Expedition to Lake Nakuru: Days 5 and 6!

Hello again,

I am doing my best to catch up with this blog but more and more seems to be unfolding before my eyes that I cannot wait to share with everyone!

DAY 5:  Day five was finally my turn to be on cook crew and wake up at the break of dawn to start cooking for everyone.  We had to finish all of the food before the other student group woke up and needed to be in the kitchen at the same time.  We made all of the normal food, like pancakes and eggs and potatoes in record time so the next group could move in to feed their students.  We had to have a rushed breakfast once again because of another field exercise for Wildlife Management in the park.  We ate quick, got into groups that we had worked with before and headed out in the normal safari vehicles.  My driver this time was our Wildlife Management professor, Shem, who has worked in the park for more than a decade and knows everything there is to know.  It was great to be able to listen to his facts about the park as we drove to where our part of the transect was starting.  He would tell us about the plant life we were seeing, what the park used to look like, and of course all about his favorite animal in the entire world: The Waterbuck.  Shem is literally obsessed with the waterbuck and has told us stories about how he came to be interested in them.  When he first started working at the park, he was amazed at the beauty and majestic ways of the waterbuck, but right after he first started working there, all of the waterbuck started dropping dead!  It was getting to the point that he had to assist the park rangers in moving the dead bodies off the road so the tourists would not see.  It was great to finally hear this story because we all knew that he was obsessed but had no idea why.  It turns out he even did research to help prevent a mass killing like this one from happening again!  Anyway, he was our driver, and Jenna was our co driver, so it was automatically an amazing car.

The assignment that we were completing this day was an animal behavior assignment looking at Common zebra and White rhino.  When either of these animals were spotted in the transect, we had to stop and record their behavior for twenty minutes total.  This included feeding, resting, playing, dust bathing, grooming, and other activities that were observed.  With the rhinos, it was really easy because there were never more than 3 rhinos in one place to have to watch their behavior. The zebras, however, were extremely difficult to monitor because of their large herds.  We would assign every person in the car to a specific zebra or two to watch, and they alone would record the amount of time of each behavior.  When the twenty minutes was done, we had to combine all of the data, adding the total minutes of every behavior for all of the animals.  I was of course the one putting all of the data together, so it was quite a task to keep track of what animal did what and for how long in an organized data sheet.  It was a strenuous exercise, but by the end of the morning, we had collected data on several herds of zebra and a few white rhino that will help Shem in his research efforts for the park and the way the habitats are managed for these animals. It was rewarding because we knew we were specifically helping Shem and not just an organization that didn’t have a representative helping out.

We actually did not have lunch at camp for the first time during the trip, and instead had the rest of the afternoon off to enjoy ourselves and do whatever made “our cups of joy overflow.”  We all decided to head to one of the amazing lodges found in the park for the buffet, swimming pool, and most of all, showers since none of us had dared to use the shower at our campsite.  When we first arrived at the lodge, I thought I was in a different country.  It was so green and lush and beautiful and as we walked in, they handed us a warm towel that smelled like a spa.  It was a great introduction to the rest of the day at the resort.  The first thing we did was head straight toward the buffet, which we heard from all of the staff that it was the best one that we would have during our trip to Africa.

Boy, were they right about the food.  The first thing and one of the most exciting things was the salad!  We have not had fresh lettuce at all since we have been here so that was the first thing I went for.  You could pick everything you wanted in it and they would mix it all together with their own house made dressing.  It was amazing and I just wanted to eat tons of salad for the rest of the day.  The problem was all of the other amazing things that I wanted to eat and trying to save room for all of them! The next course was the meat and chicken kind of stuff!  This was the best meat course that we have had at all since most of our meat at camp had been really chewy goat.  Don’t get me wrong, it was great a few of the nights, but every night was a little bit much.  They had steak with amazing sauce, chicken sautéed in lemon, pork, and tilapia haha.  It was great and I pitied the vegetarians in the group for the first time haha.  Next I had lots of amazing rolls with butter, cheese which was also a first on this trip, fruit including apples, pumpkin that was made in caramel and sugar in a pan, and so much more.  I literally ate more than I had the entire expedition so far, but it was so worth it.  Then we moved on to desserts with chocolate cake, almond and raspberry tarts, chocolate bits and whipped cream, and more.  It was the best because the only dessert we every have at camp is making cinnamon sugar toast, which is amazing in its own way.  I could not have been happier after eating all this amazing food, especially after a week of roughing it in the campsite!

The next stop was the pool of course.  We got our swimsuits on in the most gorgeous bathrooms we had seen in this country, and headed to the pool.  It was a little cloudy outside, but anyone that knows me knows that didn’t slow me down.  I leaped straight in the pool, the first one of the entire group and definitely started the trend because everyone got in after that.  We all splashed around like little kids and hung out.  We even got super girly pool drinks like the blue Hawaiian and pina coladas to really make it seem like we were on vacation.  It was so relaxing to not have to think about academics and enjoy time spent with my classmates and the staff that came with us that day.  After swimming for a bit, I finally went to take a shower, which was the first one that any of us had taken the entire expedition!  We really needed it by that point and it was so refreshing to have all of the dirt and grime and sweat off, even though sometimes it adds to the experience. 

After we got cleaned up, took pictures with the amazing hotel staff and security guards, and got our hair braided by Jenna, we left for our final game drive in the National Park.  I tried so hard to get in the car with Tara because both of us had only seen the leopard the first day and really wanted to get a better view like other groups had during our field exercises throughout the week.  We still had to be back to camp by 6 like always, so we didn’t get to drive for very long.  We drove back by the shore of the lake and got some great close ups of the zebra in the wide open grassland, including a cute little baby that was super skittish and pranced around our car.  We searched and searched for a leopard, but we didn’t have any luck, even after driving 5 mph through the woodlands that the leopard had been seen in before.  Me and Tara seemed defeated, but then I remembered all the amazing things I had seen throughout this trip and couldn’t help but to be happy.  When we arrived back at camp still stuffed from brunch, Arther made us an amazing meal with tacos and guacamole and all of my favorites, and I ate so much again.  He worked so hard during this trip and I couldn’t thank him enough for all the food he made for us.  He checked every meal if we had enough to eat and what else he could get for us and if there was enough chai for us.  It was amazing to have someone care that much about you being well fed and I loved seeing how much he cared and loved his job.

That night, after cleaning up dishes with cook crew, we went back out by the campfire where everyone was playing the funniest camp game I have ever seen.  It was called the schmoo and the aardvark.  You had an object named the schmoo and an object named the aardvark and you had to pass it around the circle and explain it to the person next to you what it was.  It was so funny because you had to ask the last person what it was and they had to back track too and ask the other person.  It got so confusing but we were all in tears by the time we had made it around once.  It was a hilarious game and I can’t wait to play it at home.  We also had the chance to hear some of Shem’s amazing stories from when he lived in the park and worked here all throughout his education.  The first story was hilarious.  He was in the field with one guard and they saw a rhino far enough from them that they could be quiet and move before being discovered.  But then, when they least expected it, the baby rhino was right by them and the mom was so scared the baby was threatened!  The rhino started charging them, and the guard just ran away and high into a tree, while Shem tried to run and get to the car.  The problem is that Shem was so scared that he doesn’t remember what happened next until he came back to consciousness and the rhino was gone and he was safe!  It was crazy.  He also had a story about hitting a buffalo at 80 kph and having the horn get stuck in his grill when he was trying to hide it from the park rangers.  He also ran over a giant python on the way back to camp when he was once again going way to fast.  His stories are so funny and very different in the ways that he tells them.  I will miss his quiet but hilarious personality when we leave for Tanzania.  We all had to call it an early night though because we were leaving early again the next day and had to have all of our things packed up and ready to go.

DAY 6:  We woke up around 5:30 am on the day that we were leaving camp, sad to leave and dreading packing up.  We had to wake up early, get dressed, pack up all of our things, and the biggest task was to pack all of the tents up.  They are such huge canvas tents and take so much effort to take down and fit in the bag they came in.  It’s especially a struggle that early in the morning when you don’t want to leave in the first place.  We finally pulled it all together and got everything in to the huge white van that we call the “white rhino”, ate some breakfast, and loaded up the cars.  I ended up in an amazing car with my closest friends and Jenna and Daniel, who love to listen to music all the way back to KBC.  I even got one of the front seats that has lots of leg room and space for all of my stuff.  I slept some during the first part of the trip, trying to catch up on all the sleep that I had missed sleeping in the tents, but once again we stopped at the amazing coffee shop and I had to get an iced coffee, which kept me awake, and thank goodness it did for what unfolded next.

As we were on our way home, flying through all the cities at 80 kph….we were driving through the traffic circles right in the middle of the downtown area of Nairobi.  The traffic circle are crazy with 6 cars across and people coming in from everywhere and cops standing in the middle thinking they are helping.  We were next to pull into the traffic circle, and when we started to pull in, another car that had stopped to let us go also started to ease forward.  Both cars slammed on their brakes and we barely missed the car, thank goodness.  Because that car had the right of way, Daniel waved for the driver to go ahead, but instead of doing that, he decided to run right into the side of our car!!! The other driver hit us on purpose just to cause a problem and get money from the white people! We couldn’t believe that we had just seen thins driver actually run straight into the side of us and break his own headlight.  Our driver pulled over at the nearest place to stop and those cops that I was talking about in the traffic circle came over to see what was going on.

I literally couldn’t believe my eyes and ears when the cops started blaming our driver and our car for the accident!!!  They told us we ran into them, even though the dent was on the side of our safari vehicle!  It was so ridiculous and when they looked at Daniel’s license, the took his entire wallet and gave it to the other driver and told him to hold on to it until things were figured out!  I couldn’t believe that the cops actually just stole our driver’s license and gave it to the man that had hit us.  The cops came over to us and started talking to Jenna.  Jenna was trying to tell him that she saw the entire thing and so did all of the students, but the police man wouldn’t listen to us at all and it was SO frustrating.  And then to add to it, he started hitting on Jenna!!! He asked her where she was from and if she would be available if he came to visit!  It was so frustrating that so much was going on and yet he was hitting on our intern.  He finally left and as we watched our driver get super upset, he suddenly came back to us.  The other driver was demanding that we pay 4000 Kenyan shillings, aka $45 USD to fix his car that we damaged!!!  We all pooled our money, hoping that the entire thing would just end and we could get out of this insane city and all of its corruption.

The other driver finally left, happy with the money we paid for no reason.  The cops escorted our driver back to the car and approached our windows to talk to the students.  We were happy that he finally wanted to hear our side, but instead he started yelling at us!  Jenna had heard the cops talk to one another earlier and say that they could get more money from us because we are visitors and have lots of money.  The cop came to us and told us that our driver did not have the correct license to be driving tourists in Kenya.  We tried to stay calm and told him that we were students, but he wouldn’t listen and instead would argue with us and tell us we were lying and were tourists, not students.  We were all yelling ‘HAPANA’ which means ‘no’ in Swahili as he told us he was going to arrest our driver!!!  We all yelled back, argued, and I even had to lie when he asked where we were from so that SFS would not see any repercussions from this situation.  It was so intense and finally he said he was doing us a favor by letting our driver go and continued to try to get Jenna’s number and full name.  Our driver jumped back in the car, with his wallet thank goodness, and we immediately drove off before the silly cop changed his mind.  It was literally the most corrupt situation that I have ever seen in my entire life.  To have someone in authority that you should be able to trust treat us that way was unbelievable, and our entire car was so mad as we left the city.

We got to Tusky’s again for food, and while we were there, we found out another driver had gotten arrested for no reason again and had to be bailed out!  The cops were out for the SFS drivers that day, but we all were safe and sound and that is all that matters.  It was crazy to see the corruption in person.  It’s something you hear so much about, but never really see being so sheltered by the program.  I was glad to have had that experience and realize that the corruption is real and how far the country has to go.  I was thankful for the experience, but never want to have to deal with something like that again.  The rest of the drive was very peaceful though, and getting back to KBC was so weird.  It felt like we had been gone for years and were coming home for the first time since then.  It was comforting to be in a familiar place and I liked being curled up back in my bed that night, not that I didn’t miss sleeping in a tent!  Lake Nakuru was an amazing expedition experience and I was so happy with every second we had the chance to spend there.  I felt so close to my classmates and the staff after the trip and would not have changed one second of it.  I will miss the park, the buffalos, leopards, and giraffes but can’t wait for our expedition in Serengeti in Tanzania soon!!!

Thanks so much for reading all of this.  I know it’s a lot, but I can’t wait to look back at my writing and remember all of these amazing details!

Love,

Mollie Ann

P.S. I am now in Tanzania and am not able to upload pictures to my blog at this time!  I wish I could!!!