What in the hell is a 'Choo Stop'????

My Spot.

I learned quickly during my ride from Nairobi to the middle of nowhere what a Choo Stop meant. I've never camped before, and never had the urge or the desire to have to 'find a bush'. Even while in Africa, I learned to manage my body functions so well that I only had to 'find a bush' once or twice. Here is that "FIRST" bush. I am showing the world, because I am very proud of myself. I learned that it requires special skills and coordination from a woman. I think my success was 'beginner's luck', but I wasn't about to push it. And trust me when I tell you. The campsite facilities and other so-called bathrooms that I used during the trip make this look like a Queen's throne.

It's a little hard to concentrate on what you are doing in these places, as this is the African savannah. That means that any wild animal, large or small, on foot, hoof, or slinking on its belly, could creep out of nowhere. That fear made me make alot of noise while I squatted, so that I might scare anything away that might be approaching. And that included the 30 or so two-legged creatures that were also wandering through the savannah trying to find 'their spot'.

Oh, and my "Choo Stop Tip-of-the-week" is: Never squat too close to an acacia tree. (see the post before this one called "Paleo-Adventures" for a photo if you don't know what an acacia tree is, or what kind of danger it poses to a 'squatter'....)

Click on photo for a larger, more 'intimate' viewing of 'my spot'.

My African Paleo-Adventure, Photos Included

Ha! """Paleo-Adventure""". That wasn't on my google list of Paleo-Words.

Anyway. Here's a few select photos from my trip to the cradle. You can click on them to make them do a little internet magic and grow really big.

This pic is of my hotel room at the Sirona Hotel, Nairobi, the place selected by the field school for the students and staff to stay. Thanks, Rutgers, you've outdone yourself... Actually, the hotel wasn't bad at all. And trust me, after sleeping in a dusty tent for 6 weeks, the beds at this hotel, and the occasionally running water, made this place to be the equivalent of the Taj Mahal.

The next pic, is a view out of my window at the Sirona. This might have come in handy because the water (and electricity) at the hotel was not always working. No, I never did get close enough to see what exactly that was growing inside the tub.

The next pic is of THE skull from KNM-ER 3733. In other words, Homo erectus. Housed at the National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi. Sorry that the photo isn't very clear, but this is housed in a new section of the museum, which is under tight security, and photography is not allowed. Oops, my bad.
There were lots of other cool exhibits there too, like crazy-looking hominid figurine displays. I swear, they aren't MY ancestors! Seriously though. I always laugh at the artistic interpretation of what our early hominid ancestors looked like, but they had to look like SOMETHING, right??? Frankly, if he had a more receding hairline, he'd look alot like my oldest brother.
We are getting ready to leave the hotel and head on out to begin the field school. Here we are enthusaistically packing up the lorry with our supplies and personal items. Once we reached Ileret, the passing of supplies from the lorry was not as enthusiastic, and everything had to be passed down a very steep hill. The hill, by the way, was very fun to climb back down in the dark after going for our baths in Lake Turkana. NOT.
Some of the group loaded up on the Uni-mog. The young students actually RAN to get a seat on this, thinking 'how cool'.... Sure, they are smiling NOW..... That smile didn't last too long after they got going on the 4 day drive on mostly unpaved roads. They were so covered in red dust, that they were unrecognizable. They pulled their hoods or hats over their heads (or a towel) and tied anything they could find over their faces, which made it even MORE amusing for the rest of us to look at once they took them off again. Silly kids. By the end of the trip, they'd have sold their supporting parents' souls to NOT ride on the Uni-mog! The open air side panels made vomiting very convenient, but not so good for passing acacia shrubs. Ouch!
In case you've never laid eyes (or limb, or backside) on an acacia tree, check the next couple of photos (yes, those are very large thorns, in case you were wondering). And what I really want to know is, why didn't someone tell me that there would be acacia thorns in the dirt that went to the sifting screens? I wish I had a dollar for every time that I had to have my friend Cruz pull thorns out of my hands as a result.
One of the "creature comforts" for us old people, was a comfortable long journey in Jack's (or another) land-rover rather than being subjected to riding in the Uni-mog. Comfort, I found, is a relative word, and Jack is a maniacal driver. Can you say 'spinal-cord compression injury'???? I wonder if my own pathology will one day show lingering affects on my verts from riding with Jack?

On the way to our first stop: Mugie Ranch. This photo is looking out over the Rift Valley, heading to the Laikipia plateau. Part of the beauty that is the Kenyan landscape, and the beginning of our lessons about reconstructing a paleo-environment using a landscape approach.

Stay tuned, however, because the next photo shows how in just a short distance, the landscape changes to more of a 'moonscape. These rocks (a result of a "Paleo-Volcano" from Ethiopia) went on for miles and miles and miles and miles like a song by the Who. Lake Turkana is in the background, and Loiyangalani is a town nearby, home of my brother, Abdi.
I visited Abdi's house, and enjoyed meeting his mother and sister. His mother made me some great chai tea, and offered a little snack. Camel meat. It was the first time that I ate camel meat, but wouldn't be my last. It was actually really good... I'm just glad I wasn't told what it was BEFORE it went in my mouth, or I would have been very culturally insensitive, which would make me a very bad anthropologist. Of course, after eating that, everytime I passed a smiling camel on the road, I felt so guilty, that I had to yell out "POLE SANA".... (Swahili for "I'm sorry"), because Kenyan camels only understand Swahili (they don't have a mother-tongue) . :)
If I didn't know better, THIS particular camel knew what I did to his comrade, and is giving me a look of disgust. I don't blame him.Our caravan on a moonscape, and the camel photos were taken by Phil, another victim of the KFFS. Thanks Phil!

Our first stop and campsite was at Mugie Ranch. I'll add Mugie Ranch photos, and eventually the rest of the trip photos soon. Or never. Just kidding.

Paleo-this and Paleo-that

Yesterday, I was trying to find some grad programs for quaternary research. The "paleo-vocabulary" involved was pretty extensive. I think that anyone who has an interest in any type of research during the quaternary period, simply sticks the prefix of "paleo" onto whatever they want. Which is cool. In fact, I did the same thing naming this blog, which is named after my upcoming website.

Today, I did a google search, simply typing in "paleo". Some results are more scientific than others, some are even very amusing.

One of my favorites is Paleo-Entertainment. I think I saw this job vacancy advertised on Monster, and involved planning social activities at a nursing home.

My other favorites are in bold:

paleo-facts
paleo-perspectives (outdated points of view??)
paleo-lithic
paleo-climatology
paleo-diet
paleo-indians
paleo-paradoxia (huh? I'll have to do some further googling)
paleo-judaica (old Jews?)
paleo-dna
paleo-ethology
paleo-ed
paleo-research
paleo-data
paleo-tethys sea
paleo-future (a lesson in contradictions???)
paleo-park (complete with wheelchairs and enema bags for the geriatric crowd's enjoyment)
paleo-question
paleo-discoveries
paleo-paganism (old non-believers???)
paleo-festival
paleo-webserver (an outdated Windows system, I'm sure)
paleo-perspectives
paleo-cookie (I can't even comment on this one, I'm laughing so hard. Whatever kind of cookie it is, I wouldn't suggest eating it)
paleo-conservative (the opposite of a paleo-pagan?? Or, John McCain's political views??)
paleo-sculpture (works of art using holocene deposits as the medium???)
paleo-music (this is probably what my daughter thinks I listen to)
paleo-laptop (I'm working from one now!)
paleo-kitchen (a stone hearth and sticks to start a fire with is all the rage these days!)
paleo-biology
paleo-botany
paleo-tools
paleo-pop (another of my favorite music genres, mostly music by Barry Manilow and Englebert Humperdink.)

OK, I'll stop for now, because I've learned that the list is ENDLESS!

But I do have to say, that during my search for a grad program, I found something that I am truly interested in: PALEO-FECES.

I shit you not.