Safe & Sound

I have finally made it to Mpala! The trip was long but relatively free of set-backs compared to what I was prepared for. The only snafu was a possible block or cancellation on my debit card due to my activities in London, but it looks like I will be able to get that resolved with little problem.
The flight to London was unexpectedly short: only 6 1/2 hours compared to the 8 I expected. I suppose it is closer than the rest of Europe. Unfortunately, this meant I didn't get as much sleep as I expected. They kept the cabin lights on for about the first hour and a half and the last hour, which made it impossible to sleep during that time. All told I think I got to Heathrow with three or so hours of broken up sleep. The plane was a bit late getting in, which, combined with some confusion about how to navigate the Tube, resulted in my being about 20 minutes late to meet Caroline and her friends. They were still waiting though, so we were united and off to the British Museum soon enough.

The British Museum was very cool. I am still shocked that it is entirely free and open to the public. It truly is the museum of stuff the Brits stole from everywhere else. It was very cool seeing some of the stuff, like the Rosetta Stone, but for a lot of the artifacts it was just a shame that they could not be seen in the proper context. The best examples of this I think were some of the Egyptian and Greek statues. Some of these things were massive and imposing even in the sterile museum. I can only imagine that they must have been even more so in their intended context. But an impressive museum nonetheless.

From the museum, we found a lunch spot where I had a delicious burger with prosciutto & avocado as my last meal in the Western world, and then hopped the Tube to go see Big Ben, Parliament & Westminster Abbey. This is when I found out that my card wasn't working and started to stress & panic a bit. Luckily I was able to send a couple emails to Mike and Mom to see if they could contact the bank, Caroline lent me enough pounds to get me out of the country, and everything seems to be working out just fine. In a weird coincidence, I found out that James, one of Caroline's friends, went to Wake Forest with Christopher Browder, Martin Schindler & Will Rawley (from Collegiate). What a small world.


The flight from Heathrow to Nairobi was awesome because I got an unexpected upgrade to business class. I was sitting in my assigned seat and a guy came up to me and asked if I would switch with him. He had been upgraded but was traveling with his brother, who was sitting in my row, and they wanted to sit together. I jumped at the chance. It was lucky that he asked at that point before everyone had boarded: I was the only person in his brother's row, but we were on opposite ends. Later the plane completely filled up and he would probably have tried to switch with someone who was next to his brother. Anyway, business class was great: more room, more comfortable chair, better service and more sleep!

I got through the Nairobi airport with no trouble at all and found my ride to Mpala. Once I stepped off the plane I was hit with the earthy, human smell of Kenya's air and finally started getting excited about this trip. The ride up to Mpala only increased that excitement. Kenya is at once a familiar and foreign place at this point, so as I watched out the van window I felt weirdly both at home and out of place. The most amazing part was how green everything is, especially in Laikipia. All the plants are lush green, there is a carpet of grass where I am used to seeing dusty brown ground, and red, yellow and white flowers dot the landscape. It is very beautiful. My first wildlife sighting (besides a Maribou stork eating trash by the Nairobi airport) were some impala, but shortly after I saw two huge leopard tortoises. They were a fair way off the road and I know I wouldn't have noticed them if the ground had been its normal brown color. But against the bright green grass they stood out plain as day.

There are some familiar faces here at Mpala, which is nice. Since it's Sunday (and Easter) not much official business is happening and I will have to wait until tomorrow to obtain my car. It's nice to relax anyway. I took a low-pressure but semi-hot shower and zonked out for an hour and a half. Dinner will be served soon and the board says we'll be having chicken curry. Yum!

Day of Departure

I leave tonight at 9:00 pm from Newark. From there I'll head to London, where I have a 12 hour layover. By a crazy coincidence, Caroline left for a European vacation yesterday and will be in London tomorrow, so I am planning to go into the city to meet up with her, see some of the British Museum and perhaps get my picture taken in front of Big Ben before heading back to Heathrow. Then it's another 8 hour flight to Nairobi and a four hour taxi ride to Mpala. I'll spend the night at Mpala, collect my car and some field equipment and head to Ol Pejeta, which will be my home base for the next three months. Sounds easy enough; we'll see.

I am usually a very light traveler. My two previous trips to Africa (1 and 2 months in duration) were conducted out of one medium-sized red suitcase. My crowning light-packing achievement was the week-long spring break trip two years ago to visit Paige in Ireland, when I packed entirely in a large carry-on. That was fine despite my mother's attempt to sabotage me by pouring leek & potato soup down one of my two pairs of pants. However, this trip is not a light trip. Three months is a long time and I've opted to bring along extra items that I hope will make my stay a bit more comfortable. I'd like to feel settled there, not like I am traveling for three months. On top of that, I have a fair amount of necessary and bulky field equipment. So for this trip I am taking the normal red suitcase, plus a duffel bag that meets the Virgin Atlantic size requirements (just barely) and a carry-on backpack that carries my computer & camera equipment. Both checked bags are packed right to the weight limit. My carry-on is a problem. Virgin Atlantic puts a 13 lb limit on carry-on bags. With only my computer & camera equipment, the bag weighs 17 pounds (I do not have *that* much camera equipment; Virgin's carry-on expectations are just ludicrous). I cannot check these items for fear that they will be damaged or stolen out of my bag. I have put everything else I would normally have in a carry-on into my very large purse, which I hope I will be allowed to bring on board despite its size. I just have to hope that they don't actually weigh my carry-on, but since Corinne was made to check her carry-on a couple months ago, I am not expecting such a free pass.

So we'll see! Hopefully I come out of this with all of my belongings and don't have to spend the whole journey worrying about the fate of the backpack.