I have now moved on from the head office at Nairobi and I am based at the research camp at Samburu National Reserve. After a couple of game drives and two afternoons of rain, I have spent my time here trying to work out the easiest and quickest way of extracting thousands of data points and how best to present the information. Although my initial thought of ArcGIS (a mapping programme used to plot all the GPS positions of the collared elephants) is dread, I am slowly finding an interest in the programme. I still think the whole collaring and elephant texting their location is absolutely amazing and to then be able to access all this information at the push of a button, is simply astonishing. A lot of praise certainly goes to the GIS team here at STE for their consistency and thoroughness.
In between data crunching I have been working through photographing slides in the elephant library so they are available for use electronically. Sadly old forms of media like slides and projector shows are often forgotten about and usually get filed away. I certainly remember our family holiday slide shows well! Fortunately technology now provides us with suitable means of bringing old and invaluable images back to life. Hopefully they will be used once more.