Kenya day 28 - Some Goodbyes

I went for an early morning wander round the Nature Trail with Ben and Rachel, who went snorkeling with me yesterday Then after breakfast we decided to go swimming, but ended up walking along to the rocks at the south end of the beach. The tide was very far out and there were lots of rockpools to explore - I hope I'll have time for another look along there on Monday. Anyway, my companions left at lunchtime on a 24 hour journey back to the USA, about two-thirds actually flying and the rest hanging around airports!

 This afternoon I made a bit of progress on the Nature Trail booklet before it was time to go to Henry's leaving party. Henry is the Centre Manager at Mwamba, and he is going to Nairobi and then back to his family farm. Daniel is also leaving, and of course I'm going on from here next week too, so they had a big party at the local night club, with dinner, cake and icecream and dancing. Some folk are still there, but I'm taking advantage of the web while it's quiet.

Nightclub roof - wooden frame thatched with palm leaves

Stanley and Henry

Henry cutting his cake

Presents for Henry

Claire, Daniel and I also had a cake to cut

...and they'd made us special cards too :-)

Dancing the night away

Pictures for the last two days will hopefully appear tomorrow night or Sunday, power and internet availability being the deciding factors! Yes - Sunday it is, and the pictures are going up now!

Kenya day 27 - Snorkeling again

I arranged a couple of days ago to take a boat trip to the reef with some guests who are staying here, and today was the big day! We met the boat down at the beach. It has a very shallow draft and can come within a couple of metres of the shore. We were joined by two ladies staying a few houses along from here, so we were a party of five with three boatmen.

The boat - right at the beach

Claire, Jenny, Rachel and Ben

We chugged out to the "Coral Garden" area of the reef first, to see the corals and spend a bit of time swimming around fish watching.

There are two big clams in the middle of this picture - one purple, one green

Then we went on to the "Fish Garden" where we were issued with a slice of bread each with which to feed the fishes. They just swarmed around us, and one with a long snout pecked my hand, it was so eager for the bread! We saw lots of different sorts of fishes and I got pictures of some of them:

Rachel with fishes

Me with fishes

Standing on the outer reef with a starfish

It almost looks and feels like plastic, but it does have those tiny suckers underneath!

We got back just in time for a shower before lunch. Afterwards, I was busy in the office the rest of the day, working on the Nature Trail booklet.

In the evening I showed some slides about Mongolia - people were interested to hear what it's like there. Jaap showed his pictures from his climb of Mount Kenya earlier this year, and some short movies of the climb. It was interesting to hear how they got on, carrying everything themselves and camping all the time. I'm feeling even happier about going there myself now.

Kenya day 26 - Ringing at Mwamba

Terribly slow internet meant I didn't get this post published, so I've actually written what was Tuesday's adventure on Wednesday night, now on to today's fun and games!

We started at 0550 this morning putting out the nets for bird ringing in the Nature Trail. Over the next four hours or so we caught 6 birds: 2 Olive Sunbirds, a Northern Brownbul, a Black-bellied Starling, a Red-capped Robin-Chat and a Red-eyed Dove. They were all fitted with rings and weighed and measured, and I got to release the Northern Brownbul and the Red-eyed Dove, which was quite settled in my hand and didn't seem to be in any hurry to fly off!

Black-bellied Starling protesting

Northern Brownbul ready for release

Olve Sunbird has yellow armpits

The beautiful \Red-capped Robin Chat

Jaap and Esther and their children releasing the Red-capped Robin Chat

The Red-Eyed Dove's new ring

Actually, I'm quite happy to sit on your hand for a while...

One of the tiny Olive Sunbirds

After that I took another quick trip to the supermarket in Watamu and then joined Peter for a swim in beautiful turquoise water and bright sunshine - so refreshing!

Kenya day 25 - Sabaki River Mouth

We  were up and away at 0600 again today - I think my body clock has been wound back so it seems normal to be out that early! There were 9 of us in the car, but I was allowed to have the front seat, definitely a privilege on a hot day. We went to the Sabaki River on the other side of Malindi, and having crossed the bridge we headed through farm land and villages, looking for birds all the way, and left the car at a small hotel.

We walked along the lane a while and then set off across the mudflats. The mud was thick, deep, slippery and sticky and most of us were covered in it up to our knees. We were counting the waders around the river mouth, and there were quite a few, but most of them had migrated. Having got thoroughly coated in mud, we arrived back on terra firma - the same lane we had been walking on - and followed it until we climbed over a dune and emerged on the beach at the mouth of the river. It's a huge expanse of sand, patterned with different colours of sand blown by the wind. We found more waders, terns and about 100 Greater Flamingoes. The waves were enormous, raised by the strong winds that have been blowing for the last few days, but we were able to get most of the mud off while paddling in the edges. The leading edge of the waves running up the beach was bright green, presumably algae...

On the way back we went through the dunes and small pools behind the beach and found several more exciting new species of birds.

By the time we got back to the car it was after midday and very hot, so a cold Coke on the way home was really welcome. We were late for lunch, but they had kept some for us, which was very good too.

Another power cut meant a few of us could pop to Watamu later on in the afternoon, and then we went for a long swim to cool off. The waves at the end of the afternoon are good fun - quite large but fit to swim in. Jaap had his surf board out and Peter also used it for a while, but Ben and I just jumped about in the waves.

Kenya day 24 - Cloudy on the Beach

Today has been cloudy and warm - very pleasant - much like British summer days. I had a walk on the beach early this morning with Claire. The tide was out, but the waves were still huge on the edge of the reef.

A cave-person in a little cave under the rock on Watamu beach

Newly-hatched butterfly

The butterfly after release

The power went off mid-morning and my laptop was needed for one of the researchers, so I helped in the kitchen for a while and then did some sorting out of drawers and filing cabinets - not easy when you don't know what is actually useful...

Mid afternoon, Linda came looking for me - the butterfly had hatched out of the pupa we found in the Nature Trail a couple of days ago. She was able to catch it inside the office and release it outside.

At the end of the afternoon Peter and I went swimming and were joined by Ben and Rachel - newly arrived visitors. The tide was going out and the waves were enormous. The seabed just off the beach has some massive ridges built up by those waves, probably about 30cm deep in places. So you'd jump over a big wave and then keep on going down - rather disconcerting! - but the next step you're standing on a ridge and only waist deep in the back of the wave. Good fun, but strenuous!

Good power and decent internet this evening has made it easier to get this post written - long may it continue...

Kenya day 23 - Lazy Sunday

First thing this morning I heard this Tinkerbird singing in the garden and took his photo. Apparently they live in holes in trees and use that big beak to excavate the holes, like a tiny woodpecker - it's about as big as a bluetit.

Red-fronted Tinkerbird

Then, since it was a lovely bright morning, I went for a walk on the beach, and met up with my room-mate, Claire. The light was really spectacular...

Claire on the beach this morning

After breakfast, Kadi and I went to church in a tuk tuk - that's the 3-wheel taxi with a lawn-mower engine. It was fine on the way there, but it rained on the way back so we got a bit wet since tuk tuks don't have much in the way of windows.

After lunch, Peter and I joined Jaap and his two older children for a walk, looking for birds and anything else that we might come across. Today was a "tiny frog day" here - they were all over the place, and there are lots of tadpoles in the pools nearby. We found some beautiful flowers and several interesting birds, and completed a loop going along the old road beside the main road, through the houses to the beach and back along the beach.

Ethiopian Swallows

Hadada Ibises on a hotel roof - they are large and rather noisy

Pied Kingfisher in action!

Purple-banded Sunbird - fabulous colours, rich emerald green, petrol blue and purple!

It's been quite windy these last few days and the waves, especially at high tide, have been spectacular. I can hear the roar of the sea now; in fact it's a background sound here all the time, though not usually this loud.

Waves breaking over Whale island - at least 10 metres high

Massive waves breaking on the edge of the reef

I've just been doing the photos after the epilogue service here at Mwamba. So not a busy day, but peaceful and reflective - nice...