Greetings from Kenya!
Today was our first full day without the other SFS group here. On Tuesday, we had a long but manageable drive up from Rhotia to KBC. We stopped at an area with some restaurants and a grocery store and picked up some delicious food. When we got here, the staff and the other group of students greeted us and we got a little tour and were shown our new bandas. I'm rooming with Adam, Robby and Blake, which so far is working out swell. We shared some stories with the other group and got to know them a little bit.
Wednesday the SAMs Erica and Molly had some activities prepared for us, which were fun but kind of tedious. The dynamic between groups was strange. We're excited to be here, but with them around it felt kind of like we were invading their home. But now they're gone and we're settling in well.
The camp here is much much bigger than the Moyo hill camp. It's all fenced in, and there's a trail about a mile long that runs along the inside of the trail. So far we've seen baboons, vervet monkeys, bush babies, and many new birds inside the camp. I've been trying hard to identify all the birds I see. It's a skill that definitely takes practice. They've told us that they've seen all sorts of snakes here, and apparently some elephants tried to break the fence a couple nights before we came. We're definitely much closer to the wildlife here. It's fun. Also unlike Moyo hill, they turn the lights off at night. Which means amaazing stars. We found a stars and planets book in the library, which is full of cool books, and laid out last night identifying constellations. We learned Pegasus, Pisces, Aries, Aquarius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquila, Taurus, Orion, Cetus, and Cassiopeia, among others. It was really cool. And did I mention we can see Kilimanjaro from camp? It's awesome. So big. And when it's clear we can see the snow on top. Overall it's a really cool camp. It seems to be a little harder to get to know the staff, because they hang out somewhere else, whereas in Tanzania, we were constantly exposed to and mingling with them. I'm sure things will develop as we spend more time here though.
The internet is a bit frustrating here. It's on, then off, then on, then off, and pretty much all the time it says it's on so you never really know if it's telling the truth. Anyways...
I would love letters if anyone wants to send them to me! Here's the address:
Devin Stone
Center for Wildlife Management Studies
P.O. Box 27743 (Nyayo Stadium)
00506 – NAIROBI, KENYA
East Africa
I'll try to send some out too eventually.
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