Brooke Update
29-Oct 09

Now, the other thing that has become the camp joke is the strange bedfellows that Rach and I seem to attract. I've said in a previous blog that hyenas and I are not on friendly terms... in fact I've learnt over the years that most creatures in Africa either want to eat, chase, squish, bite, or consume you in some way or other.

After our first night in camp I discovered a MASSIVE scorpion under my bedroll! I cannot explain the fear factor I have with scorpions- almost as bad as hyena. A few nights ago, Rach and I were sitting on our bedrolls in our tent looking at all this beautiful beadwork like a couple of excited schoolgirls (what is it about retail therapy that can make a women feel good even in remote Kenya?) and I felt something crawl up my leg and sting/bite me. I've flicked whatever it was off my leg, it hit my hand, bit me again, so I flicked it onto Rachel. By this time there was some really excessive yelling (ok screaming) coming from the tent. The scouts picked up their guns thinking that we were being eaten by lions or some such, I flew out of the smallest gap in the tent door and, I'm ashamed to say, left Rach to fend for herself. Rachel was too busy having hysterics (laughter) over the fact that nothing in northern Kenya seems to bother me too much, not bandits or poachers or flying in very small aircrafts, but anything arachnid (spider or scorpion) will send me off my rocker. I was convinced I'd been bitten. The scouts pulled our tent apart and wouldn't you know it, couldn't find a damn thing!!

Rachel thought she had had the last laugh, but we spent last night in a cabin, no nets or other forms of protection. At exactly 4.47am I woke up with Rach shining the torch in my eyes, whispering very loudly "Brooke wakeup!" Not another scorpion was all I could think and I was prepared to perform some death defying feat to get out of that room. Well... no scorpion... something far worse. Rach had been sleeping peacefully, dreaming about a tumor on her head, then she started dreaming she had lice (you know when you wake up and something isn't quite right?) Rach sat up and turned her light onto her pillow and there it was... a mouse that had been happily nesting in her hair for the night! The poor little creature, blinded by Rach's torchlight (so bright that can be seen from space) proceeded to freeze in fear then deposit 2 small piles of excrement on Rach's pillow, before it took off to take refuge in our box of cornflakes! Oh joy! Needless to say, there was no more sleeping and no more cornflakes.

Today was actually a great day to be up early. We are off to find some Grevy's Zebra.
In Swahili Grevy's zebra is 'punda kanga'. These are the most exquisite looking animals! They have very fine stripes and these enormous ears. I must say I have become quite prejudiced against boring old plains zebra. Grevy's zebra just seem so exotic (please don't repeat that if you ever go on safari at Werribee Zoo, my zebra down there would be horrified!).
There are only 2000 Grevy's Zebra left in the world, and over 300 are now found in Melako. The biggest threat to Grevy's Zebra is competition with livestock for grazing and water. This becomes a major issue during drought. So today, the Gravy's Zebra Trust (who operate in northern Kenya and Ethiopia), Melako Conservancy and Zoos Victoria have joined forces to take some grass hay to the zebra grazing grounds in an effort to help the population through this serious dry spell. We crammed as many bales as possible onto the landcruiser, then headed north of Laisamis town. We went off road about 2 hours drive out of town and started heading towards the Mathews Ranges. I thought it would be fabulous to ride on top of the hay with the boys in the back. I don't know how they manage to stay on but it became evident pretty quickly that I would either need velcro on my butt or have to be tied down! I opted for hopping in the cabin. We drove around for hours, saw a few foot prints, but no zebra. Also saw a few herdsmen and their livestock, but no zebra. And really this is the whole crux of the problem. Grevy's zebra are incredibly shy of people, so where there is livestock, there usually isn't zebra. Ricarpo (a Grevy's Zebra Trust co-ordinator) explained that it wasn't all bad, as some rain had fallen in the north and the zebra may be finding waterholes in more remote parts

Finding ways to help
What I think is very cool about the Samburu and Rendille people is that it is against their culture to kill animals, especially the zebra family. This makes it quite easy to set up education and knowledge sharing with the communities about the zebra. In this way the local communities become part of the solution for finding ways to help the Grevy's Zebra. So we took all the hay back to Melako base to try again next week. Rach and I were exhausted and as we walked into camp, the scouts were so excited about cooking for us. Mapakayu said Racho, Broke,( that's how they pronounce our names) "Guess what's for dinner?" you guessed it... Goat and cabbage!!!
Kwaheri( good bye) speak to you soon.
Brooke