Home Sweet Home for the Next Three Months

Now that I have gotten my modem working, I am back to hopefully semi-regular blog updates. Last Wednesday the insurance sticker finally came for my car. After another short delay (the latch on the back door was stuck, so that had to be fixed) I was on my way to Ol Pejeta. I had no idea what to expect really; I had arranged for a place to stay, but I was supposed to have arrived two days earlier and my emails about my delay had gone unanswered. I did not know if there would be others there, if I would have to go into town for food immediately, if I would be able to get fuel at the conservancy, if the roads would be mush because the entire conservancy is on the soupy black cotton soil.

I arrived with no trouble on the roads and was greeted inside Ol Pejeta’s gate by an elephant that literally trumpeted my arrival when I passed (not even that close!) in my car. I found the research station buzzing. It was full to capacity and they had to set up an extra room for me. There were several people here who were working with the chimps in the Sweetwaters Sanctuary and there was a big group of people here to help with the release into the conservancy of several Northern White Rhinos from the Czech Republic. There were also a couple people that were doing marketing work for Ol Pejeta. I was relieved that I would not be going it alone, although the glut of people forced me into the room that opened onto the dining room, right next to the kitchen. Since the dining room is the only room at the research station that is not a bedroom, whenever people were awake and not out in the field, that’s where they were. Since the door to my room was a visual barrier only, whenever anyone else was up, so was I because of the noise. This was particularly unfortunate the first night, when I, struggling with the last of my jetlag, tried to turn in at 9:00, but instead listened to the Czechs discuss their photos from the day until 11:30. Then at 4:15 the first of the groups were up to head to Lewa for the day. I tried to go back to sleep, but ended up lying in bed fighting bugs until I finally got up at 6:15.

Ah yes, the bugs. I tend to prefer the tent-style housing of Mpala’s river camp to banda housing for several reasons, one of which is that tents are much better at keeping bugs out. It is currently beetle season apparently. Hundreds of small golden-colored beetles inhabit the research station. They are fairly innocuous during the day, but at night they are attracted to light, and if there is none, they fly about frantically trying to find some. There were many such beetles in my room by the kitchen. The only light in the room when I closed the door came in from the top of the door and cast a beam on the wall above my bed. The beetles for some reason were not attracted to the actual light source (which would have lured them out of my room and into the kitchen) but rather to the strip of light over my head. They would make their buzzing, bumbling way over to this strip, collide full-on with the wall, and fall buzzing into my hair and face. Any dead beetles that fell to the floor were soon swarmed by tiny black ants, which was also mildly unpleasant, but not too obtrusive. There was also an abundance of spiders, including one silver-dollar sized one that inhabited the corner opposite my bed. The only thing worse than having that spider there would have been trying to get rid of it, so it got a stay of execution provided it stayed in its corner, which it did. After my first night, I spent a few minutes before bed searching for and destroying golden beetles. Other bugs, such as the spider and a giant moth, were inspected and urged to remain quiet and out of my bed corner. This worked fairly well and after the first night, I mostly only had to deal with the late nights and early mornings of the other research station inhabitants.

A couple days ago, some of the rhino people left and I was able to move to one of the outdoor bandas. It’s not one of the nice double ones that I think are four times the size and meant for double occupancy, but it does have a full-sized bed, a small desk and a set of three shelves for my stuff. The bed is big, yes, but the mattress is thinner than most bathmats and the pillow has the approximate consistency of gravel. I can make do with the mattress, but I have been sleeping with my fleece folded over the pillow to try and make it softer and less lumpy. Next time I go into town the first order of business will be to find a new pillow. There are many fewer bugs in my banda, which is wonderful, and I am generally satisfied with the accommodations except for the pillow. In about a month and a half, the people inhabiting the double bandas will depart and I hope I will have the option of moving in, mostly to satisfy my curiosity about what they are like.