Liv in Kenya

Straight to the pictures today!  Lots more turtle rescues! Aili is taking the measurements of this little guy before he goes back to the ocean.  We organized the mangrove nursery at LOC by species and then planted 200 saplings at a site on the nearby tidal creek.  Went to a sunset yoga class at the top of a treehouse with Issy and Gray. Very relaxing experience, if I ignored the drones that were filming the class... Last week we admitted a turtle (named Bumps) suffering from tumors. Here we watched as the vet surgically removed tumors that were covering the turtles eyes. After one more day in recovery, Bumps is back to the ocean!! Not the most enthusiastic, but she swam off eventually.    Very large cabbage for lunch.  LOC conducts routine anti-poaching surveys along the beach to look for signs of illegal fishing and turtle poaching. We found a few old pieces of turtle shell (called scutes), but nothing that indicated recent poaching activity.  This se...

 Wow, what a week it's been! Aili, Bre, and I flew into Malindi from Nairobi on Sunday and have been settling into our independent study at Local Ocean Conservation in Watamu. LOC is an organization working to protect sea turtles and conserve the Kenyan coast. One of their programs is a bycatch and release project in Watamu so that local fishermen can call LOC when they accidentally catch a turtle in their fishing nets. After receiving a call we drive to the turtle, collect data and tag the turtle, and then release it back to the ocean on a stretch of beach protected by the Kenya Wildlife Service. LOC pays fishermen a small amount for calling in a turtle, in recognition that they could alternatively sell the turtle for meat on the black market. It's been really inspiring to see the success of this program, and the relationship that has developed between LOC and the Watamu community.  Though I'm certainly not yet adjusted to the heat (or the massive spiders), no complaints w...

 Since returning from our Amboseli/Mombasa trip, we have finished up our classes on the compound and prepared for our independent studies (IDS). Got hit by another round of sickness, though hopefully on the far side of it now. One of my classmates got cholera and had to spend some time in the hospital which was scary, but everyone is back on their feet and off to their internships!  On our last day of class we had a sports day with our professors and compound staff. Played lots of volleyball and football, followed by chai of course.  For our biodiversity conservation class we took a field trip to the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. They rescue orphaned baby elephants and raise them before slowly releasing them back to the wild. The organization relies on entrance fees and donations for profit; it is extremely costly to care for elephants. Additionally, the elephants are mostly rescued from places where they are already way overpopulated. From a conservation stand...

 While on the coast in Mombasa we had the chance to meet with many locals and learn about the history and culture in the area. The Mombasa community is primarily Muslim, and religion is at the center of the town. We met with three Swahili mothers, a primary school teacher, a healthcare worker, and a Swahili professor. We discussed issues relating to the intersection of race, gender, and religion and the potential for discrimination and violence. The police force in Mombasa (and the rest of Kenya too) is mostly Christian, and the Muslim community routinely faces religion-based police violence.  Speaking of police, we also visited with HAKI Africa (acronym for humanity, activism, knowledge, and integrity), a human rights organization combating extra-judicial killings carried out by the police. Since Kenya initiated a military presence in Somalia to combat the extremist youth group Al-Shabaab, there has been an uptake in Al-Shabaab recruiting within Kenya. This has led to a war o...

Just returned from a week in Amboseli followed by a week in Mombasa (next post). We stayed at a lodge on the outskirts of the park and did day trips from there. The local population is primarily Maasai, and we had the opportunity to visit multiple Maasai homes to learn about issues regarding human-wildlife conflict, land availability, the ongoing drought, and more. The Maasai we spoke with explained how their community is shifting away from the pastoralist lifestyle towards a hybrid of agro-pastoralism. This is due to the numerous environmental and societal pressures they face. Currently, Maasai group ranches are undergoing subdivision. Having ownership over land, while not present in the traditional Maasai society, is becoming necessary in order to secure land rights.  Aside from visiting with the Maasai we of course went on game drives in the national park! Buckle up for some safari pics.  First look at Kilimanjaro right from our lodge! Elephants! Seeing these creatures was ...