Month: June 2025 (Page 1 of 2)

Today we make our way home. We arose early, having mostly packed all our bags last night. We had our last breakfast in Maasai Mara at 8:30 AM. We all charged our devices as we could, brought our bags to the the Bunduz overlander truck. We packed a lunch for the road provided by Bunduz. We bid goodby to Maasai crafts person Diana who taught many of us beading (and from whom we had purchased by souvenirs); Diana  gifted each of either a beaded bracelet (instructors) or necklaces with pendant (students). We also said our goodbyes to our main cook John and the indispensable Kevin and Chenzen. We departed by 11:30 AM. We were stopped by the roadside about a half hour into the trip (by Mukhtar) as one of us had left a bag behind. Chenzen showed up on a motorbike with said bag and we once again set off. We stopped at a curio shop for lunch and a washroom break – incredibly overpriced trinkets and snakcs (1000 shillings for a tube of Pringles, some of which were expired).

Because of intense traffic, we detoured through Naivasha, arriving in Nairobi at dusk. In Nairobi we said goodbye to Carol with hopes of seeing her in Kingston in the autumn, and said goodbye to Jana. As we were running a bit late, we took a toll freeway arriving at Kenyatta Airport at around 7:30 PM. We made our way through security (one checkpoint before the parking, one as one enters the airport, and a final one as one makes one’s way through customs). We had surprising short time to grab some snacks or final Kenyan trinkets before boarding. Steve and Miranda had some interesting challenges  as they sought to be allowed on board (perceived but not real issues with student visa) but did make it on as the doors were closing. The flight left by around 11:00 PM.

The flight was overnight, arriving in Charles de Gaulle Airport by 6 AM. We said goodbye to Suzy who was catching a  flight to Amsterdam. With a 12 hour layover, many of us made our way to Paris to see some of the sights, purchase coffee and souvenir, and have some nice food. Amadahy, Miranda, Holden, Yuxiang and Steve stayed within the airport. YX and Steve tried out an expensive airport lounge which turned out to to have the aesthetic of a poorly designed student lounge with ill-placed carpet tiles, stained chairs, and virtually no food or drink.

We left Paris by late afternoon for the trans-Atlantic flight – arriving in Toronto at around 9:00 PM. We all met at the luggage belt, retried our luggage, made some heartfelt goodbyes and disperses – with intentions of getting together to reminisce.

Cletus, Steve, Kevin, Mukhtar, Joseph, Chenzen, John,

Class with Diana and theiur gifts from her

At the luggage belt in Toronto

Special Miranda, Holden and Amadahy Terminal 2E Travelogue Gallery

Groups A, B & C

Jambo!

On our last full day in Kenya, we woke up bright and early for the highly anticipated full day game drive; a full day of driving through the beautiful Maasai Mara National Reserve to find all the lions, vultures, and elephants our hearts desired.

At 6am, the truck pulled out of the campsite filled with 18 students, for instructors and a packed picnic lunch. We watched the sunrise over the valley as we drove the quick 10 minutes to the Sekenani Gate entrance to Maasai Mara.

While Mukhtar navigated processing our entrance payments and permits, we took a washroom break and tried to navigate in and around very persistent roadside saleswoman insistent that our lives just weren’t complete without a beaded bracelet or a carved wooden giraffe.

Most of us managed to dodge these persuasions with repeated ‘no thank you’s.’ However, one student, Akilah, took the opportunity to sample the assortment of trinkets one by one, as local Maasai women clambered around her to show off their pieces. “Not that one, no,” Akilah said. “That one’s just not to my taste.” Even from inside the bus, Akilah still managed to look through the selection; she pursed her lips or shook her head as salesladies outside held up bracelets one by one. Alas, the truck pulled away before Akilah could find something to her liking.

Finally, we were into the park, which did not disappoint. Within the first 10 minutes of entry we saw a herd of lovely Plains Zebra grazing peacefully in the morning light off in the distance. The bus screeched to a stop to afford us a closer look.

Amongst the family was a diminutive young Zebra, that stayed close by its mother and eyed us with suspicion. Everyone ‘oooed’ and ‘ahhed’ and snapped too many photos.

Then we drove further into the park, admiring the savannah landscape with its rolling hills, valleys, and spots of trees dotting the grasses that stretched as far as the eye could see.

We went on to see Maasai giraffes grazing and running and being chased by spotted yyenas. Then, we ran into Coke’s hartebeest, Kirk’s dikdik, and common elands (our first time seeing those this trip!). Yiling was quick to point out the bare-faced go-away bird, named for its plumage and distinctive call, marabou stork, superb starlings, green wood hoopoe, and helmeted guineafowl.

Further on, we passed by warthogs, side-striped jackals, topi, hippopotamus, African elephants, cape buffalo, and even three cheetah pursuing some giraffe

After a long successful morning, we arrived at a rest stop along the Mara River. We were famished – bouncing around the truck is hard work! The river is a bit of an oasis, providing moisture for rich riverine forests. Some of the trees along the banks were full of the beautiful and strange nests of weaver birds (speckle-fronted, Baglafecht, rfuous-tailed). Dr. Lougheed spoke to one of the wardens, and we got permission to walk along the wall above the river to get a better view. A massive Nile crocodile was resting right below the lookout, partially submerged. “What are we looking at?” one student asked. Before anyone could answer, they had jumped and exclaimed, “It’s a crocodile!” The sleeping Nile crocodile was the subject of many photos and much discussion for the students.  After a few short minutes, we were ushered away by wardens – no one was upset, we were ready for lunch.

Chenzen made us a delicious cucumber and tomato salad and had already prepared the rest of lunch before we left. We sat in the shade of some solar panels and enjoyed our long awaited repaste, observed by agama lizards. Afterwards, we decided against a walk along the river. It was very hot, everyone had seen the crocodile, and we had seen more than enough hippopotamus at Lake Naivasha. We clambered back onto the truck, excited to see more of Maasai Mara.

In the second half of our journey, we crossed paths with a lone male lion, who looked rather sick and sad. We learned that he had likely been kicked out of his pride and now awaited a quiet death. “It’s very rare for lions to find a new pride after they lose the first one,” Carol, our Kenyan instructor, said. “Very rare.” We looked at him sadly from the safety of the truck before continuing on our way.

Near there end of our time in the park, we were lucky enough to see southern ground hornbill, black feathered birds with a bright red neck, and a secretary bird in a tree. These two species were highly anticipated and we manifested our luck in the form of high-quality photos.

Finally, after a long and bumpy ride around the park seeing all sorts of wildlife up close, we headed back to the campsite to look over our pictures and add our adventures and observations to our field journals. We took a brief stop in the nearby town of Maasai Mara, where Dr. YuXiang and several students followed Chenzen, one of our local guides, to an out-of-the-way store in hopes of sampling some local Kenyan beer. Chenzen led Dr. YuXiang and the students down a narrow alley, into and behind the shop, where a small, cramped room awaited them, stocked with a couple beers and some liquors (unusually of course as this is a Muslim village). Three guys lounged around in the room, and Chenzen helped the students translate their requests into purchases. After their brave venture into the unknown, the students and Dr. YuXiang walked away with several beers for 300 shillings apiece (approximately 3 dollars CAD).

Other students visited a convenience store or else took pictures of the beautiful double rainbow that had formed over the soccer field on the other side of the road.

Finally, we all piled back into the car and went back to the campsite to prepare for dinner. One student, Dani, eagerly assisted the staff with the cooking as she wanted to learn more about the staple meals we had been enjoying all trip.

Everyone ate well, and then either sat by the fire relaxing or sat in the mess tent vigorously scribbling in their field notebooks. As the night grew darker and the tent lighter than it’s surroundings, it started to attract some visitors. A yellow winged bat took up residence in the crest of the tent, eating insects and posing for pictures before scattering us all before swooping low near our heads on his exit flight.

We thoroughly enjoyed our last full day in Kenya and talk turned sentimental bittersweet as we recalled our adventures and the experiences and thought about our quickly approaching journey home. We have all learned plenty about biodiversity conservation, Kenya, the world, and ourselves, and we will carry the lessons and memories with us for a long time to come. We are sure that this field course will continue to impact and enrich our lives as students of conservation and as upstanding citizens of the world for many years to come.

Thanks for tuning into the blog update today. Please come back tomorrow for our final update!

Team F. Suzy, Holden & Jana

Our first activity in the morning was another birdathon, this time around our camp in Masai Mara. Some highlights were the white-rumped shrike, purple grenadier, and barbet.

In comparison to Kakamega forest which was a humid tropical rain forest, the ecosystems here are very different. There are large landscapes of grass plains with scattered groups of acacia trees scattered throughout. It was interesting to see how these differences translated to the different bird species we saw here.

Fun fact: “Maasai Mara” means “Maasai spotted land” in the Maa language, referring to the landscape dotted with acacia trees and wildlife.

Diana had a display of handmade souvenirs and beads waiting for us after our bird-watching exercise. We joined her in making some beaded bracelets and small gifts for our loved ones. We spent some time working on them, as we also wanted to create a few tokens of appreciation for Dr. Steve, Dr. Wang, Carol, and Cletus to thank them for such a wonderful and enlightening trip so far.

After lunch, Dr. Lougheed gave a lecture on how environmental DNA (eDNA), which enables non-invasive biodiversity monitoring by analyzing genetic material from water, soil, or air samples. It is an efficient tool for assessing species presence and ecosystem composition in otherwise hard-to-survey environments.

We also had two debates left to cover today, so at some point, we had to rush back from beading to ensure all our final preparations were in order. We started with Group D, who explored the topic of international treaties and their effectiveness in mitigating illegal trade. We enjoyed their debate, as it highlighted nuances we hadn’t previously discussed, expanding our understanding of such a relevant and controversial issue.

We (Group F) also did our debate in the afternoon. The proposition for the debate was that national parks and reserves are the most effective ways to conserve a country’s natural heritage and to meet a nation’s obligations under the Montreal Agreement for conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030. It was interesting to learn from both sides that there are pros and cons to national parks for example the benefit they provide to the environment and national economies but at the same time, local communities and indigenous peoples are often overlooked.

Just after our debate ended, Timothy – a local Maasai- offered to take us on a short hike to a nearby hill which turned into an unforgettable journey. We quickly pulled out our cameras for a spontaneous photo session with the beautiful landscapes and scenery.

As if that wasn’t enough, we soon spotted a herd of zebras grazing nearby, the evening light casting long shadows across the savanna. We ended the hike by climbing a tree for a group photo and taught Cletus how to take a 0.5 selfie.

It was the perfect warm-up to tomorrow’ game driving in Maasai Mara and we can’t wait to see what’s next!

After returning from the hike, we had a short time to freshen up and work on our field books before dinner. As usual, the food was excellent, and we even had some guests join us. We met Dr. Kariuki Kirigia, an Assistant Professor in the School of Environment at the University of Toronto, as well as Maddy and Mo, two masters students visiting Kenya for their research. We had a pleasant time meeting them and learning more about their work and experiences in Kenya. Mo also mentioned a course she had taken during her undergraduate studies with Dr. Steve that inspired her current thesis on Maasai women in conservation (Tropica Biodiversity & Conservation).

As we all gathered under the mess tent, we came to truly appreciate the opportunity to meet everyone and learn from their diverse backgrounds. To top it all off, we saw a hyena grab some goat intestines and walk away peacefully—an unexpected and fascinating moment that made everyone pause.

Finally, we called it a day, said goodbye to our guests, and went to sleep, knowing we had an early and exciting day ahead.

The sun has risen and so have the spirits of everyone.

After a 15 hour day on the bus and a well-deserved sleep, those who have fallen ill woke up feeling better than the day before.

The day was dedicated to recovery.

The morning was quiet, students both excited for the new site but somber in recovery from the long journey the day before. Many slept in, but those who could got up bright and early to scope out the new campsite – Bunduz Mara – and watch the birds before breakfast.

We kicked off the day of rest and recovery with the camp’s unofficial welcoming committee: the bandit-eyed, tail-waggling banded mongooses making their morning rounds. A few of us took a leisurely wander around camp after breakfast, armed with binoculars, spotting everything from hornbills to, yes, even more mongooses (mongeese? The debate rages on).

In between animal sightings and rest, Diana’s pop-up art gallery of vibrant beaded creations and carvings in soapstone and ebony had students captivated as we marveled at her intricate handiwork. Soon after, Dr. Steve lead a class discussion on phytogeography as we have now traveled from Nairobi to Nivasha to Kakamega to Maasai Mara — the study of factors affecting major vegetation and habitat distributions, helping us better understand why the ecosystems and landscapes between this trip’s three sites were so different.

Mid-afternoon brought a wonderful, relaxing change of pace: a beading workshop with Diana! Many students gathered around to learn the art of Maasai bead-work for making bracelets and earrings.

After a delicious dinner, which some of us were well enough to enjoy, we set up the dining tent for a special ‘graduation ceremony.’ Kirstie ‘graduated’ from York University with a Bachelors of Environmental Science! Dr. Steve gave a speech, and handed over his laptop to present her with an honourary diploma. She then walked the make-shift stage in front of the class audience to shake the hands of various dignitaries Dr. Wang, Carol, Cletus, and Mukhtar. There was cheering, lots of photos, and better spirits after a long 48 hours. She was surrounded with plenty of proud-parent energy from both students and staff. What better place to mark a milestone than in the middle of East African savanna?

After ‘graduation,’ we gathered around Dr. Steve’s laptop for a very fitting screening of The Lion King (yes, the live-action one). It was neat to watch a film inspired by the very landscapes we’re studying — most notably Maasai Mara, and Hell’s Gate National Park in Rift Valley.

As darkness fell, it was time for a bit of bush baby hunting — camera flashes and headlamps on, eyes peeled for those glowing retinas in the trees. Meanwhile, bats emerged and began their nightly swoops through the dining tent, reminding us who really runs this place after sundown. Just when we thought the night couldn’t get more magical, a majestic Maasai giraffe strolled straight through camp like it had booked a late check-in.

In short: wildlife, wonder, and one epic graduation. Just another day in Kenya.

As you previously read yesterday, camp was a cheerful place to be. Little did we know that was the calm before the storm. It all started late last night. A few people were caught off guard with sudden illness.

By the morning the illness had spread to most in the camp. You might be thinking ‘ if they all just lay in bed and rest it should pass quickly.’ Wouldn’t that be nice if it were an option.

Instead, we had a 9+ hour drive ahead of us.

As the sick people tried to collect themselves in preparation for our long drive, the remaining few packed up all the tents so that we could start our journey.

We were but 15 minutes into our drive before we stopped to stock up on some of the essential medicines and supplies (buckets). This quick stop turned into a 5-hour hospital visit. A trip to the doctor was decided on to a) identify what the cause of our ailment was, and b) get some iv fluids and antibiotics into a very dehydrated student.

After this long pit stop and purchase of drugs, it was time to hit the road. We’re finally turning out of the parking lot and bang! The truck doesn’t quite clear the sharp turn and lightly tapped the barricade (not to worry no harm done).

By 3 PM we had departed for Maasai Mara. The landscape was beautiful with many towns and villages to see, vibrant markets, people out and about, tea plantations and small farms. The terrain varied greatly throughout the drive from winding, hilly roads to rice fields and tea plantations. If you were well enough to do so there were many views to keep you entertained.

A rainbow appeared in the late evening sky, a possible sign that there might be a light at the end of this tunnel.

We made a stop in Narok and picked up Carol! It was only another hour and a half to our campsite at Masai Mara. When we arrived Mukhtar was there to greet us and help set up our tents. The campsite is beautiful and the amenities are amazing (hot water!)

hillside village

shower facility at Bunduz Mara camp

Team C: Lacey, Selena, Amadahy

The camp rustled awake with another 7am bird walk today. Job showed us an array of the glorious avifauna of Kakamega Forest. Some highlights are the African Stone Chat, Red Cheeked Cordonbleu, and the hidden Jameson’s Wattle-eye. Ending with the flying leap of the red-tailed monkey over our heads. During breakfast we stewed in our bird knowledge and prepared for the upcoming official bird-a-thon. Two Cinnamon Breasted Bee-eaters swooped in on camp to inspire us for the next endeavour. We reconvened to start the competition at 10:20am. The teams seperated and followed along the different paths introduced to us by Job, looking in not only the high canopy but the undergrowth, mid canopy and open sky. Dr. Yuxiang and Cletus enjoyed the sun without the pressure of finding as many birds as possible. Some of the included species were Lesser Striped Swallow, Petite Cuckoo-shrike, Snowy Crowned Robin-chat, African Blue Flycatcher, and a Red Chested Cuckoo. At 12 PM after spending a couple minutes with noses buried in field guides, everyone was ready to show off their hard work. To those of you patiently waiting for this final match, the results are in:

• Team A (Yiling, Naomi, Ella) : 29 species
• Team B (Serena, Miranda, Akilah) : 8 species
• Team C (Lacey, Selena, Amadahy) : 17 species
• Team D (Shamini, Emily, Hannah): 10 species
• Team E (Amanda, Kirstie, Dani): 8 species
• Team F (Suzy, Jana, Holden) : 12 species

In first place once more is the ornithologically excellent Team A! Team C put up a good fight for the rematch, but to every teams credit, birds in a rain forest are fairly elusive. Well done to everyone using their best observation skills and using what we had all learned from our wonderfully knowledgeable guide Job.

Once everyone had packed up their bags for tomorrows early trip to leave camp, we were given a window into the abiotic world of the ecosystem that surrounded us. Dr. Yuxiang led us on a water chemistry crusade. He set up four instruments. One was an electrode for oxygen, a soil tool to measure pH and light etc., refractometer for light passing through sediment in water, and a multi use probe. All of these represent very important parts of the abiotic world that the biodiversity we look at belongs to. Did you know that frogs will leave their water at night because there is less oxygen in the water due to the lack of respiration done by water plants?

After our nature break, the storm clouds rolled in and thunder brought us back under the shelter. Where we then proceeded with the first of the highly anticipated debates. Team C started off with a debate on the effectiveness of debt for nature swaps. Our gracious moderator, Lacey, kept the debate civil between Amadahy, arguing in favor of the potential benefits from well managed swaps, and Selena, arguing against them and their clear complexities. Debt for nature swaps referring to the world debt of certain countries being relieved by outside parties such as a creditor countries and NGOs in order to invest that relieved debt into conservation.

Next up, was Team E starting their intense debate on monetization of nature and environment systems. Amanda gave a very strong argument for the benefit of monetizing nature and how it can incentivize corporations to care. However, Dani was a worthy adversary, she argued how flawed those monetization systems can be in practice. Their moderator, Kirstie, kept things as clean as she could while asking very insightful questions. Then we had the debate of Team B on the endlessly controversial topic of trophy hunting. While it may seem cut and dry, Miranda arguing for the topic brought up very important issues around the monetary value that comes with this form of tourism hunting. She was up against Akilah arguing with both empathetic and logical points regarding impact on animal systems. Both their doctorate personas had vicious remarks but were kept in line by their intuitive moderator Serena. Who’s summary was done tastefully considering how complex the topic can be. Once the first debates were done, ravenous students rushed through dinner in order to be ready for the night walk to the pond. We knew we were close when the sudden cacophony erupted of loud chirps and croaks surrounding us. The frogs gave us a deafening welcome! Students immediately leapt into action as the reeds were swarming with small African Tree Frogs, an appearance from a dwarf frog, a rare lateralis tree frog, and a nocturnal butterfly! After Dr. Stephen, as the compassionate teacher he is, showed us, everyone taught each other how to hold those small frogs safely. Miranda and Lacey were in their herpetological element and followed all the small croaks beckoning them closer to the pond. Many species were found and Dr. Stephen made sure to get a good photo-shoot of them all. All the frogs were gorgeous but weren’t fans of being directed, but you know, models… invertebrate zoology students also got a good kick out of the streams near the pond as they came face to face with wild planaria flatworms! Heading back to camp, it’s an early start to leave for Maasai Mara tomorrow, so everybody either went to sleep or relaxed by the fire pit.

Siku njema!

Group B. Serena, Miranda & Akilah

Jambo! Today we had a day filled with birds, snakes & special guests!!

As the sun finally rose at 7 am, most of the camp was up and ready to start the day. Job Ilondanga, our local Kakamega rainforest expert (more on him later) ,invited us to go bird-watching around some of the trails in the forest. Amongst some of the most beautiful and iconic species we saw were the brilliantly coloured double-toothed-barbet, pin-tailed Whydah and the endemic dusky crested flycatcher (on a nest).

After a delicious and energizing breakfast, Job gave us a phenomenal talk. He explained to us his background and how he came to work in Kakamega after being born and raised here. He also told us about the role he’s played in conservation of species in the area, especially for butterflies. As a matter of fact, he’s even cited in our butterfly guide book!! Job also addressed the various aspects of the forest and the factors that affect it. These included the community, human-wildlife conflict & different conservation programs he’s led. The most remarkable and inspiring one was his community based and led corridor restoration where 50% of a previously degraded corridor has been restored thanks to sapling planting. The hope is that eventually the water will fully return and allow the community to benefit from it, as well as help flying squirrels return to Kakamega.

Next, seeing as the sky was bright and sunny, we took part in an exhilarating herping (relating to reptiles) activity. We got to observe and attempt to catch tropical house geckos and variable skinks… though unsuccessfully. However, Lacey was skilled enough to catch a common house lizard who decided to get payback by giving her its worst bite (very cute considering she felt nothing and it gave its all). Following suit, Dr. Steve later on would catch a Jackson’s forest lizard, who would also try and show him who’s the boss with a bite.

The final presentations took place and addressed solutions to modern ecological issues in East Africa. Jana started us off by explaining the importance of Indigenous peoples in conservation and the disproportionate impact they have, in that they are just 5% of global population but protect 28% of global terrestrial area! Up next, Alikah talked about native birds preferring invasive plant species over the local ones in riparian habitats along the banks of rivers. We even learnt about birds wearing little cute backpacks for tracking purposes. Suzy then discussed how conservation needs can intersect with local community needs. Conservation decisions must be made in a way where the community is involved and properly benefiting. Last but not least, Yiling finished us off with her presentation on prescribed burns and their effect on rodent species richness. in Africa As it turns out, fire is a key part of some ecosystems. Great job everyone!!

After lunch, we were extremely fortunate to see a cutie pookie venomous snake (although Shamini disagreed). The green bush viper juvenile was just vibing by the logs behind the kitchen building. All who wanted could get pretty close and snap some amazing pictures. We are only the second ever field course group to see this species!! The day continued to give the snake enthusiasts a treat by delivering a Gaboon viper and a rhinoceros horned viper, two extremely elusive species we did not expect to see (although Miranda had been manifesting seeing one since Nairobi. Thanks Miranda). The snakes were collected by the Kenyan Wildlife Service after being spotted at a sugar cane plantation. They are being kept for a short period of time for educational purposes after which they will be released back into the wild.

One student, Serena, received quite a shock when she went to view the Gaboon Viper in it’s little enclosure. The cage was held shut by a cut up earphones cord tying the glass front to the top. When Serena looked, the snake, fast as lightning, suddenly struck. Serena screamed and fell over, but luckily, and as anticipated, the snake was stopped by the glass. Saved by a cut-up earphones cord!

We then headed back to camp and participated in the drawing exercise where we picked a non-living interesting object to draw. For the exercise, we would first draw the outline, then the second drawing would included shading and texture, and the third would be drawn in colour. The goal was to practice & enhance our art of observation and gain an appreciation for illustrated eco-journals and field guides in contrast to pictures. “We are all imperfect manifestations of an ideal perfect, universal form,” Professor Steve said. “Paintings and drawings are attempts to manifest the perfect form.” We also realized art may not be our strong suit after seeing Dan Derbyshire’s drawing of a water thrush… it put our art pieces to shame.

While the previous activity was taking place, we were lucky enough to see a fourth snake, a  forest cobra hatchling Job found! We also learnt the importance of letting Dr. Steve know about found snakes so that he can get his mighty hook and catch it for us.

After a brief break, we started the canopy cover activity where we learned how to use a densiometer to estimate tree canopy cover. Very simply put, just count the squares, multiply and subtract from 100 to get a percentage.

Then, after dinner, we were honored to receive a second guest lecture from Karen Ndiema, the Camp Warden at Kakamega Forest National Reserve. Karen told us all about the conservation efforts at Kakamega Forest, the different governing bodies, and the local communities that use and rely on the forest. We learned that one side of the forest is managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service and left pristine, while the other is under the jurisdiction of the Kenya Forest Service and allows use of the land for activities such as agriculture, grazing and collection of firewood and medicinal herbs. Through this dual management strategy the forest can be an ecological biodiversity reserve while also providing for the local communities.

Finally after a long and very eventful day, we were free to rest, relax and sleep and prepare for another exciting day tomorrow. Now that we are more than halfway through this field course, everyone is extra friendly and our days are filled with giggles, laughs, inside jokes, and fond memories. It poured for two hours. It is a rain forest after all.

Tune back in to tomorrow blog to hear more about our adventures in Biodiversity and Conservation in East Africa with Queens University in Kenya.

Lala salama :))

Group A. Naomi, Yiling & Ella

When we awoke today, the sun was streaming through the massive tropical trees of Kakamega National Reserve. This morning was our first glimpse of the forest, since we arrived and set up in near darkness the night before. After a wonderful breakfast, we assembled for a 9 AM forest walk with our guide Job.

Job, who grew up here, knows everything there is to know about the biodiversity of Kakamega. Today he gave us a brief overview of the forest (its species composition, its structure, and its uses by the local community), and was more than willing to answer all of our questions. Before we set off, he told us about the ground dwelling safari ants that will climb up your ankles to bite your legs. We were warned by Dr. Lougheed that previous students have had to shed their pants to get rid of them. With that in mind, we set off.

Here is a list of some of the first fun facts we learned about Kakamega: It is a remnant of the massive Guinean-Congo forest belt that once stretched from the Congo to Kenya; Kakamega encompasses over 240 square kilometers. It houses over 500 plant species, 45% of Kenyan butterfly and moth species, 400 bird species and five species of primates including the black-and-white colobus monkey, blue monkey and red-tailed monkey, and olive baboon.

As we walked deeper into the forest, we learned about some of the fascinating tree species. There’s the endangered Prunis africanis (red stinkwood), which can grow to 45 to 50 meters tall. It provides important habitat for the goliath beetle, and is used by locals to prevent prostate cancer. We also learned about the olive teak tree, a backbone species, and the preferred habitat of the endangered African grey parrot. We also saw a huge Ficus bubu – over 400 years old. One of the coolest tree species we learned about was the strangling fig, a member of the Ficus genus. It’s a hemi-parasitic tree that only germinates after being passed through the digestive tract of a bird. The seed is left high up in a host tree where it germinates, and grows downward,eventually surrounding the host tree. We saw this species in three stages of development. First in a premature stage where the fig had only been growing for a few years. Next we saw an intermediate stage, where the host tree was still alive but the strangling fig covered most of its trunk. We then saw the final stage where the fig tree had killed it’s host – leaving a hollow centre. We saw many other amazing species, including lots of awesome fungi and the very prominent Dracena fragrans, which made up the middle layer of the forest.

We spent the afternoon searching for, identifying, and cataloguing the many species of butterflies in Kakamega. Each group was given a field guide, and set off into the forest. We spent an hour and a half searching for fast moving butterflies that either would not sit still for pictures or would not open their wings to show us their distinctive markings. In total we found only 27 of the 488 butterfly species in Kakamega. Some notable mentions were the blue mother of pearl, the forest mother-of-pearl, and the Kakamega forester. The most commonly seen were the brown pansy.

We had an excellent first day in Kakamega forest, and while we’re still adjusting to the squat toilets, we’re so excited for the rest of our stay.

Group F. Holden, Suzy & Jana

We started our day early with breakfast at 7 a.m., since we had an eight-hour drive ahead to Kakamega Forest. Lunch would be on the road, so we were given boxes to pack sandwiches, boiled eggs, fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, and snacks (including mandazi – a type of donut) for the journey.

After breakfast, we took down our tents and helped the staff with the big rain shelter. We rolled it up while Dr. Wang filmed us and sang “Row, row, row your boat …” So helpful!

Once everything was packed, we hit the road. We passed through many small villages along the way. Most houses were made of iron sheets, and people seemed to rely mainly on small-scale farming and livestock. There were roadside stalls selling maize, potatoes, and fruits – likely family-run businesses taking advantage of the highway traffic.

Things changed as we got closer to Nakuru. The buildings became more solid and started using brick and cement. We began to see signs of city life: markets, schools, hospitals, and even overpasses. Clothing was more modern, and commercial buildings, especially restaurants and service shops, lined the roads.

We made a short stop at a gas station in Nakuru (and some of us bought drinks and junk food), then continued on toward the forest.

Once it started raining we began to notice many things that had been discussed yesterday with regard to raising water levels. For instance, many families’ reliance on farming meant replacing forest land with agricultural sites which do not absorb as much water. We could see a lot of surface-land precipitation runoff that seemed to be mostly directed downhill of the catchment area. This meant that most of this precipitation is a main actor of rising water levels in nearby lakes and streams which contributes to land erosion and has other downstream implications.

There also seemed to be a lot of sediment mixing as the water traveled through streets, streams, markets, farm lands and even some forest land. With 4 more hours left until our final destination, we had plenty of time to follow this journey of precipitation in western Kenya. About an hour or two later most of the land surface appeared to be dry, likely due to runoff rather than infiltration causing overflow and flooding downstream which we managed to get a Quick Look at.

Finally, we were getting close. As we drove through Kakamega County we passed by many villages where we saw where Kevin grew up and we drove past Cletus’ house. Since our bus pretty much looked like a giant ‘tank’ we seemed to draw a lot of the locals’ attention. Many people smiled and waved at us which was a very lovely chance for us to briefly interact with the locals. At this point we saw another shift in local where many people seemed to rely on woodwork and making furniture for a living. We occasionally also saw some events with music, schools and churches.

We arrived at Kakamega forest at 6:30 and were held up at the gate to collect everyone’s student cards for access to the park. Once at camp, we rushed to set up our tents before dark. The campsite is an open field in the jungle with some small circular shelters called bandas, there is also a large covered area where we set up our dining area. Due to all the rain it was quite muddy. The abundance of insects in the jungle quickly became apparent. John, Kevin, Chenzen and Joseph were very fast at cooking dinner so it was ready by the time the tents were set up at 8:30. After dinner some of us went on a walk around the perimeter of the camp at the forest edge with our headlamps where we saw a weevil and a large spider, we tried shining our lights into the canopy to spot any eyes reflecting back at us.

Group E. Amanda, Daniella & Kirstie

We started our day ever so slightly earlier than before to make our boat launch time of 9am, bound for Crescent Island game reserve. Everyone, concerned about our passing of the “hippos, danger, do not cross” sign, piled into the three 7 person boats captained by our trusty anti-eating by hippo guides Nixon, Peter, and Jeremy – all with life jackets.

We were off! The journey for the day began with a  close hippo encounter by the Dr. Wang’s speedy boat with a 25 horsepower engine. Dr. Lougheed’s and Cleatus’ 15 horsepower boats were no match for the speed of Dr. Wang’s boat, which simply did circles around the other two. An array of birds were seen along shore, and even out in the open water with the sighting of a pelican floating about and other birds flying just above the surface (gray-headeed gulls, cormorants, goliath heron).

As we approached the game reserve we spotted a giant kingfisher (almost 45 cms tip to stern) which our lovely guides brought us each close in to take photos. Once we arrived, we all remembered our student cards for the student discounts and met Faith at the front desk to pay for student entry. We began our walking-safari meeting our guide Mwema, who then explained the history of the reserve and its famous Hollywood era, where some notable movies such as “Welcome to Africa” and “Tomb Raider” were filmed. He also explained the island’s history — it was only formed in 1900!!

The Hollywood era did not only bring fame but also brought zebras and water bucks to the island in the 1970’s. We observed both these animals at the beginning of our walk. We continued along the park, learning about all the inhabitants and their interesting reproduction quirks, including the lovely blue-balled vervet monkeys and the looser bachelor clan of the impala.

After Dr. Wang had his very first photo shoot with a Masai giraffe, we headed towards the captains of our little ships who would safely return us to our home away from home — where Silas, the living brain bank for the Lake Naivasha Riparian Association and areas around Lake Naivasha, was patiently waiting for us.

After our boat captains had their Disney princess moments with the African fish eagles (one of the boat pilots tossed a fish into the water and whistled to alert a fish eagle – which then came close to the boat to retrieve the fish), we were greeted with a delicious lunch made by John the first, Kevin and Chenzen. We then began to absorb all the knowledge that Silas had to offer about the lake, being intellectual sponges until Carol simply couldn’t absorb anymore information and offered an end to the knowledge sharing. This did not stop lecture 2.0 as Silas attracted about half of the students for more information from his amazing knowledge bank.

We then braked to “let the knowledge trickle down” as Stephen has said. After a brain-break we reconvened to listen to some paper reviews and syntheses by Amanda and Lacey. The hippos seem to like the paper presentations as they seem most active during them! Some bigger sociological questions were asked about illegal hunted meat consumption along with the competition between livestock and wildlife for resources. Lessons learned: social science is challenging.