Quick breakfast at hotel, take a taxi to Wilson airport, catch (surprisingly smooth) flight to Nanyuki. See Mount Kenya peeking up above the clouds. Get picked up by field assistants, purchase provisions (fruit, nuts, beer, granola) and, of all things, a cell phone. Turns out that in pretty much any country but the U.S. incoming cellular calls are free. So, Mom, you can call until your heart’s content …or you drain the bank account! :)

Arrive at Mpala in the afternoon, catch the tail end of lunch, check in to get keys, turns out I’m assigned to the dorms. Look at big board of arrivals and departures and banda assignments for a long time with the guy in charge and finally figure out I outrank some one who’s assigned to banda #7 – and I successfully move it. Good to be back in the old banda! Kind of feels like I never left…

Unpack, and run into a handful of folks I met last year – and the resident pooch, Talak! Great to catch up with folks and enjoy seeing Talak play with the honking pheasant toy I brought from the States.

During dinner a big herd of elephants was munching away about 50 ft from the dining hall. A few adults and a whole mess of li’l ones. You could hear them trumpeting all throughout the night. A handful of us woke up during the night to munching and belching ele noises outside the banda.