Getting there

Hi!

The trip to Gorongosa is long.  Really long.  As a result, this post is long.  (...really long)

It started on Saturday evening, when my family drove me to the Newark airport for my flight to London.  We almost had a minor disaster with luggage, but everything was fine and I got checked in.  I’m not a huge fan of goodbyes, so that was not fun, but I was also really excited to get started on this trip I’ve been thinking about since about December. 

The flight to London was fine, no problems.  I arrived in London at around 10:30 local time (so 5:30am for my body) and got my carry-ons into storage for the day before heading into the city to meet my Aunt Krysia and her daughter Ellie.  We met at the Eros statue in front of the Criterion Theater, and from there we made our way to walk along the Thames River and explore a bit.  We had a really nice lunch at a sushi place, and then kept walking along.  We went to Waterloo Station, and saw both Trafalgar and Leicester Squares.  

The Eros Statue in London, where I met Aunt Krysia and Ellie

Look it's Big Ben!

Ellie and me. 

Trafalgar Square

It was lovely to see both of them and catch up, and a fantastic way to spend the day and break up my trip a bit.  Eventually it was time to get back to the airport, so we all got on the tube and said goodbye.  I had some time at the airport before my flight—long enough to see and fall in love with a Cath Kidston store, which is a brand we don’t have in the states (go check it out!).  Finally I got on the plane for the longest flight of my trip: 10.5 hours from London to Johannesburg, South Africa.

I took the tube

The flight to Johannesburg was also fine, no problems.  I got in at about 9am local time (Johannesburg is one hour ahead of London, so 6 hours ahead of NJ time).  During this layover, I only really had enough time to find a bathroom and get through the transfer checkpoint and security before I had to get to my gate.  Which I did.  And then I boarded the plane (the smallest plane I think I’ve ever been on) for my final flight: 1.5 hours to Beira, Mozambique. 

Fortunately, this last flight was also fine.  I got into Beira at about 1:10 in the afternoon local time (same as Johannesburg).  The driver from the park was there when I got through the visa checkpoint and he helped me get my bags into the truck.  I got some cash: the Mozambican currency is the metical, and there are roughly 36 or 37 meticals in one USD.  We also stopped for me to pick up SIM cards and airtime for my cell phone. 

The sign the driver was holding when I arrived in Beira

The drive to the park was a little over 3 hours.  There were points along the road that were incredibly bumpy, which worked to lull me to sleep at first and then kind of jarred me awake.  A lot of the scenery on the way here was similar to what I’ve seen in Kenya: not too many trees or wild animals (I saw a number of goats), a few busy market areas, some fires burning in the fields.  And by the time we got to the park, which is kind of an oasis in the midst of land that’s been very changed by human presence, it was dark.  It’s winter in Mozambique (we’re roughly 18 degrees south of the equator here), so the sun sets around 5pm.  Oh, winter also means it’s cold.  Not as cold as a New Jersey winter, but still cold in the evenings.  And I unfortunately did not pack for cold. 

Sunset on the drive to the park

When we got to the park, we stopped at the reception to grab the keys to my room and then drove over to where the science housing is.  Gorongosa also has a large tourist part, so there are tourist bungalows and rooms as well on the grounds.  Josh, who is one of Rob’s grad students, helped me find my little house (my room is in its own small building).  (Reminder from last summer’s blog: Professor Rob Pringle is my thesis adviser.  He was also whom I went to Kenya with last summer, although I was working with another one of his grad students, Tyler.  This summer I’ll be working with Jen and Josh more directly, both Rob’s grad students).  I desperately wanted a shower, so finally being able to take one was absolutely heavenly.  Then we all grabbed dinner at the restaurant.  There are quite a few people on the research side of the park here now, so I met a bunch of them during dinner.  Then I got back to my room, unpacked some, and went to bed.    

Finally made it!