Kenya: Opener

Dear Kenya expeditioners

Welcome to the first diary entry of our inaugural Kenya expedition. Our expedition scientist Rebekah Karimi and her team of rangers are eager to meet you all and get going, as are we, your expedition leader Malika Fettak and our executive director Dr. Matthias Hammer.

It’s taken us around two years of preparation to get to this juncture and it’s always great to see a project come together. Most of the documents are written (we hope you have downloaded and printed your manual & field guide), procedures set, equipment bought, etc. And soon we will be heading out to Kenya to put the finishing touches to the expedition, a week or so ahead of group 1. We will be in touch again from the ground with final details (weather, last minute adjustments, pictures, emergency number, etc.).

For now suffice it to say that the weather has been very atypical, as almost everywhere else we work on the planet. Rebekah tells us that “there has been some unseasonable rain recently, which makes driving conditions challenging, but also fun. There are rain showers most afternoons or evenings. The sunsets have been amazing with rainbows, green grass, and wildlife galore”.

With this in mind, we hope you are as excited as we are, and proud to be trailblazers. By now we are sure you have realised that you are not about to embark on a cushy safari holiday, but on a serious citizen science project. Everything will be new for everyone. Bear with us through the teething problems and help us build an expedition to protect the biodiversity of the beautiful Maasai Mara, one of the crown jewels of our beleaguered natural world, for many years to come.