Kenya day 22 - Birding Again!

I've had another great day looking for birds with Jonathan Baya. We went along the edge of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest this morning and saw these beautiful birds:

Yellow-throated Longclaw

Black-bellied Starlings

Black-crowned Tchagra

Common Waxbill

Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu

Male Violet-backed Starling

Female Violet-backed Starling

White-browed Coucal

In the afternoon we went to Roka Pools, a flooded gypsum quarry, and found some more interesting and unusual species:
 

Hadada Ibises

 

Spur-winged Lapwing

Striped Kingfisher

Three-banded Plover

Water Thick-knee arguing with an African Pied Wagtail

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get pictures of the Malindi Pipit or the Mouse-coloured Sunbird, and without Jonathan's expertise I wouldn't have found any of them, let alone taken photos!

Kenya day 21 - Mida Creek Tourist Trip

Three weeks in Kenya already! Time is flying...

My morning walk came close to being a morning wade - we had one of those downpours just as I got to the village school. Fortunately it cleared up and turned into a lovely day.

Sunny but the wind makes big waves at the edge of the reef

The new roof for the upstairs meeting area is nearly complete

However, the power, and hence internet access, has been off several times today for hours at a time. Just after lunch my laptop battery ran out again, so I went off to Mida Creek to do the tourist things...

Mangrove nursery - the women grow mangrove seedlings to replant areas where the trees have been cut down

I had a guide called Mohammed, and he showed me some of the waders on the mudflats, which has helped with identifying the different species.

Greater Sand Plover

Crab Plover - yep, it eats crabs!

Dimorphic Egrets - some are black, some are white...

Woolly-necked Stork - lovely iridescent wings

Hermit Crab

Then we had a trip to Green Island in a dugout canoe! It was quite windy, so the water was a bit choppy and I got rather wet. The camera and binoculars managed to stay dry - just! The local fishermen use dugout canoes all the time, but it's quite a novelty. I found it quite stable, even with "Captain Michael" standing up in the back and poling. In deeper water he would use a paddle, but at low tide he can pole it along like a gondolier. Every boatman here seems to be referred to as Captain, regardless of the size of his boat!

Aboard Captain Michael's dugout canoe

We hurried back across the mudflats because another shower was on its way, but it didn't start raining until I was ready to leave. Meanwhile, we visited the bird hide again - it's got a roof so it's a useful shelter - and then went along the boardwalk. This is part of the A Rocha Kenya ASSETS program; proceeds from the boardwalk and boat trips go to pay  for secondary school scholarships for needy students.

Yellow billed storks coming in to land

On the boardwalk...

I got back to Mwamba with a lift from some folk who were going to Gede, then a matatu to Watamu (nearly rhymes!) and a piki piki the last mile or so to the centre, so it was dark and the power was off again by the time I got back. Still, we have power again now (obviously) so I can make this post....

Kenya day 20 - Power Out!

First thing this morning I went for a walk through the village. It was bright and sunny until I got back to the entrance to our driveway. Then the heavens opened and I was soaked by the time I got back to the centre, so I needed a quick change before going for breakfast.

Black-headed Oriole

The power has been off since after breakfast until 10 minutes ago, so everyone's laptop batteries, phones, etc have run out and we had to find alternative things to do. As it happens, a big clean up had been scheduled for the kitchen, so I went and got put onto making dinner. I have sorted beans, peeled carrots, garlic and onions, pounded the garlic to a paste in a mortar and pestle and chopped onions and tomatoes. Meanwhile the kitchen equipment and storage furniture was removed and scrubbed, and the walls and floor washed down. We were really ready for lunch when the time came!

In the afternoon I went round the Nature Trail with Kirao, who is the expert on its plants and animals, and Rose and Sabina who are two of the volunteers who are training in hospitality. It was their first time in there, and I think they were surprised at how much there is to see. We found a pupa of the butterfly Phalantha phalantha, the big orange one; the pupa looks almost jewel-like.

There was still no power, so I went to the beach and took the waterproof camera.

Silver sundown

Yes, the camera is waterproof, fortunately...

Dinner was by lamp-light - gas or kerosene, and we have been reading for an hour or so until the power returned...

Dinner without power!

Kenya day 19 - Quiet After a Busy Day

Today has been quite quiet after all the exercise yesterday. I took Bonga the dog for a walk on the beach, though he was not keen to go far! There were terns resting on the shore and an Osprey flew over.

Assorted Terns

This afternoon I went round the Nature trail and found a flock of these Black and White Mannikins - they are about the size of a Great Tit.

Black and White Mannikin

Another Black and White Mannikin

There are some very exotic flowers on some of the trees.

Kenya day 18 - Ivory Belongs To Elephants

Today, I've been on a walk entitled "Ivory Belongs To Elephants", from near here to Malindi, the town with the nearest airport, a distance of about 25 km. We started in (warm) torrential rain and ended up in full, baking sunshine! Along the way some 500 kids from the schools along the route joined us in relays, singing and keeping our feet going with cup of youngsters, chanting too. It was good fun, and it felt like a good thing to do. The guy leading it, Jim Nyamu, and his team stayed here last night and then walked all the way, speaking to each new group of youngsters as they joined in, and occasionally stopping to talk to villagers. The message, of course, is that poaching is wrong and they should all work together to stamp it out. Two guys were arrested for poaching near here yesterday, which makes it much more immediate than WWF campaigns...

Walkers in waiting at Mwamba Centre

Pinning posters on people

In the pickup going to the start of the walk

Waiting to set off - sheltering from pouring rain

Banner on a bike

And they're off! The policeman starts the walk waving the Kenyan flag

Rain stopped, but still wet underfoot nearing Gede

On the Gede-Malindi road

Jim Nyamu preparing to address another school group

Addressing a village - the green shop in the background had cold Cokes - perfect for an energy boost!

The last few metres - in Malindi, just off the main street

We got a lift back with some KWS rangers who were passing through Gede, but first we had to negotiate the narrow streets behind Malindi town centre.

Not quite stuck in a pickup down a small alley!

From Gede we took a matatu back to where we started from. A matatu looks and works rather like a marshrutke in Russia - it's a minibus that picks folk up and drops them off at recognised stops and you pay a guy inside who also opens the door for people. It even has fringes round the sunshades, but no curtains...

In a matatu - that's a grab-bar for bumpy bits just in front of me!

Then a lift home from Henry and a nice refreshing dip in the sea before dinner - quite a busy day!

And now I need another wash, because while I was writing an email just now I got poo-ed on by a gecko - apparently not all that unusual, but a bit of a surprise when you're not expecting it!

Kenya day 17 - Wet Monday in Malindi

Today we had the usual Monday Meeting, followed by a spell in the office. After lunch, I got a lift to Malindi and had as much of a look round as possible in pouring rain. That is, I sat in the car and peered out of the window at people paddling through flooded streets, until we got to the supermarket mall, where I bought an umbrella! The supermarket has clothes, furniture, even gym equipment as well as food, but many of the other units in the mall are empty, probably because it is low season and the rents will be high in there, I suspect.

On the way back we stopped at a stall where they barbecue corn on the cob - very tasty!