Submitted by Anthony Buhr during the 2024 Winter ENWC program in Tanzania…
Week 1:
Expect the unexpected. That’s the daily motto you live by when you study abroad in Tanzania, Africa. This means things aren’t allows going to go the way you want or expect. You may come into this study abroad thinking that this trip is just about the wildlife, but that’s not true. Or at least not completely true. Yes, the wildlife is a big component of what makes this trip standout among the others. But it’s also the people, the culture…
On our first day in the country, we toured the Olasiti Village. We visited the local orphanage and had lunch with the local women’s advocacy groups. Then I noticed something. I noticed that every single time we would walk by someone we would always get a massive hello. That greeting usually comes in three different forms. The first form is the one that I as an American have become very comfortable with and that is our usual English greeting: “Hello” or “Hi”. The second kind of greeting is “Jambo,” which is a common Swahili greeting meaning welcome or hello. The third kind happened to be very common on our tour in the village and that was an excited wave from the local children. When we walked by one house, we could hear the sound of stomping and running. Suddenly, three little kids, all younger than five burst out of the front door to wave at us. This type of greeting would barely ever happen back home.
Here in Tanzania, everyone I have come across has been so polite and open. Just last night, I had a whole in-depth conversation with the tour guides about our favorite colors and favorite animals. Neema and Humphrey (our tour guides) replied with their favorite colors being Peach and Green and their favorite animals being cheetahs and Leopards. As Americans, I feel that we close ourselves off from another. We practice civil discourse. We don’t bother trying to get to know one another. If someone has a different viewpoint from us, we refuse to hear them out and instantly try to tear them down. You can see that with our politicians and even among our friends. In just about every village we have visited, everyone works together as one. They don’t compare one another’s differences, they just acknowledge that they are a part of the same group working towards the same goal. This is evident in the children of Tanzania as well. For the most part, children become independent at around twelve years old and sometimes younger. We recently passed through an Iraqw Village where I saw a toddler cutting down brush with a machete. All these features help to show you just how Tanzania can help you expect the unexpected.
Week 2:
Safari Game drives are unpredictable. There are unlimited possibilities for what you will see. You could see an extremely rare bird two days in a row. And sometimes never even see one of the most common mammals in the park. More likely than not, most of the animals you’re looking for are out there just not in places where you would expect. Things like dense trees or shrubs can hide the most interesting things.
We were going on a game drive trying to identify the local mammals and birds of the area. We pulled up to a group of several impalas in a tall grassy area. They were a mix of males and females. I watched them slowly eat grass as if they didn’t have any care in the world. I looked over to the right of the impala group and saw a creature poke its head out of the grass. The grass was so tall that in that moment only its face and head were visible. This creature seemed to be about the size of a red fox with the face shape of a coyote and the fur color of a German shepherd. It didn’t seem big enough to take down any of the impala. I gasped with excitement as soon as I saw it. I pointed it out to everyone in our safari truck, and our guide told us that it was a Black-Backed Jackal. Seconds later, I noticed the jackal emerge from the grass. Its body language was something I would never have expected to see in a canine species. Its body language looked like it was stalking almost like a cat. It kept its body close to the ground as it inched close to one of the impalas.
Two more jackals emerged from the tall grass but tried to conceal themselves in their surroundings watching the first jackal. The first jackal approached the impala from the side. The impala paid it no attention as it continued to graze. The jackal got slightly closer and this time the impala took notice. The impala stopped chewing and shook its horns toward the jackal. By shaking its horns, it was trying to say, “Get away” or “Leave me alone”. As soon as it shook its horns, the jackal jumped backward. The first jackal immediately lost interest and started to roughhouse with the other jackals. They rolled, tumbled, and chased one another through the tall grasses. Eventually, one picked up a piece of wood and decided to play a game of keep-away. Our interaction with the jackals ended as the jackal with the wood ran off with its siblings chasing after it. After this, I learned from my professor that these were juvenile male jackals because of their size and playful behavior. In fact, when male jackals reach a certain age their mothers will actually kick them out of the den. This helps them to be more independent. The jackal’s behavior around the impala was actually it practicing how to stalk and hunt for prey.
Week 3:
As my time in the country of Tanzania is coming to an end, I have been reflecting on what my favorite memory from the trip has been. If you were to ask anyone else on this trip what their favorite memory was, they would probably say seeing elephants or lions in the wild for the first time. While seeing those animals in the wild was spectacular, it wasn’t my favorite moment of the trip. That award would have to go to the hike we took to see a waterfall in the Nou Forest.
To me, this hike had all the things that would make a story great. It had comedy, hardships, miscommunications, and breathtaking views. Before leaving camp, I was told by other students going on the hike that it would be a three-mile round trip. I along with everyone else found out that was a miscommunication… It was actually nine miles in total. Hiking through the forest was not easy. We went up in elevation and then down in elevation, crossed streams and muddy trails. All while trying to make sure we don’t trip on any roots, fall down any hills, or step on any ant trails (they bite here). Through these obstacles, we had a musical accompaniment in the form of about four girls belting out the soundtracks to several different Disney Channel movies. But, when we finally arrived at the waterfall it was all worth it. The view was amazing, you could see the spray coming off the waterfall from a mile away. The rock formations coming off the waterfall just added to the experience. All this is why the hike to the waterfall has been my favorite memory from the trip.
Week 4:
Today is my final day in the beautiful country of Tanzania. I figured for my last post it would be important to reflect on what I have learned from my first time being out of the country and taking part in the study abroad program. Before going on this trip, I figured that regarding the wildlife of Tanzania we would focus mainly on mammals. That was only partially true, but I should have known better since I needed a 600-page bird field guide for the trip. I feel that because of this trip, I am more aware of the birds around me. Every time a bird flies over, I must take notice of it. I guess I am finally understanding the hype around birding.
Another concept that I have learned from this trip is how important people are in conservation. Through the program, we learned how the tribes of Tanzania each conserve the natural resources of the land in different ways. For example, the Massai Tribe relies only on agriculture and grazing their cattle. In doing this, they do not need to hunt any of the local wildlife for sustenance. The Hadza Tribe is the opposite. Rather than completely relying on agriculture for a living they hunt and live off the land. While they do hunt the local wildlife, they only hunt what they need and not just killing everything they see.
One last thing I learned from this trip has been how different Tanzania is from America. I feel that as Americans we take a lot of things for granted. The citizens of Tanzania do not have a specialized agriculture system like we do, so they work as their own butchers. In fact, they are shocked that we do not kill our own chickens for food back home. The children are also very different between the two countries. Countless times on this trip, I have seen young children doing manual labor. For example, on our first day in the country, we toured a village and our guide was about five years old. In America, you would never see a young child like that be able to be away from their parents or even have a job at that age. Overall, I feel that this trip has opened my eyes and allowed me to see my country and even the state of Delaware in a new light.