Field work!

     So I went for the first day of my internship on Monday and actually had the opportunity to leave that afternoon for a few days of field work in Mwea National Reserve! There had been several Rothschild giraffe carcasses found in the reserve (this is the most endangered subspecies of giraffe), so the veterinary team was called in to investigate.  We found 5 carcasses total, but they had decayed too much to take any samples. 

     We then traveled around the park tracking live giraffes to see if any were exhibiting "sick" behavior; however, all the ones we found (about 40 total) appeared to be healthy and normal so we did not sedate any and take samples. You can see a few giraffes out on the hill!

     I would have loved to watch the process of a giraffe being sedated (quite a large and dangerous process since they have a long way to fall to the ground and you need to make sure they don't break their necks!), but I was glad the giraffes we found were all in good condition.  If more dead giraffes are found, a follow up investigation will certainly take place since they fear some disease is perhaps spreading among the Rothschild giraffes that could wipe out the population.
    We also saw some zebra in the park (they were pretty bold and not too afraid of us!)

    It was also very interesting to drive around and stop at small towns and villages on our way to the reserve (which is really out in the middle of nowhere!).  Many of the towns had populations of about 100 to 200 people and some of the people I met had never met a white person before... I definitely felt a little out of place, but it was a neat experience nonetheless and everyone I met was very friendly.  Here is a picture of one of the towns we visited (this picture actually encompasses the entire town):

     I also got to enjoy some local dishes consisting mainly of maize, beans, cooked spinach and onions, ugali (maize in a paste like form), and chipati (basically the Kenyan version of naan bread - my new personal favorite!!).  All in all it was a very eye opening and exciting trip and it definitely exposed me to many new things in my first few days here!