Nairobi: Take 2

Hadley and I went back to Nairobi to get supplies and pick up Dave (a grad student) from the airport. The drive up was pretty uneventful, we only got stuck once! Note to self, when pulling over on the side of the road for a pit stop make sure not to stop in really soft sand. Oops. Luckily a tour car was right behind us and gave us a quick tow out of the sand.

Nairobi has been really fun so far! We got to see Amanda and Chris, the Yale river researchers. They took us to see Thor in 3D which was a totally crazy experience after being in the bush. We exited the theater and there was a huge crowd of people waiting to go in. I felt so claustrophobic! I am only used to being around a few people at a time, tons of excited Thor fans was overwhelming. We snaked through the crowd and avoided the video cameras set up for some company doing a promotion for the opening of the movie. We jumped in a cab and headed to Brew Bistro a microbrewery just down the road. It was a really happening place that seems to be the cool spot in Nairobi on a Friday night. I instantly felt underdressed in my dirty jeans and running tank top. The food was amazing and they had good beer! Chris and Amanda said I should get a half-meter which was a sample flight of their beers. Chris and I agreed that the strong IPA was our favorite and I drank all of mine with a very happy hoppy smile on my face. The meal was incredible and we had a great time talking and catching up. Chris and Amanda are amazing and I feel so lucky that we have them around. Otherwise the beginning of our Nairobi trip was full of traffic, no power in the cottage and a lot of rain. The positives were watching a lot of movies (when we could charge our computers), eating frozen yogurt and hot showers (I forgot how amazing these are).

Towards the end of our Nairobi trip Hadley and I went to check out a glass place called Anselm (website:http://www.kitengela.com/) and it was so cool! We watched them making a lot of cool pieces, walked around their gallery and explored the awesome property. It was completely different than anywhere Hadley and I had been in Kenya thus far. We had a ton of fun wandering around their little artist compound exploring their eclectic sculpture garden (complete with camels coming and saying hi). All these photos were taken by Hadley (I forgot my camera).

Watching one of the artists making the start of what will be a wine glass

Walking out of one of the shops

Walkway up to a roof top "coffee shop"

Enjoying not being in the city for a few moments

Watching some people cross a super sketchy bridge in the gorge below us (don't worry we didn't even try)

Outside of the studio/gallery/furnace

The drive back to the Mara was also pretty uneventful, the only issue was that a lug nut fell off on our back left tire but we were able to fix it in Narok (and it only took 2 hours to get fixed, woo hoo!).

Now I am back in the Mara and back in my happy place: tons of amazing animals, beautiful landscapes and my tent!

November already!?

I cannot believe that it is already November! The weather hasn't really changed here from when I arrived in early August. We are so close to the equator and don't really have seasons (in the same way that Michigan does) so I am having trouble believing it is fall.

Halloween was a lot of fun. I dressed up as a giraffe, one of my favorite African mammals (really, I love them all!). Lily dressed up as a tiger, her favorite animal of all time. We were dressed up all day and got lots of funny looks from non-Americans (everyone). We did a psuedo-sundowner, trying to catch the sunset but timed our route wrong. After that, we went to the lodge and got a drink and hung out. Daniel, a balloon pilot and his wife, Joyce were around as well as some other lodge friends. We had a really good time socializing. It has just been Lily and I in camp lately, while Lily and I get along really well and I am really glad I have her as my co-research assistant we were both glad to catch up with other friends.

Me hanging with some of my giraffe buddies on halloween morning

Can hardly tell us apart, right?

Right now Lily and I are trying to see the solar eclipse! It is working only alright. Lily has a much better ability to stare directly into the sun than I do. We are actually lucky that it is a little cloudy because it helps shade it a bit. I don't think that I have done any permanent eye damage yet. Hopefully this gets easier as the moon moves across the sun more. Here is a photo Lily was able to get with my camera. She is an awesome photographer and frequently shows me how to use my camera.

The sun looking like the moon! Super cool!

In recent hyena news, its baby season!!! Adult female hyenas are disappearing into their natal dens and tiny black cubs are coming into the world. Luckily, we know where a few of these dens are and we get to enjoy the little black cubs playing and exploring! Some natal dens we will never find and in a month or two cubs will just show up at a communal den.

This is Seabuiscut leaning on her mommy Bellagio. 

HELLO! Is there anybody in there!

This is Waffles, the queen of our Serena North clan! She is the matriarch that gained power during the great syrup rebellion a few years ago. Waffles and a few other low ranking hyenas formed a coalition and overthrew the old ruler. This is pretty rare in hyena society, normally you just inherit your mother's rank. Anyway, the cubs Waffles is hiding in this super deep hole is the new princess(es) or prince(s) of our North clan. We would have never known she was here if it wasn't for the super awesome GPS/radio collar that she is sporting (thanks Dave!). Waffles' cubs are all named after syrups (hence the great syrup rebellion) and her next cubs name's have already been decided. They will be called Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth. Isn't that the cutest thing you have ever heard? A little black cub named Auntie J or Butters. Naming hyenas is awesome.