The Alps, as seen from the window of our plane
A view through the airplane windows of Istanbul
My 56 hours of travel began bright and early, 3:00 AM Boston time, when I woke up and frantically checked I had everything packed before flying to Houston. The flight was alright, and I landed in Houston excited to see some friends and be back at Rice for seven hours. It was strange to be back, though – the campus was largely empty, the serveries closed, and it was certainly warmer than when I left in May. At 4:30, I met up with Dr. Solomon and my fellow classmates in ABL 124, excited to be on our way! It was so nice to actually meet everyone going on the trip in person, and everyone is so nice and friendly – I feel so lucky to be a part of this group! We rode the Rice bus to IAH (which was an adventure in and of itself). As I chose, and was assigned Aves for my taxon, much of this blog will be devoted to birds. As it should be.
At IAH I had my first bird sighting of the trip: a pigeon, or maybe a grackle (it was hard to tell species) flying overhead inside the check in area for Turkish Airlines. I was watching it and tripped over a suitcase.
The flight to Turkey was probably the thing I was most nervous for on this trip; I have never flown for so long and I was not looking forward to being cramped into an airplane seat for 12+ hours. That said, it wasn’t the worst thing ever! It is true that I was completely unable to sleep, but I listened to music, watched some Adventure Time, and rested. I only panicked once, about halfway over the Atlantic, and I count that as a win. The plane was huge! It had nine seats in a row, with more than 50 rows total. I was greatly surprised it could actually fly (probably because I am no engineering major). They also gave us little packets with toothbrushes, pillows, a blanket, an eye mask and more! I felt very fancy.
The Istanbul airport was like nothing I’ve ever seen before – glittering, clean, massive, with hundreds of high end store, coffee shops, and tons of trinkets. Exploring the bazaar led to the discovery of wee pottery bowls, small rugs with horses on them, a large vase shaped like a fish, and boxes and boxes of Turkish delight.
Our next flight was from Istanbul to Nairobi, Kenya. By this point, time had lost all meaning and I was begging for sleep. Unfortunately, no sleep was possible on the plane and I watched the Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition) instead. It was morning in Kenya when we landed, so we had breakfast at the airport cafe where I was immediately very excited to see some birds! Some superb starlings (which are GORGEOUS) and a few pied crows, which were large, curious, and abundant. When we got on the road to Arusha (in a very aesthetically pleasing bus complete with curtains for the windows) I was shocked (in a good way) by the sheer diversity and abundance of birds everywhere, even right outside the airport. Even though I had done my best to familiarize myself with the 500 species found in the Serengeti ecosystem beforehand, my knowledge was not where it needed to be to identify everything we have seen. My field guide (“Birds of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area” by Adam Scott Kennedy) has become my go to book and a constant companion.
Birds aren’t the only exciting animals, though! Five minutes into our drive, we spotted a giraffe and a herd of zebra off the side of the road. It was so surreal to see these animals in person that we have read about, seen on television, and studied! The giraffe especially.
After three hours on the road, we caught a glimpse of Kilimanjaro in the distance as we crossed the border into Tanzania (a process which involved a lot of passports and lengthy lines). After passing through, we drove to the lodge (with a stop in Arusha for lunch). Driving through both countries, I noticed the integration of livestock animals – goats, chickens, cows, donkeys – into everyday life here. Cows stood grazing in roadside ditches, goats walking through the marketplace, chickens outside of homes, and donkeys pulling small carts or laden with crates of water. There were also many pastoralists, including the Masai, who herded their flocks along their savanna. There is also clearly great poverty in both countries.
After a long drive, we made it to the lodge, had dinner, and I had just about the best night’s sleep of my life.
