Back in Arusha

Hellllllllo again.  So here I am back in Arusha from our weeklong safari in Tarangire NP and Lake Manyara NP. The trip was amazing and I’ll upload some pictures to share what I’ve seen and been doing while here in Tanzania.  To start off last week we packed up and left our home stay in the rural village of Bangata, and prepared for a week in Tanzanian National Parks.  Everyone was getting really excited about the trip due to the fact that we have been away from each other while living in our separate homes in the village (everyone is living with their own family, some families are friends or neighbors but one student per house).  So after packing up we hopped in the cars around 10 and drove approximately 2 hours south of Arusha to reach Tarangire.  Getting there we met our camp crew who had prepared lunch for us and after setting up our tents and eating we jumped back into the cars and became tourists going on our first game drive.  From then on every morning was spent in the cars with groups specializing in various animals collecting data and then presenting it when they got back from lunch.  These groups consisted of an elephant group, bird group, Ruminant group, and Non ruminant group (my group) (ruminants are animals with different digestive systems like cows who usually have multiple stomachs and chew their own cud, and then non ruminants are primates, carnivores, cats, zebra, etc.)  After collecting data all morning and presenting it to our peers we would eat lunch and have a long siesta.  The siesta would last from 12-3 and we would spend time relaxing in the shade or playing cards. There is no point in driving through the reserve from 12-3 because the animals were all sleeping in the shade because of the intense heat.  Then after tea at 230 we would get back in the cars and be tourists going out looking for animals we wanted to see.  I was frantically searching all week for Lions or Cheetahs, but had no luck on any of my safaris this week.  Two cars got to see a lion in the distance but could only really see it through binoculars.  Then every night we would eat dinner and relax for a few hours but usually got exhausted around 9 or 10 and were up at 630 to do it all again. I got tons of great pictures while on safari, some of which I will try and load up, and I cant wait to do it all again in a week when we got to Mazumbai forest reserve.  This reserve is a forest which I think that I will complete my ISP (independent study project) which is a project common among many SIT programs.  This project is an allocated 22 days in which you travel to a place of interest and study a topic by collecting data and compiling it into a 25 page paper at the end of the semester.  In Mazumbai I will be doing a follow up study on Black and White colobous monkeys.  The area which I will be completing my study is bordering the reserve and is interesting because it consists of a troop of monkeys which were split due to fragmentation.  This fragmentation consists of a road splitting the forest in half, as well as a bunch of tea fields which provide a less than adequate ecosystem for this primate.  I will be living in a chateau with several other people also studying other things in the forest and will be paying $3 a night for all accommodations.  We start mid terms week on Monday and will be writing papers, having our Swahili midterm, and conducting focal groups with local Tanzanians in Bangata about Tanzanian culture and issues which we have been studying as a group.  I think that’s all for now, Kwaheri!