Every year Dr. Kay E. Holekamp comes out to the Mara Hyena
Project to check on how research is going, work some field magic with Benson,
update manuals, obtain new research permits from the Kenyan government, and
generally clean up camp. It is great having her here to learn from, and to
validate your abilities as a researcher under one of the greatest. However,
there is one part that we all, including Kay, dread about Kay’s visit. When Kay
heads back to the states, she also has to take back all of the biological
samples we have acquired over the past year. This usually means we all spend
the last day before Kay drives to Nairobi trying to extract DNA from our
samples, while fighting with wind, monkeys, and a non-sterile environment. The
next morning Kay, along with Dee White and two RA’s, will have to drive extra
carefully up to Nairobi with liquid nitrogen (LN2) tanks full of our samples. Then on the following day we will buy dry ice for shipping, and
spend the rest of the day carefully dumping the samples out of the LN2 tanks,
while Kay and Dee get frostbitten fingers as they grab and pack samples into
the dry ice cooler. Needless to say it’s a lot of work and a lot of stress.
This year was a little different. While we had a lot of
difficulties getting the sample transfer permits, we did not have to do DNA
day!!! Due to some recently developed technology, we can now obtain and
immediately freeze off samples, which allow us to extract both DNA and RNA back
in the states after the freezing process. In addition, instead of taking two
RAs up to Nairobi this year, Kay took “Papa” Joseph and myself up. This was the
second time I have made this sample transfer trip, as I had done it before as
an RA in 2013, but this was the first time Joseph had ever been to Nairobi!!!
First the car trip: The drive up to Nairobi this year took 8
½ hours, consisting of bumpy roads, giant potholes, flat tires, heavy traffic,
and one diversion due to a car pile-up. This didn’t faze Joseph at all who
spent the majority of the ride up looking like a Hollywood star.
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| "Papa" Joseph |
Day Two: After a night to recover we drove downtown to pick
up dry ice to pack the samples. Unfortunately, when we showed up the dry ice
machine was broken, and it was the only one publically available in Nairobi!!
Thankfully, after about 45 minutes of gut wrenching terror, they got the
machine working. After that we sped back to the cottage, and spent the rest of
the afternoon transferring the samples from the LN2 tanks to the dry ice
coolers. Descriptively, it was basically Joseph and I overturning one LN2 tank
into another with a funnel filter in-between. When samples fell into the funnel
Kay and Dee would grab them, sort them, and pack them into dry ice.
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| We ended up only using four boxes....... |
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| Sophisticated tools for obtaining biological samples from -196 Celsius liquid Nitrogen Yes, that is a broom and a stick |
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| The tanks are not too heavy, just really awkward to pour while avoiding the freezing liquid |
The whole process took approximately 2 to 3 hours, after
which we taped up and labeled the coolers for transport. With that done we got
cleaned up, and Kay treated us all to a nice dinner, and somehow Joseph still
managed to look cool as a cucumber.
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| He looked great. I looked like I had fallen in a ditch |
Day Three: Kay and Dee fly out in the evening, which means
finding a way to get all of their field gear, as well as the sample coolers,
into big bags that weight less than 50 pounds. This requires a lot of packing,
unpacking, and repacking while a few individuals stand on a scale and subtract
their own weight from the bag and person weight. Joseph and I both weigh as
much as a hyena, that’s all we are saying. You will have to look up your hyena
facts in earlier blogs if you want to know how much that is.
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| The coolers were all close to weight limit to begin with |
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| Somehow we managed to get it down two four duffel bags under weight limit |
Once packed, we relaxed until the big taxi came to take Kay
and Dee to the airport.
Day Four: “With the cat gone the mice will play!”……….not.
As
with nearly every Nairobi trip there are errands that need to be run, so Joseph
got a chance to experience downtown traffic while we turned in samples at
Kenyan Wildlife Services, and began the process of getting student research
passes with the Kenyan Immigration Department for incoming students.
Thankfully, one of our other errands was to drop off collected hyena skulls to
the National Museum osteology department, so Joseph and I got a chance to walk
around the museum.
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| It was a great museum |
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| Lot of culture |
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| A bit of science |
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| And some amazing art |
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| Joseph looking high class with his "virgin" fruit cocktail surprise |
Day six: We refilled the LN2 tanks, and shopped for camp
supplies, during which I found out that Joseph was a lucky charm for getting
through traffic jams.
Day seven: We inventoried the cottage finding relics of
decades past research projects, including Kay’s first ever laptop that I could
use as a free weight!
Day eight: I returned to the Mara, while Joseph headed home to
his family.
All in all it was not the worst sample transfer ever, and it
was certainly not a bad Nairobi trip, but I’m very happy to be back in the
Mara, and Joseph is happy to relax in his home. I can also report that Kay and Dee made it home well, and that the
samples have made it safely into the freezers.
Until next time, "say goodbye Joseph"
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| "Kwaheri!" |
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