The Essence of the Journey!

Turtle Bay – by Nicolai de Freitas (7)

On the one day we arrived at the Turtle Bay Beach Club. 

On that same night we checked in to room number 208 for 3 nights. Later in the night we went up to the room and had to jiggle things around because there were only 2 towels and 3 beds.  We had to phone reception. It was not a hard job to bring in and to make the bed only containing a bed, mattress, sheet, blanket and pillow. We were excited to wake up and explore. So when we woke up the next morning we explored a kid’s club, a restaurant and many other great things. Next we explored some rock pools in the Watamu Marine Reserve and found three moray eels. Some of our favourite activities at kid’s club were hide-and-seek, water polo, scavenger hunt, table tennis and bowling. We met friends from Uganda: Mariam, Yumena, Lele and Simiron.

TO THE FOREST! We went to the Arabuko-Sekoke Forest. Thank you to our guide, David Ngala (who has guided and researched in the forest for 38 years!)We saw the very special, rare and tiny Sekoke Scops Owl. It felt like we had found a pot of gold when we spotted the two parents roosting with their owlet. We also saw an Ader’s Duiker. They are so rare that in our mammal book they are classified as extinct on the mainland.

The Gede Ruins is worth a visit. There is so much to tell! There are lovely old baobabs that probably were there when this Arab-African town was inhabited. The thick walls are so natural because they are made of coral and limestone and chalk cement. In the Great Mosque there is a hollow in the mihrab which was like an early microphone making the Imam’s voice louder for all to hear. There was no electricity in the twelfth century, you know. The Sultan had four wives and the Palace took up a quarter of an acre. There were two courts – one for men, one for women. They found lots of artifacts, like Spanish scissors, Indian lamps and Chinese coins showing how they traded.

At the Kipepeo Butterfly Farm they raised all different kinds of butterflies. They sell the pupas to the U.K. and U.S.A. to collectors to raise funds for their communities. I even caught a black-and-white one in a net!

 

 

One starry night we were invited to help with ringing of

different species of birds at Mida Creek. This was a very interesting experience having to hold them, measure them, weigh them and ring them. The best part of it all was setting them free again over the mangrove creek! The kind team was led by a wonderful man, Colin Johnson who knew all about birds and their migratory patterns all around the world.

Hell’s Kitchen (the Marafa Depression) is a sandstone canyon with mostly red-and-white rock because the local belief is that a long time ago there was a rich family living there. They washed everything in cow’s milk because the river was about 100kms from where they lived. God got angry at their wasting so He punished them by sinking them into the ground. Therefore to this day the canyon is red from the blood, white from the milk and some brown from cattle skin.

The Vasco da Gama Pillar at Malinda is the place where the ships had their last stop in Africa before sailing to India. There was a Portuguese Chapel which we did not go into because the gate was locked. At the Museum which was in the House of Columns, we saw the very interesting coelacanth – a huge, ancient fish. The wooden grave posts called Vigango from the Mijikenda Tribes were fascinating.

The North Coast of Mombasa around Watamu was certainly a wonderful place with delicious Italian ice-cream!