On the Expedition
Experience the rich traditions of the Samburu people of Kenya as you join them and other teens to protect biodiversity by tracking the endangered Grevy’s zebras and helping discover ways to manage their interaction with humans.
Grevy's Zebras
The Samburu region is among the last strongholds for endangered Grevy's zebras. From 4x4 vehicles, you’ll count and photograph these beautiful animals to help monitor the population. You’ll help find better ways to manage the zebras’ competition with humans and protect the 2,000 of them in the region.
You’ll try to discover important facts about the groups the zebras live in and the areas they occupy and move through. You’ll record GPS locations, activities, and other details of livestock, people, and wildlife you observe to complete your surveys.
The data you collect will help researchers produce GIS maps of the zebras' range in relation to predators, nearby humans, and available habitat. This information will be shared with groups like the African Wildlife Foundation and with the Samburu communities to improve efforts already underway to save the zebras.
You’ll also visit local homes to experience life in a Samburu manyatta (homestead or ranch), visit a local school, and go to the nearby Samburu National Reserve for 2 days in the middle of the expedition, staying overnight at the Samburu Serena Lodge.
An Earthwatch Teen Team Facilitator will provide additional supervision and guidance for each Teen Team, from the rendezvous to the end of the expedition. Facilitators build good team dynamics and organize recreational and cultural activities designed for Teen Teams. Facilitators are available throughout the expedition to troubleshoot any concerns teens may have. All Facilitators have experience teaching and leading teen groups. Teen Teams may also feature volunteer tasks slightly altered or adapted to suit teen groups; please see the Teen Team Briefing for this expedition for more information.
Meals and Accommodations
Your contribution includes a charter flight over spectacular vistas from Nairobi to the village of Wamba, where you’ll stay in shared, single-sex, basic rooms in the scenic foothills of the Mathews Range. The accommodations have electricity, hot showers, flush toilets, laboratories, work spaces, common areas inside and out for hanging out and playing casual sports, and a kitchen. An experienced cook will prepare meals from a largely Western menu. At the Samburu Field Center, you’ll experience authentic Kenyan cultures, getting to know those working to make a difference for their communities and the environment. You’ll also visit a local school and Samburu homesteads.
About the Research Area
The vast savannahs of Kenya abound with wildlife. The traditionally nomadic Samburu people have coexisted with the rich biodiversity here for hundreds of years, but growing human populations and changing lifestyles now put both human and wildlife communities at risk.
The Samburu Field Center is in the midst of one of the highest concentrations of unique threatened savannah species in Kenya. There are semi-arid savannah mosaics of grasslands and scrublands, forests, the Ewaso Nyiro river watershed that drains from Mt. Kenya, and many elephant migration corridors.
Wamba is communally owned and the nomadic Samburu people live and tend their livestock in close proximity to it and to wild animal populations, including Grevy’s zebras, elephants, antelopes, gerenuks, cheetahs, lions, leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, birds, and many invertebrates. There are no fences to keep wildlife out of livestock grazing areas, and human-wildlife conflicts over water and food present many challenges.
While it’s one of the larger population centers in the Samburu District, Wamba is a rural town with almost no tourism, although many visit the nearby nature reserves. Many people in and around Wamba live the traditional lifestyle of the Samburu people. While here, you’ll get to know some of the community members who are crucial partners in Earthwatch’s efforts, and will learn about Samburu culture, which shares a language and many practices with the Maasai.