(sing the title of this blog post to the tune of 99 bottles of beer on the wall)
We completed our 99th transect this morning – and then our 100th! It was a momentous occasion. I started doing bone transects here on my own in 2003, and while I always envisioned this as a long-term research project, it’s exciting to see it really happening.
I almost titled this post “the worst place for buffalo”, because that’s pretty much where we’ve been walking for the last 2 weeks. This is largely because the last time Fire and I were here, in 2011, I was very pregnant and the conservancy management did not want us walking transects in the thick bush, for fear that I wouldn't be able to run away fast enough from all of the dangers that lurk in the thick bush - buffalo, rhino, elephants, and lions. I knew their concerns were valid. So... here we are, in 2018, walking a LOT of bush transects.
These dangers are not abstract - they are very real. Earlier this week in the thick bush our (unarmed) patrol nearly stumbled on a buffalo resting under a bush. Isaack (our armed patrol) motioned to us to run behind a bush and then quickly shot into the air to scare the buffalo away. Later in the week decided to do a transect in the place he called “the worst place for buffalo”, and we said "worse than the place you had to use your gun?". Thankfully we didn't get that close to buffalo there, but we are always pretty quiet and on high alert on the bush transects. It's the lone old male buffalo that are the most dangerous, as they are the most prone to be cranky and charge at people.
It takes a lot of concentration to look at our tablets which keep us walking in a straight line, look down for bones, and look up to make sure we're not walking into something - like bushes or the enormous spiders and the webs they build. But one of the things I like best about walking in the bush is listening to the sounds - like the swishing of our feet, the variety of birds, and the whistling wind through the acacia bushes. It can be very meditative. I also like seeing the less obvious traces of life in the bush.
I also still never tire of seeing the animals as we're driving around.
Meanwhile, Toby continues to enjoy being in camp with Lucy and Kristen. He's still going on "expeditions" to dig for things, although sometimes he wisely picks a shady spot right next to our banda.
We had a brief break from work one afternoon earlier this week because I had to go to Nanyuki to get some wiring repairs done on my vehicle - so off we went (me, Ella, Toby, and Lucy). Lucy's husband is a driver for a hotel called the Sportsman's Arms in Nanjyuki and kindly helped me find a good wiring mechanic. After the car was fixed, we had a delicious ice cream snack in Java House and then stopped to visit Lucy and Kristen's house before heading back to camp.
We're all also still enjoying the delicious food they make for us in camp. This weekend we had some real treats - including Kenyan style pancakes for breakfast this morning!
We only have a week left of fieldwork - we leave for Nairobi on Saturday, and we fly home that night.
We completed our 99th transect this morning – and then our 100th! It was a momentous occasion. I started doing bone transects here on my own in 2003, and while I always envisioned this as a long-term research project, it’s exciting to see it really happening.
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| Team photo after our 100th transect today - Fire, me, Isaack, and Kari (Ella was in camp not feeling well) |
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| Ella, Fire, and Kari looking at and measuring bones in a bush transect |
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| Fire and Kari walking around a small muddy water puddle |
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| Ella and Fire getting ready for a transect |
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| Our vehicle with "gari ya mifupa" (which means "bones car" in Kiswahili) written in the dirt on the back door |
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| Ella, Fire, and Kari hard at work |
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| Kari still drinks a can of Coke at the turnaround point on every transect |
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| Ella and Isaack with their weapons of choice, a giraffe radius and a rifle |
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| Kari asking Fire a question |
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| Fire, Isaack, and Kari at work - Kari is our main photographer |
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| Kari is getting better at identifying and articulating bones |
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| Kari, Ella, and Fire finding out that Isaack is afraid of snakes (after we found a snakeskin in the bush) |
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| Isaack waiting for us on the back of the vehicle to finish taking notes at the end of a transect |
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| Ella showing Isaack and one of the patrols what she writes down in her field notebook |
I almost titled this post “the worst place for buffalo”, because that’s pretty much where we’ve been walking for the last 2 weeks. This is largely because the last time Fire and I were here, in 2011, I was very pregnant and the conservancy management did not want us walking transects in the thick bush, for fear that I wouldn't be able to run away fast enough from all of the dangers that lurk in the thick bush - buffalo, rhino, elephants, and lions. I knew their concerns were valid. So... here we are, in 2018, walking a LOT of bush transects.
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| Ella and Fire in typical bush transect vegetation |
These dangers are not abstract - they are very real. Earlier this week in the thick bush our (unarmed) patrol nearly stumbled on a buffalo resting under a bush. Isaack (our armed patrol) motioned to us to run behind a bush and then quickly shot into the air to scare the buffalo away. Later in the week decided to do a transect in the place he called “the worst place for buffalo”, and we said "worse than the place you had to use your gun?". Thankfully we didn't get that close to buffalo there, but we are always pretty quiet and on high alert on the bush transects. It's the lone old male buffalo that are the most dangerous, as they are the most prone to be cranky and charge at people.
It takes a lot of concentration to look at our tablets which keep us walking in a straight line, look down for bones, and look up to make sure we're not walking into something - like bushes or the enormous spiders and the webs they build. But one of the things I like best about walking in the bush is listening to the sounds - like the swishing of our feet, the variety of birds, and the whistling wind through the acacia bushes. It can be very meditative. I also like seeing the less obvious traces of life in the bush.
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| These spiders can be as big as the palm of my hand |
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| A hidden nest of a ring-tailed dove, which we later saw sitting on the nest |
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| A snail shell |
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| Bushes overturned by elephants |
I also still never tire of seeing the animals as we're driving around.
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| Zebras near the car |
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| The same zebras as we drove by |
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| Grant's gazelle to the left, oryx to the right |
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| Male ostrich - you can tell from his feather colors |
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| Selfie with giraffes |
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| Three white rhinos, including a baby |
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| Cows in the road |
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| Getting ready to cross a river with the vehicle |
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| Crossing a river |
Meanwhile, Toby continues to enjoy being in camp with Lucy and Kristen. He's still going on "expeditions" to dig for things, although sometimes he wisely picks a shady spot right next to our banda.
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Toby's secret ancient treasure map
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| Toby getting ready for an expedition |
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| Toby digging in the parking lot |
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| Toby digging in the parking lot |
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| Toby digging in the parking lot |
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| Toby and Lucy digging in the parking lot |
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Toby digging next to our banda
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| Toby and Lucy digging |
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| Toby digging |
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| Toby also often likes to lie on my bed and read |
We had a brief break from work one afternoon earlier this week because I had to go to Nanyuki to get some wiring repairs done on my vehicle - so off we went (me, Ella, Toby, and Lucy). Lucy's husband is a driver for a hotel called the Sportsman's Arms in Nanjyuki and kindly helped me find a good wiring mechanic. After the car was fixed, we had a delicious ice cream snack in Java House and then stopped to visit Lucy and Kristen's house before heading back to camp.
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| Lucy and her husband |
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| Toby, Lucy, and Lucy's husband eating a giant ice cream sundae |
We're all also still enjoying the delicious food they make for us in camp. This weekend we had some real treats - including Kenyan style pancakes for breakfast this morning!
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| Yesterday we had pizza for lunch - yummy! |
We only have a week left of fieldwork - we leave for Nairobi on Saturday, and we fly home that night.
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