Kolping Conference Centre June 5

Shikamoo (greeting in Swahili)!

Today, we woke up at around 8 am to some suspicious noises – to later find out they were monkeys! After we made our way down from the room at 8:30, we enjoyed a yummy breakfast. We had fried dough (mandazi), beans, sausages, bread, omelettes and fruit made by our gracious chef John (the second, John the first being our capable driver). After our meal, we went around the corner to the back of the kitchen to wash our dishes. Following this, Professor Lougheed rounded all of us up for our first meeting of the day.

In this, we got to formally introduce ourselves to each other through an icebreaker activity as well as gain a better understanding of the itinerary of the trip and outline of assignments. He also explored the importance of field courses and immersing ourselves in another culture, and the unfortunate declining of such offerings across many universities. Through this, we gained insights into why these are important not just for learning about ecology but also on how to navigate life and spaces more thoughtfully. After our meeting, we explored the Kolping Conference Centre grounds, focusing on the flora and fauna on the property. Some of us brought professional camera equipment, and scored some great pictures (some shown below)! Such as the Hadada ibis (Bostrychia hagedash), White-browed sparrow weaver (Plocepasser mahali) , a large candalabraform euphoria (plant), Black kite (Milvus migrans), Variable Sun Bird (Cinnyris venustus), Speckled Mouse Bird (Colius striatus), eucalyptus (introduced), oleander/rosebay, Casuarina collina. Binoculars came in handy during this time, as some birds were perched far away and hard to spot. Some critters were hiding under our feet as well, disguised as blades of grass. We filled our field books with our encounters with new species, frantically writing and drawing all that we could see. After spending time working on our journals, chef John and his team made us a delicious lunch. Most notable for us, was the delectable pasta with cheese. As well, the papaya was grown here which we found impressive!

After lunch, we went on a wild excursion to a mall! Funnily enough, this was our first trip in Kenya outside of the Kolping compound – to Galleria Mall. It was at this point that we noticed the drivers in Kenya sit on the right side and drive on the left. Cool! Our first stop at the mall was the grocery store, where some of us went on a manic hunt to find new snacks we hadn’t tried before. After the grocery store, we dispersed into smaller groups. With some explore the bookstore for stories on the East African region, and others looking at different clothing stores to expand their wardrobe. As a whole, we had just over an hour to explore the mall on our own as the Professor was purchasing a local SIM card (with 100GB of data so that he can continue to post this blog). While most of us returned to the bus early or on time, some of us decided to grab coffee and snacks at a cafe within the mall. Sorry guys!

Coming back from the mall, we was Olive Baboons on the side of the road as well as matatoos (vans that have many seats used for local transportation for people). We also cracked open some of our chips, with our personal favourites being the strawberry popcorn and chilli boom boom flavours (different chip flavours not a single one). When we came back, we had around an hour to ourselves before the professor planned our next meeting. During this time, some of us took much needed time to nap, others took to sunbathing and reading, and extra smart ones took to filling their field books.

Afterwards, Professor Lougheed held a discussion on species distribution and primed our minds as to why certain species are distributed the way they are – some micro-endemics with incredibly small species ranges while others have immense sometimes almost cosmopolitan distributions. We dove into topics such as species diversity within and across biotic communities, as well as why range limits asking questions as to why species at range limits don’t simply adapt and expand. We spoke about endemism in the broad sense, and what comprises a micro-endemic species, what defines biodiversity hotspots, and how vascular plants can act as proxies to represent biodiversity in other groups as well. Overall, we learned about the importance of conservation and maintaining biodiversity as well as our plans for tomorrow’s adventure to Lake Naivasha and a tea plantation. We will keep this a mystery for tomorrow’s group to explain for now. Right now we are manically writing this to finally get a portion of dinner as everyone is already reaching for seconds and we are getting hungry by the second.

Tutaonana baadaye (see you later in Swahili)!