Arabuko-Sokoke National Park and Turtle Watch

Even though we could have, we did not just sit around that fabulous house. We had a number of interesting and exciting adventures in the area. First up, we explored Arabuko-Sokoke National Park. This is the largest remaining piece of coastal forest in East Africa. We had an excellent guide who pointed out all the birds, mostly by call alone, that we encountered. We even saw some yellow baboons, very exciting for us primatologists! 

First we went for a walk:

Next we went to this great viewpoint that show the extent of the solid canopy of forest:

I never was good at following all the rules.....

Another outing was to the local branch of Turtle Watch. 

Here we learned about the 4 species of turtles that visit that portion of the Kenyan coast - Green, Loggerhead, Hawksbill, and Olive Ridley - and all the dangers they face - fisherman's nets, poaching, boats and more. In addition to a lot of community projects and educational outreach, Turtle Watch takes in sick and injured sea turtles. We got to visit with their only patient at the time:

This is Bootstrap, a female Olive Ridley, that came in covered in barnacles, missing one flipper, and a floater (something internal is preventing her from diving, which is essential to survival in the wild). 

The remains of turtles are piled up all over the facility, a sad collection.

To learn more about Turtle Watch Watamu visit:  watamuturtles.com  

To Watamu!

The next stop was a small town on the Indian Ocean, Watamu. On the way we stopped at that cool tree house restaurant, Trout Tree:

Meghan made a friend - one of the tree hyraxes that live in the fig tree that holds the restaurant!

Sadly, Meghan and Charlie could not stay any longer, so we dropped them in Nairobi and continued on without them L It was great to have them here, but they had to return to the real world of jobs. We missed you guys!!

At the coast we rented this gorgeous house right on the beach. The house itself was all we probably needed – comfortable rooms, plenty of space to relax, a swimming pool, the beach and even a local population of Sykes monkeys that would drop in for visits! We also had a house staff that cooked and cleaned for us - we were SO spoiled! We even got picked up from our beach to go snorkeling on the reef and see all the gorgeous fishes from the area! 

  

 

 

 

 

Did I mention that the Indian Ocean is superb? Warm water, white beaches, nothing better! 

Visiting painting club

Our visitors also brought a bunch of supplies for the UNBP Painting Club at the primary school. Having carried in loads of supplies for the club, our families were keen to meet the students and see what the club is all about. 

Some of the secondary school students who had been in the original painting club when it began in 2008 joined us to help inspire and instruct the younger students.

This day’s lesson was to paint a mammal, a plant, and an insect from the area. Here are some of the paintings:

We had a great time at painting club, our last event at baboon camp. Next stop, the coast! 

Supporting the girls at Il Polei Secondary

My family and the Coles were able to bring hundreds of sanitary pads and underwear for the girls at Il Polei secondary school as well as some funds towards building the new dormitory. Thank you so much for all of the donation and support for this, the girls were extremely grateful. Here are some pictures of our visit.

Headmaster John Ngumba welcomed us with a short history of education in Kenya and the issues girls face. During his time at Il Polei Secondary the number of teen pregnancies has plummeted and the number of girls coming to board there has skyrocketed – hence the need for a new dorm. 

We then spent some time in a 4th form classroom, the oldest students in the school. The teacher was out sick that day, but when we got there all the students were studying silently. The school president told us about his vision for the school and then we chatted with all the students about their interests - at the time they were all about the wold cup and Hollywood movies, but soon they hope to be engineers, artists, and lawyers. 

When school hours were over we made our way to the girls' dorm. All students gathered to see what we had brought them. Headmaster Ngumba introduced us to all of the girls and we introduced ourselves. Ngumba told us stories about how some of the girls came to the school, how some had to take breaks because their families ran out of funds, and were able to return when funds were finally available again. In the face of many cultural and financial challenges, the students are determined to finish their education and continue on to build accomplished careers.

Then we handed out the pads and underwear and the girls were extremely pleased and grateful (at least once they got over their embarrassment!). We moved outside the dorm for more space and to make sure everyone got their share. So much was supplied by friends back home and brought over by our visitors that we even had to put some in storage for the incoming class! 

After the introductions and handing out the goods, everyone got more comfortable and we were bombarded with questions about the US, work and life. We learned that most of the girls want to pursue careers in law, medicine, engineering, or teaching - these ladies are awesome!!  

Ngumba also showed us the new kiln they built to burn the used sanitary pads to avoid filling the latrines or littering the grounds around the school. 

John and John, united in supporting girls' education! 

Thank you again to everyone who helped make this happen. It means a lot to me and more to the girls. If you would like to further support the building of the new dorm go to: http://baboonsrus.com/ to donate money via paypal, every little bit helps!! 

There are some new inspirational signs at the school, I'll leave you with them: