MAIACETUS: Visit to Kenya, August 2010

Villages of Shimoni and Mkwiro, visiting with bush
Babies at Stilts, Diani Beach and Fort Jesus and Haller Park, Mombasa

From May 2006 to February 2007 I worked for Global Vision International on their Marine Megafauna, Community and Forest project based in Shimoni Village and Wasini Island, Kenya. When I left Mkwiro village to return home and pursue my Masters degree in 2007 I hoped I would return to Mkwiro within a couple years. It turns out it took a little longer than I expected but I was very pleased to return and visit GVI's project and the communities of Mkwiro and Shimoni after my travels in Mozambique and Tanzania. In fact I stayed in the GVI 'house' (new since I was last there!) with the 'new' (to me!) staff and interns who graciously hosted me and upated me on the activities of GVI Kenya. I also visited with Shafii, a captain who I worked with when I was at GVI and he was still working on the project!

Unfortunately, there was a death in the village the day I arrived but, despite this, Shafii met up with me in Shimoni village and ran around to organize a boat to take me across to Mkwiro so I could see GVI's base, visit the school (with many many improvements!!!) and have lunch with his family. It was such a joy to see his children who were now getting so much bigger. They were fun to visit, making faces and goofing around while I took their photos and then showed them what they looked like on my camera. Zainabu, Shafii's wife made a delicious lunch of chapati's, fish, rice and tea and I had a great time catching up with them. The best part was Shafii's daughter, Sara, who was born when I lived in Mkwiro, wasn't afraid of Mzungus (foreigners) anymore...but, along with the other kids, had a laugh dragging one of the other, very young, boys kicking and screaming to see the scary Mzungu!

The jetty in Shimoni where the tourist boats and boats bringing other goods arrive and depart

Tourist boats waiting to take tourists snorkeling, diving and dolphin watching in Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area

Crossing the channel to Mkwiro Village, Wasini Island

The vessel next to the tourist boat seen in the picture above was conducting seismic surveys within and around the KMMPA; this was a very controversial activity and, although there were apparently MMOs onboard, I was very surprised this activity occurred within the boundaries of the marine protected area. Although I work as an MMO on similar vessels the majority of these surveys are conducted offshore and, although the offshore environment can be rich and diverse in some locations at some times, the KMMPA is an area rich in marine mammals, turtles and fish throughout the year and there is a possibility they could have been impacted by these activities which in turn could impact local fishermen and tourism operators. Here is an article about the potential impacts of seismic surveys especially in sensitive areas.

En route to Mkwiro

Ahhh...fond memories of poling in over the shelf to access the beach at Mkwiro!

Photos of local children including Shafii's kids...so much fun!

Captain Shafii starting the motor to head back to Shimoni after my short but sweet visit

Environmental message on a wall at the beach in Shimoni

From my short visit in Shimoni and Mkwiro I traveled about an hour north to Diani Beach, a popular tourist spot, and the place we usually visited for our weekends away from Wasini Island when I was staff on the GVI project. I decided to stay at our old stomping grounds Stilts Eco-camp (cool treehouses on stilts surrounded by forest full of monkeys and birds!) and went to Forty Thieves which is a lovely beach bar across the road. During my stay at Stilts I was lucky enough to enjoy the nightly visit and feeding of the resident bush babies, or lesser galago (Galago senegalensis), who visit Stilts to feed on bananas the staff put out every evening.

After three weeks of traveling in Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya it was time for my last stop in Mombasa before flying back to Canada. I spent the last couple days in Mombasa where I visited the historical site of Fort Jesus. The fort was built in 1593 to secure the safety of Portuguese living on the coast of East Africa and experienced a long history of hostilities, perhaps more than any other fort in Africa. The following photos show images various areas in the fort and views from the fort out to the Indian Ocean.

Typical Swahili door

Graffiti done by bored Portuguese soldiers at Fort Jesus

A l-o-o-o-n-g way down...to the bottom of this old well

How would you like to use this in-the-wall toilet?

Wandering the winding streets of Old Town Mombasa

In the Nyali Beach area, north of Mombasa, I decided to visit Haller Park, famous for Owen and Mzee, the young hippo who was washed out to sea and was separated from his hippo group during the Tsunami in 2004 and was adopted by an Aldabra tortoise when he was brought to Haller Park.

Another project we were involved with when I was working for GVI in 2006/07 was collecting flip flops ('Malapas' as they were locally called) during beach cleans with the local communities. It was amazing how many of these wash up on the beaches along the coast of Kenya but it was even more amazing how they are being recycled. One of the largest projects involving the re-use of these recycled flip flops was the creation of Mfalme, the minke whale who now resides at Haller Park. Yep, it's true this life sized whale was made out of recycled flip flops :)