July 09, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy | Maasai Mara Game Reserve
"Heard a leopard outside the camp last night around 4 a.m. Sounded like a small catfight. "

Heard a leopard outside the camp last night around 4 am.  Sounded like a small catfight. Spent the morning on a game drive through the Reserve.  Lots of elephants, zebra, topi and African buffalo.  In addition, we saw a pack of hyena and some mongoose (both of which were firsts for me).  Saw another pride of lions - two for two.  Spent some time haggling with the Maasai traders outside the gate - we got some good stuff at fair prices, but it's always a bit exhausting. 

There are no absolutes, and you are instantly surrounded by people thrusting bracelets, blankets, and other tokens into your hands.  Surprisingly, it actually gets to be fun after awhile. At noon we left for the drive back to Nairobi.  The Rift Valley is always spectacular, and my favorite party of the trip.

July 08, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy | Olenganaiyo Maasai village; Maasai Mara Game Reserve
"We count on the Massai, with their spears and experience to keep us safe."

 Heard a pride of lions roaring as we went to sleep.  The Maasai guarding the camp said they were likely a kilometer or so away, but they sounded like they could have been just outside the camp.  It's both exciting and a little bit off-putting at the same time.  We count on the Maasai, with their spears and experience to keep us safe.  Chet got some audio recordings which should be good.

Spent the morning in a traditional Maasai manyatta (village).  We were allowed to meet members of the community, visit their homes, and learn about their traditions and their way of life.  The children were especially interested in seeing themselves on the digital cameras.  It's almost unbelievable to think that, throughout the world, there are tremendous numbers of people who maintain traditional lifestyles, virtually separate from the world we know.  It puts our worries and priorities into perspective, and makes things like time pressures, bills, and cell phone minutes seem pretty trivial.

Travelled to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and spent the afternoon on a game drive.  Saw a great pride of lions feeding on a wildebeest.  We were within about 20 feet of them for about a half and hour.  One male made several ambling trips around the vans.  We also saw a cheetah (a first for me), though for much of the time it was almost perfectly camouflaged in the high grass.  The Mara is much greener than mlast year, nut the migration has not yet reached it.

Got some great shots of a secretary bird, a large ground-feedeing bird that preys on snakes.  Also saw the standard impala, gazelles, buffalo, topi, and elephant.  The Mara never disappoints.

July 07, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy | Near Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria
"Camped last night overlooking Lake Victoria. The view was astounding."

Camped last night overlooking Lake Victoria.  The view was astounding.  Heard a hyena laughing in the night, pretty close by.  We also suffered through a tremendous thunderstorm, which I and others had previously claimed would end up being nothing more than heat lightning.  As the Kisumu natives also claimed the rising 40 mph wind and cooling tempereatures meant it WOULDN'T rain, I didn't feel too bad.  Nevertheless, I've been reminded of it at least 8 times today, so I wasn't completely vindicated.

July 05, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"We spent the afternoon at Kakamega Forest Reserve, the only patch of tropical rain forest left in Kenya."

As the students traveled from Nairobi to Kisumu via road, we flew to Kisumu. The view of Lake Victoria as we landed was well worth the flight. It’s the second largest lake in the world, and it shows.

We spent the afternoon at Kakamega Forest Reserve, the only patch of tropical rain forest left in Kenya. It was incredible. We saw hornbills, colobus monkeys, and some amazing teak trees. Never before seen anything like this habitat. Tomorrow we sail on the lake.

We met with the deputy vice-chancellor of University of Nairobi. He and President Ransdell signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalizing the partnership between our two schools. After that the students went to a number of workshops and lectures. As for me, I spent the day dealing with logistics, and not very successfully. There's always a day like this somewhere in the trip -- hopefully this was it.

We had dinner at the world famous Carnivore Restaurant. Tried ostrich, crocodile, and camel in addition to the standard beef, lamb, pork and chicken. Not a menu for vegetarians.

July 03, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"We took a safari through Nairobi National Park."

We took a safari through Nairobi National Park. Lots of giraffe, and a few rhino, wildebeest and eland. Still, it was our first taste of wildlife roaming free. We had lunch at a nyama choma place in Kitengela. We feasted on roasted goat and irio.

July 02, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"It's not often you have a giraffe taking food out of your hand, or as many people did, your mouth."

We visited the national museums of Kenya, and toured the ethnography and human origins exhibits. We saw the paintings of Joy Adamson and the hominid skulls uncovered by Richard and Maeve Leakey at Koobi Fora near Lake Turkana.

We then went to the giraffe center, where there is a breeding program for the endangered Rothschild's giraffe. It's not often you have a giraffe taking food out of your hand or, as many people did, your mouth. Some of these pictures ay never see the light of day...

The highlight of the day was a tour of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. The Trust raises orphaned baby elephants to the point that they can be reintroduced into the wild. It’s not a simple task, as it involves 24-hour bonding between keepers and elephants for about two years. The baby elephants are so affectionate -- they like to suck on your hand (luckily, they don't yet have teeth). We were fortunate to meet the founder and world famous conservationist, Daphne Sheldrick. She has a PBS special coming to the U.S. in March, so we'll be sure to watch.

July 01, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"We flew over the Sahara Desert across Libya and Sudan for at least three hours."

We arrived in Nairobi at 9 p.m. The trip was not too bad. We flew over the Sahara Desert across Libya and Sudan for at least three hours -- it was barren but extremely impressive. We saw the Nile River and the Darfur mountains. It's nice to be back in familiar but exotic surroundings.

June 24, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"Everybody has a role and a special contribution to make on this trip."

No adverse effects of the anti-malarial. "The ones that Mother gives you – Don’t do anything at all…"

Kate emailed me today, saying she’s excited about the trip and that she "feels like royalty." It was cute. The girls have been pretty calm about the whole thing, so I'm glad to know they're excited. Both Kate and Katherine have read the book Facing the Lion, about a boy growing up Maasai. I think that will help them appreciate what they see even more, and it will also give them some knowledge that no one else on the trip will have – they will be the experts on the Maasai lifestyle. Everybody has a role and a special contribution to make on this trip.

Started our anti-malarial series today. The first time using this drug – we’ll see about those vivid dreams some people get.

June 22, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"Picked up the travel advance today."

Picked up the travel advance today. Need to wire Frank some money on Monday. Off to Burlington, VT for a 4 day conference – not the best timing, but we’re pretty well organized at home, so it shouldn’t be a big problem. All but one student has their discussion materials in, and I should get his on Monday.

June 17, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"Today we selected Finch Travels to provide logistics for the trip."

Today we selected Finch Travels to provide logistics for the trip. Apparently the bid process involved some amount of Kenyan bargaining. We Americans obviously still don’t grasp all of the subtleties of that. I guess that's why car salesmen in the US make such good money. Anyway, it’s all over and done now – time to really focus on the trip itself.

June 15, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"The provost's office has given us all the remaining funding we needed."

A revised quote came in from Finch Travels today - the new number is in the ballpark ! One more call to Frank and I think we'll have it pretty well worked out.

The Provost's Office has given us all the remaining funding we needed !! The last hurdle overcome. Academic Affairs and the Applied Research and Technology Program have been outstanding in their support for our project all along - we certainly couldn't do it without them.

Most of the students have give me the topics they want to lead discussions on for the Wildlife, Cultural and Economic Diversity of Kenya course. I need to hound them some more for readings, but we're almost there.

June 14, 2005 | Dr. Doug McElroy
"Visas arrived in the mail today. Some travel insurance and one more shot, and we'll be ready to go.."

Getting down to the wire on arranging the itinerary. You'd think that it would all be worked out by now (especially since we began planning a year ago), but it never seems to go that way. Spent a good deal of time today and yesterday trying to call both Charles Kimwele and Frank Omondi in Kenya. After about a dozen aborted attempts, we finally managed to get across the information we needed. Cell phone communications are just good enough to make the idea of actually talking enticing, but bad enough to be frustrating. Still, it was really great to hear their voices - it's a reminder of the personal friendships that underlie all this.

Visas arrived in the mail today. Some travel insurance and one more shot, and we'll be ready to go. It finally seems like we're on the downside of planning, and we can begin to relax and really anticipate the trip.