Mpala Research Centre

Jambo!

We finally made it to Mpala Research Centre last night, which was no small feat!  The interesting thing about driving in Kenya, is that there aren't many road signs.  There is, however, plenty of crazy drivers and hundreds and hundreds of people walking along the side of the road.  Add to that the fact that one drives on the left-hand side, and you have an exciting combination!

After a good night's sleep, we woke up to a chorus of unfamiliar, yet beautiful bird calls.  After breakfast, we were able to chat with a graduate student from UC Davis who is doing work studying the ecological impacts of bomas and glades.  Bomas are fenced in areas, usually made from cut acacia trees, that are used to house cattle at night to protect them from predators and cattle thieves.  Glades are treeless areas that are where former bomas used to be.  (Usually bomas are used until the cattle dung becomes so deep that they have trouble moving.  Then a new boma is constructed elsewhere for the cattle to spend the evening.)  We also spoke with Mike, the manager of Mpala Ranch, about the challenges of managing a ranch to support both livestock and wildlife.  These conversations were very helpful with the work we are doing.

Best of all, we saw tons of wildlife!  On today's list were countless species of birds, impala, waterbucks, warthogs, giraffes, ostriches, vervet monkeys, and last but certainly not least: a leopard!!

Tomorrow we will be visiting some research sites where there is work being done on the breeding behavior of superb starlings.  We will also attend a conservation club meeting at a nearby school and donate the nearly 350 lbs. of books that were donated!

On Wednesday, we head to Ol Pejeta Nature Conservancy.

As guessed, the internet connection here is sketchy at best, so pictures will have to wait.  Trust me, there are tons!!


Kwaheri