Yes, I am without a doubt an incredibly lucky person. First, I get selected to go to Antarctica to participate in an awesome research project. Then I get to go to Alaska to do training for my trip to Antarctica. Then when I get home from Alaska I get a letter notifying me that I have been selected to go to Africa for another incredible project. Could I be any luckier?
Now, I am sure you are just dying to know all of the details and I promise that I am going to tell you everything. In fact, the lovely people at ARCUS have offered to let me use their equipment and this website to keep you posted on the details about both of these amazing trips.
The first thing I can tell you is that you don’t just get on a plane and go. There is a lot of work that has to be done ahead of time and I mean a lot. The trip to Africa involves vaccinations (ouch!). I went to my doctor and he used the website for the Centers for Disease Control, http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinationKenya.aspx, to determine which vaccinations I would need to visit Kenya (that’s where I’m going). You cannot enter Kenya without proof that you have had the vaccination for Yellow Fever. You also should have vaccinations for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid, Meningitis, and Polio. Some people may even get the vaccine for Rabies (no thank you). Luckily I had already had the series for Hepatitis B so I didn’t need that one. That meant I needed five vaccinations. Now the trip to Antarctica doesn’t require any vaccinations but it does require a lot of tests. You have to have an EKG (a test of your heart), lots of blood work, and a full dental check-up.
There also is a lot of reading that has to be done before I go on my trips. I need to have some knowledge of the place that I am going to be visiting. Before I go to Africa I am going to read In the Dust of Kilimanjaro *by David Western. The book I will be sure to read before going to Antarctica is *Antarctica : A Year at the Bottom of the World by Jim Mastro. There are lots of other really good books about Kenya, the Maasai, and Antarctica. I will try and develop a list and post it in a future journal entry.
Well, as I mentioned, there is a lot of work to be done. My trip to Africa is going to be in June and as you know I will be going to Antarctica in November. As I study these two amazing lands I want to remember that I also live by a pretty amazing area, the Chesapeake Bay. The weather today is rainy and not very nice and yet the beach still looks lovely to me. I want to close this journal entry with a photograph of my backyard. It may not be Mt. Kilimanjaro or a glacier in Antarctica but it is home.
This is a picture of the Chesapeake Bay as seen from behind my home.