Hi blog. Today was a lot better of a day than yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night and was in the bathroom for an hour. That morning, I skipped breakfast as per the doctor’s request. I didn’t think I was going to make it to the activity, but at the last minute I decided I was feeling better and decided to attend.
The activity of the day was setting up game cameras to test a question. The question was “how does tree density affect ungulate richness?” We went out into the field and placed a total of six cameras on trees overlooking three areas of different tree density (2 per area). My favorite part of the activity was the quick tidbits of information that Professor Prendergast would tell us regarding various archaeological finds. We found the broken scapula of an animal and were able to determine that it belonged to a cow based on the size of the bone itself and the size of the socket. It was definitely an educated guess considering that the area also was a popular drinking area for the area’s cattle. Professor Prendergast also found a piece of obsidian that once belonged to a tool, and by the ripples in the surface of the obsidian, she was able to determine how the obsidian tool was formed (method-wise). She also told us that chemical analysis of obsidian reveals the volcano from which it came because every volcano has its own chemical footprint. Professor Prendergast also found the stone remains of a Masai village and confirmed the location of what she suspected were houses and trash piles with the Masai guides we brought to our excursion. They also pointed out a graveyard a few meters away. The stone remains were from a village that left about 20 years ago, and it was surprising how quickly nature had overtaken what was left. We found a toe bone in the trash pile, and Professor Prendergast confirmed that it belonged to a cow (the toe was one half of a two-toed foot).
On the way back from the game camera activity, we spotted an enormous herd of giraffes and drove up close to them. There were between 54 and 62 giraffes in the single herd, which is a shocking number. Typically, there are 10 to 20 giraffes in a herd, so this enormous herd was definitely out of the ordinary especially considering that most of the giraffe herds we had seen prior consisted of around or under 10 giraffes. It happened to be International Giraffe Day fittingly, so we all went to take pictures with the giraffes. Krispin said this was the largest herd he had ever seen. I’m very glad we got to see something so special from my taxonomic group.
^Me in front of the herd of over 60 Masai giraffes
^Closer picture of many of the giraffes.
Lunch was so delicious! The noodles were very good, but maybe I thought that because I hadn’t eaten in 24 hours. The rest of the day wasn’t too exciting. We moved our tents in order to avoid a giant accumulation of dirt inside. When I opened my tent to assess the damage, everything inside was completely brown, so that was extremely unfortunate. After that, we had some downtime to hang out in the Olduvai Gorge museum. I spent that time learning some Swahili with Carina. I love downtime.
Choo ni wapi?
Kacey
