Tembo mingi

Today’s entries are a bit lacking in pictures, so how about some elephant pictures? There have been a lot at the waterhole and I have been kept busy all day long anticipating the arrival of group after group. I have become used to the routine of relaxing a bit after a group leaves the waterhole and have been caught off guard a couple times as suddenly there are elephants that I didn’t see coming. Amazing how a group of 15-20 three-ton animals can sneak up on you.

Ryan Seacrest

At the waterhole one day, I discovered that my MP3 player can pick up radio stations at the tree house. Sometimes I regret being stuck so high in the air exposed to every breeze that exists, but being 30 feet in the air does have its advantages. Last Sunday I picked up Ryan Seacrest’s America’s top 40. I had to keep my arm outstretched to get the best reception, but anything to hear Paris Hilton talk about how she is not cheating on her boyfriend as tabloids have been reporting. I felt like I was in a twilight zone and had to remind myself I was in Tanzania still. In all seriousness, it is nice to get BBC world so that I can hear people speaking English and covering world news stories so much better than local TV stations back home.

Safari ndogo

Last week I was invited to join the owner of the ranch and his girlfriend for dinner and TV! It was so nice to have company at night… not to mention the pork, wine, and a television fix. I slept at the guest-cottage on the property and what a treat! There was a humongous bed on which I slept completely sprawled out reveling in the comforter that smelled like fresh laundry. In the morning, I had a hot shower causing everyone I met on my way to the tree house to look twice and ask “Bekah, kwanini safi asubuhi asubuhi?” (why are you clean early in the morning?). Obviously they are used to my grungy researcher appearance. It was like going on vacation for a night and will be dreamed of for weeks to come.

Nataka paka yangu

Nyama the cat is still at the farm weaning her kittens. Her presence is missed around here as recently there seems to be a rat/lizard/frog infestation in my house. During the night I am frequently serenaded by a toad who belts out his call without warning. I have tried moving him outside, but he seems to prefer my echo-y bathroom, as he must squeeze under the door and find his way back to his territory. In addition, the gecko who lives on the wall near the window in my bedroom is enjoying his new found freedom without a predator in the house. It scurries over the desk making little rustling noises at night. I welcome these kind of critters, but I must draw the line somewhere. The other night I was putting my dirty dishes in the kitchen after dinner and heard a rustling near an empty jug of oil. I directed my headlamp to find a rat jump off the table and onto the floor behind some buckets. I tried my best to find it, but I think he had the ability to vanish into the concrete floor. I didn’t have the energy to do anything about it so I just left him alone. I was fearing the rat because I knew my sacred cheese was contained in the kitchen, so I propped the cheese up on an upside down cup and let it go. Making my way to the bathroom, I heard my toad let out a loud noise which also didn’t phase me. However, taking one step into the bathroom, I felt little claws scurry over my foot and the beam of my headlight met the beady little eyes of yet another rat. Yes, I screamed. I should probably be concerned that my scream didn’t phase my askari. Needless to say, the next day I called Nyama’s doctor who told me it would be another 4 weeks before Nyama could come back with two kittens. I am glad she is coming with reinforcements to reinstate her territory.

JIBINI!

Last Wednesday, I got a call on the radio when I was at the waterhole asking me to come to the owner’s house on my way home. Of course all day I was coming up with all kinds of scenarios on why I was asked to stop by. All of the scenarios were good news resulting in my excitement for the end of the day to come so I could unfold the mystery. Well, to my delight on arrival I was handed a wheel of locally made mozzarella cheese! I had ordered cheese the last time I ordered food because I have been told that there is a village that makes it. It is too long of a daladala ride/walk for me to transport it myself, but the ranch vehicles often get cheese there for the tourist camp. This method allowed the cheese to be kept refrigerated until it was in my hands. I unabashedly opened it and took a big bite on my way home. It had been a long time since I have had cheese, a mainstay of our casseroles back home. I had about a 20 minute walk home holding the cheese right in my hand. It was so tempting and so delicious that I think I ate about a quarter of it. I relinquished it to Rose when I got home who had a puzzled look and asked “kwanini mbaya?” (why bad?) as she studied the bite marks. I was ashamed to admit I couldn’t help myself, but she just laughed. Rose sprinkled it with salt and wrapped in it a cloth napkin, explaining that it would keep a week this way. The following days were spent at the tree house in the morning contemplating the joy to be experienced at lunchtime when the cheese in my backpack would be in my mouth. I admit, usually the cheese didn’t survive until noon.

Sasa ngombe alikufa

I know it seems like this blog is full of dead animals, and I am still hoping that this is the last I have to write, but nonetheless, news is news. About a week ago some askari friends of mine had told me about a cow that they had dragged out of the furrow where we get water. It was alive and eating, but wouldn’t stand up. I asked them if they wanted a knife (its not uncommon for people to come greet me when they actually want something). They laughed and laughed and explained that it was a Masai cow because the ears were shredded. So, this cow was grazing on the ranch illegally across from the river from where it belongs, but it was not ours to eat. So, I let the cow sit there, eating grass within reach. She actually seemed rather content. The next day when I came back from the waterhole I noticed she was standing and eating inside the fence of my compound. I thought it was strange and mentioned it to a visitor who was waiting for me, but then got distracted and forgot about it. The following night, my askari knocked on my door and told me the cow had died in the furrow. Nothing like a cow dying unexplainably in the water source upstream from where the people that work and play on the ranch collect water! The askari who gave me the news seemed to think that the dead cow was now under my jurisdiction since it died in the compound, but I had no clue what to do with it. I think he called the office and soon thereafter help came to move the cow away from my house. As much as I like wildlife, its probably not a good idea to attract hyenas right outside my door as it is also near the village and the houses of other workers that may not appreciate a predator presence as much as I.

Safari ndogo na Arusha

I went to Arusha for a day this week. Enough said. Picture is worth a thousand words, right?

I just had to try the locally made wine. The label said it was made from grapes at a mission in Dodoma, Tanzania. After breaking it open last night I confirmed my suspicion that this must what the churches use for communion and it won't be a repeated purchase. However, I had to try... it was the cheapest there was.

Parachichi cheza.

I may be starting to go a bit nuts, but I think I have discovered that I am better company for myself when I am losing my mind. Now that we haven't been going to the village as much, Rose has been attending to the domestic duties at the house. This means that I have been benefiting from mandazis, chapatis, and samosas on a regular basis. Yay! It probably also means I should be devoting myself to a more regular schedule of mazoezi (excercise), but in the mean time let me tell you a story about bread. Rose made bread yesterday. I have yet to experience exactly how she was able to accomplish this feat without an oven. If we had an oven I could make casseroles and no longer be considered a domestic dim-wit. My best guess is that she buried a container with coals and placed the bread pan inside. Again, mostly speculation, and I will have to give an update when the mystery is revealed. However, I was so excited to have bread that I had a little photo-shoot with my sandwich. All thats missing is a piece of melted cheese... and wine... is there a recurring theme to my blog entries?

A full out avocado-tomato sandwich looked pretty enough, but proved disastrously sloppy as soon as I took a bite... and ended with me shamelessly licking the plate:

So then I reverted to the open-faced technique and got a little goofy with the photo shoot...

Here, I am excited... and learned that it is surprisingly difficult to make goofy faces for a camera when no one is in the room to watch...

It's official. I have spent too much time looking at pictures on facebook of yet another person in a bar making seductive faces at their friends for fun... except my seductive face is a little scary... and reserved for an avocado tomato sandwich across the ocean from my husband. Is that wrong?

Barafu

I had a Stony with ice yesterday. Just thought everyone should know that. First ice since April 29th. Yesterday was a bath day which only occurs every 3 days, and on top of that I managed to splatter elephant urine and mud all over myself at the waterhole- are you picturing the stink that was Bekah? Anyway, I was on my way back to the house but needed to drop something off at the tourist camp on my way. Long story short, I got to meet all kinds of new people dressed as the researcher that I am- stink and all. But, I had ice.

SIMBA!

This past week was quite a thrill as I heard that a young zebra was killed near the waterhole. Predators are not on the list of always seen animals here at the ranch, as it is a relatively newly protected area, the populations and habitat are still recovering from years of poaching and over-grazing. It is a fantastic sign that the ranch is well on its way to recovery when there is evidence of the top of the food chain fulfilling its role. Hopefully it is just a matter of time before the lions become comfortable enough in this paradise to allow themselves to be seen by tourists.

The day after the kill, Rose (my everything.. cook, friend, research assistant, translator, etc. etc.) SMSed me when I was walking home. She told me to hurry home because it was getting late and the lion might get me. I laughed when I read it thinking it was a joke but when I arrived she had a very worried look on her face. Just goes to show that if lions do become more of a presence here, there is going to be another kind of animal to educate the locals about! It took about 3 days for the carcass to be completely gone and in the meantime, I had the company of numerous species of vultures during my hours at the waterhole this week. Its always nice to have something new to look at!

Habari ya hali ya hewa?

I was told that August would have a lot of sun and be very hot. Believe me, I was doubting everyone especially around the end of July when I had to go get another jacket because the overcast weather was such a downer. However, as is usually the case, the locals know the weather better than any meteorologist. For the past 4 days it has been blue skies and breezy. This is good for my mood and good for my research, as the elephants have been rather predictably coming for a dip in the waterhole at the heat of the day. So everyone is happy. I am just trying to forget what I was told about September when "the real cold" begins when the short rainy season settles in.

Now I am a rockstar.

Yesterday I went to the village after a long absence. I wanted to check on some fields I heard were trampled. It occurred to me that if anyone in the States has the urge to feel like a rockstar temporarily, they would be wise to follow in my footsteps. The children that live directly next to the river I cross to go home are as close as I will get to having a “following.” As I was walking, I heard some unintelligible screaming in the distance and soon there were 15 little kids running at me with their arms outstretched racing to see who would reach me first so I could grab them and throw them in the air (and catch them of course). Second and third place got to hold my hands for the 30 meter walk across their yard. The rest had the consolation of holding onto my shirt. As I said Kwaheri, they started in on their chorus of “BY-EEEE.” As I descended into the valley to cross the river, their high-pitched squealing blended into the sounds of nature. However, as I arrived on the other side of the river and climbed up the hill I again heard “BEKAH…BEKAH…BEKAH!” to which I replied by waving and blowing kisses (more for my own amusement- I am sure they didn’t know what I was doing). At this point, I knew I had obtained rockstar status… at least to 15 kids in a rural village of Tanzania.

Birthday Ngombe.

Well, I had a fantastic 27th birthday. In the morning, I climbed a new hill to see something new. It was extremely windy, but I got some great pictures. Here is a picture of my house, the river, and the village where my research is being conducted:And here is the waterhole and treehouse:

For the afternoon, I went to the waterhole to get some data and had a marvelous time listening to music and taking it all in. I was secretly hoping to see something very cool for my birthday and I think God heard my thoughts and decided to play a little joke on me. In the early afternoon I saw a beast behind a bush. It was dark colored and had its head to the ground so I couldn’t see its face behind the grass. At first I was thinking that I was looking at my first Tanzanian cape buffalo… but then he looked up. It was a bull who must have wandered from the eye of its herder. He seemed awfully unconcerned that he was the only cow around, and was very excited to see all of the ungrazed grass near the waterhole. I got on the radio to report the sighting. Often when cattle are grazed illegally they are taken hostage so that the owners have to sheepishly come forward to collect them. However, because my birthday cow was apparently lost, I was given free rein to chase it away. Who else gets to chase a cow for their 27th birthday?

I did not feel nearly as alone as I was anticipating as I was fielding calls and SMSes from my relatives in Kenya in the morning, and then my family in America in the afternoon. As an added bonus, one of the guides came to my house in the afternoon to listen to have a God-song jam session. I am so glad I gave in to the pressure to conform technologically. I love my MP3 player.