Rise and shine! Today is our first morning and full day at Olduvai Gorge. Over here, breakfast everyday is at 6:30am which is a bit earlier than I am used to. However, it was very cool this morning to be able to wake up alongside the sunrise for once (pictured).
Sunrise at Olduvai Gorge
For today, we are going to a nearby village to try and set up a miniature ecological study that we can let run for the duration of our time here. The village we are heading to is called Olbalbal and is located in a floodplain that has a varying level of water throughout the year. Currently in the dry season, there will be less water than normal, but the area still has a large lake. For the study, we will look to set up some game cameras to try and capture photos of animals and activities in certain areas.
Since we are operating in land located within the Olbalbal Village, we are first meeting with the Village Chief to get approval for our project. Additionally, he is kindly offering us the help of a guard to help ensure that our camera traps stay in place and operational during the duration of the study. After meeting in the village, we set out near the water to set up our game cameras. We decided to look at how distance to the water affected animal presence, so we set up cameras at varying distances to the water.
After spending the morning in Olbalbal, we came back to Olduvai Gorge to spend the rest of the day. On our way back, however, we witnessed one of the most surprising and spectacular things possible—a herd of over 50 giraffes (pictured). Everyone was very surprised, including our drivers, but one of our guides actually seemed unfazed since this was a more common sight for him. To top things off, we learned later that day that it was International Giraffe Day so we guessed it was an annual giraffe convention to celebrate the special day.
Me and a Herd of Over 50 Giraffes
Later that day, we checked out the Olduvai Gorge Museum and gift shop for the content, souvenirs, and electricity since the research station only has power in the night. The gift shop had many cool items, and I decided to get a hat with a giraffe on it to commemorate the special day. There was also a very cool painting I wish I could have gotten if only I had room for such a fragile object (pictured).
Local Painting from the Olduvai Gorge Museum
I did not see any of my taxa today which makes sense since we did not spend much time in areas where they are common, however the giraffes did make up for it. Tomorrow is our big day in the Serengeti, so I will be heading to bed soon to try and get as much rest as I can for our early start!
-Milton
