Wednesday May 21st, 2014 After many hours of hard work, fun times, and great experiences, our journey together has reached it’s end. Today was the last day of class and it started out with some early morning studying. Our final exam was at 10:30 a.m. and the time for studying beforehand had been minimal. However, … Keep reading »

Tuesday May 20th, 2014 We woke up at 7:30 a.m. for our breakfast and after it we went to our various projects groups for data analysis. Tonight we shall be presenting our projects and so every group is rushing to complete their data analysis. At 10:00 a.m.  as other days we went for our tea … Keep reading »

Monday May 19th, 2014 Today was a day to work on our research projects, discuss readings, and perhaps most notably, to revisit the school in Lekiji (a pastoralist community located on a plot of land nearby to Mpala Ranch). Since our previous visit, ideas concerning ways in which we could help the school had been … Keep reading »

Saturday May 17, 2014 After two full days of traveling to different ranches it was nice to have a more relaxed morning today. However, there was still work to be done. After breakfast we were working hard on studying for the practical exam which was Saturday at 4pm. We would help each other identify trees, … Keep reading »

Friday May 16th, 2014 Today was our visit to Segera.  Originally scheduled for Monday of this week, we, as a class, were glad to be able to go and visit at all– roads had been washed out earlier, as the black cotton variety of soil that is between us and Segera holds water very well, and for a very … Keep reading »

Thursday 15th May, 2014 Today we woke up very early, preparing ourselves for a long journey to Ol Pejeta Conservancy with an aim of exploring conservation and development. At Ol Pejeta we were given a brief introduction by Giles Prettejohn, the cattle manager of the Conservancy. We learned that it is 90,000 ha and their … Keep reading »

Wednesday, May 14th, 2014 Today was a full day with an interesting variety of experiences. This morning we visited Mogwooni cattle ranch and met with the manager and owner, Jackie Kenyon. Here we were exposed to a different view on land management. Jackie  produces high quality Boran cattle which are considered to be some of … Keep reading »

Tuesday May 13th, 2014 First of all apologies for a late entry. We’ve been very busy this past week, which is of course a good thing. Tuesday’s morning lecture was given by Josephat Musyima from the Laikipia Wildlife Forum. This organization brings wildlife conservation interests to the Laikipia region through different programs that do not just … Keep reading »

Monday May 12th, 2014 The variability of savanna ecosystems was in full effect today. In the early morning, we said goodbye to the River Camp and moved our belongings to the Mpala Research Center. We would later be divided up and moved into our various sleeping quarters. Originally, the plan for our class was to … Keep reading »

Saturday and Sunday May 10-11, 2014  Over the weekend we were able to catch up on some much needed sleep and relaxation after a week filled with hours of field work. On Saturday we had a late breakfast at 8 am and spent the morning reading, catching up on home work, and playing cards. Shortly … Keep reading »