In the shadow of Kilimanjaro

July 16: We got to the San Diego airport three hours early, ten and a half hours to London, six hours in Heathrow and then eight and a half to Nairobi airport. We got off the plane at dawn but my body told me it was time for bed. The trip was uneventful and all four of our cases of science gear made it all the way around the globe. We jumped into the Land Rovers and made the four plus hour drive to the Kilimanjaro Base Camp (KBC) of the School for Field Studies. I hadn't been in the part of the world for twelve years, back when I worked for the School for Field Studies. Amazingly, there are still a couple of people working here who were with the school way back then. It's amazing to see this place again after such a long time away. In some ways, nothing has changed - the smells, the dusky green of the flat-topped trees and the beautiful sight of Mount Kilimanjaro hanging on the horizon. Other things, like a paved road that used to be a rough dirt track, are pleasant surprises.  Jim and I spent the afternoon unpacking gear and meeting with the Center staff to plan our research excursions. The Center is giving us an amazing level of support and I think we are going to be able to be pretty efficient in the field.  This evening, I took out my spotting scope and spent a while watching the troop of baboons that seem to own the north end of the camp. I had a National Geographic moment when I watched a mama baboon scoop up her baby and plant the infant on her back and gallop away from some sound in the woods. I'm pretty spent and my eyelids are fighting my desire to stay up to at least 8:00 so I can get my brain on the local time zone. Tomorow we go seek a spring that feeds Kilimanjaro snow melt into water used by the local comunity.