Road Travel. And Other Hazards One Might Want to Be Cautious Of.
The road from Nairobi up to Koobi Fora is full of many sights, sounds and even smells. As I expected - Africa will grab ahold of every one of your senses, play around with them for a bit, and then give them back to you. MAYBE.
Yet, that long road can also present conditions that are sometimes hazardous, but mostly are just conditions that make you have to stop, and change a tire (or three). The drive beyond Rumuruti to Koobi was on unpaved roads. Several days of traveling on them. They were dusty and desolate, and the ruts that previous vehicles cut were deep and unforgiving. Scattered with rocks and boulders that are the remnants of an ancient volcanic explosion, the road can be very tricky for a driver to maneuver on.
The photos below are some of the experiences that we had en route to Koobi Fora. Click on them to make them larger.
The top two photos are one of the first problems that we had - an overturned Land Rover, which was packed full (inside and out) of people and equipment. Lucy, from South Africa, had been in the back. Upon trying to pull her out, she explained that she needed a cigarrette and wouldn't climb out until she found her pack of smokes. She did, and climbed out of the overturned vehicle trembling, and ready to light up. The frame of the vehicle was bent, which thankfully - was the only injury, and obviously hadn't hurt Lucy's sense of humor!
The bottom two photos show more common occurrences - flat tires, and being stuck in the sand. The unimog (a beast of a vehicle), was always close by with a wench and strap to push or pull lesser vehicles. In fact, the unimog could pull Satan from the depths of hell, if we had a strap long enough.
Some of the other dangers that we encountered, included several incidents involving poisonous snakes. I was told that about 5 had been spotted and killed during the trip, but I am only personally aware of two.
The first snake encounter was a spitting cobra. We were sitting around the camp at dinner, and Jack made an announcement. He said that he was seated at a table outside of his tent, and from a tree hanging close, hung a spitting cobra that sprayed him. Jack said that he saw him in time to back away, and that his glasses stopped most of the spray from hitting him. It would take alot more than a pesky poisonous snake to take Jack down.
In case you don't know what a spitting cobra is, below are a couple of photos. Wouldn't you know - the world's largest spitting cobra was found a couple of years ago - in KENYA. They are said to have amazing accuracy, even at a 10' distance.
If you click HERE, you can view a video of this species in the process of spitting its venom. Yes, they are very frightening, but they are also very amazing creatures.
The other snake that I know had been killed, was a smaller snake, near the bandas at Koobi Fora Base Camp. I am unsure of the species on that one, but I did have Cruz take me to see what was left of it after the machete found it - and I believe it was either a carpet viper or a puff adder, probably the viper. I HIGHLY recommend THIS WEBSITE to learn more about the various snake species found in Kenya. I had heard stories of previous years, where snakes had gotten into the bandas where people were staying. I was given the option of sleeping in a banda, but I opted for my own tent - I figured that at least I can control what goes in and out of my tent, but I couldn't control the open rafters, windows and door spaces of the otherwise comparitably comfortable bandas.
Following photos: The bandas (left) and shower/toilets (right) at Koobi. Click on them to view them full size:
In addition to the snakes that can inflict pain and injury are the scorpions. I was very a.r. about keeping my tent zipped completely anytime that I left it, even for a second. I did not want one to find its way inside. I never left any shoes outside of my tent, and any towels or clothes that I left outside to dry were throughly shaken before being brought to my tent. I was lucky, and never was bit, and only saw them along the path from the main banda to my tent from time to time. Not everyone was so lucky. One woman received a bite to her breast, which caused her a great deal of pain. Abdi was bit in his tent (the zipper was often broken) on his leg, and it had him limping about for a couple of days. It didn't keep him from climbing the Karari though. Nothing would hold that man down! Abdi never removed the scorpion that bit him from the tent that he shared with Cruz, which put Cruz into search mode that lasted for two days, until it was decided that the scorpion was no longer a resident.
And still, these aren't the other bothers in Kenya, as there are a few other 'small' creepy, crawly and flying things about.
The large black beetles, for instance. They seemed to prefer to make their homes underneath our tents at Koobi. When it came time to take the tents down, you would find out that it must have been a nice home for them, as their friends and relatives all joined the party under there. They are harmless, however, although pretty darn ugly. I have tried to research to find out what type of beetles these were exactly, but the closest that I can find would be that they might be dung beetles. And that is very likely since there are over 200 species of them in Africa. They really are quite industrious creatures - they rolls animal dung into big balls. It's funny - because when I think of the paleo environment that our early ancestors lived in, I think of hominids and fauna - and never give much thought to the bugs...
Even smaller yet - are the biting ants. Loan, one of the women on the field school, was out doing an ecological survey of the Mugie area, and came back telling a story about how an ant had climbed into her pant leg, and bit her. She says that she began to frantically remove her pants in the middle of the group that she was with. At least she had been wearing shorts underneath!
Not to forget things that go 'bump in the night', but there are also alot of bats that congregate around the thatched roof bandas at night. Not only the bandas, but the bathrooms and showers also have thatch inside on the roofs, which is covered by chicken wire. The open windows in the stone buildings allow the bats to fly in. I happened to look up one night while I was showering, and saw one stuck between the thatch and the chicken wire - it must have gotten stuck there and died. Only, it seemed daunting because there is no electricity in the showers, and this was in the evening, and was quite dark, and the only light in the shower was that of my head lamp hanging on a hook. The head was the only part sticking through the chicken wire, and it seemed to be glaring directly at me. I screamed aloud, but I think most people were busy at the main banda at the time.
This was minimally frightening. But live bats are a bit more alarming - especially when they fly out of the thatch and divebomb at the back of one's neck - which is what one did one night while I sat with Stella and some others outside of my tent listening to music on my iPod. I jumped up from my stool, and went running, flailing my arms wildly and screaming. Stella, not knowing what was happening, took to screaming and running as well - I guess she figured better safe than sorry so took to panic mode just in case there actually was a reason to panic. My friend Mwangi, who had been sleeping in a nearby banda, heard my scream and came running to my rescue. The little bat had fallen to the ground, and he picked it up and we all had a good laugh.
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