Zebras' stripes are a defense mechanism against stalking predators: the high-frequency pattern makes it difficult for enemies to gauge distance. In other words, spatial aliasing saves lives!

Skull of syncerus caffer (cape buffalo) in the Ngorogoro crater.

Patterns of the Rothschild giraffe. East Africa is home to three types of giraffes, each with a different pattern: Rothschild, Maasai, and reticulated. These patterns are the result of a reaction-diffusion reaction where chemicals "compete" to encourage or inhibit the spread of pigment. The basic model was first described by Alan Turing in 1952 and was recently used by Greg Turk for the purpose of texture synthesis.

Arusha Snake Park, Tanzania.

Betty (bottom right) helps cook breakfast while Thomas (upper right) watches (at UPA work camp in Kikooba, Uganda). The dish is one of several variations on deep-fried dough we ate while at the camp. Other hot menu items included posho (mixture of corn flour and water, looks somewhat like mashed potatoes), cassava (a kind of tree root, texture like coconut but not as sweet), matoke (mashed plantains), sweet potatoes, and "Irish" (i.e., Western potatoes). Occasionally we would escape to the town center for Cadburry's chocolate, Coca Cola, and a "rolex" (scrambled egg, onion, and tomato rolled up in chapati). Vodka was available in small plastic pouches. It was also possible to buy all the bananas in town for about 1000 shillings (roughly 58 cents US).

Private school classroom in Kikooba, Uganda. This room is used to instruct several dozen primary school children at a time. Because school supplies are limited, instruction often consists of a class leader reading off a list of items (numbers, letters of the alphabet, etc.), with the classroom repeating the leader in unison. The room is also used for town meetings.

Coca Cola purchased near Lake Bunyoni, Uganda. Coke is ubiquity: even rural areas without running water sell bottles of this stuff. The going rate for a Coke in Uganda is 500 shillings, or about 29 cents US. The catch? You don't get to keep the bottle.

Zero electricity means zero light pollution. In Kikooba, Uganda, the Milky Way is clearly visible with the naked eye.

Shouts of "mzungu!" (white man), "jambo!" (hello), and "how are you?" are frequently heard from children along the roadside.

Phoenicopterus minor (lesser flamingo) crowd around the shore at Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya. The park is home to as many as two million flamingos at a time.

Cape buffalo - Serengeti, Tanzania.

Two young Tanzanian children returning from a wedding ceremony.

Lake Bunyoni, Uganda. Not far from where this picture was taken sits one of Idi Amin's former vacation homes (now abandoned). Amin, president of Uganda from 1971-1979, was a tyrannical leader responsible for ethnically and politically motivated deaths of roughly half a million Ugandans.

Leptoptilos crumeniferus (Marabou stork) kicking around Lake Nakuru (Kenya). These guys are about 4-5 feet tall, and can often be seen wandering around local town centers.

When navigating the Nile, there's little time to stop for sun block.

Health center we helped build through the Uganda Pioneers Association in Kikooba, Uganda. The building is adjacent to a private school for primary students. The center is meant to help educate members of the community about HIV/AIDS, distribute antiretroviral drugs, and test for infection. Water for making bricks, mixing cement, etc., was carried by hand five times a day from a local spring twenty minutes away. At present, the fate of the land where the center stands is uncertain: it may be sold to private developers, a fate recently shared by many schools in Uganda.

Makeshift classroom at primary school in Kikooba, Uganda. The thirty-four volunteers at our work camp slept in the school building (behind) during construction of the health center, temporarily displacing students from their usual classroom. Under this canopy children were instructed in English, uses for common plants and animals, and (for some unknown reason) how to convert numbers between base five and base ten. In this photo the chalkboard displays our preparations for HIV/AIDS presentations to be given at local schools later that week.

Some of the local workers slept inside the heath center during its construction. (Kikooba, Uganda)

Students at a primary school in Kikooba, Uganda. Many of the students at the school were "orphans," which in Uganda means they had lost either one or both of their parents.

Lake Nakuru (Kenya).

Flight map of the trip from London to Nairobi - the flight takes roughly nine hours.

Dendroaspis polylepis (a.k.a. black mamba) devours its prey. FIELD NOTES: Largest venomous snake in Africa (200-350 on average), a nervous and very fast moving snake that is equally at home on the ground, in trees, or up on rocks. HABITAT: Low lying dry and open bush. REPRODUCTION Lays eggs. FOOD: Mainly small birds and mammals. VENOM: NEUROTOXIN, extremely powerful and quick acting poison. A bite from this snake is a medical emergency with most cases proving fatal. (Information taken from display case at Arusha Snake Park in Arusha, Tanzania.)

Fanta orange soda and Top Up tomato sauce: staples of mzungu dining in East Africa. From a distance, Top Up looks deceptively like ketchup. In reality, the bottle contains a gelatinous substance akin to sweet & sour sauce. (Still good with chips, though!)

Duncan tries to maintain standards, shaving behind the schoolhouse in Kikooba, Uganda.

Hippos, despite being some of Africa's most dangerous creatures, have very sensitive skin. During the day they hide from the sun, splashing water onto their backs with their tails.

This little girl tried to eat me.

Entryway to health center under construction in Kikooba, Uganda.

Rebecca, Jose, and Bernie feed giraffes at the Langata Giraffe Sanctuary (Kenya).

Lauren visits with Kikooba children.

Zebras, buffalo, Littlefoot, Cera, and Spike head off toward the Great Valley.

This area, known as the "kitchen," was used to cook three meals a day for thirty-four volunteers. (Kikooba, Uganda)