. It was the next to the last day so the students were helping to clean out the school and gather together for a pastoral session, with singing. They gave us something to drink and we headed out again. About 10-15 minutes down the road, a Land Rover was stuck, so we decided to go back the way we came; by the school again. We had to drive by the mud holes that the Landcruiser had been stuck in and Alfred just looked away and said “I am not getting stuck again.” We did have to get out once and push but Alfred was determined not to get stuck again. We headed back to Nairobi and Alfred found a shortcut that went between the slums and Nairobi National Park. There is such a contrast between the two, Slums and a Park. Houses made of pieces of tin and constantine wire and trash. We did then drive past the largest slum in Nairobi, Kibera. We finally made it back to ILRI covered in mud and Paul was very tired.
Tomorrow we on to Samburu. Today we had a very unique cultural experience. We had the opportunity to visit a Maasai boma. A boma is like a corral in western terms. The outside “fence” is made of branches usually acacia. The fences are to keep the lions out. Inside the boma there are huts made from dirt and dried cattle feces. The animals are brought in very night. This includes the cattle, goats and sheep. These huts have a circular design. As you walk into the hut it is spiral shaped, this prevents winds from blowing out the fires that are always burning inside. In the hut that we visited there were three beds and two compartments. The woman who built it was very skilled in her design, as we were told by Sauna. Her wood pile was dried so that the hut did not get full of smoke. If a woman is injured or expecting a baby, other women will collect wood for her and leave it outside the hut. Walking inside the hut were it was dark was a big overwhelming. But once inside and adjusted to the dark is was quite cool and comfortable in there. As we sat and got an explanation as to what was happening, the host was warming up milk, and keeping her fire lit at a very low level. The warm milk was mixed with tea leaves, water and a little honey to make Chai. We were a little concerned about what we were getting into, but Sauna reassured us that it would be safe. The woman had some warm water that she poured over our hands to wash them. She next took the Chai and served it to each of us. WOW…… it was great!!! With it there was chapatti bread hot off the grill. This is a flat bread make with flour, oil, honey and seasoned with ashes from the fire. This provided the basic breakfast for the Maasai in this particular boma. I barely finished the Chai and did finish the bread. It was quite an opportunity to get to go into a working boma, not a spic-n-spam one. The kids in the boma were great. They were very fascinated with the digital camera. Once they figured out that the camera would take their picture, boy did they ham it up. Amy seemed to really enjoy the experience. She and Randy went into another hut and got a similar experience as Paul and I. Overall the boma was incredible and we all felt very privileged to get to visit this particular boma, whose members were the extended family of Sauna. Joseph and I standing in from of a huge termite mound. This is a hut inside of a boma. The hut is made of sticks, dirt and cattle feces. Kids love to have their pictures taken, no matter where in the world they are. Amy and Maasai woman in the boma. At 3:15pm we went to the Curio Shop, purchased some items for friends and family and headed back into the park. This time of day the animals start to move around again, and boy, did they. We saw a group of three giraffes just strolling down the road, a lioness just walked in front of us, so we could conveniently get a picture of her. We heard a helicopter, but I don’t know what it was doing. I hope it was not herding the animals. Giraffe just strolling down the road…. Lioness in the grass… can you find her? We wanted to see the Mara River. It was getting close to 5pm and we needed to get back to the gate by 6:30pm, so Alfred zoomed down the road to Mara River. The Mara River is where the wildebeests cross and there are many movies and pictures of them crossing the crocodile infested river. We didn’t see any crocodiles, but we did see a large group of hippos, vervet monkeys and baboons. The monkeys are very mischievous and entertaining. As I was trying to film the monkeys and baboons I noticed that one had jumped into the Land Cruiser and Alfred was throwing rocks at the vehicle to scare the vervets. Next thing I knew both a vervet and Alfred were inside the Land Cruiser. When Alfred got into the vehicle, the vervet leaped out of the top and ran off. Alfred chasing the monkey out of the Land Cruiser. As we loaded up and headed back to the entrance gate, we passed the migratory wildebeests would probably be crossing the river maybe the next morning. The quantities of animals that were in the group were astonishing. As far as you could see to the horizon there were wildebeests. It was quite an amazing site to be able to see. Migratory wildebeests heading toward the Mara River. On our way back to the gate, we had a chance to see another beautiful sunset on the Serengeti. Randy was right, you can never grow tired of looking at the sunsets in Africa.
Today we were up early, with the sun, to have an early safari drive. When I first heard that we were going on a drive the only thing I could think of was a cattle drive. Boy was I wrong. A safari drive is driving around looking for animals… and did we see animals today. The first animals we came upon were elephants. They were a group of about 15, with several babies that were very cute. They walk with just majestic purpose. Scanning the country side and keeping the group together. This is not the only group of elephants we will see today. Elephant in the early morning sun. Mom and baby strolling across the Maasai Mara As we drove around the park, we spotted several vehicles loaded with people around a bush. Upon further inspection, there was a lion that had killed a wildebeest and was eating it while hiding in the bushes. It was very difficult to see. We first thought it was a lone female, but on closer observation we think it was a young male. Leaving the lion we saw another large group of vehicles… so out came the binoculars and discovered a group of cheetahs. There was a female with about 6-7 cubs with her just playing around and enjoying the day. All at once a few of the cubs made a mad dash, and I heard a scream of an animal and realized the cheetahs had killed an eland calf. It was a very horrifying sound to hear. We were too far away to actually see the eland, but the vehicles nearby quickly surrounded the group. I thought animal watching at Yellowstone National Park was bad… but it has nothing on this spectacle. As the drivers of the vehicles pass each other, they exchange information about animal locations; it is quite a system of communication. We returned later to watch the cheetahs eat and clean themselves up, washing each other faces and not seeming to be to upset with people watching them. In fact, two of the cheetahs jumped on top of a vehicle and just sat there. Cheetahs are eating their meal, and then cleaning each other up. Notice all of the vehicles surrounding the cheetahs, us included. Next we saw zebras… lots and lots of zebras. Patterns in the grass… no kidding. So… so far this morning we had seen a lion, cheetahs and we are on the lookout for the other big cat in the park… leopard. My Safari Bingo card was filling up quickly. Yes… we did find the third big cat… the leopard. It was difficult to spot the cat in the tree; it was amazing how much it blended into the trees branches. As we drive down a desolate road, we found the leopard. It was sleeping in a tree; its paws and tail were hanging off the branches. Later in the day as we passed the leopard tree again, there were many vehicles watching the leopard. Continuing to drive around the park we saw giraffe, elephants and hyenas. In fact the local watering hole was a bustle of activity. Elephants were playing in the water; giraffes were on guard and under the bushes, on a rock wall, were 2 lion cubs. WOW!!! The elephants had several babies with than and were very fun to watch. This young giraffe was lying in the grass. These giraffes are a different species than the giraffes in Samburu. These giraffe’s spots have rough edges and their background color is a little creamier. Young lion cubs, catching the action at the watering hole. These elephants are getting a drink of water. This was the end of our morning safari drive, looking forward to the afternoon.
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AuthorI am a teacher in Fort Collins, Colorado at Cache La Poudre Middle School. I have been teaching science for 24 years. I traveled to Kenya in July 2011 to study migratory wildebeests with a researcher from Colorado State University, a Social Studies teacher from Rocky Mountain High School and my husband an Informational Technology Specialist with Poudre School District. Archives
January 2012
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