This is a surprise post!!! As we were driving from Yaeda Valley to Ngorogoro Crater we pulled over on the side of the road at a gas station and our leader Thad told us we had 30 minutes to use the computer. My heart skipped a few beats!
For the past 3 weeks we have been travelling around rural Tanzania exploring its vaste natural beauty. We started off in Ole Sambu, a village north of Arusha, covered in typical Savannah brush and inundated with African wildlife. Because Ole Sambu is a village and not a park reserve we were able to get out of the trucks and walk around. On my first day walking around we came upon army ants raiding a termite mound. I felt as though I were watching the Discovery Channel, and kept waiting for David Attenborough to comment on what was going on. AS we walked around our guides carried rifles just in case we came upon an animal. At one point we came upon some Elephants and had to tip toe around them, downwind (so they couldn't detect our scent). Once past them we continued on and came upon some warthogs. It is truly amazing walking upon animals in their natural habitat verses driving up to them, no matter how close one is able to get. One night I got to sleep in a tree house in the middle of the savannah with three of my friends. When i got to the so-called tree house i was shocked to see that it was instead a tall bush with no pegs to get up to the plank on top. To get up we had to climb from branch to branch until finally we were up above, looking out on the vaste beauty of Tanzania all around us. The night i spent up on top of this bush was definitely one of my most memorable.
Next we headed to Tarengiri National Park. Tarengiri is on the same land as Ole Sambu, but is preserved by the government meaning there is no agriculture or pastoralism on the land. In Tarengiri we learned about all the bird, animal, and plant species there. I have actually come to be really interested in identifying birds, Brenda i know you are excited!!!
After Tarengiri we headed up to the Nou forest. In the forest we went on several epic hikes. One of which was to an amazing waterfall!!
After the Nou we headed to the Yaeda valley, a place inhabited by the Hadza hunter-gatherers. For the past week we have been hunting with them and gathering berries. It is amazing that they still live in a way that all of our ancestors lived millions of years ago. THeir society is fascinating, my anthro head has been exploding! Old old man even taught me how to make an arrow!!!
love you all, sorry this isn't longer, everyone is in line for a computer!
can't wait to be home with you all, and don't worry i am healthy and very very happy. xoxo
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Pembe Abwe
Last Monday a dhow(boat) picked us up in the village of Kendwa. Kendwa is a ten minute walk along the beach from Nungwi with even clearer ocean water. We trekked our 100 lbs bags through the sand to the boat and climbed aboard. The boat i rode on was a typical sailing dhow with a sail and a motor. Half-way through our 4 hour ride to Pembe Abwe the motor ran out of fuel and we sailed the rest of the way. At around 1 pm we arrived in Pembe Abwe at our camp sight for the next week. In Pembe Abwe we conducted our Coral Reef Ecology class. There were 10 bandas, small houses made of coconut palms and wood, that we stayed in for the week. In my banda we had a small shower and a toilet one reached by walking down a few stairs. Neighter of these rooms had coverings over them, yet neither of them had coveringsover them. If someone walked into the banda and took three steps they could easily see you in doing your business in either room. If we had had things to hide before this segment of the trip they are no longer hidden, to say the least we all got pretty comfortable being partially dressed around one another.
A usual day at Pembe Abwe consisted of us waking up at 6:45 heading to the main banda for a breakfast of toast, eggs, and fresh fruit. After breakfast we all load up into three boats, the dhow i took, a smaller one, and my favorite a speed boat. Everyday my friends and I run to the speed boat with our snorkle gear in hand. The boat takes us to a reserve called Maziwe where we snorkle. In our snorkeling we look for some indicator species; lobsters, clams, snapper, butterfly fish, groupers, and parrot fish (my favorite). They are the indicator species we are studying in order to do a reef check in the area on. After snorkeling for 2 hours we head back to camp for lunch. Lunch usually consists of bread, vegetables (cucumbers, peppers tomatoes, onions and carrots), and cheese (until we ran out three days in :(. After lunch we have two and a half hours to rest, do our class work and hang out until our class at 4. I usually play soccer along the beach with a bunch of friends, i have a fatty blister on the bottom of my foot (dont worry dad i am cleaning it out every day and bandaging it, no infections!!!). At four we have a 1-1.5 hour class on the different coastal ecosystems and organisms in mainland Tanzania. After class we have from 5-5:30 to rest until dinner at 7. During this time I usually work out, lunges and abs, with two of my friends and then go up to the tree house on the property and play cards. By dinner time we are all starving and gorge ourselves of the rice, fish, salad and dessert!!! We have dessert here!! its so exciting, lol.
On Friday of our week in Pembe Abwe we conducted a transect of the reef. In our transect, I was in charge of counting the fishes i saw in 5 meter incriments. We had 1 minute per 5 meters, and the entire transect was 20 meters. I felt like a legitimate scientist! After the transect we had two hours to explore the reef on our own. It was amazing snorkeling around for hours looking at the life of underwater creatures go on before our eyes. I found myself swimming above one peice of coral for up to 20 minutes watching fish eat algae, chase one another, basically just live their lives. Some times i lucked out and an eel stuck its head out from behind some corals to check me out. My favorite moment was when some dolphins came up right near where we were snorkeling and poked around us. They are such amazing creatures!
Today is my last day in civilization, tomorrow we head out for our four week safari around Tanzania. I will post when i get back to Nairobi. Love you all! P.s i love your comments.
A usual day at Pembe Abwe consisted of us waking up at 6:45 heading to the main banda for a breakfast of toast, eggs, and fresh fruit. After breakfast we all load up into three boats, the dhow i took, a smaller one, and my favorite a speed boat. Everyday my friends and I run to the speed boat with our snorkle gear in hand. The boat takes us to a reserve called Maziwe where we snorkle. In our snorkeling we look for some indicator species; lobsters, clams, snapper, butterfly fish, groupers, and parrot fish (my favorite). They are the indicator species we are studying in order to do a reef check in the area on. After snorkeling for 2 hours we head back to camp for lunch. Lunch usually consists of bread, vegetables (cucumbers, peppers tomatoes, onions and carrots), and cheese (until we ran out three days in :(. After lunch we have two and a half hours to rest, do our class work and hang out until our class at 4. I usually play soccer along the beach with a bunch of friends, i have a fatty blister on the bottom of my foot (dont worry dad i am cleaning it out every day and bandaging it, no infections!!!). At four we have a 1-1.5 hour class on the different coastal ecosystems and organisms in mainland Tanzania. After class we have from 5-5:30 to rest until dinner at 7. During this time I usually work out, lunges and abs, with two of my friends and then go up to the tree house on the property and play cards. By dinner time we are all starving and gorge ourselves of the rice, fish, salad and dessert!!! We have dessert here!! its so exciting, lol.
On Friday of our week in Pembe Abwe we conducted a transect of the reef. In our transect, I was in charge of counting the fishes i saw in 5 meter incriments. We had 1 minute per 5 meters, and the entire transect was 20 meters. I felt like a legitimate scientist! After the transect we had two hours to explore the reef on our own. It was amazing snorkeling around for hours looking at the life of underwater creatures go on before our eyes. I found myself swimming above one peice of coral for up to 20 minutes watching fish eat algae, chase one another, basically just live their lives. Some times i lucked out and an eel stuck its head out from behind some corals to check me out. My favorite moment was when some dolphins came up right near where we were snorkeling and poked around us. They are such amazing creatures!
Today is my last day in civilization, tomorrow we head out for our four week safari around Tanzania. I will post when i get back to Nairobi. Love you all! P.s i love your comments.
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