East Africa Scavenger Hunt

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Kristen Page

The Girl usually gives me a list of things she hopes I see while I travel. I love this because I think of her (and maybe a little like her) each day I am gone. I am especially fond of this list – the spelling might just say something about my accent since she spells phonetically? I’ll translate each item before I show the corresponding photo(s). Here is her list:

Monkey

We went to Arusha National Park for a short “day safari”. We enjoyed watching 3 different primate species in the old growth tropical forest that is growing around the Ngurdoto crater.

This gorgeous monkey is a Black and White Colubus (Colobus guereza). Interesting fact – these monkeys do not have thumbs! (more info: http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/colobus-monkey)

We also saw Sykes’ Monkey (Cercopithecus albogularis)

2. Rainbow

Considering there was no rain – it was pretty impossible to find a rainbow. I think the girl was expecting rainbows like the ones we saw in South Dakota (do you see it? It was pretty far away):

Since I didn’t see an actual rainbow, I thought I would show you the rainbow of flowers I saw. These colors don’t necessarily follow the ROYGBIV rule of prismatic colors…

This is a Calliandra

?

sunflower
a legume of some sort..

Hibiscus

3. Sheet Music

I wasn’t sure how this would happen, but thanks to a musical friend who posted a picture of sheet music on Instagram while I was in Tanzania – I found it! Here is the screenshot from my phone.
4. Giraffe

5. Elephant

I loved seeing this group of Elephants, so I couldn’t pick one photo!
6. Snake – sorry, I didn’t see one…and I can’t think of a photo I took that would be a good replacement.

7. Bird

There were so many amazing birds! Here are some of my favorites:

Hartlaub’s Turaco

Scarlet-chested sunbird

Klaas’s Cuckoo

Little Bee Eater

African Fish Eagle

Lesser Flamingos

8. Lizard

I was pretty excited to see my first Chameleon!! I’m not sure of the species.

This tiny Gecko was too cute to not include! I can’t id this one either.

9. Lion –

I didn’t see any actual lions on this trip, but these looked pretty life-like!

10. Hippo

There aren’t any Hippos at Arusha National Park, but these rocks sure tricked me!

11. Cheetah

I would have loved to have seen a Cheetah – but we didn’t see any big cats. I did; however, see this very cool beetle. It has spots – Cheetahs have spots too!

(the weird thing next to the beetle is its egg case – this tree was covered with beetles and egg cases and pupae)

12. Maasai

This shepherd is Maasai. We stopped to talk to him about an invasive weed that his animals were grazing near. The weed can hurt his animals, so I think that he was happy to know about it.

I got the girl a Shuka – the Maasai wear these colorful blankets (actually a lot of people – Maasai or not- wear shukas – it’s how they stay warm).

13. Gazelle

I didn’t see a gazelle, but I saw this gorgeous animal – and it was a first for me. I think this is a reedbuck (that’s what I was told, but I’m not positive).

14. Baboon

15. Sunset

16. Fabric

17. “pooinatolit”

I promise I didn’t see this one until I arrived… I thought a warthog pooping would have to do for this!

18. Bed

These birds are asleep – so are they in a bed?

Vix (the family watchdog) always slept in this spot – again, is this his bed?

I actually saw a bed at the agricultural fair that I visited. We went to a stall where there was a lot of metal furniture. I thought I took a picture of the bed, but I guess I decided to take a picture of this desk – I wanted the girl to see the school desks other kids have to use.

19. The scribble…

I just decided that I would add something that was really beautiful and unexpected – this moth was just too cool not to share!

Ethiopia Scavenger Hunt

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Kristen Page

The girl likes to give me a list of photographs to take while I’m on a trip. We spent time with library books before she made the list. This was my first trip to Ethiopia, and I had a lot to learn!

Here is the list:

1. Rhino

There was a zero % chance I would see a rhino. I asked her if a hippo would do…the answer was no! The only rhino seen on this trip was Ron the Rhino– a gift I gave the girl- full of my hugs to last her my trip!

2. Food

I really enjoyed the food in Ethiopia! We had a lot of Injera, and all of the spices made me very happy!

We had some time one morning to explore the market. The spices were amazing!

3. Lake

We were close to the biggest lake in Ethiopia, Lake Tana.

Bahir Dar sits on Lake Tana, and we flew in over the lake.

Papyrus grows on the banks and people make boats with it.

4. Coffee

It’s definitely as good as they say. I would even say it’s infinitely better. When you have a cup of coffee in Ethiopia, the person serving the coffee has done everything – from roasting beans, to grinding and steeping!

Green coffee at the market:

Roasted Beans

Making coffee:

Salt is added to the first (of 3) cup. It’s definitely different, but tasty.

5. Castle

There are castles, but not near where I stayed. The home I stayed in was a castle! They treated me like royalty!

6. Shepherd
Most people are shepherds, so I have a lot of photos of shepherds.. Not so many of shepherds in action, though.

My favorite little shepherd:

Action shot:

7. Tree

So many beautiful trees!!! I loved this tree, a sycamore fig…Zacchaeus?

This is a Koso:

I loved being at the tree nursery! The fruit trees were gorgeous:

8. Mountains

We were in the highlands above 2500m (>8000ft), so technically any photo is of mountains. However, you wouldn’t think of mountains to see this place…

An aerial view of the region:

9. Waterfall

It was the dry season…no waterfalls seen, but check out the stars!

10. Garden

We visited many gardens.

The most common things growing were cabbage, kale, and carrots.

11. Rock

Check out this amazing rock:

12. Forest

There isn’t much forest left. The farmers need the land cleared and they also use the wood for charcoal. Most “forests” are acacia for charcoal or eucalyptus for building resources.

13. Donkey

14. Bird

There were a lot of beautiful birds!

15. Amhara Region

This is the region I visited, so all of my photos would fit this category. I would love for you to see some of my new friends who live in this region.

India- Scavenger Hunt

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Kristen Page

The girl prepared another photography scavenger hunt for my recent trip to India. It was quite challenging! Here is what I found.

1. Jaguar – I told the girl that I would love to see a Jaguar, but that it wasn’t likely. I did learn that Jaguars frequent the city where I was, but not during monsoon. I did not find a Jaguar, but this substitute is pretty awesome because it looks like an Asiatic wildcat

Perhaps it’s a hybrid? This is the only cat I saw on my trip, and it was in a very remote area.

2. Monkey – normally I like monkeys, but the monkeys in Landour are kind of terrifying!! They chase you for food!

3. Bike – in Landour, the hills are so steep bicycles aren’t common. I was in Delhi for a while, however, and bicycles are everywhere.

4. Traditional clothes – in the mountains, the women wear beautiful scarves to tie back their hair.

5. Airplane. Arriving in Landour, there was an airplane over my head..I never saw the whole thing, and I’m not sure what kind of monument this was.

6. Silly Face – this friend of mine loves to make silly faces! He’s a dinosaur in this photo.

7. Something camouflage – a backpack at the airport?

8. Dog – there were a lot to choose from, but most are feral and not cared for.

9. A very cool marble – I could not find a marble, but I was surprised to find an acorn. Acorns are sort of the same shape as a marble, and very cool. I hope it counts.

10. Cow – they are everywhere!

11. An adorable baby – I didn’t meet very many babies, but I do have a friend who counts as adorable, and she’s pretty young.

12. A little boy

13. Sitar – this was challenging, and I thought I was going to have to go with a “guitar” (they rhyme)

However, I listened to these artists at the airport.

I love these scavenger hunts. They give me an opportunity to look at the world from my girl’s perspective. I would never have taken some of these pictures without her inspiration!

Scavenger Hunt

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Kristen Page

I asked the girl to make a list of things I should photograph while I was on the “Western Trip” with the ecology class. I enjoyed trying to find each of these things. I was really close to finding all 20 animals/items, and I only needed to ask for 2 substitutions (which the girl granted). Here are the resulting photos:

1. “8” made out of sticks

(S. Tongue River)

2. Moose

(Tetons)

3. Ketchup

(Yellowstone general store)

4. Mountain Goat

(Beartooth Mountains)

5. Snow

(Line Lake Plateau Montana)

6. Uncle Rob eating ice cream

(Tetons)

7. Uncle Ken looking at a blue and white bird

(Bighorn Mountains)

(You have to take my word for it…when I took the picture he was saying “I’m looking at a blue and white bird”. It was a Lazuli Bunting.

8. A beautiful tree

(Hunters Peak Wyoming)

9. Orange flower

(Yellowstone)

10. Frog. (I didn’t find one, but I was allowed a substitution- I saw a snake- a Northern Rubber Boa)

(Tetons)

11. A cool rock

(Bighorn Mountains)

12. Bunny

(Yellowstone- mountain cottontail)

13. Ground Squirrel

(Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel)

14. Cool pine cone

(Lodgepole pine)

15. Caterpillar

(Tetons – buck moth)

16. Dragonfly larvae (a second substitution – a mayfly larvae)

(S. Tongue River)

17. Red Squirrel

(We saw them everywhere)

18. Bison

(Yellowstone)

19. Sunrise

(Yellowstone)

20. Sunset

(Bighorn Mountains)

Never take a scientist too seriously!

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Kristen Page

The girl called me into her room this morning. She had a serious question! Mommy, why are Goldie’s lips black?”

I replied. “Maybe she’s been kissing Bubbles.”

Really?

Who knows? Maybe…

Like a Dream

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Kristen Page

I took the girl on her first camping trip beyond our backyard. I wasn’t sure how it would go. There was a good chance it would rain, so I was worried two nights would be too long. It ended up being an amazing trip.

We went to Harrington Beach State Park. It’s North of Milwaukee. The campground is about a mile from Lake Michigan, and there are tons of trails for hiking. Our campsite had lots of trees!

By the time we arrived, the rain was past and we set up camp quickly!

After we had everything set, we set out for the beach. The trail takes you through a bottomland forest. The ferns were amazing and there were tons of flowers!

The beach was very quiet and closed to swimming, but there was sand to play in and shells to pick up.

After our hike we set up our hammock and enjoyed some swinging.

Then we were ready for dinner. We cooked everything on the campfire. First we had sausages (and some raw veggies).

And of course, marshmallows…

We tried banana boats. The girl loved the melted chocolate, but neither of us really liked the resulting mushy banana.

We sat by the fire and then played a little light-sabre before bed.

Our first night was good, but we were up pretty early. We had a good breakfast and I made coffee before the rain started. It wasn’t too bad, but we just hung out in the tent for a while with the rainbow loom and Trumpet of the Swan.

Finally the rain was just a sprinkle, so we headed to the beach! All the way there we explored and looked at flowers and critters.

We took the muddiest trail ever, and it was Awesome!!!

The purple phlox was beautiful and the wildlife didn’t disappoint.

We eventually got to the beach and discovered it was still closed to swimming.

We still had a blast, and once again we had the beach to ourselves!

We spent most of the day on the beach. The girl dug in the sand, and I enjoyed looking at all of the beetles!

We had a very long hike back to camp, so the girl was promised a trip to Port Washington for some ice cream! She deserved it.

We got back to camp and started dinner just in time for a pretty intense thunderstorm.

The storm was short and we had a nice evening that once again included marshmallows.

Our last morning we got up early for the sunrise on the beach. It was spectacular. The girl told me many times that she “felt like she was in a dream.” I felt the same way!!!

A different pace

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Kristen Page

This semester, I’ve been walking to work after I walk the girl to school. I’ve really enjoyed the slower pace, time to think and watching the small signs of the changing seasons.

I really love all of the flowers.

There was a cool wasp nest along my walk, but it’s gone now.

Squirrels and geese sometimes scold me, but they are starting to recognize me.

I even have time to see our smallest neighbors.

My favorite thing about this new pace is this…

And this…

Paradox

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Kristen Page

India is a land of contradictions.

Hunger amid plenty.

Colors among dust

Order and disorder , wealth and need.

Lack of space, and wide open spaces.

There are always surprises everywhere you look!

(This monkey stole a necklace from a store and was trying to eat it)

(Do you see the gecko? Here is a closer look)

I’m thankful to be home, but I miss the strange beauty of Delhi!

A Good Week

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Kristen Page

This was my home last week (the orange one).

Sleeping in a tent next to a bubbling creek is actually very nice. It’s also nice to see this when you wake up!

Lectures aren’t quite as boring in classrooms like this:

We constantly find new creatures and flowers to learn about!

It was an amazing week! It’s good to be home, though.

So many colors

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Kristen Page

If I had to describe Peru with one word, it would have to be VIVID! (Amazing comes to mind, but vivid is probably more descriptive). Moyobamba is so colorful! It is known as the city of Orchids, but I think it should be the city of colors…because, as you will see, the birds really add a lot to the scenery! Here are some of my favorite colors from my trip.

This macaw was a permanent resident at Tingana – one hour by car + one hour by boat from Moyobamba.