As my study abroad program draws to a close, it is hard to believe that I arrived in Tanzania over three months ago. Over the past few weeks we have finished up our directed research, presenting our findings to the local community as well as other stakeholders. The directed research experience I gained here will be very valuable to me moving forward, and I am very glad I had the opportunity to come to Tanzania and do all that I did. As the program comes to a close, we have taken this last week to do a little bit more exploring, and I’ve gotten to see some very interesting things.

The main highlight was a trip to the city of Arusha, where we visited a snake park, Maasai heritage museum, and got to explore the city a little bit. The snake park was probably my favorite part of the day, as we got to see some pretty cool animals. Located close to the city, the facility served as both a small zoo and a snake bite clinic, offering antivenom to those bitten by dangerous snakes. We got to see a wide variety of snakes, including several cobras, pythons, and both black and green mambas. Additionally, the park had several crocodiles, as well as a couple birds that had been rescued and could not be released back into the wild. It was fascinating to see all of these animals up close, especially the birds and crocodiles as we had seen them on safari but never up so close.

The Maasai heritage museum was interesting as well, but after spending a whole day with the Maasai earlier in the semester, I can’t say I learned much more than I already knew. That being said, it was still cool to see the intricate displays built for the museum, showcasing traditional building methods and cultural traditions. After we finished our museum visit, we headed into Arusha to get some lunch and explore the city a little bit. There was certainly some minor culture shock when we got out of our vehicles upon arrival. As we have mainly been working in and around small villages these past couple months, you can imagine the suprise on everyones face when the first sights to greet us were a massive Pizza Hut and a large grocery store. It was definitley fun to explore, and we ended up getting some good Tanzanian food for lunch, making the trip all the better.

As I prepare to head home in just a few days, I spend lots of time thinking about all the fun memories I’ve made over the past semester. I plan on writing one more blog post as a final reflection, so please stay tuned for that in the upcoming weeks. As always, thank you for reading!

 

For the past two weeks I have been very busy with the fieldwork portion of my directed research. My team is investigating species diversity of small mammals along elevational gradients, a project that involves extensive time in the field. We set up 5 study areas for each elevation level we were researching (low, mid, and high), each area containing two plots with several types of live-capture traps as well as camera traps. Our plots saw us traveling across a very diverse slice of African landscapes, with lots of variation in the environment at each elevation. In the lowlands, we set up traps at Manyara Ranch Conservancy (mentioned in an earlier blog post) and Randilen Wildlife Management Area, as well as several locations around the town of Mto Wa Mbu (meaning Mosquito river in Swahili). It was in this area that we saw the most large mammals, on multiple occasions we had to wait to check our traps for safety reasons because there were elephants too close to them. In the mid-elevation area, our study saw us setting traps near a local airport and a local school, giving us more opportunities to interact with local villagers and school children. In the high elevation areas, we set traps in a large coffee plantation and near a monastery, which was an interesting change of scenery.

We would return to check our traps once every 24 hours, with mixed results. While we didn’t capture as many small mammals as I had hoped, we still caught some, primarily mice and shrews. In addition, we caught a Genet on one of our camera traps, a small wild cat that I had never even heard of before. It was super interesting to observe the diverse spread of rodent species that we caught, as we recorded several different kinds of mice and shrews. My time in the field taught me a lot about the process of conducting ecological research, and I was able to get very involved in both the planning and data collection processes. As we move forward with the directed research process, my team will review our data, analyzing it to see if we can draw connections between habitat elevation and species diversity. We have a lot of work ahead of us but I am excited to continue our project as the experience will be invaluable. I will continue to keep you guys updated as we move on with the research, and as always, thank you for reading!

The past few weeks have been incredibly busy for me. A series of final exams at the beginning of this week marked the end of the field exercise/classroom learning portion of the program. As we move forward, focus now turns to directed research, which I will be sure to write about in the coming weeks. More recently however, we returned from a three night camping trip to Serengeti National Park, the oldest national park in Tanzania.

Our first day saw us leaving the SFS center early in the morning, bound first for Ngorongoro crater before continuing on to Serengeti in the afternoon. Ngorongoro crater is the world’s largest inactive caldera, with the crater floor having an area of around 260 square kilometers. Our descent to the floor was a beautiful drive, and clear skies allowed us to see all the way across, showing off the impressive scale of the crater. When I first came to Tanzania in 2016, the one animal species I was unable to see was the Black Rhino. Listed as a critically endangered species, there are an estimated 80 individuals currently in Tanzania, some of which take up residence in Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. It would seem that fate was on our side that day, because within 15 minutes of reaching the crater floor, we saw a pair of rhinos grazing in the distance. It was an incredible sight, one that I had been dreaming of ever since I left Africa in 2016, and it made my trip here even more meaningful. Nature wasn’t done yet however, as we also saw a pack of hyenas taking down a baby cape buffalo. Although somewhat hard to watch, it was a fascinating spectacle to witness, and combined with the rhinos it made our transit through the crater an unforgettable experience. After leaving Ngorongoro, we headed onwards to our campsite. Unlike our trip to Tarangire National Park, where our campsite was a fenced-in area outside the park, this campsite was a small unfenced area right in the middle of the Serengeti. This meant that we had to be much more careful about disposing of food and trash, as hyenas and baboons would come through the campsite looking for a snack. Although I never saw a hyena at night, we would hear them making their distinctive laughing noises as we lay in our tents.

On our second day, we set off in the morning to do an exercise on habitat adaptations, work that sent us all over the park. We saw a large variety of animals, but the most entertaining and impressive were the hippos. We stopped at several hippo pools during the course of the day, getting close enough to appreciate the scale of the massive animals. While we only saw a few out of water, it was fascinating to see them all bathing together with their bodies mostly submerged. In the afternoon we saw the other animal I was really hoping to see this trip, that being a leopard. We spotted it along a rocky outcrop in the middle of the grasslands, resting during the day so it could prepare to hunt during the night. It was really cool to see, especially because leopards can be difficult to find, especially during the daytime.

On the third day in the Serengeti, fate struck again. Leaving our camp earlier than usual in the morning, we had set off to do another field exercise, but didn’t encounter very many animals. As we were driving along feeling a little disappointed, we spotted two grey shapes running in the tall grass outside our car. Upon further inspection, these shapes turned out to be another pair of rhinos! This was in fact an even more rare sighting than in Ngorongoro crater, as the Serengeti’s rhino population is actually kept within a different, smaller area of the park for protection against poachers and tourism opportunities. Usually, tourists have to pay an extra $100 to be able to see rhinos, but sometimes the animals manage to get out of the area they are supposed to be kept in, which is probably what happened here. When we got back to camp, one of our professors told us it was the first time in 13 years that students had seen a rhino here, which made it really special.

On our final day, we wrapped up the trip by stopping at Oldupai Gorge on our way back to camp. The Gorge is an important paleoanthropological site, as many different types of remains from early hominids and well as early humans have been found there. It was really interesting to explore the site’s museum, which featured remains from both hominids and ancestors of current large mammals of the African savanna. A good way to end off an epic trip, we returned to the SFS center in the afternoon tired but very much fulfilled. As always, thank you so much for reading, and stay tuned for more on directed research coming soon!

Today our class visited a Maasai village, and we spent the day participating in a variety of activities related to Maasai culture. Arriving around 9 in the morning, our first task had to do with the construction and maintenance of traditional houses. The Maasai people are pastoralists, meaning that for thousands of years their lives and livelihoods have revolved around the keeping of cattle. By the time we got there, the cattle had been let out of their enclosure to graze for the day, and it was our job to collect their dung in order to repair some of the buildings in the village. After collecting only the freshest poop with our bare hands, we mixed it with a little bit of water and set to work on the houses. Using our palms, we smeared it on the sides of several buildings to create a new layer of wall that would soon be dried by the sun overhead. It was dirty work, but it was fascinating to see how even the feces of a cow could be used for such a productive purpose.

Our second activity consisted of gathering wood from the bush for two purposes. First, we chopped down some acacia tree branches, known for their long and sharp thorns. These branches were then dragged to the perimeter wall of the village and stacked on top to create a spiny barrier made from all-natural materials. Inside this barrier wall there was another enclosure with taller walls in which the cows were kept, for extra protection from predators. After collecting wood for the fence, we then helped to collect and chop firewood that would later be used for cooking. While we didn’t get to experience any of the cooking itself, we did learn how to start a fire using only friction between multiple pieces of wood.

Our third activity was a long walk to fetch water, taking around 20 minutes. What was incredible to me was that the water we retrieved was not even clean enough for drinking, and would just be used for doing laundry and giving to animals. We were told that to get drinking water, Maasai women would often need to walk 20-40 kilometers, often with herds of donkeys to be used as pack animals. It was a humbling experience that allowed me to reflect on how much I take drinking water for granted. Even back at our base camp, the water that comes out of our faucets is clean enough to drink, and I could never imagine walking such distances just to get water that is potable. After our walk, we sat with the Maasai women to make beaded bracelets, before heading back to the main area of the village.

Our last experience of the day was a performance of traditional song and dance, put on by many of the village members. We got to watch and participate in a variety of different dances, which involved lots of jumping by the men involved. It was a great way to round out our experience with the Maasai, ending on an upbeat note and celebrating their rich culture. Today’s experience helped me to appreciate ancient tradition, and made me reflect on the things in life that I take for granted, which I believe is very important. Thank you very much for reading, and stay posted for more coming soon!

A few days ago, I returned from an action-packed three-night camping trip to the Tarangire National Park area, spending four days in and around the park engaging in various activities and field exercises.

On the first day, we departed the SFS Center in Rhotia early in the morning, heading straight for the park gates. Upon arrival, we were briefed on the field exercise we would be participating in that day, which involved counting and recording large mammals we saw in the park along multiple 2 kilometer transects. Within 15 minutes of entering Tarangire our car saw a pair of Cheetahs, the first we had seen the whole trip, which gave our day quite an exciting start. As we continued our journey, we encountered numerous other animal species, including lions, elephants, giraffes, and many more. For lunch we stopped at a picnic area with very aggressive Vervet Monkeys, who stole food right off of our table on two occasions. As if that wasn’t enough, the monkeys also ransacked our safari vehicle, taking a container of pringles and rifling through our first aid kit. Luckily we managed to catch them in the act and chase them off before anything else was stolen! After lunch we visited a Lion research station just inside the park, and learned about the various methods used to track lion pride movements and location. We got to experiment with radio and GPS collars and examine the physical records of all of the lions within the Tarangire National Park area. After this fascinating experience, we headed to our campsite to call it a day. The site itself was located outside the park, but not far from it. At night we could hear hyenas chattering as they roamed the grasslands in search of food, a constant reminder of our proximity to the wild.

On day two we headed back into the park, this time to practice our birding skills. We did a similar exercise to day one, but instead of moving continuously throughout each 2km transect, we would stop every 1km and spend 5 minutes observing and recording all of the bird species we saw. This was an excellent opportunity to appreciate the rich diversity of birds in Tarangire National Park, some of my favorites being superb starlings, lilac-breasted rollers, and lovebirds. Our rarest spot of the day which also happened to be my personal favorite was a Spotted Eagle Owl, which as you might guess gets its name from being an owl with an eagle-like appearance. These birds are nocturnal, which means we were very lucky to have spotted one resting in a tree during the daytime. On this day, we stopped at a safari lodge for lunch, which meant our food and cars were safe from pesky monkeys, and we spend the afternoon continuing our bird surveys before heading back to camp.

On the third day, we took a break from the ecology to learn about environmental policy and wildlife management. We spent the morning in small groups walking around a local village, talking to farmers about the conflicts they had with wildlife from the national park. Since the village was located in the corridoor between Tarangire National Park and the Manyara Ranch Conservation Area, farmers complained of having their crops frequently raided by zebras and elephants, and their livestock attatcked by hyenas. Additionally, they lamented that the local government often struggled in helping them deal with this interference, with financial compensation being slow and unreliable, and park ranger response times to animal threats being very high. While farming is important for the livelihoods of local people, biological abundance is important for tourism and the government, which creates interesting conflicts that we will continue to explore for the duration of this program. In the afternoon, we went to Manyara Ranch to experience a different type of conservation model (Multiple-use Conservation Area where cattle grazing is allowed versus National Park), and did a couple of mammal counts there to compare them to those from Tarangire.

The final day saw us exploring yet another conservation model, as we spend a good chunk of the day in the Burunge Wildlife Management Area. We didn’t do any field exercises here, but we got to talk to Burunge staff members who taught us about the relationships between Wildlife Management Areas and different levels of government, as well as NGOs. It was a very interesting experience and served as a good way to wrap up our camping trip, especially because we got to take lunch on a small hill overlooking the whole area. Overall, our trip was an absolute blast, and I certainly learned a lot about a variety of different subjects, from ecology to policy. As always, thank you for reading and stay tuned for more!

As I progress further into the SFS Tanzania program, I encounter more and more opportunities to experience all that Tanzania has to offer. We have programming 6 days a week which keeps me very busy, and with two research papers due over the past week and a half I haven’t had much time to sit down and blog. Despite this, I have made sure to use my off days to their fullest extent, immersing myself in a variety of cultural, artistic, and outdoor experiences.

My first foray into art came a few weeks ago when I visited a local painter’s studio with a small group of students. The painter, named Simon, specialized mainly in paintings of animals and Maasai culture. He led us in a guided painting lesson, each student getting to pick one of his works to base their own piece off of. I chose to paint a leopard, as it is one of the animals I am looking forward to seeing the most and also one of the most elusive. We used oil paint on canvas, moving step by step in order to portray details and textures. Simon worked carefully with us to ensure our paintings turned out well, and we got to take them home afterward.

The following week I went to a different art studio in order to try Batik art-making. The Batik practice originated in Indonesia but was brought to Tanzania during the 70s and taught to a collective of artists here. The process involves taking a piece of cloth and drawing a design on it, then progressively painting darker colors over the whole cloth, painting wax over portions that you do not want to get any darker. Starting with a drawing of a cape buffalo, I slowly worked my way through the color spectrum, waxing over the completed parts of my piece. At the very end, I painted a thick layer of wax over the top of the cloth and let it dry. After it dried, I cracked it using my hands and rubbed extra paint in the cracks, creating an intricate pattern over the top of the work.

Yesterday I went hiking in the Ngorongoro conservation area to a place called the ‘Elephant Caves’, as well as a secluded waterfall. The caves were a network of hollowed-out rock formations created by Elephants, who rub the rocks with their tusks in order to extract minerals from them. The hike was around 6-7 km through lush jungle, and while we didn’t see any animals during the hike, we saw plenty of signs of them. We saw lots of buffalo and elephant dung and footprints, and of course the small caves full of scrape marks from the tusks. The weather was also very beautiful, making the hike even more enjoyable.

Tomorrow we leave for a three-night camping trip at Tarangire National Park, and while I know this post has been somewhat short, I will be sure to report on my experiences there. I am very excited for this upcoming trip, as it will be our first time camping this semester, so stay tuned! Thank you for reading!

It’s been a few weeks since my arrival in Tanzania and I have been incredibly busy. There have been many highlights of my semester so far, but today I want to talk about my experiences in the field. The SFS Tanzania program is a combination of classes and research, and I’ve gotten a taste of the research on two occasions now. Our first field exercise involved the surveying of trees at Manyara Ranch Conservancy, a vast 35,000 acre wilderness area located in between the Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks. The second exercise was a behavioral observation study on Olive Baboons in Lake Manyara National Park. Each offered a different research experience, and both were incredibly interesting.

For the tree survey, our team of 19 students was driven into the African Wilderness of Manyara Ranch. Thanks to the Ranch’s status as a multi-use area (as opposed to a National Park), we were allowed to drive off the beaten path and get out of our cars to conduct our survey on foot. Using GPS coordinates given to us by park rangers, we navigated our way through the bush to find the location where we would begin our research. We split into two groups, my group utilizing the Point-Centered Quarter(PCQ) sampling model. A PCQ test is run by placing a small wooden cross on the ground every 200 meters at points along a predetermined straight line. The cross laying flat on the ground forms four quadrants, and in each quadrant the closest smallest and largest tree are found, identified, and have their circumference measured. The goal of this test is to provide an estimation of plant density in a given area, and can help determine what kind of plants(in this case trees) are growing there. During the course of our field exercise, we traipsed all over the conservancy, seeing many animals along the way. For the first time this trip, I saw Giraffes, Zebras, Wildebeest, and a host of other even-toed ungulates. Additionally, I got to see lots of animal bones, since we were allowed to go so far off the road into the bush. It was a wonderfully unique experience, and one that I definitely did not get to have when I came as a tourist back in 2016.

Our trip to Lake Manyara National Park involved much less walking, as we had to stay in the cars almost the entire time. Despite this, we still got very up close and personal with a number of animals. Our main objective for the day was to observe and record the behaviors of Olive Baboons (Papio anubis) in their natural habitat using the all occurrence sampling method and the focal sampling method. These methods are similar when it comes to the recording of behaviors, but the all occurrence method focuses on all individuals of a certain demographic (i.e. adult males), while the focal sampling method focuses on one individual from a certain demographic. Within 15 minutes of entering the park we found our first troop of Baboons, almost 60 members strong. As soon as we stopped the car, younger members of the troop actually climbed onto our hood, playing with each other and with the radio antenna (see picture above). It was a magical moment, everyone in our jeep holding back laughter as the monkeys romped around. As we began observations, we all remained silent, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the cacophony of sights and sounds as baboons all around our car foraged for food and interacted with one another. We sat there with the car off for over an hour, with no other people in sight, and it was an incredible experience. After completing our observations, we drove around the park for a while, seeing 6 Lions and tons of Elephants, as well as loads of other African mammals and birds. Perhaps the coolest moment I got to witness was two male elephants fighting for territory, both pushing each other with tusks interlocked, not wanting to give an inch. I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to see what I did, and our trip to the park was nothing short of amazing.

These two field exercises cap what has been an exhilarating two weeks here. As I continue to settle in, I look forward to the many experiences to come, and will be sure to keep you all posted. As always, thanks for reading!

 

As of today, I have officially been in Tanzania for three nights now. My experience so far has been nothing short of amazing, although it has been a lot to take in at times. The SFS center where I am staying is located near the village of Rhotia, up in the mountains near Lake Manyara National Park. The elevation of this location means that the landscape is a bit different than your stereotypical African plains. Instead of flat, dry grasslands, I am surrounded by lush green mountain terrain and sprawling agricultural land (see photo), although I haven’t been able to see too much because it has been fairly overcast. The rainy season is beginning in Tanzania, which means I can expect these clouds to be around for a while. Despite this, the weather has been quite pleasant, with rains usually coming in the morning or afternoon and lasting for a few hours. Even when it is raining the temperature stays above 60, and when the rain stops and the sun begins to poke through the clouds it can actually get pretty warm. When the sun is out, it is nice to go on walks outside of the center, and there are many dirt roads that you can walk and run along. While out, it is very common to encounter local Tanzanians, who are very friendly and are always sure to say hello, despite not speaking much English. Sometimes the locals will walk along with us and teach us certain words or phrases in Swahili. When walking during non-school hours, there are children everywhere, and they are always excited to see us. Soon we will be able to go to a local school and play soccer with them, which I am very much looking forward to. The food has been good so far, with a lot more variety than I was expecting. Each meal has had an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, and there are always many options for protein sources. Most meals are curries or twists on familiar favorites, and I have never left the table hungry. Classes will start soon, my first lecture is tomorrow morning and I am very excited for that. I will make sure to report on the class experience once they start up. In about a week we will make our first trip into Lake Manyara National park, so expect lots of animal pictures coming soon! As always, thank you for reading!

In just a few days I will be departing for Tanzania and needless to say, I am very excited. I wanted to take some time to reflect on why I chose the School for Field Studies Tanzania program, and what my goals are for this coming semester abroad. As a biology major, I look forward to the opportunities I will have to get out into the field and start doing my own research, as well as the valuable knowledge I will gain in the classroom. Ultimately, I have set three goals for myself, and I have decided to keep them rather open-ended, as I approach this experience with an open mind. My first goal is to immerse myself in Tanzanian culture, and to learn as much as I can by taking any opportunities that become available to me. I know that for a small portion of the program I will have the option of living with a host family in the village of Rhotia, and I intend to do this, as well as any other experiences that will allow me to observe and take part in the rich and diverse culture of East Africa. I will be sure to report on those experiences here, so stay tuned for more in the upcoming weeks. My second goal is to improve my own skill set as a biologist, and use my time in Tanzania to learn and practice things that will be integral to my future educational and career plans. The research I do while abroad will help me to formulate my senior thesis, and the things I learn in the classroom will be vital to my future success. Lastly, I would like to improve my communication skills through this blog, something I am very much looking forward to. It is my objective to paint a clear picture of the SFS Tanzania program for readers back home, and to appeal to a wide range of audiences, from family to alumni to students considering studying abroad themselves. I will do my best to keep things entertaining and interesting, and I will try to post about once a week going forward. Unfortunately, due to unreliable wifi, this may not always be possible, but I will do my best and I am excited to share my experiences abroad with you all! Thank you for reading!