The alarm wakes us at 5.00 am. We’re on the road by 6.00 and it takes us two hours to clear Nairobi. We pass along a road which begins as a slum and ends as an upmarket area. Now we’re on the Mombasa highway. It has been raining all night and is still raining now. The highway passes through Kenya to Uganda and Rwanda. There are many lorries on this road and brakes (yes brakes) are often optional. When they go uphill and need to stop, a man jumps out and throws a big stone behind the wheel, it seems to work.
Mombasa is hot and there’s a great atmosphere here. With the exception of Durban, it’s the largest port on the east coast of Africa. We collect our registration plates and head for our destination, Watamu near Malindi. We arrive just after 6.00 pm and realise have been on the road for 12 hours. It’s great to be home.
the famous 4x4 bus
A golden palm weaver building its nest at Turtle Bay Beach Club
7th April
Today we’re taking it easy and catching up with old friends. It’s late afternoon and we’re going with friends to nearby Mida Creek to see the sunset. This happens at around 6.30, we’re just south of the equator so we get around 12 hours of daylight per day. Mida Creek is a beautiful series of tidal mudflats surrounded by mangrove trees. It’s a haven for migrating birds and wildlife. It’s so peaceful here. We go there with our friends and watch small shoals of fish jumping, a monkey playing in the mangrove trees and fishermen in boats made from hollowed-out mango trees. Yes, it’s idyllic here in Kenya.
A boat among the mangroves at Mida Creek
Mida Creek Sunset
Our friends’ children playing at Mida Creek
Our friends’ children at mida Creek
8th April
We have two monitors living in the garden outside our room. They look like a lizard and can grow very large. They also have a tendency to be quite nasty but these two seem friendly enough. After breakfast we spend our day on the computer preparing our diary so you can see what we’ve been up to. Actually it’s great fun to relive the experiences of the last week here in Kenya. We decide that all this hard work deserves a swim so we go for a dip in the wonderful Indian Ocean. Now we’re refreshed and ready to pay our friends a visit who live up the road. It’s good to catch up with them again. We will be working with them on the Assets project (www.assets-kenya.org) and discuss the various things we can do. We’re really looking forward to it.
All in all, by Kenya standards, it’s been a busy day!
Our neighbour, the monitor
Chez nous at Turtle Bay
9th April
We wake up quite early and decide to go for a walk across the beach. We get to Wishing Rock. This beach is part of WatamuMarineNational Park which was designated as a UN Biosphere Reserve in 1979. We’re going back to another side of Mida Creek to watch the birds coming in to feed at low tide. On the way we pass two villages, Timboni and Gede. Vibrant is the best way to describe them. Their market stalls sell anything from batteries to washing up bowls.
We arrive at the Creek and take the boardwalk to the bird hide. Apparently it’s the only boardwalk of its kind in Africa as its suspended. Unfortunately it’s in need of repair and Agy will be passing many an hour working on it. All of the proceeds from its use go to the Assets scheme (Arubuko-SokokeSchools and Ecotourism Scheme) so they hope to attract many visitors. At the bird hide we’ve a beautiful view of the creek and see a couple of flocks of flamingo over the far side. As the tide turns the birds start to arrive. There are some rare breeds here including the curlew sandpiper and crab plover. What’s encouraging to see is that many Kenyans are interested in coming here. Their keenness is an indication of hope for the nature of Kenya.
10 April
We have been invited to lunch with the people we will be working for and walk up the beach to Mwamba, the field study centre a couple of kilometres away. Again it’s good to catch up with people we haven’t seen for sometime. We will begin work tomorrow on the Assets programme and Mida Creek boardwalk. We walk back from Mwamba and by this time we’re getting a bit tired and rather thirsty. Go for a quick dip in the sea and then on to Ocean Sports bar for a Tusker beer, Kenya’s own brew (oh it’s so refreshing!) sundowner before dinner.
Wishing Rock,Turtle Bay,Kenya
Whale Island off Watamu beach and Mida Creek entrance
Mida Creek boardwalk
Mida creek waders
11th April
I’ll tell you a bit about the Assets programme. Its full name is Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Eco-Tourism Scheme. The Arabuko-Sokoke forest is a unique ecosystem, which is known internationally for its biodiversity and beauty.For some species, the Arabuko-Sokoke forest is the only place in the world where they exist.At times, unfortunately, people living near to the forest unintentionally pose a real threat to its survival.Many families lack the means to give their children a full education.Education here in Kenya is invaluable as it is often the only opportunity these children have to escape the trap of extreme poverty.Shockingly, over 90% of the children in the district cannot attend secondary school due to the cost. They therefore exploit the resources of the forest to gain the money they need to pay school fees.They may fell numerous trees in a certain area to sell the timber.This can totally destroy the natural habitat resident in that part of the forest and, as a result, upset the whole eco-system.Through the work of ASSETS, the local people are encouraged to help care for and preserve the forest. Today I’m drafting a few standard letters to send to donors so we can set up a regular system of correspondence. I have to tell you that the surroundings are very different from the office I’m used to in Belgium!
A beer at Ocean Sports
Jayne busy at Mwamba hi-tec buisnee centre
They have already established a variety of attractions such as a board walk bridge and a bird hide at Mida Creek, together with two tree canopy platforms and a forest nature trail.The tourists who visit these local habitats are contributing towards the ASSETS fund whilst appreciating the forest and the creek.This fund consequently donates bursaries / scholarships to families who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to send their children to school.ASSETS relies on donations, as well as income from the attractions.These families can clearly see from the schemes and your donation that the money they receive comes as a direct result of the habitats around them, notably the forest.This creates a great incentive to preserve the forest and to help to ensure that no one exploits it. This afternoon we’re looking at the boardwalk and birdhide. Agy, Stanley and Kadenge are assessing the materials they will need to carry out essential maintenance.It’s great to see the flamingo close to the water’s edge when we arrive.
12th April
After a morning preparing information for the ASSETS website we venture out with Tsofa, their environmental education officer, to a local school where a couple of volunteer students will give the older primary school children a lesson on rainfall. This school has 722 students and only 12 teachers so about 60 pupils in a class, quite a challenge for these dedicated people.Primary education is free here in Kenya, which accounts for the large volume of students.
The lesson goes well and, before we leave, we all have a chat with the students. Agy asks the class who would like to be an engineer. One student, Tuva, immediately raises his hand. “What sort of engineer?”, Agy asks “I want to be a pilot”, he replies. Well, that was a textbook answer and one deserving an SNBA cap!
We are going to dinner to a wonderful little Kenyan “bistro” known as the Kuku Choma. The restaurant is a little corrugated iron shack and sells the best chicken (kuku) anywhere. The samosas and chapatis are delicious too, plus you get to eat it all with your hands - what a feast!
We return to Turtle Bay, just in time to watch the snake show from the local Bio-Ken snake farm. It’s a fascinating display and a chance to brush up on the knowledge we gained at the rangers course last year.We are surprised to learn that the Watamu area (30 km radius) is home to the largest amount of reptiles in East Africa.
