Briana's Travels

Many of you know I'm a runner, in some shape or form. I never thought I would be, since I hated running when I had to do it in high school for tennis, ski team, or soccer practice, but I picked it up while I was living in South Africa. At that time, I was living in the Free State Province, which is full of open skies and flat roads by big farms.I was was there learning how to identify animal bones at a research station about 45 minutes from the nearest town, and there wasn't much else to do - so I started running with some people who lived in the research center compound, and surprised myself with how much I liked it. I'm not a very fast runner, but I enjoy it for many reasons besides that proverbial "runner's high" - it helps me sleep better and feel better, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I don't "train" for races, because that implies some sort of schedule and work, while I think of running as fun. (I'm running in the Army Ten Miler...

Another camp essential that gets set up in the first day is the "bathroom" (burlap-wrapped wood stakes around a long drop with a toilet seat of sorts) -- -- and the "shower stall": another burlap-wrapped stall with a solar shower, a big (usually black on one side, clear on the other) plastic bag full of water that gets heated by the sun all day as it lies black side up on the ground. And speaking of solar things, a key component of camp is our "solar system". We use solar panels to capture solar energy, which we feed into a special battery (like a car battery), which we attach a plug strip to, and voila! Power. Power for computer batteries, portable printers, and charging our Kenyan cell phones. Within the last 2 years, one of the two cell phone companies in Kenya put a tower up at the top of the rift fairly close to our camp (within a 45 min drive or so), and now we get cell phone coverage in camp. It's been really helpful for communication and logist...

It's great to be back in camp. I was immediately struck by how quiet it sounded when I opened my car door upon arrival - ah, leaving the city far behind! (Well, about an hour and a half behind, technically). But then I realized there are lots of sounds here - the constant chatter and chirping of birds; the tinkling of cow bells, as herds of Maasai animals wander by in the valley below our camp cliff; and the occasional vehicle driving on the paved road, which our camp is located a few hundred meters from, on a dirt road. As Kay (one of the researchers working with us) put it last night, at the dinner table on her first night in camp, it seems like the whole year is just working towards getting back here. Here's what the camp looks like from the air; I took this picture from a small plane, flying low overhead, in 2005. The first few days always consist of a lot of setting up, including all of the tents(here are two pictures of my tent from last year).

After a hectic last day doing all the last minute things I left until... the last minute, I made it to our field camp on Monday. A few days before that, we dropped off our Kenyan crew members, who would work hard to set up our fantastic camp on a cliff overlooking eroded hills. Here's a view of the lorry - uh, truck, in American - which drives all our gear down to the site. One of our oldest excavators, Vincent, loves to climb on top of the lorry and be at least partly in charge of unloading. He has amazing energy, even at the end of the day as the sun is starting to hide behind some clouds. Here are several of our crew members, carrying one of our gas-powered refrigerators from the lorry. Having a fridge on a dig is quite a luxury; it means cold water in the middle of the hot days, and the ability to keep food for days on end. One of our drivers normally goes back to Nairobi once a week to buy fresh food. We don't have any electricity in camp. All our food is cooked on gas sto...

My week or so in Nairobi was a blur of errands and seeing old friends and colleagues. This included hosting a dinner party of sorts, where I supplied the location and friends cooked up a yummy pork pilau, and going out to dinner at the usual places - Furasato (delicious sushi, yes, in Kenya!); Tamambo (where I got my usual, the ostrich fajitas); Open House (mmmm Indian food in Nairobi is fabulous); and Trattoria (Italian). Unfortunately, a few friends decided to walk home from Trattoria on a quiet Sunday night, and one got her purse snatched. Fortunately, she didn't have much money in it, but she did lose her US bank card and her Kenyan cell phone. It's not nicknamed Nairobbery for nothing. Part of my week was making sure our 4 existing field project vehicles were fixed, going to pick up our brand new project vehicle (forget a fancy sportscar, give me a bush-worthy Land Cruiser any day!), renting a vehicle, and getting my own vehicle. Which was not in the best of shape, frustra...

Well it didn't take long... I don't usually get sick in Kenya, but I have been having a little tummy trouble for the last day and a half or so. I must have eaten something iffy. Or maybe it was accidentally brushing my teeth with the tap water on my first day. Regardless, it knocked me out for Friday night and most of yesterday, but I'm beginning to feel better. All I ate yesterday was an avocado (they are so inexpensive and delicious here, along with the juicy mangoes!), some banana flavored yogurt, loads of soup and herbal tea, and one actual meal - the fish fillet from Dorman's Cafe in the Sarit Center for an early dinner. I finally did some foodshopping, figuring I'd prefer cooking in to eating out especially when I wasn't feeling well. I was impressed to see a slightly larger variety of food than last year, and even a few organic labels. I bought some bok choy, feeling adventurous, and having had a yummy bok choy and mushroom dish at a Chinese restaurant in...

Yes, I'm finally here! Actually I've been here for nearly 48 hours now. I just haven't had a chance to write yet... My flight over was uneventful. Peter dropped me off at the airport, and even waited on the line for security as long as he could with me. Both of my flights were full, and I had the pleasure of having not one, but two crying babies within three rows of me on my Amsterdam-Nairobi flight! Thankfully, I was so tired from not having slept a wink on the first flight that I slept a lot on the second one. I watched the Golden Compass too, which I enjoyed. Stepping off the airplane into the airport in Nairobi, and I felt right at home. It was great! I sailed through the immigration line since I already had my visa, and got a good spot with my cart at the baggage claim. There was a really friendly airport attendant helping an elderly Kenyan woman in a wheelchair, she was positioned next to me. I realized with a smile that I understood a lot of the Swahili they were spe...