Our data collection days in Alaska, Mamelodi started early on a Tuesday morning with our fresh legs and brains ready for the day ahead. I myself completely over prepared and lugged the only backpack I could find that early in the morning with bottles of water, two bottles of sunscreen (I'm the kind of person who steps out into the sun for a minute and I'm burnt to the crisp immediately), my hat, sunglasses, energy bars, a loooooong list of all ready collected data and a wide variety of "in-case of" things.
The drive was far shorter then I imagined it may have been but as we arrived in Alaska, my immediate thought was WOW that is one heck of a hill. I then immediately tried to figure out which portion Expedition Alaska would be mapping and my heart sank at the realization it was quite honestly the steepest part. However the intrepid explorers set off with phones, the GPS and an areal photograph and quite swiftly we created a system that proved incredibly effective. The KEY to our success?? Khuthadzo planning our route and marking off each dwelling as we recorded the required data. One thing I have to say.. Don't buy a Garmin or a TomTom because Khuthadzo is 50x more effective.
Thursday we returned, my backpack way lighter and a plan in place to attack the day. We quickly wrapped up our data collection before lunch and after taking a "short" okay not so short break in the shade at a shop, we set off to help the other groups with their data collection. I had a R15 Black Label and got back onto the bus happy and tanned. (until I washed the dust off that is)
Some tips for data collection days that I picked up:
* Don't plan too much beforehand, it all has to change when you get there anyways.
* Have somebody planning and managing your route and progress. (Thanks K!!)
* SUNBLOCK and WATER are your friends
* Wear shoes with rubber soles as you're constantly stepping over wires.
* HAVE FUN WITH YOUR TEAM:
One of the most enjoyable parts of the days from me was learning more about my teammates, their senses of humor, their backgrounds and the little titbits of information that they can provide.
* Go into the day prepared to work hard, if you dwaddle or spend too much time "arguing" about how things should be done you waste time.
Finally a HUGH props to Expedition Alaska for making those two data collection days so simple, easy-going and efficient!!
