Extreme Camping

So, basically this was the best week EVER. We went on our first expedition to Tarangire and Arusha National Parks. Here are some of the highlights:

Tarangire:

I saw two cheetahs sleeping under a baobab tree---almost cried from being so happy.

While on one of our game drives to do mammal surveys a bull elephant came right up to the land rover!

We went on a 10 mile walk to the dry part of Lake Manyara in 100 degree heat and got to within meters of a zebra herd. On the way back from the Lake we could see massive thunderclouds in the distance and we got pelted with rain for about a half hour. It sounds like a miserable time, but it was actually an incredible experience because to the back of us, the sun was shining which created a double rainbow in front of us the whole time we were being poured on. (The temperature also dropped about 20 degrees which was the best thing ever). Right before we got back to the campsite the clouds passed and the sky turned to shades of pink and orange as the sun was setting.

Arusha

This is probably one of my favorite places in the world.

The campsite was absolutely incredible. We were located on the foothills of  Mount Meru (the 2^nd highest peak in Tanzanai next to Kilimanjaro) in the middle of Arusha National Park. At night we would wake up and fall asleep to the haunting calls of the colobus monkeys. If we had to go to the bathroom during the night, an askari (Swahili word for security guard) had to escort us because the area is known for black mambas and elephants wandering into the camp at night. Speaking of nocturnal dangers, one night our camp was invaded by an army of millions of fire ants. The line of ants started at one tent just before everyone was about to fall asleep and then continued their rampage through each tent. It was basically a horror movie in real life except that it was kind of awesome because of how surreal the situation was. Plus it was a good bonding experience. Earlier that day we went on a 4 hour game viewing hike halfway up mount meru and we got within walking distance of giraffe and cape buffalo! We also went on a wildlife survey up to Ngurdoto crater which was surrounded by this cloud forest which can only be described as the most magical place I’ve ever been to. I’ve never associated the word magic with any other place except Hogwarts, but this cloud forest was basically the definition of it. Seeing the colobus monkeys in that forest was the best part of the entire trip for me and is probably one of my top 5 experiences ever. Something about that cloud forest and looking into the monkey’s eyes through my binoculars for the first time was so intense. It’s almost indescribable how cool it was being so close to them in that kind of ecosystem.I could probably live in that forest in a tree house and study colobus monkeys all day and night and be absolutely content.

This whole park was such a contrast to the wide open shrublands and grasslands of tarangire and manyara NP’s. I forgot how much I love forests and mountains. We also went on a bird survey at 6:30 in the morning to practice identifying and counting waterfowl and other birds. The sacred ibises are definitely my favorite because their feathers have an iridescent quality to them and their beaks are so unique. The saltwater lakes are home to some 24,000 flamingos during the rainy season! We only counted 5,000 that morning though. The director of the park talked about some of the management and research activities going on in the park and we got to ask a ton of questions. We had noticed how the villages and croplands were pretty much adjacent the the edge of the national park which can be detrimental to the biodiversity of the park if human activities conflict with wildlife corridors or ecosystem function. A big thing here is community based conservation. Last week we got to go in groups of 5 with a translator into the town of Karatu to interview the local pastoralists/land owners about their land use practices and any conflicts they had with wildlife and any hindrances to their livelihood (drought, flood, erosion, lack of resources). It was interesting getting to experience firsthand the reality of the various struggles people here deal with from day to day. Its easy to see now that for conservation efforts to work, the local people who live side by side with the wildlife must be involved and must somehow benefit.

On the way back, we stopped into town and I spent about an hour in a bookshop and got coffee flavored ice cream (which is the best thing in the world when you haven't had it for a month).

All in all, this week was just awesome. That word doesn't even come close to describing the total experience, but it'll just have to do for now.

Lake Manyara National Park

After almost a week without internet, we can finally start doing research for our papers! This past week we went on a game drive in Lake Manyara National Park to practice keeping a field journal. Our observations will form the basis for our research papers. I'm doing mine on anti-predator behavior in impala. That afternoon we saw giraffe, elephants, baboons, vervet monkeys, warthogs, so many birds!( hornbills, grey crowned cranes, flamingos, a martial eagle, a kingfisher, and tons of white cranes), zebra, wildebeest, and tiny antelope called dik-diks. Some of us went all out and dressed in our full safari gear with khaki pants, hat, vest, and binoculars. I'd put up pictures, but it takes forever for them to load. The next day, we spent the morning doing scan sampling of baboon behavior. Every time we came across a troop in the forest, we stopped and recorded their behavior every 5 minutes for as long as we could see them. We ended up getting almost 2 hours of data. The next day we had a field exercise in animal tracking. This was probably my favorite day of the week because we literally spent 4 hours identifying poop. Each group of 5 or so was accompanied by a maasai herder who could identify every piece of scat we showed him along a 1.5 km transect ending at the lake. There were a crazy amount  wildebeest, thomson's gazelle, cattle, and sheep tracks and poop so when we found a jackal paw print, we all freaked out. It was almost 100 degrees that day, but since its the early rainy season here, we were saved by a early afternoon thunderstorm. Because we were basically in the middle of the savanna we could see the rain clouds looming in the distance and see the rain come closer and closer to us. Everything is so vast here. Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky the next day when we had to spend 3 hours doing a vegetation sampling exercise (identifying grass species and percent ground cover) with no shade in the hottest part of the day. The fact that we were in the middle of a huge expanse of grassland with wildebeest and gazelle within eyesight made up for the fact that we were being baked alive. We were also treated to pizza and soda in a local village. The fieldwork that we get to do is definitely my favorite part of the semester so far. It's crazy that we get to work in this kind of ecosystem with so many animals surrounding us. I almost forgot to mention that we went on a hike yesterday to the elephant caves near the Ngorongoro crater area. The whole area (which looked like a rainforest) is used by elephants so we were all on the look out. They caves aren't actually caves any more because the elephants eroded them with their tusks. We got to climb a humongous pile of elephant poop to the top of what was once the roof of the cave. We also hiked to the top of waterfall and were able to get within feet of the cliff. The view was absolutely amazing. The stream that fed the waterfall was surrounded by these sloping hills and it seemed like we were in our own little paradise valley with the sound of the waterfall in the background, butterflies, brightly colored birds calling, and lush trees with mossy vines hanging everywhere. I've never seen so much diversity in one place in my life. I almost like the forests in Tanzania better than the savanna because there's just so much more to see---plus I could probably spend half my life just identifying all the trees and birds.

Right now we're all just trying to get all of our assignment done before the end of the week. Hopefully the internet stays alive!

Spider Hunting

After 26 straight hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Tanzania at about 9PM. We stayed the night at a hotel in Arusha which had awesome views of Mount Meru. All of us were pretty much out of our minds from exhaustion so the past two days all seem like one big crazy blur. This morning we drove 2 hours in the land rovers to the Moyo Hills field station which will be our home away from home for the next 3 months. It kind of feels like we're living in a forest because there are so many different kinds of trees and animals that surround us. There are Pied Crows everywhere which makes me incredibly happy and so many gigantic spiders! After dinner some of us went on a spider and toad hunt with our head lamps. Some of the staff helped us lure the spiders out of their holes with sticks and also helped us practice our swahili. The language barrier will take some getting used to. Overall, life so far in Tanzania is beautiful and its only just beginning!

It's HERE!

After almost 2 months of waiting, I'm finally off to Africaaaaaaaa! After a last minute suitcase run at 9PM (we were afraid the original decades old suitcase would fall apart on the journey), I was ready to go. BUT, my preparation would not have been complete without watching the Lion King II with my sister and the Roths last night.

 I'll be sure to post lots of pictures and keep everyone updated on what's going on in Tanzania. If anyone wants to send me messages, my email is awrosenb@uvm.edu.

I'll miss you all! See you in May!