So I made it successfully after long flights and layovers to Nairobi! I'm here a day earlier than everyone else in my group so I've been relaxing all day in a very nice hotel. Since this is the last time I'll have lots of internet for a long time, it's time to start a blog! With a lot of convincing from friends I decided to try to write about my travels, so here goes my first EVER blog post. Enjoy!
In case anyone doesn't know exactly what I'll be doing in East Africa for the next six months...I am taking courses with The School for Field Studies in Kenya and Tanzania. I will be taking classes in Wildlife Ecology, Wildlife Management, Environmental Policy, and Swahili. We begin at the Kilimanjaro Bush Camp in Kenya where we will stay for 1.5 months and then move to Tanzania for the next 1.5 months. The last month will consist of a directed research project where we work on some aspect of conservation research. My current plan for the 3 months following the semester program is to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, hopefully work for the Save the Elephants organization in Kenya, and travel around when my parents join me at the end of July.
My last two days have consisted of travel from St. Louis to Atlanta to Amsterdam to Nairobi. Luckily, I had a 7 hour layover in Amsterdam so I could get out of the airport and walk around. I met a nice couple on my flight to Amsterdam who were also on the same flight to Nairobi. They invited me to join them and the rest of their group into Amsterdam during the layover. I spent the next few hours realizing that I never want to travel with a large group of American tourists again. The benefit was that I didn't have to worry about where I was and how to get back to the airport because I could just follow their leader who knew the area. The most amusing part of our walk around the city was the stroll through the red light district with this group that happened to all be catholic missionaries. The next flight to Nairobi was uneventful except for the two adorable African girls dressed in identical outfits! They spoke French so I had fun trying to talk with them and I was surprisingly somewhat successful digging up the vocab I had learned 4 years ago.
I arrived in Nairobi at 7:00 in the morning, feeling exhausted and excited. I got a toursit visa, collected my bags and found a taxi to take me to my hotel. Nairobi was different than any city I've ever seen. There were throngs of people walking along the side of the highway, including women lugging heavy bundles on their heads. There was a lot of traffic and I quickly realized that the lanes on the highway were mere guidelines and there weren't many other rules of the road. Drivers merged into traffic when they thought they could make it, using horns frequently to communicate with the other cars.
Tomorrow morning I wake up early to travel back to the airport to meet the group and we'll be driving to our center outside of the city. Since I'm starting to fall asleep while writing this and watching the x-games snowboard half pipe finals, I'm going to go. I don't know when I'll be able to update next but hopefully I'll be all settled in at the center.
Love and miss you all!
