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After yesterday’s late-night film session, we were tired but full of enthusiasm when we woke up at 5 AM to see the Lumo conservation area. We were split by different interests in to three cars and our dear bus, so everybody was given the opportunity to sit on a window seat. After almost one hour drive we arrived at the gates of the conservation area. One of the green-suited official rangers hopped on to the bus and was very helpful in spotting and identifying the animals. 

In the conservation area the yellowish dryland savannah was surprisingly full of life despite the dry season and lack of rains. Only some acacias and the waterfront bushes were green, but we managed to see many of the expected savannah species and some unexpected as well. Our skillful bus driver Jackan drove the bus nimbly between the bushes and shrubs, and it did not take long until we saw a wild Pumba-like warthog running around the landscape with three little piglets. This inspired one of the students to make a funny statement: “where there is Pumba, there is Timon,” which was very soon followed by a sight of a small mongoose family.  Sadly though, we were informed that the species was not the same as actual Timon’s but that they were just common dwarf mongooses.  

The most exhilarating animals sighted during the safari included a friendly male giraffe who was munching fresh leaves and did not care a bit of us, two dinosaur-looking secretary birds approaching each other gracefully, a herd of female lions hanging above the trees with their young cubs, and most surprisingly, a rare family consisting of a female leopard and its two babies. We heard that seeing the leopards was so rare that even the safari-experienced university teacher had only seen them once before (and made a shirt about it as a proof). 

In the Lions Bluff lodge, we had a great lunch and an amazing view over the Lumo and Tsavo areas. Once again, everyone was stunned by the height of Mt Kilimanjaro that peaked the clouds in the distance. Delicious three-course meal cost only 1000 Kenyan shillings (8 euros) and was quite a luxury after some tough days of small snacks. It was also pleasant to hear that the resort was managed by the local community and that the items sold in the gift shop were produced locally. Some students were so thrilled with the lodge that they agreed to spend their after-graduation holidays there. 

After the lunch break, we were headed towards the farm of Mwadime in the Maktau village, our helpful station foreman. At the farm we were warmly welcomed by his numerous family. His wife Jennifer, relatives and children greeted us with hugs and handshakes, and they even offered us tea and local pastries. Mwadime introduced us to his agricultural production and to the measuring devices used in many research activities that are taking place around his lands.  It was interesting to hear about the precipitation surface experiments and carbon dioxide flux measurements that were both set there to give data about different environmental factors affecting the local agriculture. For some students it was also the first time to see a carbon flux measurement tower, the function of which was well explained by the Chancellor of University of Helsinki who is a professor of aerosol physics.  

In the evening we all enjoyed the last dinner together with the station staff outside in the lanterns’ light. It was a perfect ending for an almost-fortnight of physically demanding excursions and field work in the mountains and the surrounding areas.  

Written by Hilla Tuominen and Tiia Määttä

Today we had a small introduction to participatory GIS (P-GIS). The main idea is to apply GIS methods without digital devices and report the results back to the community so that the people have access to the data. We will shortly clarify the methodological background behind P-GIS, experiences from the practical exercise and the main results.

Participatory research has evolved during the last decades. It started in 1970’s called as ‘Rapid Rural Appraisal’. The main idea was to question positivist perspectives to field research that included top-down approach. The scientists aimed to abandon preformulated questions and tried to learn from locals instead. This represented the general change in development thinking in the field of geography. In the 1980’s the focus turned more into methods, attitudes, behaviour and sharing. The focus was more in the local interests and they were more involved in control, use and analysis of the research data. Importantly, facilitators were in charge of conducting the field research that had not been self-evident in the previous decades. In order to understand the research situation holistically, the focus turned also into gender, power and other socio-economic factors. In the 1990’s perspective turned from rural to more general concept, hence the name ‘Participatory Learning and Action’. The new focus was to emphasize the awareness of the community instead of amount of information. PRA is considered as a tool for change, empowerment and increasing awareness and skills. Ideally, P-GIS is a way to break the language barriers between academics and locals for the phenomena that cannot be studied otherwise.

The aim of the practical exercise was to spatialize cozy places and unpleasant places in Wundanyi area. The target groups were adult women aged 18-50, adult men aged 18-50, elderly women over 50 years old and elderly men over 50 years old. Each student group interviewed one participant group so that both groups interviewing men had at least one male member. Participants were asked to identify locations, which they found pleasant and unpleasant either as points or polygons on the orthographic map. Each group interviewed ten persons individually so that every target group was represented. Interviews were combined together as per target group to represent the experiences and views about Wundanyi town. Produced maps will be placed in the local library so that everyone will have access to them. After the interviews the results were discussed and presented for the student groups.

Women aged 18-50

The main finding was that women aged 18-50 found social places such as market place and football field the most pleasant because of the possibility to meet family and friends. The second most pleasant places were workplaces and also the importance of climate and nature was mentioned. As for the unpleasant places, people were significantly more reluctant to talk about them but rather Wundanyi was considered as a perfect place for living. Only two women mentioned hot places and too crowded football field as unpleasant. After some interviews, it was brought out that women do not go to the center in the evening or in the night time at all so the time was a relevant factor.

Elderly women over 50 years

Elderly women found homes to be the most comfortable places. They also enjoyed market places, church and some other practical places. Market place was also mentioned as unpleasant place because of the noise. Otherwise elderly women were reluctant to mention any unpleasant places.

Men aged 18-50

Young men liked the places where one can hang around such as the market, football field, gas station and bus station. They also appreciated climate and green nature. As bad places they mentioned sanitary and sewage problems around the town and a place known for drug usage.

Elderly men over 50 years old

Elderly men appreciated forests and hills more over market places. They praised Wundayi for its climate and nature and possibility to get whatever one needs. Homes, hotels and working places were also mentioned as good places. Football field was also seen as a political place for big gatherings. In line with other responses, also elderly men fund Wundayi as a good place for living. For elderly men the map was the most interesting part of the interview event though they were the only group that did not want to draw on the map.

As a conclusion some general aspects common for every target group were language barriers, hospitality bias and a lack of map reading skills. The lack of English skills of some respondents caused challenges in communication. Unwillingness to mention any bad places could be explained as hospitality bias that refers to peoples’ politeness to only discuss positives aspects of Wundayi. Some respondents found it difficult to orientate and read the black and white map. Also, the student groups’ unawareness of the area hindered the ability to locate some of the mentioned places.

The empowering participatory aspect of P-GIS allows a stronger engagement with the topic in hand. At the end, all the students enjoyed the exercise and agreed on the important perspectives that P-GIS has to offer.

Anni & Maiju

Today started early when we took the bus to the bottom of the mount Vuria. The bus ride was a memorable experience with steep slopes and narrow serpentine roads. The higher we drove, the better the views became. At theend of the road we started walking to the starting point of the nature path. The goal of today’s exercise was to confirm the vegetation classification of Hari Adikari’s GIS data. We marked the points in the GPS devices by 15 m elevation distance and classified them according to FAO land use classification system. The most common classes we saw seemed to be indigenous and mixed vegetation.  Professor Jouko Rikkinen and our local research assistant Darius introduced us the most common indigenous and exotic woody species growing in the area. Soon, we were able to identify the easiest and most characteristic species such as the Acacia mearnsii and Lobelia gibberoa. Also, we saw two of the endemic species Impatiens teitensis and Bruceae antidysentrica.

It was interesting to see the change of vegetation composition while we climbed up. First, we saw agroforestry and mixed forest with both local and exotic species of economic importance. When we reached the elevation of around 2000 meters the moisture content seemed to increase which was indicated by the abundance of the giant fern Cythea manniana. There were also some small water paths surrounded by different mosses. Also, we were surprised that even at that altitude there were grazing cows as well as some local cutting firewood. At around 100 m higher there were local epiphyte orchids, and small wetlands with thin peat layers.  When we reached to the top, the moisture content decreased and there was a dramatic change in the flora. Instead of the jungle-like forest, there were lots of Ericacea shrubs growing on top of rock surfaces. We had a well-deserved snack break with a breath-taking view, and we were even able to see two peaks of the Mount Kilimanjaro rising above the clouds.

After returning to the start, we were taken by the village chief to attend the sacred ritual of the local people. The villager men prayed and drank and spitted a special liquid. We were divided to different entrances by gender. The elderly women greeted us happily and showed us the ugali, traditional maize porridge, they were cooking in open fire. There was some confusion of whether the female-assigned students could attend, but after discussion we were let to go in the conditions that we took a two-meter distance to the sacred area. As an unpleasant surprise we had to take our shoes off and walk barefooted across the sacred forest to a cave full of human skulls. We were told that the oldest skulls were from the 16^th century.  The skulls were collected from the graves of the important old men six months after their burial. The whole ritual was impressing but provoked a lot of discussion regarding to the relationship between traditions and gender equity. Women and men were separated, and men were able to do the ceremony, and drink home-brewed beer while fertile-aged women were expected to cook and wait.

In conclusion the day was both demanding and rewarding. We were able to learn about nature, culture, and research in practice.

Hilla Tuominen and Tiia Määttä

2.2.2018

At 8 o’clock we were supposed to meet the elders of nearby families. As they were suddenly detained, we instead heard of the wonderful medicinal uses of ricin plant, and also of its horrific purposes in the biological warfare. We also had the chance to see the Taita White-eye Zosterops poliogaster ssp. silvanus, wonderful little bird endemic to Taita Hills and Mt. Kasigau.

First stop of the day, sisal-plantation was a nation of its own: in the middle of its fields there was a small village with all the social facilities including post, school and church for the workers. The plantation indeed provides its workers with economical sustainability and security, perhaps thus discouraging them from leaving. We met with the son of the manager, Jason Collette, who gave us a comprehensive tour of the premises. He told us that we were on the largest sisal plantation in the world, employing 2000 workers and providing housing for 5000 people altogether. One of the themes of our field course, water balance and land use changes in Taita Hills, were brought up. Mr Collette had also noticed the dwindling of the water resources in the past 17 years. Nowadays the farm has started to rely on wells over 200 m deep. The tour on the sisal fiber factory was very informative and included a fiber treatment waste pile that had been burning for over 30 years, and a factory tour. The waste pile boasted a quite wide range of interesting birds, for example a Spur-Winged Lapwing, Vanellus spinosus.  Lastly, we discussed the GIS-applications that could benefit the plantation and how the University could use the plantation in their calibrations.

We drove to the Sagala lodge, where there were German termite specialists and a pool. After a quick poolside refreshment, we learned about the whistling acacias. Ants might be the ones making these trees whistle, thus telling the herbivores to stay away. This adds to the interesting symbiosis of the plant and its keepers. We also learned about the newest advancements in bee-keeping and social patterns of bees and termites, and visited a termite nest. From the tree on the lodge’s yard watched us a delightful White-bellied Go-away-bird, Corythaixoides leucogaster.

Our last stop was a visit to the Wildlife Works station.  Established in 1997, Wildlife works is a part of the REDD-project in Kenya, which aims to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. They wish to achieve this by consumer-powered conservation methods. Gaining funds by selling carbon credits, they use the money to reduce harmful charcoal burning in the area, while also providing safe passage for the elephants to pass from Tsavo West National park to Tsavo East. They are also included in guarding the forests and providing work for the women of the area. They also provide education for all age groups and seek to entice the community by participatory projects, such as theatre, sports and community meetings. Our group was very enthusiastic supporting their cause when visiting the Wildlife Works factory gift-shop. Our group was also enthralled about d’Arnaud’s barbet, Trachyphonus darnoudii.

Inka Voutilainen & Joona Koskinen