Kenya Field Course blog

Saturday May 17, 2014 After two full days of traveling to different ranches it was nice to have a more relaxed morning today. However, there was still work to be done. After breakfast we were working hard on studying for the practical exam which was Saturday at 4pm. We would help each other identify trees, … Keep reading »

Friday May 16th, 2014 Today was our visit to Segera.  Originally scheduled for Monday of this week, we, as a class, were glad to be able to go and visit at all– roads had been washed out earlier, as the black cotton variety of soil that is between us and Segera holds water very well, and for a very … Keep reading »

Thursday 15th May, 2014 Today we woke up very early, preparing ourselves for a long journey to Ol Pejeta Conservancy with an aim of exploring conservation and development. At Ol Pejeta we were given a brief introduction by Giles Prettejohn, the cattle manager of the Conservancy. We learned that it is 90,000 ha and their … Keep reading »

Wednesday, May 14th, 2014 Today was a full day with an interesting variety of experiences. This morning we visited Mogwooni cattle ranch and met with the manager and owner, Jackie Kenyon. Here we were exposed to a different view on land management. Jackie  produces high quality Boran cattle which are considered to be some of … Keep reading »

Tuesday May 13th, 2014 First of all apologies for a late entry. We’ve been very busy this past week, which is of course a good thing. Tuesday’s morning lecture was given by Josephat Musyima from the Laikipia Wildlife Forum. This organization brings wildlife conservation interests to the Laikipia region through different programs that do not just … Keep reading »

Monday May 12th, 2014 The variability of savanna ecosystems was in full effect today. In the early morning, we said goodbye to the River Camp and moved our belongings to the Mpala Research Center. We would later be divided up and moved into our various sleeping quarters. Originally, the plan for our class was to … Keep reading »

Saturday and Sunday May 10-11, 2014  Over the weekend we were able to catch up on some much needed sleep and relaxation after a week filled with hours of field work. On Saturday we had a late breakfast at 8 am and spent the morning reading, catching up on home work, and playing cards. Shortly … Keep reading »

Friday May 9th, 2014 – I wake up with my two tent mates at 6:30, first thing we do is open the tent flaps and let the dawn light pour in. Next is to make our beds- very tightly (we don’t want to find bugs in them tomorrow). After a quick breakfast, we go to … Keep reading »

Thursday May 8th, 2014 We spent the day out in a glade, Where much good eating grass is made. We sampled dung so we could see, Where different grazers like to be. Elephant, zebra, giraffe, and hare, All left their droppings so we could stare, And feel their scat with our bare hands, Surprisingly, no … Keep reading »

Wednesday May 7th, 2014 I just have to begin with this – I am so happy that I am doing a blog on this website.  So then lets continue and see what happened today (7th May of 2014). By 9:00 a.m we were at the KLEE plots (Kenya Longterm Exclosure Plots) and like almost everyone in … Keep reading »