This post is a race against time: we may have Internet access wherever or whenever we want, but the computer is low on batteries and there is no way to recharge at the Eco-camp. The race is on!
We’re on our way to Mombasa tomorrow morning. No need to book buses here apparently—we’ll just head to the main road with our packs and flag down the first bus we see that’s headed the right way. The Eco-camp has been a pleasant place to stay. All proceeds go directly to the community and help pay the salaries of teachers for the school. The staff are all young people from the local village—all incredibly friendly and helpful. You can get lulled into feeling a sense of sameness until you hear their stories of hunger and lost opportunity, and it breaks your heart to realize that what you’re paying for your upcoming four-day safari could send someone back to school and maybe onto a brighter future. But that’s a post for another day.
Yesterday we headed to the nearby town of Malindi, then down to the beaches of Watamu, which are often voted among the very best in the world. It’s not hard to see why, with bright white sand that stretches on for miles and miles and crunches under your feet like fine powder snow. We decided to head out snorkeling again since our trip in Lamu was only so-so. We were definitely not disappointed—water as clear as glass and hundreds of amazingly colourful fish in every direction. I’ll add a couple of pictures from the underwater camera…Cousteau I’m not, but I think they get the idea across. (Ed. note: I mostly used the camera for video, so I’m telling myself those will be a lot better.)
The Eco-camp sits on the edge of a shallow bay surrounded by mangrove trees. We went for a walk in the mangroves with a helpful guide who identified the various birds, trees, and fish-type-things that we encountered.
I say fish-type-things because the coolest creature we came across was a mudskipper or “frogfish,†a confused little fella who can’t quite decide if he likes the water or not.
But battery issues dictate that I wrap this up! Mombasa tomorrow and our first safari starts this weekend. Many stories still to tell!
Hey guys,
Cool stories so far! About the froggy fish: I’m currently reading Richard Dawkins’ Evidence for Evolution and he’s talking right now about the process by which sea creature became land creatures… and sometimes back again! Whales are descended from some sort of hippo-like ancestor and manatees from some sort of elephant-like ancestor. And turtles/tortoises can’t seem to make up their minds whether they want to be in the water or on land. Cool to see an actual “in process” creature… although which direction he is going in is hard to say!
Cheers,
Lou
Thank goodness you got out of Cairo! There were some political protests there and across Egypt today – 3 people were killed!
Wow, the froggy fish is fantastic! I love encounters with capital-s Science out in the real world: evolution (in the case of the froggy fish), or paleontology (in the form of the gigantic, prehistoric-looking ferns on the Olympic Peninsula). Judging by some of your other photos, Africa seems like a living, breathing, free-range natural history museum.