| the old pond / frog jumps in / plop! – Matsuo |
In the spring of 2012 I spent a life changing semester in Tanzania, studying ecology and human origins. We explored mountains, walked the paths of the cradle of humanity in the Great Rift Valley, and ate all kinds of good shit.
My girlfriend at the time gave me the perfect gift: a journal! I never had one before and kind of went crazy with it. I used it to chronicle almost every day of my life in Tanzania. That hemorrhagic spewing led to a 65 story blog, all of which is now consolidated here
Some of my best writing from this youthful time:
The Footprints of History, The Mountain of God, Cooking Maasai Food with Maasai People, Animals in a Boma, Giraffe Hunt and Goat Slaughter, Maasai Greetings and Stories, Goat Races and Bob, ‘Kilimanjaro’ and the Fish Market.
Below is the journey in reverse chronological order. Enjoy!
Transcribing interviews takes a long time! This morning it took me nearly 3 hours to listen through each interview and to copy down word for word what was said. I am glad I did it because it is helping me analyze much more closely and hone my questions/interview protocol. The more interviews I do, the…
So today I went out early with two of our translators (Leboy and Samwell) and Garrett and Kaylee to set up some interviews. I was surprised at how fast of a response I got! I visited Bomas with Samwell and after some rapid back and forth between him and the first older woman we saw,…
Today has been moving slowly so far. It is officially day 1, week 1 or our actual research component. We ‘met’ with the ‘chief chairman’ of Olasiti earlier this morning. By ‘met’ I mean that he basically talked in rapid Kiswahili with Dr. Kessy, our on hand archaeology expert. I am disappointed by this because…
I went for a run this morning! I found myself awake rather early and felt the dirt road that runs parallel to our camp calling my name. I stretched a lot first, then went. It felt great, although tiring. The sun over the landscape blended the colors of the sky into a beautiful shade of…
Currently I am sitting at Knobby Hill, a huge Kopje at the entrance, about to leave Serengeti National Park. We are waiting to get approval to enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area again, I think. I’m not sure what the length of our wait will be. My body is achy, not sore, but sick of riding…
It was a good day overall, although under toned by my poor mood, in which we visited a few beautiful Kopjes. The first one we stopped at was enormous, pushed up millions of years ago from the bowels of the earth and belched up onto the surface of the world. It’s called ‘Gong Rock’ and…