It's Saturday night and we're getting our first big snow storm of the winter. It's hard to imagine that in just over three weeks, I'll be on a plane to... Africa (!) and the biggest adventure of my life. Today's mail brought a copy of the Lonely Planet guide to Kenya and a field guide to Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania (yes, birdwatching-- it just won't be the same without the Olson FeederWatchers, though!). I also watched a truly terrible DVD on East Africa that I borrowed from the county library. I had hoped that it might be a good one to show at school, but the quality, in every respect, was just too awful.

Let me explain about this trip. I have been offered a Teacher Fellowship from the Earthwatch Institute, and my trip will be sponsored by a generous grant from National Geographic. I will be working with a team of volunteers assisting scientists who are studying the endangered Grevy's Zebra at two different sites in Kenya. Our expedition lasts two weeks, and we will spend one week at each of the sites. As I understand it, the two areas are about 90 miles apart, and very different from each other-- and I will tell you more about that when I am actually there. The closest towns are Nanyuki and Wamba; maybe you can find them on a map.

Several of my teammates are from the St. Louis Zoo. The zoo is very involved in a zebra conservation program which I'm interested in finding out more about. There will also be a couple other teachers, who are from Los Angeles. One of the fun things about Earthwatch trips is meeting the people you will be working and living with, so I'm looking forward to meeting my new friends.

Now, here's the cool part (well, it's all cool!). I will have a satellite phone with me so that I will be able to call school and upload data-- pictures and daily journals, so that you can all join me... "virtually", at least! In other words, I get to teach from Africa! The down side is that I will spend the next three weeks (and then two more in Africa) worrying about internet connections, batteries and electrical outlets! One of the places we will be staying does not have electricity like we are used to. The place is powered by a generator that is turned off at 11 PM. I'm worried about hogging whatever electrical outlets there are for computer batteries, camera batteries, and-- I don't know-- do satellite phones take batteries, too? Yikes, stripes!