Man. Tree. Leopard. Giraffe. Lion.

 A typical day in the Mara, our island's plains.  

(Maasai Mara, Kenya)

L'Hoest's Mountain Monkey

 (Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda)

Happy Belated Earth Day

Then again, every day is earth day.  

Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds. (Psalm 148:7-10)

Aldabra Giant Tortoise

 Aldabra Giant Tortoise.  Aldabrachelys gigantea.

Originating from the Aldabra Atoll islands in Seychelles.  These are guys are ancient.  And believe me, they are giant. They are our island's old-timers.  I sometimes what they would say to us humans, having lived more than twice as long as any of us. 

Leopard Mom and Cub

 

Dear Faithful Readers, islanders and landlubbers alike, after a little hiatus we're back!  It has been a roller-coaster couple of months on the island, starting with a lovely visit from friends and family but more recently a bout with acute schistosomiasis (Katayama Fever) that had me in the hospital for a couple days because they thought I might have bacterial meningitis.  Oh and there was some malaria and other stuff mixed in there as well.  Anyhow, I'm feeling great now, can move my head and neck again, and I basically feel like a really blessed owl.  Someday soon I will write a few reflections down, but in short,  I've come away from all of the recent events loving God and loving Kenya even more, and extremely thankful for the friends and family in my life. 

To reward you for your patience (I hope to be posting more now!), I'd like to share a moment that graced our island at dusk a few weeks ago -- a leopard mom and cub hangin out and playing with each other.  This is island life.  It's good to be back. 

 

 

Running with Rhinos

Lewa Marathon (photographer unknown)

Ok, I'm back!  Just thought you'd like to know about our island's upcoming marathon on 30th June, which will be my first.  My housemate and I are training for the race together and most importantly we are raising money for Tusk Trust, an organization that "uses wildlife conservation as a catalyst to alleviate poverty, reduce conflict, and improve education and livelihoods in rural areas rich in biodiversity." 

The race will be held at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, so yes, we'll be on the lookout for lions, rhinos, etc.  

Please visit this link to help support our run and this worthy cause   (we are 2% there!!!)

Some background:  

By day (and often night), we both work on a water, sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition research study that aims to evaluate the impacts of such interventions on children's health.  By dawn and dusk, we can be found on the trails around town, bushwacking, falling, getting chased by kids, running into bats, holding breaths  running past latrines, getting lost, spotting snakes and chameleons, and saying habari to befuddled locals (crazy mzungus!).  

 

Some of what we invariably hear during these adventures includes: 

 

"Mzungu, how are you!"

"Let me run with you!"

"You give me your dog"

"Where are you going"

"Surrender!"

"Well done well done well done"

"Practice make perfect"

"One heart, one peace brotha"

Considering the nature of these runs, it's no suprise that we have just now gotten around to fundraising for the marathon and Tusk Trust.  There are less than 3 weeks until the marathon (my  first and his umpteenth), but that is plenty of time to think about how you love safari animals and care about the people whose livelihoods are intricately connected to them.  Please donate to help protect this delicate balance.  

 

More details about the marathon are below.

 

Thanks for your consideration! 

My housemate the thru-hiker... he has crossed the country four (4) times on foot.

I like to hike too.  Ok, this trail is about 1/1000th of the distance of the AT or PCT, and I did half of it.  

My housemate the ultramarathoner.

The only marathon I've done is one where I can coast down hills.

 Ahhhh, look at that: together after a bike race.  He won, I got lost (and last).

 Our fuel.  

 WHOA!!  Look at that!  It's a baby rhino!  And it's running!  This is the clincher, so I'll post the donate link  again.

********
More about the Lewa Marathon and Tusk Trust:

TUSK's  13th Safaricom Marathon and Half Marathon will take place at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, 140 miles north of Nairobi, on Saturday 30th June 2012. Organised by Tusk Trust and supported by Safaricom, this fundraising event will host 1,000 runners from 20 different countries. The Safaricom Marathon is regarded as one of the ten toughest marathons in the world. However, participants of all abilities take part, from recreational runners, walkers and amateurs, to professionals like former world record holder, Paul Tergat.

 

The event is run through some of Africa’s most beautiful scenery. Mount Kenya lies to the south and there are breath-taking views north towards Samburu and Mount Lololokwe. The heavily protected 65,000 acre wildlife sanctuary is home to over 100 rhino, herds of elephant and vast numbers of plains game including zebra, giraffe, buffalo and much more.

 

The impact of the event has been huge and the benefits tangible. Since its inception, the event has raised over $2.5 million for projects across Kenya. Tusk Trust has been a conservation partner to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy since its creation twenty years ago, and has always shared a common goal to use wildlife conservation as a catalyst to alleviate poverty, reduce conflict, and improve education and livelihoods in rural areas rich in biodiversity.