Our two weeks in Kenya contains experiences that neither of us will ever forget for the rest of our lives. We were met by David in Mombasa and driven the two hour journey to Watamu. First and greatest impressions were of the incredible heat and the badly potholed roads. As soon as we arrived at Mwamba we were stunned by the proximity of the beautiful white beach and the different colours of blue that were in the sea. David and Liz's house was virtually a concrete one up, one down. They gave us the upstairs room which was dominated by a huge bed over which was arranged an equally huge mosquito net. The best part of our accommodation was the balcony off our bedroom which gave magnificent views of the beach and sea which was only about 150 yards away. Over the next two weeks we spent a lot of time on this balcony with David and Liz, on our own reading, talking, eating and enjoying the breezes that came off the sea, making the heat more tolerable.
Mwamba is a Christian field study centre and other guests staying there were conducting research into local wildlife, bird ringing and so on. Over the next few days we were introduced to the different members of staff, researchers and other visitors to the centre. We often ate with others in the main dining room or under the veranda or took our meals back to our balcony where we ate with David and Liz. We soon learned to look after any food we took onto the balcony after one of the monkeys that live in the trees around the centre helped himself to a piece of toast left on the plate whilst we went back into our room for thirty seconds.
Over the next few days David and Liz took us to the local village, to Watamu as well as treating us to lunch and afternoon tea at the local hotels called "Hemingway's" and "Ocean Sports", which were luxurious and magnificent.
As well as swimming in the warm sea nearly every day, on our first Saturday in Mwamba a boat trip was organised for us to go in search of dolphins. Unfortunately there were no dolphins to be seen but the trip ended with a snorkeling trip over the coral garden. The coral was full of fish, some enormous and jet black whilst many others were luminously coloured. It was my first experience of snorkeling and was fantastic. Later on in the week when the tide was particularly low we walked over the rock pools finding sponges, star fish and a couple of giant clams.
During our first week we visited an ancient and mysterious ruin called Gedi. It had until approximately 300 years ago been a thriving community , full of houses, mosques and many more buildings and then for some reason the population left the complex of buildings which were overwhelmed by the forest.
On one of our first days in Mwamba David and Liz arranged for us to visit Mida Creek which was dominated by Mangrove Swamps which attracted a wide variety of bird life. We had a guide who talked us through the plant and animal life that was around us, led us over a suspended board walk to a bird hide where we had lunch. After lunch we walked across the creek in search of flamingos which we eventually saw, albeit from a considerable distance.
The trip was full of highlights and it is almost unfair to extract one and say this was the best, but our Safari was exceptionally exciting. We were picked up by our driver Steve about 5.30am on the second Wednesday were were in Kenya. He drove us in his Nissan minibus for the next three days through the East and West Tsavo National Parks. For the most part the roads were unmetalled red dirt roads which were surprisingly smooth. Even before we had entered Tsavo East, stopping at a tea/souvenir shop we were taken down to the river side where a young man tempted an enormous crocodile out of the water with pieces of meat. Throughout the rest of the morning we saw antelopes, gazelles, eagles, elephants, water bucks and a number of other animals. We stopped for lunch at the tented camp which was also where we were going to spend the night. The camp, called Epiya Chapeyu was positioned next to the river Galana, and was shaded by some vast palm trees. After we had lunch we sat on deck chairs and watched a family of monkeys play on the edge of the river. After a break of a few hours we were back on safari in search of more animals. That evening, back at the camp, we sat under an enormous canopy for our dinner whilst Liz opened her birthday presents. The night passed reasonably quietly apart from being woken up by the grunting of some hippos on their way to the river.
After a simple breakfast of bread and jam we were back in the mini bus searching for more animals. We hadn't travelled for very long before we came across a pride of lions, or at least we saw the last one of the pride crossing the road. Throughout the reminder of the day we saw elephants, giraffes, hippos and nearly everything that we had hoped to see apart from a rhino. We stayed at a different lodge that evening, taking lunch there and then returning to the lodge after an afternoon of searching for the black rhino. The lodge was more like a hotel, called the Ngulia Safari Lodge and although luxurious, it was described in the Lonely Planet Guide as a curiously unattractive block. True, it had little of the charm of the tented camp where we had spent the previous evening, but the magnificent views of the Ngulia mountains behind us and the enormous plains in front of us made up for that. The meals in this camp were excellent and again we ate everything under an enormous canopy which gave the feeling of being outdoors. Early evening the local leopard was fed, whilst monkeys vied for our attention.
The next morning after another 6.30am start we continued around the Tsavo West National Park seeing more animals at even closer quarters and getting great opportunities for superb photos. We stopped at one more lodge for another excellent lunch, taking in fabulous views whilst being visited at quite close proximity by a family of elephants.
Back home at Mwamba the remaining few days of our holiday were spent on a few shopping trips into Watamu, some long walks along the beach where we marvelled at the hundreds of little crabs that ran back and fore with incoming tides. We spent time everyday in the sea which was so warm that I could have stayed in it all day. During the last day or two of our visit we visited The Turtle Watch Project which rescues injured turtles. There was only one being looked after when we visited but we were given an informative time about the different turtles, why they were endangered and what was being done for them. Mary held the one turtle they had in residence for me to take some photos. The turtle took great delight in thumping her hand with one of his flippers and packed quite a hefty wallop.
Apart from riding in David and Liz's wonderful forty year old Toyota, we had some interesting experiences of the local transport. The most exciting was the "boda boda" which was simply a bicycle with a seat on the parcel rack, on which you were precariously perched! We also travelled on the "tuk tuk" which was an auto rickshaw and also made one journey from Timboni to Watamu in a minibus taxi called a Matatu. These are the main means of transport in the area. There were surprisingly few privately owned cars or motorbikes to be seen which meant that the roads were fairly empty apart from the Matatus and lorries on the main roads.
I can't finish this report without saying something about the two visits we made to the church that David and Liz have been attending for the last year. It is situated in the village across the road from Mwamba. It is a Baptist church but its worship and general feel is more Pentecostal. The people in the congregation were very friendly as all people throughout Kenya seemed to be. The worship was beautiful. The singing of the hymns and songs having the harmonies associated with African music.
Coming back to England during March was quite a shock to the system and for some time it felt like we had been visiting a different world, which in a sense we had. It really had been the experience of a lifetime and one we would not have missed for anything. Our sincere thanks to David and Liz for all the hard work they put into organising the different aspects of it - Amazing!
