Mambo!
To start off this post, I just want to tell you all how
awesome everyone is in my SFS Kenya/Tanzania Wildlife Management group. It’s so
nice to be a part of a program that includes people from all different
backgrounds (both culturally and academically), different schools/places, and
with different interests. I have never been a part a group filled with people
so keen to learn and share knowledge with each other and willing to
continuously interact with people one normally would not.
I also have to mention the professors, crew and local
people. They have been so welcoming, and it truly is a wonderful feeling to
come to a completely foreign and new environment and have people be so kind.
The children have been so much fun to interact with, and many of them are even showing
me up with their language skills!
Today was our first trip into the field, and I felt like I
was living out every child’s Lion King/African safari dream. I spent about five
hours in Lake Manyara National Park with my SFS group driving around in the
bushland, grassland and forest looking for all kinds of animals. I got to see
blue monkeys, baboons, vervet monkeys, warthogs, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest,
hippos, dik-diks, elephants, gazelles, cape buffalo and impalas (I’m also sure
that I’m forgetting others). And just to make you totally jealous, my car had a
very close encounter with a mother elephant and her baby as they were
attempting to cross the road.
The plants in Lake Manyara National park and the surrounding
region are extremely interesting as well. The park is filled with green vegetation
as it is located near a significantly large water source, while the surrounding
landscape is much drier and yellower in color. The contrast of the two
landscapes was really cool to see as we drove from our SFS center in Rhotia to
the park. In the park, I saw tons of Acacia trees (both umbrella and
yellow-barked) and I also got to see a few baobab trees. I’m no expert in
plants or animals (rocks are totally my thing), but I’m really excited to learn
more about the ecosystems in this region.
Umbrella Acacia
Now, Lake Manyara National Park is located in probably one
of the coolest geologic areas in the world: the East African Rift Valley, and
so of course I was excited to travel there for more than just the wildlife.
While I didn’t get to see much in the way of fantastic rocks today, I did get
to see a lot of volcanic material in various stages of weathering (rockàsoil).
There was also some pretty beautiful schists or metamorphic rocks at the
welcome center (used for the road and pathways). They were filled with micas
and were totally sparkly, just like Edward is in the sunlight (this is a
twilight reference for those confused at my lame humor). Lake Manyara itself is
pretty geologically interesting, as it is a salt lake that often dries up
seasonally to reveal large expanses of salt flats. I didn’t get to go close to
the salt flats or the lake, but being able to see them from the cliffs
surrounding the park was pretty incredible.
Tomorrow, we are going back to Lake Manyara National Park to
study baboon behavior and physical characteristics and also to finish up some
of our other class projects involving the park. I don’t think any of us were
able to concentrate on schoolwork with 26 elephants passing by our car or
hippos popping out of the water or monkeys fighting in the trees. I know I
definitely was way more concerned about getting photos of absolutely EVERYTHING
I saw. I’m a little sad that I’m fancy-spancy-cameraless, but I guess all the
wildlife is just going to have to come close and pose for my silly
point-and-shoot camera.
Kwaheri (for now)
No comments:
Post a Comment