Allison in the Masai Mara Game Park (via Mark)

After 3 days in the Game Park, Allison's daily routine: 6am game drive looking at animals, return to camp for studies and lectures following by an afternoon game drive.  Needless to say she loves it. Yesterday they spotted numerous cheetahs and a large group of lions with little cubs playing all over the adults.  She has some great video photage of it.  It seems that Allison will be doing a lot of photo sharing as different students have nice pictures of Allison, one has great scenery shots while another, with her long zoom, has tremendous animal shots.  Allison said the sunrises and sunsets have been unbelievable as their is a lot of clouds and thunderstorms around.  They've had rain during 2 game drives and all last night which suspended today's morning drive.  However, when the sun came out blistering hot today they were sitting up on this hill outside looking out over the savanah - herds of elephants and other animals, acaisha trees everywhere and the expanse of the savannah for miles. I don't know how she concentrates!

They are currently at a Kenyan Wildlife Research Center in the Narok District (eastern part of the Mara).  They have been camping in nice rugged tents for the last few nights without running water ('bucket showering') but the food has been fantastic -"best camping food I've ever had".  As we spoke on the phone Allison said the group was scattered around the campfire, sitting reading or doing work and some had already gone to bed (9:30 pm local).

Her itinerary has her leaving the Masai Mara Sunday going to Nivasha (3 days), Nguruman (3 days), Elangata Wuas (5 days) before arriving in Nairobi again.  She does not expect to have internet access again until then on March 6th.  She will try to upload a couple pictures.

On a boat in Mbita

I have to apologize for not being able to update this blog personally over the past few weeks but we have been in some really rural areas without real internet access.  Luckily Dad offered to fill in for me. He's only mixed up a few of the details.  He's doing a great job so far and I really appreciate it. 
We are currently in Mbita.  We left Kisumu this morning in our giant trucks.  These things are obnoxiously large and I don't understand how our drivers manage.  John and Anthony are very talented!  We were camped at an impala sanctuary which was sweet because there were impala wandering through our camp regularily.  There are also wild roaming zebras, who may have almost trampled us while we were out walking.  All's good though and we got some good pictures.  We spent the first day in the village of Sauri and the second day in the city of Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city and home to the Millennium Cities Initiative (as Dad mentioned). I won't say more because I don't have a lot of time, but you can totally google it.  We also got some shopping done too and were only slightly delayed by a mild protest.  Don't worry, it was nothing serious.  Some of the boda boda operators were protesting something but it lasted less than an hour.  Just goes to show you how flexible you need to be while travelling in Africa. 
We've had a great time camping and the crew that travel with us make absolutely fantastic meals.  We eat them as the sun is setting around a campfire.  The group is also really big into singing and the evening always quickly degenerates into song. 
We left Kisumu this morning and headed for a ferry port about 2 hours away.  We all crammed into this tiny ferry and travelled across the bay to Mbita.  I have no clue how we fit our huge honking trucks on but needless to say the others waiting to load vehicles were not too impressed with the muzungoos.  It was an uncomfortable 45min ride crammed into this ferry but I met a guy with a field hockey stick who had just bought it for his son.  When we got off the ferry he showed it to me and I showed the kid a few moves seeing as he was just starting out.  We walked from the ferry to the research center where we are staying.  It is another locale right on the water and it is beautiful.  We had the afternoon off which entailed a very rigorous napping regime followed by a light run.  The most satisfying part of the day had to be the shower though.  None of us had showered in several days and it was beginning to wear on us.  We can't complain though because apparantly it is going to be much worse in the Mara. Mel and Mon (staff members) insist that we don't know what dirty is yet.  Be that what it may, Jess, Katie, Georgia and I decided to throw our pants in the tub today to wash them (one pair of pants each) and the water quickly turned to mud.  It took multiple washes and rinses and I think they are still dirty. 
Tomorrow we are starting our Health Module and we start Session II courses later this weekend.  I was happy to finish my first Session exams but I was sad to leave our professors.  Lea was a fantastic prof and I learned so much from her which is crazy to think about because we only had two weeks for the course.  Despite the short time frame, it is amazing how much we learn.  This is how all learning should be.  The only time I am not learning is when I am sleeping.  It's a wonder how we're not all ridiculously stressed out.  I'm sure that day will come but in the mean time I am enjoying myself.  I will hopefully be able to make one more post before the Mara (where we definitely won't have internet) but the computers are valuable comoditites, especially considering the deadlines on some of our research projects.  I actually skipped out while everyone else is partying right now to write this.  I'm going to rejoin them now. 
Thanks for reading my posts.  I am sorry I can't update it too often but Dad will continue to fill you in when I cannot.  I also apologize for any spelling errors as I do not have time to proof read.  I am sure you won't judge me too harshly. 
Take care!

Allison's Tuesday call from Jinja

Overlooking the Nile River in Jinja, Uganda, Allison watched a spectacular sunset while bird watching after her first exam - an exam written outside under the trees, sweating in the afternoon heat! Allison is loving the warm temperatures and doesn't mind being hot - wonder why...........in February :)  She has found it a bit too hot for her morning run in the last couple days - her Mum and I are quite sympathetic!!  Despite the heat, Allison and the group are getting used to wearing their long pants and long sleeved shirts to protect themselves from the sun. "I've got a great farmers tan going".
Her day started at 5:40am Tuesday to the sound of a parade of men going down the streets pounding sticks and chanting about their candidate for the upcoming Ugandan election. I'm trying to picture that in Canada at 5:40 am!  After morning lectures, Allison was part of group that joined members of the National Fisheries Research Institute to go out on a boat onto Lake Victoria. Allison was pulling in fish and tagging them as part of research into efficiencies into different net designs to better improve fishing for the locals. After the 'fishing trip' they had an hour to review before writing the exam.  They then all spent a nice evening off, students, professors and grad students playing some fuzeball while having a few beers.  Allison has found this time invaluable to get to know everyone and to network about future research and internships.
Today, Wednesday, some of the profs and grad students were to leave the group to head back west to Kibale National Forest or Kampala to finish their research or work.  Allison and the remaining group were to leave the hotel in Jinja, cross the border back into Kenya and head for Kisumu where they were to visit the Millenium Cities Initiative (MCI). They were camping Wed. night and Thursday will be spent visiting the Millenium Villages Project (MVP).  http://mci.ei.columbia.edu/?id=locations_kisumu.  'The End of Poverty' author Jeffrey Sachs is a leader in this project and his book is a foundation for all Global Development students. She is quite excited about the prospect of seeing first hand what she's read so much about.

Friday they will travel a few miles around Lake Victoria to Mbita to spend a few days working on a group Health & Nutrition Module. Then, it's off to the Masai Mara National Park.

Allison called today from Seeta, Uganda (just east of Kampala)

(Allison has not had access to the internet while in Uganda)

It’s been a busy week starting with last Saturday’s party with the local village.  Allison’s group returned to their loggings and spent the night singing and having a good time. She said it was a highlight ‘sitting around the campfire in a tropical rainforest in Africa’.  Sunday, Allison and 6 others accepted an offer and went to a local Catholic church with Peter (Field Assistant at Kibale).  There was lots of singing and then the Canadians were asked to come up front and do some of their singing - their rendition of ‘Like a Prayer’ (Madonna) and ‘Proud Mary” was quite the hit. The service was followed by a marketing of goods where the group bought pineapples, sugar cane and a chicken!  When reality set in about keeping a live chicken with them they offered it to a very appreciative Peter – something in very short supply in his village.

On a rainy Tuesday the group moved from Kibale down to Lake Nabugabo which she said was amazing.  In Uganda they travel by coach bus unlike the two giant trucks they used in Kenya that they will meet again at the border next Wednesday.  Thirteen of the group opted for tenting (Allison) while the rest were in a variety of cabins.  Some of the tents are army-like while others are less durable.  She said they eat steps away from the waterfront but swimming is not an option because of the threat of Schistosomiasis.  The next day they spent at lectures followed by a visit to a local health clinic.  Thursday, the excursion was escorted by a local Councillor and a health worker to local villages but was highlighted by a visit with a traditional healer.  They watched as he worked himself up into a ‘possessed’ state.

This morning (Friday) Allison awoke at 5 am to howling winds and lightning in a tropical thunderstorm.  It was then that Allison and Jess realized that their tent was not one of the durable army tents.  They quickly dressed and fired their belongings into their day backpacks and made a run for one of the cabins as the tent collapsed and flooded!  Luckily for them they had pre-packed their main packs and had them in one of the cabins ready for the day’s early departure.  As they ran for it they could hear the other ‘tenters’ screaming while running for various cabins.  She said it was hilarious and quite the start to the day.  They then spent another rainy day (so far, just the travel days are rainy) on the bus for 5 hours going up through Kampala, getting lost and finally arriving at a hotel in Seeta, Uganda.  They spent some time on their research papers and finished the day drinking some beer and playing football by the pool.  It was quite a memorable day for Allison.

She  likes the diverse background of the group and some photography enthusiasts have been helping her to take a lot of great pictures so far.

Allison wanted those of you that might have been texting her to know that she will not be able to reply until they get back to Kenya next week and back to her Kenyan cell.