Lake Turkana Day Three - Middle of Nowhere

After buying a small curio from a local we set off. I buy small curios from people that help me without expecting return or at least without pushing the "pay me" issue. This guy helped me try to find a freezer for our spoiling meet and so I bought a little container/drum from him. We never found a cooler and so our meet spoiled. About 40 dollars wasted!

We were on the road as the sun peaked over the horizon. It quickly became even more desert than before. I have great photos to share. You could look for 100 k's in each direction and not see another soul. We went this entire day without seeing another car on the road. Not one!

In the morning the desert has a cool breeze that feels perfect. By about 10 it is hot and sweaty. My left arm is really dark!

Besides the occasional shepherd that hangs out around the small rivers and water holes, we didn't see anyone or anything all morning. It was so much fun to be lost in the middle of nowhere in the desert of Northern Kenya. While looking at a map I realized how close I was to Darfur, Northern Uganda, and even a short flight from Iraq. It is strange to be so close to these places.

We arrived at the gate to Sibiloi around 1. Sibiloi national park is a large area of land made secure by Richard Leakey in an attempt to preserve the many fossils in the area as well as the diminishing population of wildlife in the area including Lions and Leopards. Elephants and Rhinos used to call the land home but poachers have eliminated them from the park.

The park is so far from civilization that no one ever goes there. So the gate guy was shocked to see us drive up as tourists. For the next 3 days, we would be the only visitors in the 100k by 100k park. The guard had to call his boss to figure out how to fill out the proper paperwork for visitors. The boss, a soldier, arrived with his South African model assault rifle. Nathan and him talked guns and military for a while. It was nice, even though I hate guns and the military. But it seemed to strike a chord with these two. It is so neat to interact with people that live such different lives than you do, especially when you find the common ground.

After an hour they finally wrote us a receipt and let us in to the park. We started seeing some neat wildlife like hippos and some beautiful antelope. We drove to Koobi Fora, the site of Richard Leakey's expeditions and I recognized some things from books that I have read. We paid 30 dollars for a tour of the museum that promised fossils from the site but to our surprise it was nothing more than small room with silly displays. We were soooooo pissed. The guy at the desk had no idea about anything to do with Koobi Fora. I would later lean that Richard handed the museum over when he went into wildlife conservation and that it would be taken over by incompetent idiots that can't get their act together.

As we approached the camp at Ileret where I would meet Louise Leakey, I became very nervous. I always get nervous with these types of things but especially now since I was exhausted, filthy, and showing up 2 days before I had said I would. We found the camp and told the guards (armed guards) that we should be expected by Louise and the team. They walked us down to the camp and there stood Meave Leakey and the team. She didn't smile but instead gave me this look of, who are you and why are you here. I told her that I was a writer and she said, very matter of fact, yeah, we were expecting you but not until two days. I just said, yeah, sorry, we got here faster than we thought.

When Louise arrived she gave us a quick tour but seemed very distracted and a bit annoyed. i wasn't sure if it was me or just with something else but it made me feel very anxious. The camp was made up of the smartest, most established scientists in the world. There were two students that were there as part of a grant. One a Masters program student from NYU, the other a PHD student from Harvard. Combined with Meave, Louise, Jim Ross, and others, these people were very accomplished.

We were warned about scorpions and snakes and then escorted to our beautiful canvas tent. Then told that dinner was in an hour. Were they really cooking dinner for us? I caught my breath in our tent for a moment and then went down to sit and chat with Sarah and Habiba, the two students, while waiting for dinner. Eventually we would walk down to watch the stars for a while. In the desert, the stars are better than anywhere I've seen in the world. We were joined by a joy of a man named Jim Ross. He is an old man that was there testing out a new method for dating rocks and fossils. But he was the only one of the senior crew to be so warm to us from the start. He was genuinely interested in who we were and why we were there.

Dinner was served and it was an elaborate meal. The Leakey's employ local workers to serve them, creating jobs and getting the local community involved. It is really cool the way they pay so much care to the Kenyan people and the people of Ileret.

Meave sharply asked me, "So, what is... why are you here?" I was on the spot. I knew that meeting these people would be intimidating but it was something I wanted to put myself through. So, choking up, I began. I explained that I was a screenwriter, from Hollywood, and working on a story about human evolution. I explained the rough idea of the story but I am afraid it came out much less focused than what I really have laid out for the script. But they all seemed fairly interested. All of these people are scientists, and academics. Like most academics, they are a bit quirky and not the easiest to talk to. They often speak very matter of fact and employ a very scientific vernacular.

I would grade my effort that first evening as a C-. There were a few awkward moments and I did not do a good job of making myself seem worthy of being there. But that is the pressure I put on myself.

As I laid in bed that night I couldn't sleep. I woke up every 5 minutes, eventually falling into a panic attack. It was the first time that I have ever had this happen. I had this painful feeling of anxiety and this fear of making a fool of myself. It was undoubtedly spurred on by a number of things. For one, I was aware that I was by far the least intelligent person at the dinner table, something I have never felt. Second, I blew my opportunity to make a strong first impression. While I didn't do or say anything awful, I didn't inspire anyone or gain anyone's interest in my story. Lastly, and probably most importantly, the medicine that I've been taking for Malaria prevention has a side effect of anxiety and depression. The entire night would be filled with sweat and heavy breathing and this knot in my heart like I was a kid that had been crying so hard as to wear myself out.