In the Land of Baobab Trees

The morning I left Kenya Mt. Kilimanjaro made its best appearance to say goodbye. There was not a cloud in the sky and it looked more majestic than I had ever seen it before. The small glaciers on top looked whiter than ever and I could clearly see all the steep ravines at the top. We piled in a bus at 6am and drove out of Maasailand, up into the lush forests that go part way up the side of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The road winded through banana tree forests and villages with small thatched roof huts. As we approached Arusha, which is a city in Tanzania, it was clear that the presidential election was approaching. Tanzania got its independence in 1962 and remained a one-party democracy until 1992. For the last 23 years the government has been dominated by a party called the Chama Cha Mapinduzi, which abandoned the former socialist ideology and has promoted a free market economy. Although they have been unsuccessful in promoting much economic development, Tanzania has remained a stable democracy which little political unrest. This is the first election where an opposition party actually has a decent chance of wining, which is creating a great deal of commotion throughout the country. There were pictures of the two presidential candidates posted everywhere and rallies were going on throughout the main streets.
After nine hours gazing out of the window of the bus my head started to bob up and down as I struggled to stay awake. Through my half alert conscience I heard the words “Mto Wa Mbu” come out of the bus driver’s mouth. The words electrified my mind and I immediately stuck my head out the window into the warm breeze as chills ran down my back. Ten years ago Luke and I came down with Malaria in this small town – which ironically means "River of Mosquitoes". I still had a blurred memory of what it looked like and it was incredible to piece it all back together as we drove through town. On the left was the beautiful Lake Manyara with thousands of flamingoes, and up ahead was the beginning of the escarpment that leads to the highlands. We even drove past the room of the clinic that I spend the most painful week of my life. I never would have thought that ten years from then I would be moving back and doing research on the ecology of the surrounding area.
My new home is located near a small village called Rhotia and looks out over the rolling hills of the highlands of Tanzania. It is absolutely beautiful here and although water is extremely scarce, there is significantly more green vegetation. The landscape reminds me of Italy in a way, with colorful hills of agriculture and tall delicate trees. There are also hundreds of huge baobab trees intertwined in the landscape! The first week here we will be visiting all of the national parks in the area and getting familiar with the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem and ecological issues that need to be addressed. We will then get to do directed research with Tanzanian professors on a variety of the concerns in the area. I have heard that one of them is head of the lion project in the area and another is an expert on elephants! Mt. Kilimanjaro isn’t there to guide me or look up to when I feel lost anymore, but being in such a beautiful place (without malaria) has rejuvenated me in an incredible way.