Dear all
Well, tomorrow the program ends and year 3 of university is finished!
We are in the final stages of completing a 3 credit research project on Wildlife Conservation Tactics in East Africa and tomorrow morning we present, sign our exit waiver forms and fly free free free. I have written 2 final exams for my last class, and handed in a tourism report... these past 2 weeks have been hellish busy and I can;t wait for the work to be over and the play to begin.
On the morning of the 30th, I leave the hotel at 4am in a cab to the Zanzibar Airport and take a flight to Nairobi at 6:10am. From Nairobi i fly to Johannesburg, then to Windhoek in Namibia. I touch down in my target town at 4:30pm local time.
I'll be there until April 16 and then i head home.
I actually have to rush off now because break time is over! The final count down has begun. Tonight we have a dinner out on the program, and tomorrow we have our last supper, so to speak, and a goodbye ceremony of sorts. Its going to be sad to say goodbye but I'm so excited to get out there on my own.
Lots of love to those at home and all those who have helped me along the way. Perhaps I will find internet in Windhoek but again I'm assuming no internet or phone access until I touch down in Vancouver.
xoxoxo
Marion
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Last stop: Zanzibar!
Dear all
So I lied; I didnt write again in Nairobi... what with finals and trips to Mathare and trying to sort out a volunteer opportunity for after the program, things got busy.
From Nairobi, we drove to Tsavo National Park East. We camped there for 5 nights and never have I ever been so hot in my life. There are sooooo many elephants in that part of the park, bouncing back from being nearly wiped out during the peak of ivory poaching. The plains are packed with wildlife, and we saw more lions as well. As part of my biodiversity course for the last leg of the trip we did a census of wildlife sightings from our safari trucks. Our prof, David Green, is a herpatologist and has a crazy obsession with frogs, or reptiles and amphibians in general (but really, just frogs), and a serious lack in interest in any other sort of animal. Despite this, we wrestled to see the elephant rehabilitation program they have running Tsavo.
From Tsavo we trucked over to the coast to camp in Malindi at the KWS Marine Reserve. Oh my gosh, you should have seen us having a party when we saw the ocean. Monica and Alec had been insisting since Day 1 that due to liability issues, we had to wear life jackets in the ocean. It had been a constant battle of disbelief and arguing, but when we saw the Indian Ocean, after days of camping in intense dry heat, half of us just said to hell with it and grabbed lifejackets during the sprint to the ocean. I was on Alec's bus, and when he saw everyone bolt with lifejackets he just burst out laughing. We let them go swimming and took pictures before he finally told them it had been the longest and worst joke ever, and there was the punishment for running into the water before a safety briefing. Golden.
We camped about 50 m from the sand, under some trees in the shade (not that that helped much with the heat) and swam up to 3 times a day between trips to town, snake hunts and lectures. The temperature was hotter than Tsavo, and humid to add, making afternoon lectures a write off, so the hours around lunch were off so we could stay cool in the shade and water. One morning our bio class went off on a snake hunt with some rangers and we caught 5 or 6 snakes, ranging from non-dangerous bush snakes, to sand snakes and then we caught a spitting cobra! Yes, he spat, but his captor had wood working goggles on so he was fine.
Malindi was wonderful, but the sand was EVERYWHERE and camping in the sand for extended periods gets tedious. So, despite the love we have for the ocean, we were ready to leave the beach and its beach boys behind to trek to Mombasa.
Our hotel in Mombasa was sooo amazing. We were put into houses, 6 per house, and there was a blue blue pool and ice cream. To sleep on beds and have showers AND swim in a pool was just absolute heaven. We had only one night there, and my house (the party plane house) left the hotel the next morning at 4am. The 6 of us hadnt managed to get seats on the plane the rest of the groups was on. So instead of going direct from Mombasa to Zanzibar, we flew to Nairobi first, and then to Zanzibar. Quite the trek.
We arrived in TANZANIA!!! We stood in a huge inefficient line to get our visa. All countries must pay US$50, except the USA, who pays US$100 and Pakistan, who must pay US$200. Interesting. So now I have 3 visas in my brand new passport, and the first 10 pages are all stamped up.
It was in Mombasa that I finally got some good news about possible post-program plans. I'd been dreaming about heading over to Namibia to work on a farm, and Mum has been so amazing helping me find someone to take me. She called in Mombasa to say she found a rescued animal sanctuary near Windhoek where they needed volunteers, and after my first night in Zanzibar, I decided to do it. Its no small thing. It requires a flight from Zanzibar to nairobi, Nairobi to Joberg, Joberg to Windhoek. Return flights are the same all the way back to Nairobi, and then to Amsterdam and then Vancouver.
So I'm just waiting right now to finalise those plans and I'm really looking forward to travelling on my own.
Since our arrival in Zanzibar on the 17th we have had lots of lectures at the nearby Dar es Salaam Univesrity campus about biodiversity in Zanzibar. yesterday we went to the Zanzibar Butterfly Farm, and then to the Jozani National Park, which is one of the worlds top 20 hot spots for biodiveristy, with hundreds of endemic species, including the rare red colobus zanzibar monkey and elephant shrew. After dark we went searching for frogs but with little success.
This afternoon the bio class got onto some sketchy looking motor boats and cruised out to Prison Island and jumped off the back to go snorkelling. The coral reef here is amazing, and i really enjoyed paddling around, hoping I wasnt getting hepatitis or something from the grungy rented mask and snorkel. The water is crystal clear and bright blue, and corals come in every shape and size, bright blues and greens. I found myself a little black and white striped eel, diving down to look at it close up.
So Zanzibar is wonderful. As students we are expected to be more respectful of the culture than the tourists who come here in their short shorts and tank tops. I'm wearing ankle-length dresses and skirts and covering my head and shoulders with long scarves. The Muslim community is very obvious and there are 50 mosques in Stone Town alone (where we are staying). There is also a strong hint of Hindu, and British Colonial influences here, and the history is fascinating. I'm so glad we will be staying here for 2 weeks, until our program ends on the 29th of March.
To those at McGill: course registration is looming up and I cant udnerstand why the CRNs are not up yet. Does anyone know the date they will be posted? I have limited internet access and with time ticking, and the possibility of me being on a plane on the 31st, i'm concerned about classes. Please reply if you have heard anything about when the courses will be posted for fall 2009, winter 2010. Marissa and/or Donna: My loves, I may ask you to help me out by registering me for my classes... the time change would make it really hard, and you know Minerva better than my family would. If thats OK, let me know and when I have got the CRNs I'll send you my info.
So to all those at home: it looks like I'll be heading for Vancouver some time mid April. Dates are not confirmed yet, and I'm not rushing home at any crazy pace, but thats the update!
I hope you are all doing well.
xoxoxoxo
Marion
So I lied; I didnt write again in Nairobi... what with finals and trips to Mathare and trying to sort out a volunteer opportunity for after the program, things got busy.
From Nairobi, we drove to Tsavo National Park East. We camped there for 5 nights and never have I ever been so hot in my life. There are sooooo many elephants in that part of the park, bouncing back from being nearly wiped out during the peak of ivory poaching. The plains are packed with wildlife, and we saw more lions as well. As part of my biodiversity course for the last leg of the trip we did a census of wildlife sightings from our safari trucks. Our prof, David Green, is a herpatologist and has a crazy obsession with frogs, or reptiles and amphibians in general (but really, just frogs), and a serious lack in interest in any other sort of animal. Despite this, we wrestled to see the elephant rehabilitation program they have running Tsavo.
From Tsavo we trucked over to the coast to camp in Malindi at the KWS Marine Reserve. Oh my gosh, you should have seen us having a party when we saw the ocean. Monica and Alec had been insisting since Day 1 that due to liability issues, we had to wear life jackets in the ocean. It had been a constant battle of disbelief and arguing, but when we saw the Indian Ocean, after days of camping in intense dry heat, half of us just said to hell with it and grabbed lifejackets during the sprint to the ocean. I was on Alec's bus, and when he saw everyone bolt with lifejackets he just burst out laughing. We let them go swimming and took pictures before he finally told them it had been the longest and worst joke ever, and there was the punishment for running into the water before a safety briefing. Golden.
We camped about 50 m from the sand, under some trees in the shade (not that that helped much with the heat) and swam up to 3 times a day between trips to town, snake hunts and lectures. The temperature was hotter than Tsavo, and humid to add, making afternoon lectures a write off, so the hours around lunch were off so we could stay cool in the shade and water. One morning our bio class went off on a snake hunt with some rangers and we caught 5 or 6 snakes, ranging from non-dangerous bush snakes, to sand snakes and then we caught a spitting cobra! Yes, he spat, but his captor had wood working goggles on so he was fine.
Malindi was wonderful, but the sand was EVERYWHERE and camping in the sand for extended periods gets tedious. So, despite the love we have for the ocean, we were ready to leave the beach and its beach boys behind to trek to Mombasa.
Our hotel in Mombasa was sooo amazing. We were put into houses, 6 per house, and there was a blue blue pool and ice cream. To sleep on beds and have showers AND swim in a pool was just absolute heaven. We had only one night there, and my house (the party plane house) left the hotel the next morning at 4am. The 6 of us hadnt managed to get seats on the plane the rest of the groups was on. So instead of going direct from Mombasa to Zanzibar, we flew to Nairobi first, and then to Zanzibar. Quite the trek.
We arrived in TANZANIA!!! We stood in a huge inefficient line to get our visa. All countries must pay US$50, except the USA, who pays US$100 and Pakistan, who must pay US$200. Interesting. So now I have 3 visas in my brand new passport, and the first 10 pages are all stamped up.
It was in Mombasa that I finally got some good news about possible post-program plans. I'd been dreaming about heading over to Namibia to work on a farm, and Mum has been so amazing helping me find someone to take me. She called in Mombasa to say she found a rescued animal sanctuary near Windhoek where they needed volunteers, and after my first night in Zanzibar, I decided to do it. Its no small thing. It requires a flight from Zanzibar to nairobi, Nairobi to Joberg, Joberg to Windhoek. Return flights are the same all the way back to Nairobi, and then to Amsterdam and then Vancouver.
So I'm just waiting right now to finalise those plans and I'm really looking forward to travelling on my own.
Since our arrival in Zanzibar on the 17th we have had lots of lectures at the nearby Dar es Salaam Univesrity campus about biodiversity in Zanzibar. yesterday we went to the Zanzibar Butterfly Farm, and then to the Jozani National Park, which is one of the worlds top 20 hot spots for biodiveristy, with hundreds of endemic species, including the rare red colobus zanzibar monkey and elephant shrew. After dark we went searching for frogs but with little success.
This afternoon the bio class got onto some sketchy looking motor boats and cruised out to Prison Island and jumped off the back to go snorkelling. The coral reef here is amazing, and i really enjoyed paddling around, hoping I wasnt getting hepatitis or something from the grungy rented mask and snorkel. The water is crystal clear and bright blue, and corals come in every shape and size, bright blues and greens. I found myself a little black and white striped eel, diving down to look at it close up.
So Zanzibar is wonderful. As students we are expected to be more respectful of the culture than the tourists who come here in their short shorts and tank tops. I'm wearing ankle-length dresses and skirts and covering my head and shoulders with long scarves. The Muslim community is very obvious and there are 50 mosques in Stone Town alone (where we are staying). There is also a strong hint of Hindu, and British Colonial influences here, and the history is fascinating. I'm so glad we will be staying here for 2 weeks, until our program ends on the 29th of March.
To those at McGill: course registration is looming up and I cant udnerstand why the CRNs are not up yet. Does anyone know the date they will be posted? I have limited internet access and with time ticking, and the possibility of me being on a plane on the 31st, i'm concerned about classes. Please reply if you have heard anything about when the courses will be posted for fall 2009, winter 2010. Marissa and/or Donna: My loves, I may ask you to help me out by registering me for my classes... the time change would make it really hard, and you know Minerva better than my family would. If thats OK, let me know and when I have got the CRNs I'll send you my info.
So to all those at home: it looks like I'll be heading for Vancouver some time mid April. Dates are not confirmed yet, and I'm not rushing home at any crazy pace, but thats the update!
I hope you are all doing well.
xoxoxoxo
Marion
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Back in Nairobi
Hey all
So we got into Nairobi on the 2nd (HAPPY MARCH B.T.W!!) and we have been pretty much studying our butts off, in between lectures and days at the National Museum... I just got out of my final exam for Orno and gosh does it feel good to be done with another class. These 2.5 week full-course stints are super hard core and often really tough, especially when you are doing 2-3 lectures a day, squeezed in between activities and meals... they are jam-packed days and we are really exhausted after this module. Yesterday was a much- needed change of pace: Dr Bird took us t the National Museum to explore the ornithology department (so the change of pace was really just a change in location). WE were actually taken behind the scenes to the research department... its essentially a huge bird morgue. Vegetarians beware! Drawers and drawers of stuffed birds, every species of birds in Kenya and many from other parts of East Africa. WE were shown everything from baby ostriches, tiny tiny kingfishers to mamooth monkey-eating eagles with terrfiying talons. It was really cool. Gaming for birds was made illegal in the 70s, so now only about 10-20 birds are added to the collection at the museum each year, and most of these are due to road kills or migratory collisions.
To emphasis our crazy days, today we had our finals at 9-11, and after lunch we are going to Mathare slums, the largest slum in East Africa, larger than the Kibera slums we visited when we were last in Nairobi. Just to exhaust us physically, mentally AND emotionally, tonight we have the chance to go out on the town-- to a pricey dinner at SafariPark (which I'm opting out of for economic and slightly ethical reasons after seeing poverty) and then to the discotheque there.
Tomorrow, oh my I can't wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow is our first day off since the start of this trip. We have a whole day to sleep, do laundry, catch up on journals and hang out! After the last 2 weeks especially, we all really really need some R&R.
In the mean time, however, I have two assignments to finish up and a site presentation to prepare for, so I should rush off and finish those before lunch!!
I hope all is well at home! I'll write again before we leave Nairobi on Sat morning
xoxoxoxo
So we got into Nairobi on the 2nd (HAPPY MARCH B.T.W!!) and we have been pretty much studying our butts off, in between lectures and days at the National Museum... I just got out of my final exam for Orno and gosh does it feel good to be done with another class. These 2.5 week full-course stints are super hard core and often really tough, especially when you are doing 2-3 lectures a day, squeezed in between activities and meals... they are jam-packed days and we are really exhausted after this module. Yesterday was a much- needed change of pace: Dr Bird took us t the National Museum to explore the ornithology department (so the change of pace was really just a change in location). WE were actually taken behind the scenes to the research department... its essentially a huge bird morgue. Vegetarians beware! Drawers and drawers of stuffed birds, every species of birds in Kenya and many from other parts of East Africa. WE were shown everything from baby ostriches, tiny tiny kingfishers to mamooth monkey-eating eagles with terrfiying talons. It was really cool. Gaming for birds was made illegal in the 70s, so now only about 10-20 birds are added to the collection at the museum each year, and most of these are due to road kills or migratory collisions.
To emphasis our crazy days, today we had our finals at 9-11, and after lunch we are going to Mathare slums, the largest slum in East Africa, larger than the Kibera slums we visited when we were last in Nairobi. Just to exhaust us physically, mentally AND emotionally, tonight we have the chance to go out on the town-- to a pricey dinner at SafariPark (which I'm opting out of for economic and slightly ethical reasons after seeing poverty) and then to the discotheque there.
Tomorrow, oh my I can't wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow is our first day off since the start of this trip. We have a whole day to sleep, do laundry, catch up on journals and hang out! After the last 2 weeks especially, we all really really need some R&R.
In the mean time, however, I have two assignments to finish up and a site presentation to prepare for, so I should rush off and finish those before lunch!!
I hope all is well at home! I'll write again before we leave Nairobi on Sat morning
xoxoxoxo
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