back at Ndarakwai!

Well, Megan and I arrived in Ndarakwai 2 days ago! We took a combination of buses, dala-dalas, and a taxi to get here. There were definitely times I was worried for the safety of my bag, as it was just shoved in the back of a dala-dala (van) and the back was tied down with rope. But no worries, everything made it! Which is a bit of a miracle, considering Megan and I have SO much stuff. We have all of our camping gear plus food for a couple days. My pack may have weighed 60 lbs…a bit ridiculous.
I’m writing this blog on my first day of data collection, which was today. I don’t know when I’ll be able to post this, so sorry for any tense confusion!
As I said, today was my first day. I met with my hired askari who was to be my guard, and off we went in search of pundamilia! I was scared we weren’t going to find any because they have all dispersed now that the short rains have come, but we were able to find some within 45 minutes. It was a small herd of 6 (one stallion, 5 females), that I proceeded to follow for the next 2.5 hours before I lost sight of them in the woodland. I think I may have walked around 7 miles today, but thankfully it was overcast and not too hot. I love it here though…its beautiful at this time of year and really quiet and peaceful. We then got caught in what they call “the short rains” on the walk back to camp, but I like to think of it more as a torrential downpour because I looked like a drowned rat when I got back. Megan and I are camping at the assistant manager’s house with our tents and thankfully everything stayed dry, because my computer was in there!

My last couple days of data collection have gone well, but its really hard to track wild zebra! I usually meet my askari at 8am and we track zebra until 1pm when we come back for lunch, and then I usually go out again from 2-4pm. I’ve been getting better at figuring out what habitat types they prefer and where they are usually hanging out. Long hot days, but its worth it…the other day I was sooo lucky and was able to sit in the treehouse and watch as 40 zebra came and drank from the watering hole! Its been hard to find them because the short rains have started, so they don’t often come to the watering hole anymore, as other water sources are now more prevalent. My askari is awesome though. His name is Masha, and he doesn’t speak any English, but we manage to actually have conversations, and he teaches me all the names of the mountains and hills nearby and then quizzes me on them. He must also have amazing eyesight because he can spot zebra from about 800m away that are tucked behind trees…don’t know how he does it, but I’m lucky to have him! He mostly naps on a rock while I take data except there have been numerous times I have had to interrupt him and say ummm…pundamilia wanakimbia!! Which means, um..the zebra are all running away! So then we proceed to run after them for the next hour until they settle down and I can start data collection again. And I really need to start asking him which zebra is the stallion BEFORE I start collecting data because today I was able to do 2 hours worth of scans on a herd I had found and then 2 hours later he says something about the stallion and points…and its definitely not the zebra that I had identified. Probably going to have some skewed data considering I completely misidentified the stallion. (in my defense, its harder than you think! I’m looking through binoculars half the time). Woops.

Anyways, that’s what Megan and I are up to! Probably should mention that she is studying 2 orphaned elephants here, named Enkarsis and Riziki. I actually got the privilege to meet both elephants today…I was walking with my askari and Enkarsis came barging over and shoved her trunk in my face! I blew air into her trunk (apparently they like that) and held her trunk for a while. It was awesome…kind of scary as well though because Enkarsis is big and her trunk was rummaging around my hair and head. Although they are orphaned elephants, they are not kept in a pen or anything like that. They have handlers, but are allowed to associate with other wild elephants when they want and such. Anyways, it was a cool experience and I really hope to get pictures with them before I leave!

I somehow also managed to get a raging head cold my second day here…not sure how that happened because im in the middle of the African bush and its 95 F out every day but of course it happened to me.

Besides data collection, Megan and I have just been hanging out and doing lots and lots of reading! I already finished one book after being here for just 4 days. I read “The Life of Pi.” For anyone who hasn’t read it, I highly recommend it…it was a fantastic book. Good thing I have a couple more books to keep me entertained for the next 2 weeks! Megan and I have been well taken care of since we have been here…the assistant manager has a maid named Bahati who is our age but takes care of us like we are her children! She makes us this delicious ginger tea about 5 times a day, cooks all of our meals, and even washes our clothes! I swear my clothes have not been that clean since I have arrived here…I don’t know how she does it because they’re just washed in a bucket! I mentioned earlier that Megan and I are allowed to use the tented camp’s electricity/internet and the staff there are so nice to us as well. A couple of them are around my age so we have lots of fun just talking with them and practicing Kiswahili. We actually met a Tanzanian and his Belgian colleague yesterday in reception who were leading a birding tour and were chatting with them and they nicely bought Megan and I cokes and beer! I swear to god every single person we meet here is so genuinely friendly and interested in what we are doing. It was also funny because they had been up in Mazumbai Forest the day before (about a 7 hr drive from Ndarakwai) and had met Ellie and Ellen, 2 other girls on my program who are up there studying monkeys! They had stayed with them at the Swiss chalet and eaten dinner together. Small world, especially since Mazumbai is not a huge tourist destination (it only attracts about 100 visitors a year) and it is not close to Ndarakwai at all.
Gotta go, huge storm coming in and when it rains here it absolutely POURS. :)