Meet the Fleet

Meet the rough, tough vehicles of Mpala....

The Palmer Lab Trio: Kermit, Betsy, and Zoey (left to right).  Todd Palmer, head of the Palmer Lab,
had his vehicles all painted bright colors for a reason.  He said when you are in the field
and being chased by and elephant or buffalo it is important to know where your vehicle is!
 Bright colors help to locate it quickly. Good thinking, Todd!

KERMIT
After driving around in all the the Palmer Lab Vehicles I have decided I like
Kermit the best.  He is the smoothest ride, spacious, and comfy.  Travis finds him
the best to drive too.  Kermit has been rolled a couple of times and sunk into the river in his
lifetime and still has the spark of life in him.  His current downfalls are: windows don't roll
up all the way, back door sometimes doesn't close letting in copious amounts of dust, and
the 4WD is broken.  

ZOEY
Zoey is my second favorite Palmer Lab Vehicle.  She is the newest and Todd's "precious."
  She drives a tad bit rougher than Kermit and is geared a little lower in shifting.  I like her bc
she is new and nice and looks really good.  She is a little less roomy than Kermit,
 but everything works.  Driving her comes with a little added pressure of not
"hurting her or else" from Todd.  We are always just as happy to drive Zoey as Kermit.
Did I mention she looks so cool?

BETSY

Betsy is my least favorite of the Palmer Lab Trio.  She has quite the story

of survival on numerous occasions (rolling and drowning) but has resurrected in

a rough condition.  She is by far the roughest ride and has the most quirks.  I feel 

sometimes that I might get physically injured (like a compressed spine) because 

she takes the bumps so hard.  She is also hard to steer because the alignment 

is so incredibly off. But, with all the negatives said, I am thankful to have her when

we need a vehicle to drive.  I do think she looks pretty cool with her racing stripes!

BANGED UP RASUL
This is a picture of the van AFTER it had been tipped on its side, hence the
busted out back window.  Luckily it happened at a slow speed and only crunched it
a little (doesn't look too bad).  It was drivable a few days after the incident.
These vans have a narrow wheel base they tip more easily.  A good reminder to
drive CAREFULLY out here!  Two out of the three of Todd's vehicles have been wrecked!

To make the rest of these pictures a little more interesting, I hid Mr. Gnome, my world- travelling companion, on each of the vehicles for you to find as you check them out.  Here is a picture of what he looks like!

Meet Mr Gnome! Yes, he really likes cookies:)

.

KAL
Kal is an old, old beast.  This vehicle has seen so much, I am sure.  He was donated
by the Denver Zoo who used to sponsor a project here (notice the very faded sticker
on the side).  Kal, in old man fashion, doesn't get up and go very fast.  Sometimes he requires
a good push-start or battery cable wiggle.  And often he seems to need assistance to get
home (a tow).

TIMONE

.

HEDGE HOG
This beauty shares my birth year, 1981!

EAGLE SCOUT

BORN FREE
This is Travis' dream car....for real!

GODFREY
I would like to have one of these little green machines!  They are cute!
They are much smaller than the land rovers and land cruisers and yet roomy.

POSHIE
This is the newest, shiniest, and most posh land rover on station....the owner is a
 PI (principle investigator) from Princeton...no more to be said:)  I would be afraid
to drive this around here on the dusty, rough roads.

SCUBA STEVE
This is one of the security (ascari) patrol trucks.

TOWNIE
A subaru!!  Travis said if he could he would like to ship his subaru over here...
he thinks it would do well in the African bush lands and get better fuel
economy than the land rovers and such. This car is mainly for driving
 to town and back.

OL' RED

SUNSHINE
 Someone else believe in the bright-color theory!

MAGGIE
This is the director of Mpala's vehicle.  Probably the smoothest ride on station.

These are the vehicles that get the researchers out to the field everyday to do what they do.  They are all abused as a result of this wild place and have to visit the on-station clinic (mechanic shop) on a regular basis. It is quite amazing that some are still running:)

Were you able to find Mr. Gnome?