Sunday 16th May (4th day at Mwamba - A Rocha)

On Saturday evening we decided that the next day we would attend church at St. James, Gede, ACK - the Anglican Church of Kenya. Belinda and Henry rang and booked ahead for a "tuk-tuk" to take us there. Then they rang again this morning to check they had remembered..... and again to ask where had they got to! And again....! Eventually it turned up half an hour late and we realised we would be late for the start of the service.

The onomatopoeic tuk-tuk is a three wheeled motor vehicle somewhere between a motor bike and a Reliant Kitten. It is probably the worst vehicle for the roads around here because it is so difficult to miss a pothole! And the roads are full of potholes. Still it was an experience we were keen to try.

Although it got us to church half an hour late, it turned out that we weren’t late after all because the first church service had overrun and the service we were aiming for hadn’t even begun.

We keep reminding ourselves about “African Time”!

The church building was made of breeze blocks and open on three sides. This made it easy to see in and out of the church. It was a good example of “a church with no walls”, something we’ve talked about at Holy Trinity Knaphill. To our left, about 100 yards away, there was a group of children having Sunday School under a tree. During the service, some chickens came in from the back entrance and began to peck around. There was even a cockerel which startled us all at one point with a mighty crow!

The service was very formal. The ministers both wore robes and we knew all the hymns – from our childhood! There were about 20 of us in all, including Carol and Stanley from A Rocha with their 18 month son Jordan who was good as gold throughout the service. Later we discovered that Carol used to be on the Preaching Rota but hadn’t returned to preaching since the birth of Jordan. We encountered her in Bible Study at A Rocha the next day and found her to be a breath of fresh air, a solid Christian who is able to articulate her faith clearly. Get yourself back on that Preaching Rota we encouraged her!

We liked the way church ended – with the Ministers leading us all outside and shaking hands with each person, who then joined the line so everyone ends up shaking hands with everyone. Simple but clever. We must try that at Holy Trinity and St Saviours sometime!

With A Rocha to Whale Island

Colin, A Rocha Director, explained that the little island we can see from Mwamba's beach is Whale Island where Rosiate Terns breed between September and December each year. There had been a problem a few years back with rats on the island and it was believed that everything was OK. However rat droppings had been spotted recently, probably from rats that had swum ashore from boats moored nearby. Having rats here would decimate the young terns at the next breeding season and had to be got rid of.

First we drove to Kenya Wildlife Service near Short Beach. A Rocha has a close working relationship with KWS.

Ted improvised some rat traps out of plastic bottles.

We walked to Short Beach and took a boat over to Whale Island - in two crossings, as there were too many for the small boat to take us all at once.

This island has such a delicate eco-system that not even eco-tourists are allowed to visit. We were highly privileged to go as guests of A Rocha.

We climbed the 10 metre cliff to join the others on top. No Terns were present at this time and no sign of rats either - but traps were laid and they will be inspected another day to see if bait has been taken.We walked on boards to disturb the vegetation as little as possible.

The view over the sea was stunning....

as was the view down onto the rock pools.

Sahid, one of the KWS staff, was very informative about marine life on the island. We saw the Mauritious Shell and heard about the highly venomous Textile Cone Shell. We saw various types of seaweed - brown algae, padina, seagrass and the string-like serigodium.

On our way back to the mainland we saw an African Fish Eagle and this rather characterful fishing boat or dhow.

By paying attention to each of the many different eco-systems in the area, A Rocha and KWS are helping to conserve biodiversity and the delicate balance between need and supply.

If you'd like to know more, have a look at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watamu_Marine_National_Park

With A Rocha at Mida Creek

Mary and Ted, Volunteers at A Rocha, had been asked to go to Mida Creek and look at the signs there with a view to re-doing them as they were a bit tatty and out-of-date. We were invited to go with them which was a great opportunity to see this amazing area, which is East Africa's largest mangrove creek and a vital part of the marine eco-system in the Watamu / Sokoke World Biosphere Zone.

Mangroves are trees that are able to survive inundation by salt water twice a day, and in soil which is unstable and poor in oxygen. They also have to deal with the swollen river carrying silt during the wet season, as well as violent storms that hit the coast.

All mangrove trees expel some salt at root level, and can tolerate salt in their tissues in quantities that would kill other plants. Although mangrove trees are adapted to grow in salt water, they still require regular flushing with freshwater and will die if immersed in saltwater all the time.

We saw the different types of root: Avicennia - shallow cable roots spreading out from the trunk. Bruguiera - knee roots, that emerge from the ground then loop back in. Rhizophora which send out roots from their trunk and branches arching down to the ground for extra support and air absorption.

The mangrove roots provide a rich source of nutrients for the fish, crabs, shrimp and oysters found in this area. These fish and crustaceans then provide the food for Mida's famous bird population and the local villages, completing the food chain.

We were shown around by a guide, Sahid, who took us on the boardwalk, constructed so visitors could view the Mangroves without damaging them.

He pointed out a number of birds too and we enjoyed sitting in the bird hide viewing the vast sand flat where the tide had gone out. We then walked onto the sand for further bird spotting but had to turn back due to the intensity of the midday sun.

Here a flock of Sacred Ibis flies overhead.

We also saw Three-banded Plover, Little Egret, Yellow-billed Stork, Woolly-necked Stork and Greater Flamingo.

Mida Creek is a key stop-over and non-breeding site for migrating birds. It offers the ideal resting and feeding location for birds migrating from Europe, Asia and the Middle East to eastern and southern Africa. The birds re-fuel on the variety of invertebrate food items buried in the muddy sandflats at low tide and roost on the exposed sandbanks and on the mangroves at high tide.

The creek habitats are threatened by over-fishing, over-extraction of groundwater and over-harvesting of mangrove poles. If you'd like to know more about Mida Creek click on this link:

http://www.assets-kenya.org/midacreek.htm

Day 9 On to A Rocha

After another night in Nairobi we flew down to Mombasa. The stiflingly hot and humid air hit us as soon as we stepped out of the plane. We were collected, as arranged, by Moses, a taximan who drove us the 2 hour journey to Watamu not far from Malindi. It was good to chat with him and there was lots to observe along the way.

In the city there were many dilapidated buildings and kiosks selling all kinds of things from fruit to ironmongery and services from Beauticians to Dressmakers. Everywhere was teeming with people, walking, running businesses or riding bicycles stacked high with pallets and sacks. Nissan matatu minibuses were everywhere, jostling for position in the dense traffic.

There were some funny signs: "Wonderful Butchery" was one; "Farm Shop Dancing Elephant" was another.

In the rural areas, there were lots of bandas - mud houses with palm leaf thatch and women working in the fields and men sitting under the shade of trees, watching the world go by!

The vegetation was quite different - even more lush than where we had been, with lots of palm trees. There were mango trees and coconut palms, baobab trees with hefty trunks and sisal plantations at various stages of growth. Sisal is used to make baskets and they look like lines of pineapple tops growing in the fields.

We arrived at Mwamba - Swahili for "A Rocha" or "The Rock" - and were warmly greeted by Belinda who with husband Henry, runs the guest accommodation and Colin who is the Director of A Rocha Kenya. The Indian Ocean could be glimpsed and heard, just 80 metres away and beautiful tropical trees filled the sandy courtyard with colour and fragrance: Frangipani, Flame Tree, Bougainvillea.... and more.

We were shown our living quarters for the next 5 days, simple but clean and cosy. There was a huge mosquito net that covered the bed and we learnt to keep the door closed as dusk fell to avoid the little blighters getting into the room at all. This is a malaria area - and we are taking Malarone - but it is not fun being covered in mosquito bites - best not to get bitten in the first place.

We took a walk along the beach - miles of white sand, sparkling aquamarine waters, bright sunshine.... and the most horrible collection of flotsam and jetsam - plastic bottles, plastic food containers, plastic shoes and simply ...plastic! What are we doing to our world?

Day 6-8 On safari

On Monday we took a little plane from Wilson Airport (Nairobi’s domestic flights) to David Livingstone Safari Lodge. The flight was exciting - within a minute of take-off we had left the city behind and the pilot was pointing out a herd of rhino! We didn’t rise more than about 5000’ so were able to observe geographical features such as ridges, rivers, hills and Masai homesteads, wherever there was a gap in the light fluffy clouds. I sat right behind the pilot and was slightly disconcerted when he picked up the in-flight magazine and read it for about five minutes! I resisted the urge to tap him on the shoulder and say “shouldn’t you be looking where you’re going?”!!

When we arrived at David Livingstone we had a series of surprises. The first was that we were the only passengers getting off there. The second was that the landing strip was right next to the lodge and porters in white suits were waiting to take our bags. We were greeted with a warm flannel and a drink of mango juice. Then we found ourselves at the bar next to the river where a group of hippos were wallowing, making the most amazing sounds – snorting, swooshing and growling! The final big surprise was to find that we were the only guests in a place intended for 100 plus! We certainly had good attention from the staff!

Our room overlooked the river and we were told that if we needed anything at night we were not to leave our room but to blow a whistle. Electricity was only available for two hours in the morning and late afternoon and evening until 10pm. The lights would go out briefly at five to ten, as a warning, back on for five minutes and then off until daybreak. We did wonder if that affected the electric fence that separated the hippos and crocodiles from coming up to our room – but we didn’t like to ask. Sometimes it’s best not to know!

Our first game drive was that afternoon and we were introduced to Duncan who was to be our driver for the three days we were there. He was very knowledgeable about animals and where to find them and also about birds so when on a couple of the drives we saw no new land animals he was able to point out all sorts of new birds. He was also a skilled driver and really put to the test on the second day when we had a deluge of rain and nearly got stuck in the mud!

We had a brilliant three days on the Mara seeing loads of animals and birds – especially considering we were “low season”. One particular highlight was visiting the Masai. We were welcomed with singing and dancing – and jumping by the men! We were shown how they make fire - Ray Mears style – or is it in fact Ray Mears who makes fire Masai style?! We were taken inside one of the homes in the village or “Boma”. It was very compact, like living in a caravan where there is a particular place for every single thing. There was a slow burning fire and the only outlet for the smoke was a small window, so after a while our eyes really began to sting. Not surprisingly, there are health problems associated with this for the Masai.

There are too many photos to show on this Blog – it would take forever to load up but if you would like to see: eland, topi, dik dik, Thomson’s gazelle, ostrich, buffalo, elephant, jackal, hyena, giraffe, hippo, crocodile, monkey and the visit to the Masai Boma then click on here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinegrew/

Day 5 - Sunday 9th May

We had breakfast in the Thorn Tree cafe within our hotel, the Sarova. There is a young – but tall - Acacia tree growing right in the middle of the cafe and stained glass round the outside walls very much in the style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Eating here makes a very pleasant start to the day.

We were kindly picked up by Jon and Jo to go to their church - Karen Vineyard, 20 minutes drive away. Driving through the National Park, we had to slow down rapidly for a family of warthogs crossing the road .... and on the way back similarly, for a family of baboons!

After the service we met some Sudanese refugees. They had got up before dawn that day to walk to church from Kawangware, about 10 miles away. They were students who had missed a lot of schooling in their early life and were trying to complete their education in Kenya. One of them said he wanted to be a doctor but I suspect that that is a complete pipedream. Within a minute of talking with another, he was asking whether “someone like you could support me through my further education?” I was taken aback. “But I don’t even know you,” I said. “Oh, my name is Philippe!” he replied as if that gave me the knowledge I needed. Jo said later that they are pretty much unemployable and desperate. The only thing they’re good at is walking. They came to Kenya by walking from the Sudan, miles and miles. Very sad.

In the afternoon we took a taxi to the “Yaya Centre” which Jon had told us was where the Masai Market is held on Sundays. It was hot with the overhead sun beating down – we used an umbrella as a parasol.

I found stalls selling beaded baskets and beaded bowls which I was looking for to take home as presents for friends and family. I enjoyed the bartering which Jo had taught me. It goes something like this:

Me: How much is this?

1500 Kenyan shillings!

Bei gali sana! (Far too expensive!)

OK - 1400 KES!

Kidogo! (That’s only a tiny amount less!)

OK what would you pay?
100 KES!

What??! That’s far too little! Look at all the work that’s gone into it!

....then it goes forward and back for a bit until I say:

700 KES – Bei musho (my best / final price)

... and hopefully both of us walk away feeling we’ve done well!

There was an abundance of stalls – and not too many tourists this time of year so everyone was begging us to look at their wares. I came away with most of the gifts I wanted to take home so I was delighted!

Day 4 Nairobi continued – visit to the giraffes

http://www.giraffecenter.org/

After visiting the elephant orphanage there was more delight in store as we drove to the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW), known as the Giraffe Centre. This place is devoted to saving the Rothschild giraffe, the only endangered breed. The other two types of giraffe are the Reticulated giraffe(found in zoos throughout the world) and the Maasai giraffe which is also plentiful. The markings on a Rothschild are more jagged and redder in colour.

The centre was started by Betty and Jock Leslie-Melville in 1979 when the plight of the Rothschild giraffe was recognised.

These giraffes are used to visitors and extremely tame. We were given pellets to feed to them and it felt wonderful when their soft muzzle met our open hands. They do have long rough black tongues and one visitor tried giving food by holding a pellet between his teeth - but neither of us fancied that method somehow!

There was a platform at giraffe head level so we could really get up close and personal with these gorgeous beasts – and admire their beautiful eyes and long lashes.

The Latin name for giraffe is camelopardalis – which means a camel-like creature with leopard spots. Certainly the way they move is quite “rocky” like a camel but they are amazingly graceful at speed.