East African Safari

We finished up the field work portion of Travis' project a few weeks back.  The field work went much faster than originally estimated so we were unexpectedly left with some time that we could use to explore more of Kenya.  Travis decided to book us a SAFARI ADVENTURE to celebrate finishing the field work. It is actually most economical and logistically easy to book trips through a tour company, so that is what we did.  It was so awesome to be able to see more of the country and its beloved and amazing national parks.  We also went into, neighboring,Tanzania to some national parks there.  We went with a group tour as private tours are way more costly compared to sharing a vehicle and guide with a few other people.  The guides know the parks well and communicate with other guides so your chances of seeing the cool stuff increases compared to trying to do it on your own (plus a couple parks require a guide).  The parks we visited in Kenya were the Masai Mara, Nakuru, and Amboselli.  The parks we visited in Tanzania were Lake Manyara, NgoroNgoro Crater, Serengeti, and Tarengeri.

On a safari you drive around in a van or land cruiser that has a pop up roof and drive around looking for wildlife. All the roads are dirt roads and a lot of them are very bumpy so having a tough vehicle is essential.  Usually when people come to Africa on safari they are usually interested in seeing what is called the BIG FIVE.  The big five are as follows: Rhino, Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Lion and Leopard.  I guess these animals are the top 5 most dangerous animals in Africa. Many of the locals would say that the cape buffalo were the most dangerous of all, which seems surprising.  If I were to pick the big 5, I would swap the cape buffalo for a cheetah and it would be more based on being interesting vs dangerous.  And then I would add an honorary spot for the giraffe because they are so cute and so tall!

I enjoyed seeing the cats the most, I think.  Its probably because they are usually the more challenging ones to see. We actually saw so many lions that they began to feel almost common. But each time we saw some it was exciting.  We saw a fair amount of cheetahs and only a couple leopards.  I feel like the leopard sightings were my favorite...but a very close/equal toss up with the lion cubs...so stinkin cute! The cats are all so majestic and regal.  It was amazing to see them!

A lot of people hope to see a kill by one of the cats.  I must admit we were sort of hoping for that too.  We saw a few hunts but none ended successful.  One lioness came very close to taking down one of a group of 3 zebras.  When she got close and it was apparent that it was probably going to be the baby zebra, I sort had a change of heart and was sort of rooting for the zebra to get away, and it did.  My heart was pounding so hard watching the whole thing.  It was really cool to witness!  Another time we just missed a couple of lions taking down a wildebeest... by a few minutes, I would guess.  The two lions were feasting on their fresh kill.  Then upon the scene came a few hyenas who must have caught the smell of blood in the air.  Then a few more came, then a few more, and more and more and more till about 50 hyenas were yapping with watering mouths as they watched the lions feast.  As a group the, the hyenas were getting more and more brave closing in on the lions until they pretty much ran the lions off of the kill and then proceeded to fight among themselves for a bite.  I actually think the lions had pretty much eaten their fill and left more out of annoyance than anything.  We did see one of the lions take an aggressive swipe and then bite into one hyena before laying down a few feet away to snooze off a overly full tummy.  It was really cool to watch that whole scene.  I couldn't believe how many hyenas showed up!

Each park we went to sort of had its special or unique thing about it.  The Masai Mara is not only a beautiful savannah land but also is part of the great migration of wildebeest and zebra. We happened to be visiting during the time were these millions of animals migrate into the Masai Mara.  It was unfathomable how many there were and so cool that we got to experience this thing that is considered one of the wonders of the world!  While we were there we saw so many fat and snoozing lions who were gorging themselves, probably daily, on this smorgasbord of easy food that had migrated into their area.

Nakuru has a big lake that is usually home to a whole ton of flamingos.  Its biggest claim to fame is probably that it is home to the most rhinos of any other park.

Amboselli is famous for the copious amounts of dust that it holds and is kicked up by the vehicles that drive its roads....ha ha!  Actually we were told in the Masai language that the world "amboselli" means dust.  Amboselli boasts of a beautiful Mount Kilimanjaro backdrop.  Unlucky for us, the mountain was covered in clouds the main day we were there.  We caught a brief hazy view of it the morning we left.

Lake Manyara was nice but it probably a park that attracts "birders."  It was a little too dense and bushy to see any animals.  There are supposedly tree climbing lions there but we did not see any.  It did host  millions and millions of pink flamingos that we could only see from a far distance but it made part of the lake appear pink.

The Serengeti is HUGE!!!  It also is part of the great migration but it is where the wildebeest and zebras go back to after the Masai Mara.  The two parks are essentially connected but are separated by a river boarder between Kenya and Tanzania.  This park is vast and would take quite a long time to fully explore.  It is also mostly open savannah lands with the occasional picture-perfect "African tree" popping up here and there.

The NgoroNgoro crater is actually an extinct volcano.  It is a very small area for the amount of animals that call it home.  The majority don't leave the crater, though they probably could climb the 1000 meters to get out.  It has the highest animal population densities by area of any of the parks.  

Tarengeri is home to the baobab tree....which is the tree Rafiki on the Lion King lived in.  It is nicknamed the "upside down" tree because it looks like the root system is sticking up in the air. It is super cool looking!   This park also has one of the highest elephant densities of all the parks. We saw TONS of elephants and lots of little babies ones....awe:)

In all, it was a great safari trip and we got to see a lot of beautiful landscape and wildlife!

I hope you enjoy some of the pictures!

Lion cub: Masai Mara

Black mane male Lion: Masai Mara

Leopard: Masai Mara

Cheetah: Masai Mara

A view of the great migration (wildebeest and zebra): Maasai Mara

Young male lion: Maasi Mara

Male lion: Masai Mara

A view into NgoroNgoro Crater

Motherly Love: Serengeti

Serengeti

A Serengeti Sunset

Baboon: Amboselli

Big Tusk Elephant: Amboselli

Oryx: Amboselli

Gerenuk: Amboselli

Baby Baboon: Tarengeri

Our safari mobile in Tanzania

Flamingos: Lake Manyara

Baobab tree: Tarengeri

Mother and baby zebra: Tarengeri

Rhinos: Nakuru

Rhino: Nakuru

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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?

Father's Day Lions

On Father's Day, I had made my dad a sharpie-drawn cardboard sign reading "Happy Father's Day!" that I was hoping to hold in a picture with elephants or giraffes or something that is cool and relatively frequently seen and easier to get a picture of as it was already the day-of and I hadn't taken my picture. My thought was to take a picture then send to him via the interwebs (email) to let him know I was thinking of him on the day of Fathers. All day I hadn't had the opportunity to take any sort of animal photo and I thought I would have to settle for just a shot of me somewhere with the sign which is kind of boring compared to the original thought.  But then, late in the afternoon, our field assistant, Zach, came to Travis and I and told us that he had heard over the radio (the guards and wildlife patrol use radios to communicate) that group of lions had been spotted near the big dam.  We quickly all jumped in a vehicle to go see if they would still be there....seemingly unlikely because such wild animals rarely sit still, especially when people are trying to go see them. Amazingly the lions sat still!! They were at the spot where we were told they were spotted! This was my first time seeing lions; they are so cool and beautiful.  They were a fair distance away but there were 6 lions all sitting under trees being lazy but also not caring about all the multiple vehicles that started showing up (as word spread around the center).  

So, this was my chance, my Father's Day photo!  I got one or two!  Even though you can barely see the lions in the background they are still there in my Father's Day picture!  Yay!  After awhile the lions got tired of staring at all of us people staring back at them and moved on.  But as we drove away, we passed the big dam, there they were again!! This time they were sitting on top of the dam (a big, long dirt mound) and we were WAY closer than before!  This was such a great view of them and they just sat there again and stared back at all of us staring at them.  They stayed long enough for us to get even better pictures than the first round, especially using Travis' new camera that is able to zoom quite far.  Lions; beautiful and powerful creatures!  What a memorable Father's Day it ended up being! It was the day I got to see lions!  I haven't seen one since.  We were told it was rare to see such a large pride like that just chillin', 6 of them.  We were told that there may have been 9 in total.  I wish my dad could have been with me to see them!

That was definitely a cool experience.  I am hoping to see more....or any large cats for that matter (cheetahs, lions, or leopards).  I actually did get to see a leopard a few days later.  It walked in front of our vehicle as we were driving to hang out at river camp after dark.  Leopards, like most cats, are mostly out and about at night.  We had a really good view of it but weren't able to take any pictures since it was dark out and it didn't stick around long.  I was excited to see it!  Travis had seen one the week prior but I missed it, but not this time!

Lions, leopards, and cheetahs....Oh my!  I've seen them all now, but I want to see MORE!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, Mark Kayser - the best dad!  Love you!

This was at the first place we saw lions.  Can you see them in the distance?
One is under the tree.

Zoomed a bit closer!

And a bit closer!

This is a young one.  It still has its baby-spots.

This is at the second location....the big dam.  See the one on top of the dirt pile?

So cool, right?

Beauties.

A Safari and and Orphanage

I had a blog written and almost ready to post when it suddenly and mysteriously was mostly deleted, (all but the opening statements).  I have no idea what happened but it is gone and I lost all my momentum and motivation to write it over again....sad days.  So, instead I will tell you about something else, until I can conjure up all that wit and humor that I was infusing in my last post which probably would be, in any other form, boring, ha ha!

Travis and I had the opportunity to join the field-school students for a little safari last week to a game conservancy about an hour away called Ol Pejeda.  It was pretty cool there!  The land was much more open than the land around Mpala (the ranch where the research center that I am staying at is located) and so you could see the animals really well as we drove around and there weren't many trees and bushes for them to hide behind.  There were tons of animals there and it was really fun to drive around and look at them. Elephants, zebra, impala, wart hogs, grants gazelles, water bucks, bush bucks, eland, lots of birds...and more. The two animals I hadn't seen yet were cape buffalo (they are so huge and mean looking) and rhinos (which are just incredibly enormous, crazy animals). I liked seeing the rhinos the best!  

The cute family of Black Rhino's we saw.

A melting pot of East African wildlife

He seems so uncomfortable:)  Another Black Rhino.

Don't mess with this cape buffalo! These guys are some of the
more dangerous ones out here.

Ol Pejeda game preserve is home to the endangered black rhino and southern white rhino.  But it is also home to 4 of the 7 remaining northern white rhinos on the planet.  The are making efforts to save them if they can.  Unfortunately they haven't been successful at fostering any offspring yet....but they still are hoping that it will happen.  Its crazy that we saw over half of the remaining population of this particular rhino left on the earth.  Rhinos have been in such decline due mostly to poaching and probably displacement.  Their horn is highly prized in certain parts of the world (like China) and it is big money for those who can supply (poach) them.  It is crazy to take down such a huge animal just to sell its horn. Unfortunately, these few species of rhino in particular are at risk to be completely annihilated if efforts are not taken to protect them.  They had one rhino on the preserve that is blind, named Baraka, who they keep in an pen because he would otherwise die in the wild.  We were able to pet him and feed him since they keep in fenced it so that he doesn't die.  It was crazy to be that close to one and to be able to touch it!  What a crazy looking and ginormous animal!  

Meet Baraka the Black Rhino

Part of the game preserve had a rehabilitation house for chimpanzees rescued from the animal trade.  I laughed so hard, here, at these chimps; they are so funny and human like...crossing their legs, using a twig as a tooth pick, standing up and walking, shading their eyes,picking their noses, throwing things...yeah, the throwing things was the funniest part.  The group of students was watching all these chimps and all of the sudden a few of them were rushing the fence and hurling dirt or poop or whatever at all of us. Even though there was a fence separating us, it was still startling to have the chimps rush the fence which produced screams from all the girls and then we would all crack up! It was all very funny and I think the chimps found it fun and amusing themselves.

Aw...so cute:)

Pucker up!

Just Chillin'

On another day I had the opportunity to go with the field school students to an animal orphanage.

The day started out kind of rough.  I got to skip out on a day in the field collecting data in exchange for a day of fun.  I went to the gate to meet the students to go about 9am.  I waited and waited and got to chat with the gate guard (called an "Ascari").  After a long delay I found out what happened.  One of the student vans was being driven to fill up with fuel at the center coming from river camp and the driver lost control or something on the super bumpy rough road and tipped the van on it side.  So, they had to get that tipped back up, moved and taken to the shop before the school leaders could find another vehicle to use to take to the orphanage.  I was surprised they still went for it!  The van had minor mechanical damage and was mostly just banged up on one side with a broken out window.  So, at about 11am we finally loaded up in the remaining van and in "kermit" the green landrover to go.  About half way there, kermit broke down. I guess, it was being driven in 4wd on the highway and it seized up.  We waited on the side of the road for about 30 min for help to come.  When help came we discovered the 4wd problem and it was put in 2wd and was able to continue on. So again, we overcame adversity:)

Kermit, broken down on the side of the road.

Anyway, back to the orphanage part....this place is a home to baby animals that have been found orphaned and are fostered to, hopefully, be released back into the wild.  It is also home to a few species of endangered animal that they are trying to breed and boost numbers.  And to be honest, it is also basically a glorified petting zoo for rich tourists.  It was fun to have up-close and personal contact with some cute, exotic animals. The cutest one, in my opinion, was the 5 week old baby giraffe!  It was so tiny by giraffe standards, about my height:)  We were able to feed it some corn kernels and pet it as it ran around the facility.  There were also some monkeys, a giant tortoise, some pygmy hippos, bongos, cheetahs, some other cat species, wart hogs, ostrich, and a bunch of birds.  They also had a zebroid which was really cool looking.  A zebroid is a hybrid of a horse and a zebra (my niece would love one of these).  I thought it turned out to be a really cool mix! Anyway, it ended up to be a fun day even with such a rough start and I am glad I had the opportunity to join!

Bongo

Pygmy hippo

Smile!  Actually more like, "feed me!"

Got to pet "Speedy"

Aw...the cute little baby giraffe (and Kat)

Iris feeding the sweet, little guy

Hanging out the the skunk monkey....actually called a
black and white colobus 

Feeding the bongo

The cool zebroid with the bongos