After 2 weeks of traveling around parks and archeological sites in Northern Tanzania, we settled down to nearly 4 weeks at Wild Palm campsite, near Tarangire National Park. We arrived on Thursday, 27 October and now our time is coming to a close – we leave on Monday, 20 November.

During this portion of the semester, the students are engaged in their own independent research in and around Tarangire Park. Six students, in pairs, are studying termite mounds, water quality, and reptiles in the park. One student is involved in an archeological dig, looking for elephant bones with signs of tool use, dating back 800,000 years ago. Three students are interviewing local Maasai people and schools in the area to learn about education, healthcare and attitudes towards people with disabilities. Their work is coming to a close this week. When we return to Dar, they will work on final papers and give a presentation about their research.

As for me and the girls, we have been doing a mix of homeschool work here (math, cursive, science, etc.) and going out with the students to learn about their research. We also spend time reading, playing cards with the students, coloring and exploring the area around the campsite. We are enjoying camping and being outside every day, but we are also looking forward to being back in Dar and doing a few more things before we leave the country on 13 December.

Here are some photos of life here in Northern Tanzania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the best parts of helping the students in the park is that we get to get out of the cars in order to check traps and collect water. We always have an armed guard with us (park rules) and we get to wander away from the road. We’ve been pretty close to zebras, wildebeest and baboons while out checking traps and we’ve found lizards, turtles and snakes along the road that we could examine closely out of the car.