My little house down in the valley

For about 6 months now I have lived in a little house near Turtle Bay in a neighbourhood called Down Valley. This blog post is all about living in my little house named "Whale Island House", the first house I have ever really been responsible for (i.e. not rented from University or shared with several others) and the ways in which it has made my life here in Kenya all the better. Its maybe not as adventurous or unusual as some of my other posts, but it means a lot to me. 

One of the obvious benefits of living in a house is have some privacy and independence; at A Rocha it can be very exhausting living and working in the same space and especially because there is such a high turn over of guests and volunteers. Moving 3km down the road gives just the right amount of separation to switch off at the end of the day and also be able to control ones own space. I love being able to decorate, cook what I like and the commute along the beach is probably one of the best in the world!

Here in Kenya the place where you live is named after your nearest "shopping centre" or "duka's" (series of small shops selling essentials) and those shops become a form of social cohesion for the people living nearby. Now, after 6 months, I am known to most people in the shopping centre, who greet me as I walk home from work and chat with while I buy my bits and pieces. Obviously this doesn't seem like a major achievement and really is just normality for most people in UK or elsewhere, but anyone who has spent time in Africa or perhaps anywhere culturally distinct, will know how hard it is to achieve that level of normality. Every time I come home from work the numerous kids from Down Valley greet me by name, not just because I am novelty, but because they play in my garden and we chat and hang out at weekends. It is one of the best things since moving to the house, finally being able to feel that at least in one corner of this country, that I belong as part of the community. 

Below are a series of photos of my lovely house and I hope it will encourage some of you to come and visit. 

Front of the house

The living room

Desk space

Kitchen

Bathroom complete with a frog we have named Colgate who lives in the sink

Veranda with all important hammock

Benjo's boudoir

Flame tree in the garden with some of the cheeky monkeys who live nearby

Jammy luck!

Many people who know me well have commented about how I seem to have the most extraordinary luck in getting things or meeting people or doing things that just fall into my lap. This week has been a very good example of this unusual and very fortuitous phenomenon, but to a degree at which I can still not quite believe. 

Earlier on this year I was thinking about visiting Lamu, but wanted to connect it with my research somehow. There's a big port development going into Manda Bay very near to Lamu, to basically ship out South Sudanese oil, when they finally build the pipeline, and I thought I would advertise my marine biology skills to any conservation groups who might like some information. I tried WWF to no avail, and then through a contact in Watamu, who mentioned someone up here who I was told had a turtle conservation project. I called and they said that they would love to have me up here and could provide accommodation and a boat. However not until I got an email from them confirming details did I know that the person I had spoken to was also the owner of the Peponi hotel, the most luxurious hotel in Lamu! 

Paul (a visiting marine researcher at A Rocha) and I travelled up on the local coach, being bounced around in the back of the bus, and then across to Lamu town in a very dodgy bus boat which was insanely overloaded and then ran out of fuel with a rapid tide pulling us back in a mangrove swamp. When we finally did make it to shore the Peponi speed boat picked us up, delivered us to our stunning rooms and the whole world changed. Suddenly everything was clean and worked and people were answering to our every need. I felt like saying, "You don't need to do that, we're not paying, we're just scientists!". I really couldn't believe that we had genuinely arrived and were genuinely staying in the room where I am now writing this post from.

After a great moonlight party, that just so happened to occur on the night we arrived, we set off for the first of two reefs we visited during our time here in the super fast speed boat with its 150hp engine. We had a great day of fieldwork and I was really encouraged by a sense of confidence in my own ability as a scientist. People are starting to respect my knowledge and skills in the water, which I still  find a bit surprising and I often am afraid they will discover I am a fraud! 

After the fieldwork the two local guys we were with, who are both connected with the hotel and who we were going to help with their petitions for saving the reefs in that area, took us to a deserted island for lunch. We were asked to choose some food lunch in the morning, but I really wasn't expecting the full scale picnic that had been carried out there for us! These guys, who we had spent all morning hanging out with as equals and colleagues, then started serving us with great gusto, barbequeing fish, serving drinks, all around a lovely picnic table complete with a table cloth! The Peponi doesn't skimp on any detail or luxury. It actually started raining quite heavily during the meal and the four of us sat in the dripping wet, laughing a lot, while I contemplated what a weird and exciting life I lead.  

Our Boudoir

Stek flambe au Peponi

Stunning underwater scenes in Kinika rocks near Lamu

P.s. Owww!

Also, during these hot still conditions, a lot jellyfish and other stinging things bloom in the water. Today I got a Portuguese man-of-war wrapped around my neck. For the two hours or agony afterwards I think the world should know! :-P

Winds of Change

Normally a Monday morning means waking up and going to a meeting with all the A Rocha staff, but today that was not the case. The elections for the fourth president since independence were taking place today, so everyone got a bank holiday to go and vote. Of course I couldn't vote and rather than stay at home, I decided to carry on with some field-work out in the ocean.
The morning was thick and hot, like most days in March. This time of year the hot dry north-east monsoon (kaskazi) is replaced by the cooler wet south-east monsoon (kusi), and in the time between the two the weather is like a pressure cooker. Hot, still and very moist. Days this time of year are sometimes referred to as glass days, because the sea is flat calm like a mirror. The conditions are beautiful for photography, but a nightmare to endure for many days on end.
On this particular still calm glass day it felt even more eerily quiet and liable to shatter, as the many people stayed at home all day, only venturing out to cast their votes. No one was to be seen on the streets, no shops were open and not even the sound of radios or lively chatter was to be heard. No one wants to take chances and risk being caught in violence or conflicts that occurred during the last election, where a close call election was claimed by both presidential candidates and then fought with violence between their two main supporting ethnic groups.
Many have talked about this election being a make or break situation, where Kenya will either triumph as a modern nation capable of holding free and fair elections, a growing economy and an increasingly educated and influential population or it will collapse and become another Rwanda or Congo or numerous other examples from this most turbulent continent. In reality I don't think either will happen.
I think its quite possible that the dominant Kikuyu tribe, being championed by Uhuru Kenyatta and ruled by fellow Kikuyu President Kibaki for the last ten years, will win this election because at least in part by their enormous financial influence. I think many people will be unhappy by this result, but the majority will not want to revert to the fear and violence experienced last time around and will buckle down and get on with life as they ever have, for 10 years now under Kibaki and 24 under his even worse predecessor Moi. That's what Kenyans do, they get on and make the best of a bad situation.
However, even if Odinga, the main contester and previous runner up in the controversial 2007 elections, does win, it will not be shining light of a new era that people are trying to convince themselves. Raila Odinga's father, like Uhuru Kenyatta's, was part of the first ever independent Kenyan government after the British left in 1963. Both are from highly influential political families and hence also are both stinking rich. The money and property they have acquired is enormous, and in stark contrast to the many in this country who struggle to feed themselves. The wealth divide in this country is terrible and in many ways I think this is worse  poverty than overall statistics about how many people live on less than $1 a day or however one wants to define wealth. Will Odinga really change this? Will any politicians think beyond self enrichment, to the needs of their people? I do hope Odinga will win and bring a change in politics to this country, but I think it will be a while before corruption, wealth divide and tribal politics are a thing of the past.
In the afternoon, on the empty blistering white beach I felt a breeze begin and strengthen from the South-East  and rain clouds appear on the horizon. Change is coming, but it is a long way off yet.

A typical "glass day" with rain clouds building with the pressure and heat.

Reflections of floating seaweed from underwater

Spreading the Word

Here in Kenya very few people like the sea. This is a fact which has taken a long time for me to accept as my whole life purpose at the moment is driven by my own love for the deep. The reason is that very few people have access to swimming pools and many areas of the country don't have any large areas of water, and so no one learns how to swim and hence the ocean is just a death trap. Even for those who are born on the coast, the sea is associated with black magic and death. Genies live in the waters and 4m tall spirits in black cloaks are said to stalk the beach at night. I don't know how much people really believe this, but it certainly seems no one wants to risk it.

So why does this matter? Well a crucial part of conservation, which I believe A Rocha has grasped, but few other conservation organisations really focus on, is the beliefs behind why something has conservation value. In the West especially, many of the hottest new buzz words and conservation concepts miss this essential facet. "Payment for ecosystem services", "Natural Capital", "Environmental goods and services" all  reflect the utilitarian arguments for conserving; i.e. if people see a physical (usually monetary) benefit from nature then they will conserve. However, many people are short-sighted or selfish and can equally say, well clearing that forest and building my factory on it makes me money now, so why should I care? Why anyone cares about anything is a reflection on the things they like and their beliefs.

Here lies the issue therefore, if very few people in Kenya like the sea and have little connection with it, then very few will be willing to conserve it and hence very little action or mitigation will be taken on its behalf. And that, of course, is exactly what we see. Kenya does make money from its marine Natural Capital, but this doesn't change behaviours and probably won't until the money flow is seriously effected. Politicians support oil exploration, new port developments, intensive fishing practises with no impact mitigation legislation or action, business people dump their waste near shore and local people exploit marine life with no thought for tomorrow. They just don't care. 

I've realised that my biggest potential impact for conservation here in Kenya is to get people to care. Its not about the data I collect or the papers I write alone, its also about the people here on the ground and what they think. I am not going to quit the PhD or stop doing the fieldwork I love, but I just always look for opportunities to include people and share the excitement. While Bob and his family have been here for the past couple of months they also understood this issue and worked on some rock-pooling events to introduce all the staff at A Rocha and the kids from the local school to the marine world. Whenever I can I take volunteers out on the boat while I'm doing surveys. Its small stuff, but its hearts and minds, one person at a time. And besides, it can be enormous fun and so rewarding when your friend finds their first starfish or swims for the first time.

Matthias with a starfish

On a sand bar with Simon about 1km from shore

Josephat with dive gear after a survey (best photo ever :-p)

The magic of the ocean

Postcard Africa

Flicking back through older posts I realise I have never done a post dedicated purely to African wildlife in all its forms. Of course this is one of the main things that is triggered in one's mind at the mention of the continent and for this blog I want to unashamedly brag about some of the cool stuff I've seen this past week. If you are sitting in the Northern hemisphere feeling cold and looking out on grey, I'm sorry for you, but if you willing, I will let you on a little African sunshine drenched wilderness. 

This past week I have been travelling around Kenya's "South Coast" which means everywhere south of Mombasa. Its an area I know hardly anything about and have only visited once before and I am here with my neighbour Dawn and a guy from her church called Jeremiah. There's no rational explanation for the trip or  the accompaniment other than it was worth coming and to see a new place. One area we visited is known as the Shimba Hills which rise up just inland up to 450m above sea level. Compared to the sticky hot coast they are that tiny bit cooler and fresher which is an amazing release and because they force all that hot sticky air up they have the highest rainfall on the Kenyan Coast giving them a thick blanket of forest which is almost like a rainforest. It also the best place on the coast to have a bit of the safari experience, with herds of elephant, buffalo, impala and even a few giraffe knocking about. The dramatic hills, with a patchwork of thick forest and savannah, look over towards the sparkling sea and Tanzania in the distance. At the moment with all the rain we have been getting, it is like a green jewel floating on misty clouds from below. Apologies for the soppy metaphors, in most places people are just exaggerating and trying to talk up their experience with these boring phrases, but this was the real deal. It really really was breath takingely beautiful. 

Below are some photos of animals I saw with the Kenyan safari guide code-name. They use these names to tell one another where animals are to show their guests, but are a little bit too cool for school to call them by their real names.  

Tortoise no. 1

Elephant - Maskio (ears)

Giraffe - Shingo mrefu (long neck)

Warthog - Nairobi express

Pygmy Kingfisher

Buffalo - Ng'ombe (cows)

After the game drive we wanted to do a hike down to a place called Shedrick Falls, which was a 2km hike through the jungle to a stunning waterfall. It was a really perfect little walk except for the fact that we had to go with a KWS guard in case the elephants mauled us, and seeing as he only wanted to go once a day, all the other people in the park came at the same time. This basically meant that there was a group of 15 Wazungu all trooping through the jungle as a pack, and as about 8 of them were a group of friends from South London all gossiping and making noise, it ensured we saw absolutely no wildlife on the way down. However it was quite satisfying watching them sweat on the way back up, puffing and wheezing, with red necks and drenched shirts. You have to spend time with Mother Africa before you can survive her! At the waterfall itself Jeremiah and I stood under the tumbling water and embraced the elements.

Kenyan Health and Safety

The other place we visited was (of course) a marine park. All three of us loooooove snorkelling (which is about the only major thing we have in common), so a trip to Kisite marine national park was a must. The park is slightly off-shore with most of the coral areas surrounding a small uninhabited island about 5 miles off shore near the Tanzanian border. We stayed there for 3 days and took the 1 hour boat ride out to the island twice. It has the best coral reef in the whole of Kenya by a long way and it was just stunning to behold. On the second day I felt like I had finally seen the reef I had always dreamed off complete with shelves of table Acropora stacked on top of one another and super abundance and size of fish patrolling around. On the second day I saw a couple of fish that had been on my wanted list for some time, namely the Palette surgeonfish, which is what Dory from "Finding Nemo" was based on and the Regal Angelfish, the most beautiful of this already very beautiful fish group. I also saw a turtle and a juvenile Oriental sweetlips with its 60s lava lamp patterns, which is a species my fish book and the internet says is not supposed to be in East Africa, but I have found it 3 times now! The colour and vibrancy of the life on the reef was outstanding. I could have stayed there forever and not got bored. 

Blue-line snapper

Juvenile Oriental Sweetlips

Palette Surgeonfish (Dory)

Smooth Grouper

Regal Angelfish

Oh Africa

There's something about this country that just gets my writing juices going. I've been in UK for a month and while I had a great time there was nothing that grabbed me to sit and write it down. Three days back in Kenya and I already need to write the tales and things I've seen.
Yesterday I set off from Nairobi on the day bus down to Watamu. It has been raining a lot here in the past month and the bush is the greenest I've ever seen it. All the way through Ukambani was like a shamrock, which I've never seen before (see the post from Ukambani in Nov 2011). At one point looking down flowing    creek, shaded by a tunnel of flowering trees with yellow weavers darting between the branches I thought I'd arrived in the Garden of Eden, before a strong bump reminded me that I was still on the Mombasa highway.
We were making great time and had Tudor Creek near Mombasa in our sights by 3:30 and then ... Jam! Lorries and buses and cars backed up as far as the eye could see and not even creeping forward. Complete standstill. Our bus stood still in the hot humid coastal air and the temperature started to rise and you know its hot when the Africans start sweating, shifting and fanning one another. In particular there was one mama sitting opposite me, who actually inspired this blog post, who started stripping off. Before my eyes the shirt was unbuttoned and the bra pulled off in sweaty contempt. However this wasn't enough for this aggravated matriach, she stood threateningly with her breasts bare and pointed at the bus conductor, "Weh! When I bought my ticket in Busia they told me I would be in Malindi by 3pm, what is the time now and where are we? I will never travel with Modern Coast again!" The poor conductor tried to convince her it was the jam and there was nothing Modern Coast or their associates could do, but she was not convinced. She sat glowering, flapping her open shirt wings like threatened bird trying to frighten predators away.
So next time you are on the bus or the tube, just think what you are missing. :-)