Kenya-week one
I have sort of settled in to my new home. I have only been here for a couple of days so I am still trying to figure everything out, not to mention learn 150 monkeys!I mentioned in an earlier email that...
View ArticleKenya-month 1
It has been awhile since my last update and I haven’t been really good at responding to emails (sorry!). I have been busy training and getting ready to start managing the field site, which I will...
View ArticleKenya-month 2
I took over the manager position about a week and a half ago. Everything is going reasonably well except for the occasional assistant who shows up an hour late. I am just scrambling to learn my...
View ArticleKenya-month 3
This last month has gone by unbelievably fast. I have been so busy I haven’t been able to sit down and write an update until now.I have finally finished learning all four groups, finishing with the...
View ArticleKenya-month 4
We lost two females from two different groups this month. I have no idea what happened, they just disappeared. Our study revolves around the adult females, including these two, Derby and Lily. Years of...
View ArticleKenya-month 6
Finally the day came, November 8th. My mom, Mo and Jackie had arrived in Nairobi the night before and I left first thing in the morning to make the 10-hour trip by matatu.My first matatu was so full I...
View ArticleOne Snare Trap at a Time
22 December 2008Today starts out like any other day.6:00 The alarm goes off, I get up, get ready, pack a lunch, make coffee, eat breakfast, quick check my email. 7:21 The assistants show up more or...
View ArticleKenya-month 7
This month was marked by me declaring dead any monkey that disappeared for more than a couple days. Luckily, I was mostly wrong.Kool wasn’t seen for 10 days. She’s a juvenile in Tws, the largest of the...
View Article15 Jan 2009
855 I leave the house after data entry; today is my Gs day again. Has it really been four days already?910 I walk down Station Road and past Wilberforce’s house before I stop and grab my chest....
View ArticleKenya-month 8 and 9
At the end of January we lost one of the older females from the TWN group. TWN is the smaller of the two groups that frequent the forest station and village, and they make almost daily stops at my...
View ArticleArticle 14
The Habituation Experience9 April 2009 5:00 The alarm goes off, it’s still dark. There’s no electricity so I ready myself and pack my field bag by the light of my headlamp. As I prepare myself for a...
View ArticleKenya-month 10 and 11
The rains are back now and in full force. The dry season drug on for so long I forgot how terribly miserable the rainy season can be: hoards of buzzing biting insects, perpetually wet vegetation,...
View ArticleKenya-one year
The days around here seem to drag on but the weeks and months come and go quickly. More than twelve months have passed since I arrived in Kenya, I have been living in the forest for over a year. At one...
View ArticleTravels in Borneo
July 17, 2011According to the rain gauge, there has been more than a meter and a half of rain in the last 12 hours. It rained off and on all night. When the deafening sounds of the rainstorm on the...
View ArticleUpdates from Africa: Kenya
It's amazing how after a period of time you easily forget the negative and only the positive remains. I was so excited to return that I forgot just how long and arduous the journey is to Kakamega....
View ArticleUpdates from Africa: Rwanda
As of 2010, there were estimated to be 800 mountain gorillas remaining worldwide. These charismatic heavyweight vegetarians are completely contained within the mountainous regions of three African...
View ArticleUpdates from Africa: Tanzania
The perfect climate for growing a plethora of spices ensures that eating on the coast of East Africa will be a mouthwatering adventure. After a week of fried potatoes, beef and hardboiled eggs in the...
View ArticleUpdates from Africa: Madagascar part 1
Madagascar makes me tired. This place is an overload for the senses. Every crevice contains creatures beyond my imagination. Leaping lemurs, bizarre birds, peculiar plants, and the most colorful...
View ArticleUpdates from Africa: Madagascar part 2, Tana to Toilara
Antananarivo (Tana for short), the capital city of Madagascar, straddles a dozen or so hills high on the central plateau. Colorful houses dot the hillside and antique Renaults serving as taxis clog up...
View ArticleUpdates from Africa: Turkey via Nairobi
This update is long overdue, jet lag and the joy of being home got in the way. Really, I was going to skip it but my mom assures me that you are all out there eagerly awaiting my final installment of...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....