I write this final blog from Nairobi at the Mennonite Guest House. On Wednesday, we came to town (4-5 hour drive) to return Beryl, Dedan, Erick, and Hannah to their homes in addition to bringing Leah and Mandy to the Guest House. It is hard to believe the course is over, but we’ve many memories … Keep reading »
Archives for 2013
Segera Visit and Weekend Renewal
On Friday we visited Segera Ranch, a ranch that borders Mpala ranch where we are staying. Segera works closely with its community members on its borders and we heard a presentation by Njenga, the coordinator of the Zeitz Foundation’s outreach programs. More information can be found here. Students were impressed with the various projects underway: … Keep reading »
Data analysis, wild dogs, and Jessel Ranch visit
This morning we all worked on organizing and analyzing the data that we gathered during our field visits earlier in the course. However, later in the morning, Ryan suddenly came around and whispered urgently for all of us to leave what we were doing and quickly come load up in the van and Land Rover. … Keep reading »
Behavioral ecology of large herbivores
‘I have seen two lions” Mara reported as she struggled to catch her breath. “Where? ” Prof asked. As soon as the answer came we all ran to the direction of where she had seen them. Silently we observed, patiently waiting to see the big cats. Waterbuck ran as the baboons climbed higher on the tree…obviously … Keep reading »
Sampling an old boma site…
With yesterdays visit to Ol Pejeta, today was a bit relaxed and this was signaled by some late breakfast meaning there was ample sleeping allowance given. According to the schedule, we took breakfast from 7.30 Am to 8.30 Am.(Kenyan time). The morning was a bit chilly compared to the other days with short moments of … Keep reading »
Ol Pejeta Conservancy
Mara’s blog – We saw elephants. One of my highlights was to see mountains, animals, and monkeys. The vervet monkeys were so funny. We saw twiga (giraffe) and we saw tembo (elephant). There are also lots of mitis (trees) in Kenya. We ate packed lunches before seeing the blind black rhino, named Baraka. He became … Keep reading »
Weekend Rest
On Saturday we experienced another beautiful, crisp morning here at the River Camp in Laikipia. It had rained during the night, which added to the freshness of the morning. Dawn always brings a stillness and peace here, but with it a lively energy as countless birds chirp and the river gurgles close by. We enjoyed … Keep reading »
Fieldwork, School Visit, & Night Game Drive
Although it started out as another day in the field, Friday was a day full of many exciting events. In the morning we returned to the KLEE plots to take more data on acacia tree-ant dynamics. Our drive back to the Research Centre for lunch turned into an unplanned game drive. We left the main … Keep reading »
Reentering Civilization
I don’t like saying goodbye to the Boundary Waters. I’ve only had to do it twice in my life, but each time has been dreadful. Yet on our last day, each of us were forced to bid the Waters farewell. To me, the Boundary Waters represent freedom from the daily grind, from the unnatural civilization … Keep reading »
More data…
It is a good day as usual, the morning birds woke us up and they are singing as we have our breakfast. The morning feels fresh as I look through the landscape of Laikipia, the acacia trees standing there and the long different grass species wagging around gracefully. All the way to the field we … Keep reading »
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 7
- Next Page »