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!