Get in touch with a researcher who had some pitfall trapping in the glades in the past, and I get permission to look through his old samples which are still stored at Mpala. Unfortunately the ethanol has evaporated from the crappy sample vials and it’s reacted with the large plastic storage bins, so I’m left with a bazillion stinky unorganized vials to sort through. I find the samples that correspond to the sites of interest, but the samples are all dried and crispy.

I decide to shift gears and write to the researcher about striking up a community ecology collaboration to use the data he’s already collected. He’s done a ton of sampling and identifying, and I think there might be some cool ways to analyze the data set. So I propose my thoughts and wait to hear back. I suddenly remember about some ant samples that were collected around Mpala several years (which, oddly enough, I helped identify before I had any notions of working out here) and write to see if they are still around. I hear back, and they’re still at UVM and available for my perusal. Excellent!

Word circulates that some crocodiles have been spotted by the pump house by the river (the same river water which provides our shower water to help us get ‘clean’). We take a quick investigative trip, but alas, no crocs today.

I was hoping to get some preliminary work done on the main research project going on here (=investigating interactions between termites and large grazing mammals) and I chat with our collaborators who are visiting to complete more sampling. Unfortunately the data have not yet reached a point to be informative, so I’ll have to wait to begin my project.

Catch a picture of a Red-cheeked cordon-bleu.

Enjoy some sundowners by river, which is in partial celebration of a successful Wild dog vaccination. It’s been two years in the making, as vaccinating endangered species is controversial, and rabies vaccination attempts in Tanzania resulted in a bunch of dead dogs. Forget to bring my flashlight to the lab at night. Thought I could manage the walk in the dark, but about seven steps into the total darkness I walk into a (parked) vehicle and realize I can’t see two inches in front of me. I retrace my steps, unplugged my laptop and keep it open, using the screen as my light source.

Spend half of the day digging pitfall traps to do an ant diversity study in glades (=large open areas heavily grazed by cattle). Not surprisingly, cattle activity (i.e. waste) can dramatically affect the nutrient cycling of an area, and some preliminary plant work has shown some cool results. I’m curious to see if some of these results are detectable in the insect communities, too. Unfortunately the ground is like concrete, and my hand trowel and womanpower is all I have to break through. I’m a little frantic while digging, as I’m out there with another crew and don’t want to keep them waiting. As we drive from site to site I’m trying to create a map of the unmarked roads so I can find them again in three days when I need to collect my traps.

In the afternoon I get behind the wheel with a friend to brush up on my manual driving skills – it’s probably been five years since I tried driving one. Get a handful of emails from folks who are concerned about my safety since the phrase ‘ethnic cleansing’ has been featured in the news. A MP from the opposition party was shot, and the event has sparked violence around the area.

Go for a night game drive. See Bushbabies (=very small primates with huge eyes and ears) hopping through trees. Down by the river, see baboons high in trees. They are known to throw feces, and we hear things striking the ground and it’s beginning to smell. Spot pair of White tailed mongooses romping through grass, huge bushy white tails flouncing around. See a Striped hyena slinking around and a Bat earned fox tearing, zagging through field. Follow some movement we see in the distance, and catch sight of an Aardwolf. Pass a Common genet sitting on rock outpost and some giraffes bedded down, all folded up for the night.

Start the day skyping and feeling great – amazing how seeing someone’s face, expression substantially shrinks the distance.

Spend the day digging up termite’s fungal comb, which are located about two feet underground, the size of a basketball, look like a huge brain, and are made up of regurgitated plant material. A bunch of fungus grows all over it, and that's what the termites eat. Break it open and little transparent juvenile termites are inside every small pocket of the fungal comb. The worker termites (‘regular’ sized with yellow body and red head) and soldiers (the big ones with the huge heads) are also scattered throughout.

We take our cues from the aardvarks which dig big holes to get to the termites. The termites relocate (what's left of) the fungal comb near the disturbance, so we often don't have too far to go. Without the aardvark activity we'd be clueless as to where to even start the digging.

While traveling in the field got a great view of a pair of tawny eagles. As one pushes off an Acacia branch to take off the branch broke and she ‘stumbles’ through the air for a bit. First time I saw an eagle look ungraceful. But boy are they beautiful.

On way back see some giraffe tracks. Apparently this one is approximately a women’s size 9.

Spend the day outlining project details, sketching up some study designs and coordinating sampling schedules. Run on some paths through the research center and feel a bit like a mouse in a cage, but feels great to move around after staring at computer all day. Go for a drive at dusk and see either a Wild dog or a Stripped hyena running off at a distance and a few giraffes ambling along. I take a map along so hopefully I can learn some of these roads that all look the same to me. After dinner a researcher shows up a pit cobra she found dead on the side of the road – she actually put in her car and drove around with it for half a day.

Hurray for podcasts! Listen to an episode of “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me”, per my usual Saturday morning. Send out an exchange of emails to coordinate work and get permission to work in the glades (=large green open areas that were used to enclose and feed cattle). Take a picture of a African paradise flycatcher hanging out by the lab.

Do some laundry. The research station has laundry service, but apparently it’s Kenyan custom to wash your own ‘delicates.’ So I fill up a bucket with soap and water and for one of the few times in my life, truly ‘hand-wash’ my garments.

Spy a beautiful Red-headed rock agama lizard thermoregulating during my chores. Learn that they are dark brown at night, and the dominant male will change colors during the day. When a male fights his head turns brown and white spots appear on his body.

Meet some fresh blood at lunch – a couple birders just arrived. One’s here for a week, the other for 6 months. Do the perfunctory ‘Where ya from, how long ya here for?’ and they seem pretty nice.

The power adapter that my computer is hooked up as been crackily for a while. I unplug it and shake about 30 small dead ants out of it, which seems to solve the problem.

Take a drive and find a spot by the river which is rocky and turbulent, an area apparently crocodiles don’t frequent. See some Vervet monkeys in the trees on the other side of the bank, and at one point there’s a mass exodus and they’re flying off the tree. We leave at dusk and are a bit of a ways away from the station, and I need to visit the little girls room of the wilderness. Need to find open-ish area so I can see what’s roaming around, as dusk is when many carnivores start their prowl, and I’m looking to keep all my limbs.

Listen to Cat Stevens ‘Another Saturday Night’ and I can’t get it out of my head. Guess it’s my theme song tonight. Finish off the day watching an episode of “Planet Earth” which features the rare occasion of lions taking down an elephant. Captivating and hard to watch at the same time.

Today’s highlights are culinary: French toast with bananas and papayas, spaghetti (my favorite meal thus far) and salad, and some awesome carrot-like cake. Got me through of day of battling Word’s auto-formatting on my manuscript, but successfully got a version off my (virtual) desk. Watched attempts at tattooing (already dead) lizards’ bellies as way to permanently mark them. Turns out a using a regular tattoo needle is much too blunt and is not an appropriate procedure, as the primary result is simply a smear of what would likely be a lethal dose of ink. Get some syringes from the Wild dog folks, and those appear to be too blunt, too. Perhaps a sewing needle??

Some folks went on drive tonight and came across a herd of elephants around sunset. Here's a cool one of the crew, hungry baby included.

Beautiful clear night. Enjoying some (surprisingly not half bad) South African wine out of box and catching up on email. It’s well into Friday night here, but only mid-day back home; it appears many folks are using their Fri afternoon to catch up on correspondence… :)

Last one to leave the lab, and it’s eerily quiet on the 3 min walk to my banda. I catch a bunch of rabbits in the beam of my flashlight – their bright orange eye shine make them look like something Stephen King would write about. A high layer of clouds has come in and the light of the almost full moon gleams across the sky.

Sleep in and enjoy some eggs with breakfast. Nice to add some protein to the cereal and toast options. May have chance to go out with a woman who tracks the endangered Wild dog population. Wild dogs are the second most endangered dogs in Africa behind the Ethiopian wolf (‘Simien fox’). Categorized as pests and easily shot due to their relaxed behavior, their populations have been decimated.

About an hour later we’re on the road, domestic canid (Talek, a four month old Rhodesian ridgeback) and all. First stop at Lookout Rock to get an initial reading on the collared dogs. Can get general direction, but no idea on distance. Stop a few more times to get some general readings, and it seems like we’re in the right direction. Happen to cross another canid, a Black-backed jackal, enroute.

As get closer need to stop every couple minutes or so and do a lot of turning around to follow the strongest signal. At this point we know we’re close, but unsure if they’re down a ravine or in some thick bush that’s beyond our vehicle’s abilities. We’re off-road now, and try to maneuver around the veg and over the holes. And then, BAM!, there they are, napping under a tree!They are surprisingly relaxed, even with the vehicle circling them and idling nearby.

Six total, 2 collared, and one dog that’s a new addition to the group. We try to gently startled them so they stand up,

so we can determine if the new pack member is a male or female.

Once we've taken our fill of pictures and observations, we need to head out and find the road again. The driver has a bit of anxiety snaking around the acacia trees and cacti while trying to stay on what we imagine is the route back to the road, but we eventually find our was back. Heading back to the research station I spy my first ostrich.

After lunch, power’s out, but gives me excuse to unload pictures from this morning. Struggle to get work done, so go for a crepuscular game drive. Warthogs! One adult and two little ones. Too bad they are so skiddish it's hard to take a picture. See lots of impala, gazelles, and oryx. Took a load of pictures of a stick bug, amazingly camouflaged with the dry grass.

Spend entirety of day looking at ant ID key, organizing information and looking up myrmecological vocabulary such as “propodeal nodes” and “hypopygium.”

Spend some time looking up exercises I can do in and around my banda. Hoping to be able to run, but stories of a man eviscerated by a buffalo while running around the Centre have dampened those aspirations. Able to do a little sprinting and plyometrics, and it feels great to be moving again. Between the inactivity and the mile high elevation, I’m huffing and puffing.

When I first came back to banda in the afternoon, door was closed, but the baggie full of food was compromised again. And now a highway of ants has come in to play clean up. (Finally) remove food from banda and kill off the ants. Funny how you (well, me) will toil in the hot sun to sample ant diversity, and then come home to extirpate the tramp species.

Call folks on Skype in morning, say goodnight to them in MN. Ike can hear my voice through the speakers and approaches the computer wagging and whining. They tell me he’s doing well – loving the backyard, holding his tail high. They move the videocam so I can see and hear him, and it makes me smile and breaks my heart at the same time.

Go out to the black cotton, set a couple tuna baits around a glade, and do a little hand collecting around termite mounds (don’t want to disturb pitfall trapping that’s in progress). This morning I have my first signs of gastro-instability. Luckily a few peptos calmed the storm.

Driving back from field, we see some baboons crossing the road in front of us. Large male hangs by side of road and stares as us we approach. Not more than 90 s later: elephants! Two females and a li’l one slowly ambling away (Of course no camera today!)

Later in the afternoon I chat with a collaborator about the current state of the project and some of my ideas. Shoot some White-browed sparrow weavers nest making outside the lab. End the day by going to Lookout Rock with a friend and enjoy some Pilsner brand lager beers(?!), an on-looking Rock hyrex, and watching the sun set and the moon rise.

I write an ant guru guy who did some intensive ant sampling around Mpala a few years ago. Don’t expect to hear anything for awhile, if ever. To my grateful surprise, a few hours later get response, along with preliminary key to ants. Includes many unidentified species, but a nice introduction to the area and a key to species identifications. Recognize my weird excitement reading about in-depth descriptions of dead Kenyan insects. “Dork on!” as my mom would say J

Return to banda to find door wide open – must not have latched completely when I left. Baggie full of Powerbars has hole torn in and one is missing a big rodent-sized chunk. Nice.

Went out with collaborators to set pitfall traps in the morning in the black cotton system. Dig a small hole, insert a small plastic cup, smooth ground so flush with top of cup. Fill with soapy water, and presto: cheap and effective trap to collect ground invertebrates. I am amazed at our field assistant’s ability to locate specific termite mounds in this endless homogenous environment.

Excited for game drive tonight, especially with the full moon out. See the majority of wildlife within 100m of the research station. See a giraffe immediately by the side of the road, and opposite, a hippo. Soon after, two big Cape buffaloes starting at us from behind a bush. Eeeee-rie. Every five or ten minutes there’s a huge herd of zebra; we had to stop to let them all pass across the road a few times. In one open area there’s probably fifty zebras milling around with the same amount of gazelles lying down in the grass. While turning back into the research station, we came screaming around a corner, and suddenly all you could see were giraffe legs – we slammed on the brakes and took it out! It took me a bit to grab my camera and the lighting is awful, but here she is:

When we walked to our bandas later that night, we saw it hanging out in front of them. I guess you could say I had a giraffe on my front lawn! :)

It’s Sunday morning and I’m jonesing for a big fatty breakfast. But it’s the usual: cold cereal, toast, and some fruit. Usually you can order eggs or French toast, but for some reason eggs are currently unavailable. Some sausages make their way on the table, but no quite sure from which animal it’s derived. It’s the most tasteless meat product I’ve experienced. Went on little game drive and stopped at old riverbed to search for Acheulean hand axes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheulean). This area is notorious for seeing buffalo, so need to stay vigilant and listen for the characteristic snorting. A few minutes later, hear distinct snorting. And again. Look up and see a big red-brownish animal with upturned horns about 30m away in the bush. Double time it back to the Land Cruiser and turn around the vehicle to look for it.
No luck, but upon further consideration write it off as a simple cow sighting. Who knows… Stand up in hatch as we drive around looking for more animals.

Spot a Kori Bustard walking around

And a herd of Common Zebras with a few little ones in tow





Later, while working in lab, shoot some birds hanging outside the window



A banded Superb starling







A White-bellied go-away-bird posing for the camera






... and bending over to grab some grub






The Director also popped in, mentioned she'll be going to the States to visit some Trustees. Their big meeting got canceled due the political mess here in Kenya, and now with a bunch of student groups no longer coming, there are some serious budget issues that need resolution.

Successfully made it out to the black soil system today. On the drive out saw two zebra rumps as they ran away, and heard myself audibly gasp. Walked around the experiment plots, always keeping an eye out for elephants and buffalo. Get feeling of lifelessness here during dry season. But came across two areas of matted grass. About a week ago folks stumbled across a dead giraffe, and within a few days none of it remained. The other spot was where a lion took down a zebra, and within 48 hours the only remaining evidence was a layer of dried grass: its stomach contents. After lunch went out to the red soils and learned of some large mammal exclosures (=large electric fences) that were set up about 10 years ago. No door to the exclosure, so you need to twist a ground wire to the live wire twice to kill the juice, and then squeeze through. Helped look for some harvester ants for another researcher. Didn’t find any, but did see about 5 species of ground-dwelling ants. Might have to dork out a little ant project in there…

Attempts to visit black cotton prohibited by heavy rains last night. Because the black soil system here has a high percentage of clay, the roads quickly become too slippery to navigate, even in a Land Cruiser. Did a load of work on a manuscript (journal article based on diss research). Had my first passion fruit at lunch today. It's small and really gooey and seedy inside and kind of acidic, but also very sweet and tasty. Meals here are sort of American in that we get spaghetti, chicken, beef stew, etc. But it's all got a little different funky taste too. And this Midwestern gal is missing out on the real dairy.

Took a walk on the ‘ring road’ which circumscribes the research station and passed an elephant skull

Had a beer with a friend on the porch of a (we assume, unoccupied) research house during sunset. Lots of birdfeeders by this house, and snapped some pix

Slept fairly well last night. Woke up after 4 hrs of sleep to unidentifiable wildlife noises, including weird pig-like snorting and grunting. (later find out this is a common impala noise) Woke up at 6a for good because of sun pouring in through door – apparently my banda faces east. Try my first fresh papaya for breakfast. Upon cutting it open it fill my nose with a sweet yet mildly vomit-y smell. Not too bad, but I wouldn’t file it under ‘sumptuous.’ Talk with some folks about their projects; it’s great to hear the cool science as well as feel welcomed to collaborate. So much to learn about this place and its research, and beginning to feel mildly upgraded from complete-novice. Sit in dabbled shade under tree for 45ish minutes, and my shoulders are untogether unpleased with the equatorial sun exposure. Two main soil types here: red and black. The experimental exclosures (and much of the research done here at Mpala) is on the black cotton soil ecosystem. Head out on short trip to red soils to help look for some termite mounds, happened across some Rock Hyrax. Tomorrow plan to go to black soils to check ’em out.

Call driver at 7a to confirm pickup; automated voice tells me he’s unavailable. Call another contact, and we need to repeat ourselves to decipher accents. They’ll rush to pick me up in time. Very friendly transport to Wilson, arrive with plenty of time to spare. Today is suppose to be first of three days of demonstrations, but the morning rain has kept folks indoors. While sipping luscious airport smoothie, meet up with fellow post-doc. Get on 20-seater plane to Nanyuki. Older British ex-pat pilot turns around to greet us , inform us of emergency exit locations, and passes around in-flight service (=tropical mint candies in battered Tupperware). Take off into clouds, fly over Kenyan farmlands.

Greeted in Nanyuki by field assistant, Simon, and bright green research vehicle, Kermit. Grab a few items in town (mangoes, papayas, cookies, beer)

and drive ~hour to research station. Pass first wildlife (impala) and two camels being walked to town to slaughterhouse.




Get assigned Banda

and enjoy lunch, my first Mpala meal of many to come. Meet a bunch of Mpala folks, get my computer hooked up the network, and promptly blow out my surge protector (says it’s designed for 220v, but apparently not). Go on mini-game drive and stop at the river, and I see my first hippos. There’s a whole crew of them hanging in the water, and at one point congregate and snort at each other. A Vervet monkey was hanging in the tree by the river bank. Pass a mess of gazelles and then spot a Cape buffalo in the distance. Try to get it to come near us, but it’s not interested. Turn around, and there’s a giraffe! And a few minutes later come across some oryx. All old-hat to the other folks in the truck, but mind blowing to this jet-lagged body…

Leave MSP at 3:10 CST. Hug my mom goodbye half a dozen times. Smooth travels from MSP to Amsterdam (AMS). Suppose to meet fellow traveler at AMS and continue travel together from there. Her flight is delayed due to an emergency medical landing in Ireland, misses connection. I chat with Pa via Skype and take self-portrait in AMS.

I continue on very empty 747 to NBO with beautiful Dutch flight attendants dressed in baby blue. De-plane, and immediately go through passport check. Older Dutch couple and I clearly have no idea how to navigate the paperwork. We are summoned by Kenyan government official, and follow him down hallway while he asks us to pay him the $50 visa fee. Our passports are stamped and we're on our way. Pick up my luggage, which includes last bag put on carousal. Wait in customs line while folks have luggage inspected. Summed by another Kenya gov’t official and am waived through line, 100 lbs of luggages unopened. Get taxi ride to hotel, send emails regarding transport to Wilson airport the following day. Take a life-affirming shower, sleep restlessly.

Around midnight it begins to rain in Nairobi.