March 17. Back to the airstrip in Wamba this morning to wait for the plane from Lewa. We would see the rest of our Earthwatch team for a few minutes and then trade places with them. They will stay in Wamba, and we will travel on to Lewa. When the plane comes in, it circles the airstrip once before coming in for a landing. That’s Dr. Paul’s signal to get in his car and go tearing down the runway honking his horn to scare the camels off the runway so the plane can land. Did I mention there is no airport in Wamba—just a dirt airstrip in the middle of a field.
6 Responses to “The Plane! The Plane!”
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About me
- Hi! My name is Shayne Russell, and I'm the Library Media Specialist at Kenneth R. Olson Middle School in Tabernacle, NJ. Come along with me on an adventure to Kenya, Africa! We will be working as volunteer researchers, side-by-side with scientists who are studying the endangered Grevy's Zebra. Let's see what research looks like... outside of the library!
Photos from the Field
A herd of Grevy's Zebras grazing.
Zebra Day 3/2/06
Leader of the Herd
Mrs. A and Mrs. Havers
Mr. Stecher wore his zebra tie!
A good time was had by all.
I would like to know what kind of plane you flew on from Wamba to Lewa. It could not have been anything like the plane you took from Philadelphia (or London) to Kenya. That is so funny how the plane has to circle around to let the scientists know to clear the runway! Is there any other way to clear it? What would happen if the camels (or other animals) went back on the road after being chased away? Has the plane ever hit an animal while landing or taking off?
Correction on the authors of the above response. Sorry!
Did an animal ever get hit while a plane was landing or taking off? Also, couldn't Dr. Paul get hit by the plane when he is scaring away the animals? Thanks for your time. Reply soon!
:-]
Being that you have to land on a dirt road that can be covered with animals at times, what would happen if animals came back onto the road after the jeep cleared and you were already on your final descent? Also, if you and the Earthwatch Team didn’t have a plane, how long and far would the drive to Lewa take?
In America it is so easy, we have paved roads and sidewalks. Also, we have fences to keep the animals away. In Wamba they have one narrow dirt airstrip and animals can roam freely. In America we take too much for granted.
I've added a picture of the plane we took between Lewa and Wamba-- it's a little plane that just holds about 12 people. As for the animals on the "runway"-- once they are chased off, I think they're probably scared to go back for a little while-- plenty of time for the plane to land and take off again. I didn't hear any stories about animals being hit.
Wamba and Lewa are 86 miles apart. If the roads between the two places are like the roads we were on around Wamba, Lewa and Samburu, my guess would be that it would take about 3 hours to drive. Except for when we were in Nairobi, we were only on a paved road once, just outside of Lewa. The rest of the time we were on bumpy dirt roads (or off-road) and couldn't go very fast.