Hello!
My name is Brianna Zapata. I graduated from University of California, Santa Cruz this past June. I have lived in Kenya since August 1st. What an adventure it has been! Getting to know the individual hyenas has brought such a sense of wonder into my life, leading me to have more questions about their behaviors and how it correlates to human behaviors.
My hobbies include reading, rock climbing, and anything to do with nature. Four days before embarking to Kenya I finished traveling across Costa Rica into Panama via bicycle. These past six months have taught me, even more so, the intrinsic value of nature. I plan to head into my future with this at my core.
There is no doubt how important the Mara Hyena Project is; long-term continual data collection can facilitate scientific inquiry to better understand ourselves and other animals. My predecessors have written papers supporting this claim! Our mammalian counterparts hold primal instincts that we humans have lost; this project will shed light on these in the navigation of our future.
This time in Kenya is incredibly important to me. From attempting to learn Swahili to what to do with my life as a recent grad has taught me discipline and patience. Life in camp is made wonderful with the help of Philomon, Moses, and Stephen, ensuring the cleanliness of camp, morning chai, delicious food to sustain us, and all the responsibility that comes with managing a camp in the bush. They have helped ease the feelings of homesickness, especially around the holiday season. Granted, The Mara Triangle is the furthest landscape imaginable from Los Angeles, and I am happy to be here.
Hike at the Ngiro outpost.
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