Students arrived in Kenya and traveled by plane to Mpala Ranch in central Kenya, Lakipea county. Here we are staying at the Mpala Research Centre where we get 3 hot meals a day, tea time with cake, hot showers, and laundry service! On top of it all we get to see African wildlife!
At Mpala, students began their studies with the Ecology module, taught by Dr. Dino Martins. While going over the syllabus in class, we were happily interrupted by the news that some lions have been spotted in the area so we set out in our vehicles to find them. We saw a male lion in the distance but, it did not want to have its photo taken. When leaving the area (we are in our vehicle the whole time), we came across this little guy and two of its siblings.
The following day the students were back to their studies. Dr. Martins took us on a hike to check out the landscape as students began their study of the African savannah.

Picture from the hilltop with Professor Dino Martins
Monday morning we learned the sad news that the lion cubs were killed. Apparently, the male lion we had seen had killed these cubs so that he could mate with the females of the pride. This is a common act in which a lion (and other animals) will kill cubs that are not its own offspring.
We next moved on to see hippos. If YOU are interested, you can watch the hippos through the live camera by going to Mpala Live.