On holiday

Well, at last... after a lot of hard working weeks and weekends, it is already my turn to take a break! And it is not a short one, not: (almost) two weeks of continued holidays! I sincerely don't remember when did I take such a long full break (this means, with no other worries like freelancing or preparing eventual changes of residence).
After a weekend in Mombasa (oh yeah: good food, free place to stay in...) yesterday I took a bus in direction to Arusha... in Tanzania! And that's where I am now. My objective: safari in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro, that is going to occupy my following five days. Then, on Sunday, I will head towards Zanzibar to enjoy of a relaxed time of diving and chilling out! (or at least, that's what I hope).
Hope to find time in this busy schedule to keep you updated...

The dolphin code of conduct

I have once mentioned that GVI, in partnership with the KWS (Kenya Wildlife Services) elaborated in 2007 the firs Cetacean Watching Code of Conduct in Kenya, in order to regulate the dolphin watching industry and ensure its sustainability. So, here you have the contents of this Code:

-          If you sight dolphins, slow down gradually, approach slowly, keep parallel to dolphin course, avoid sudden changes in boat speed or direction.

-          Do not chase, drive directly or encircle dolphins.

-          Move away slowly if dolphins show signs of distress: slap tail on the surface of the water, changes on direction or long dives.

-          Avoid dolphins with young: stress endangers their survival.

-          Do not swim, touch or feed dolphins.

-          If you encounter the dolphins while snorkeling, remain calm, let the dolphins approach you, don’t attempt to feed or touch them.

-          Ensure that there are no more than 2 boats at the same time with the dolphins.

-          Keep a 100 meter distance if there are already 2 boats with the dolphins.

-          Don’t spend more than 15 minutes with the dolphins.

Even though, this Code is difficult to enforce, and boats are often found breaking it.

The legend of Mwauzi Tumbe

Once upon a time, five centuries ago, the Shirazi people sailed across the Red Sea in seven boats lead by Sir Hasssan bin Ali, coming from the old kingdom of Persia. Some sailed to Lamu, others to Zanzibar and some to Zanzibar, and one to Mombasa. On the boat that landed in Mombasa there was a King’s daughter that settled in Msambweni, a little further up the coast from Shimoni., and a village was named Vumbe in her honor. Later, the Shirazi moved along the cross and settled down in Wasini Island, in Mkwiro village.

The people from Mkwiro were famous for being master drum makers and known to possess magical drum beats. The Vumbe were jealous of the skills of their new neighbors, and decided to attack them to steal their drums.  For that, they decided the best strategy was to marry a girl from the Shirazi village and use her to “cry wolf”. The girl, called Mwauzi Tumbe, loved her husband so much that she agreed to participate in the plan. She went to her village and yell “war, war!”, and the Shirazi ran out to protect their village, only to discover that there was nobody out there. Some days passed and once again the girl called for war again. The people from Mkwiro went rapidly to defend their possessions once more, and once more they found out that nobody was attacking them. A few days later, she cried out again but, this time, nobody believed her. And it was this time when the people from Vumbe attacked Mkwiro, ransacked it and stole the drums.

Mwauzi Tumbe came back to her husband after betraying her people, but the Vumbe were not too impressed with her neither: if she could betray to her own people, why wouldn’t she do that to them? So they took her to the tiny island of Kisite and let her there to die.

But the gods were not happy with this, and famine felt over both villages: no rain and no fish in the sea. The Vumbe and the Shirazi went to visit the shaman, who told them the gods were unhappy with their behavior and the way Mwauzi Tumbe had been treated: they should amend the damage done. The two tribes sailed to Kisite, brought back her body and buried it in the sacred forest Kaya Bogoa, close to Mkwiro.

Nowadays, this is still a cult place, signaled clearly and treated with respect, and the story of Mwauzi Tumbe and the drums from Mkwiro is still known in the island.

Kayas

Who cares about the conservation of the small and degraded piece of forest that is Shimoni East? Well, not a lot of people out of GVI and FSF... but some of them do. For instance, the elders from the village. The ones that still go to the remote sanctuaries in the forest, known as "kayas" to pray and practice their traditional beliefs. Some of them, over a hundred years old, have been adventuring onto the depths of the forest for decades to arrive to this sacred places, even in the times (not so long ago) in which you could encounter dangerous animals such as elephants and hyenas in between the trees.
So what are exactly this places? They are a particular spot of the forest, generally a clearing or a cave, in which a spirit lives (or is supposed to live). So people go to this places in order to pray, ask for things or give thanks for things the spirit has done for them. They are not particularly striking or distinct from the surrounding woods, but they have been chosen by the spirits to live in them.
The person that approaches the Kaya, generally an old man, goes there at night, often naked. It stops in the "door" of the Kaya, to ask for permission to enter to the main place. The permission is granted in exchange for a small sacrifice, which is most of times a bottle of rosewater (that's why there are a lot of glass bottles in this particular spot) but that, in times, could be even a human sacrifice. Obviously, this is not practiced any longer. I hope.
Then, the person can access to the Kaya itself. There, it is the place for praying, asking for help or giving thanks. The believer shall carry a colored bracelet according to the purpose of its visit: black, red or white, depending whether it asks for the help in the resolution of a conflict, ask a good, give thanks...
In some cases, the spirit may even decide to show himself to the believer, in different shapes. It may be even the shape of a male lion, approaching the old man while praying naked in the night darkness of the deep forest...but we all know that there are no lions in the Shimoni forest.

Hassan, the forest guide, leading the way to the Kayas.

Shimba Hills NP

Some weeks ago, I profited of one of my scarce (and, consequently, extremely valuable) free weekends to go on the trip who was my first safari ever. We went on a two-day trip to the National Park of Shimba Hills, known by its evergreen forests, elephants and the very rare sable antelope (being the only place in Kenya were you can see this gorgeous animal). And, curiously, it remembered me so much of Northern Spain: tall covered with lush forests and green grasslands. Until you see the fauna and realize of the size of the trees (obviously, in Spain we don't have elephants).
Summing up: even in this park is severely neglected due to the proximity of Tsavo, and due to the lack of big cats (no lions, and leopards and hyenas, even if present, are extremely difficult to see) this park thrives with wildlife, and the scenery is one of the most impressives I have seen so far in this part of the continent. But, this is maybe only because I felt in love with the sable antelope... once again, biologist friends, you understand me!

Giraffes.

Who cares about cars coming? The road is such a nice place for a sunbath!

Forest elephant

Pumba and some friends.

The most dangerous of the big five: buffaloes.

A curious bushbaby.

Yes, it's a squirrel.

The sable antelopes.

My apologies... and some surprises

First of all, I would like to apologize to all of you for having been almost three weeks without giving you no update about my adventures. And I am also sorry to update everything now, suddenly. I hope it won't be too much to read.
But, in order to compensate. I have a surprise for you. Many of you must remember my promise of getting my hair braided when I would arrive in Africa. Some of you didn't believe it, and maybe you had even forgotten about it. But I really meant it! I did eat several weeks ago, but the hectic weeks and the excess of work didn't allow me to update the blog or to show my new hairstyle. Well... just take a look!

Back on the island

Wow, so many emotions during the last few weeks. And it couldn't be otherwise. And in the case of this week... stress. With most of my fellow senior officers in a scientific symposium in Mombasa, the base, and everybody on it, has fallen in charge of my and Val (the only remaining senior staff). MUAJAJAJAJAJAJA (evil laugh).
Will we be remembered as Sergio and Val, the mercifuls, or the evils? Don't know. But I can assure you that this week is being hard work and tension. The base doesn't run by itself, and there is a miriad of things to do at all times. Definitely, we will catch up in other entries.
My regards to all of you from the Kenyan coast!

Sketches from a safari: Tsavo East and West NPs

What can I say? Just amazing! But judge it by yourselves.

Dead croc (don't think I would get that close with a live one!)

Giraffes.

And more impalas.

An eland.

Mzima Springs. Other of those things that will make tremble with envy any other biologist.

A volcano that exploded four years ago.

Vervet monkey, curious about our car.

Tsavo's famous red elephants.

Big kitten.

Tsavo sunset.

Dik-diks (I want one of those as a pet!)

Big daddy before charging (against us).

Last night in Tsavo...

Well. Such an amazing week. It is tough to be in such a remote area, but I have found myself in more basic conditions before (most of you know something about my adventures in Madagascar). In any case, it was worth: the place, the people, the experience, the nature, the project... it was hard work, but that doesn't matter. I will miss this place.
But OK, new adventures come ahead. Tomorrow I am going on safari to Tsavo West and Tsavo West National Parks, land of wildlife, volcanos, Savannah, elephants and man-eating lions. Sounds promising!
But meanwhile, here you can find some more pictures of this week in the Taveta district, in the border with Tanzania.

The Impalas.

Sunset in our camp.

A traditional Maasai warrior, with its traditional spear, traditional clothes, traditional jewelry and traditional cellphone.

Maasai elder. No traditional cellphone in this case.

The Savannah.

Lake Challa, in the borderline with Tanzania. A lake used by smugglers and anglers... and with a lot of black legends around it.

Monitor Lizzard. Maybe not very exciting, but for crazy Biologists like me.

Baby Croc. And yes, Big Mamma was not far away...

My regards from the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro!

This week I am working in our Satellite Camp project. This project takes place in the surroundings of Tsavo West National Park, and was started in partnership  with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). Here, we work with communities composed of ex-poachers, who voluntarily decided to abandon poaching in profit af a more sustainable way of live. We help them in the process, giving the support for capacity building and the development of their new livelihoods.
The project encompasses several communities, but this week we are working with one called Kasaini Lepolesy (which means more or less "Those close to Kasaini, one of the elders). Is a very scattered group composed mainly by Maasai people, but, surprisingly enough, there are also some representatives of other tribal groups. The projects that we are carrying on with them range from the construction of a store facility to the development of a business system for trading with cattle skins using that very same storage, passing by training courses in new cultures and jewelry workshops to try to generate an alternative income adapting traditional Maasai bead jewelry to the Westerners that are intended to buy it.
And the place is simply amazing. In the middle of the Savannah, we can see Kilimanjaro from our tents, and zebras, wildebeests, dik-diks and impalas (among other animals that are not so easy to see) roam freely around the camp. And the community members are extremely nice and charming.
But I am not going to bore you more with useless descriptions. Here you have some photos:

Kilimanjaro, down there, rising above the clouds.

Sunrise in the Savannah. Yes, we wake up before sunrise!

A wildebeest.

My friends the zebras.

A wet week

I am sorry that this update arrives with a little delay. But understand me, this week has been hectic. Let me brief you rapidly. I started the week on the island, as usual. The weather thoughout the week has been, simply, wet. Extremely wet. Rainy all the time. In big quantities. Believe me. We have only gone out on the field once in all the week.
On Tuesday, after a hurried crossing to get our weekly fruits and vegs delivery, we got stuck in Shimoni with no possibility to come back to the island in our small power boat due to the storm. This meant that, normally, for a crossing we only bring with us the more necessary, which is the boat equipment, because you usually get wet because the captain (in this case me) has to swim to get the boat. So, we arrived on Shimoni, no cellphone, no money, no dry clothes, no bed to sleep in (there was a squatter in mine), and a fucking storm with waves in the channel, so we couldn't cross back. Furthermore, a volunteer got sick, and my an one of my colleagues had to drive her up to Diani. Once again: no dry clothes, no cellphone, no cash. But it was fun.
Finally, on Wednesday we made our way back to the island, where they had run out of fruit during our absence. But the storm and the rain persisted. This arrived to the point in which, on Thursday night, the bridge that communicates the small peninsula where Shimoni is located with the main road was close to be submerged underwater. And what did we do? Easy: full evacuation of both bases. Everybody to Diani. Once again, a lot of fun. But at least we got time enough to pack and bring our things with us.
And now? Basically, I made my way up to Mombasa, and I have spent the day preparing a field mission to our project in Tsavo West with a group of volunteers that are going to be working there the following week, and we leave tomorrow... but I will let you know more then.

Our boat: the Bardan

The terror of the Wasini Channel.

Shimoni Environmental Association (SEA)

Today I am going to introduce you to another of the CBOs I am working with, and with I am hoping to achieve great things. They are called Shimoni Environmental Association (SEA), and it’s an initiative mainly of the teachers of the Shimoni Primary School and some other members of the community. They are also pretty concerned about the conservation of their environment and, more particularly, about the sustainable use of resources.

Basically, their main objective is the eradication, to the maximum feasible degree, of charcoal production from logging in the forest. For that, they have researched and developed an alternative form of charcoal, made with coconut shells, grass, ashes, saw-dust and other recycled ingredients, which they mix, press and (try to) shell in the form of small blocks. The process to develop the recipe for this product was not easy, but the result was fairly successful: an environment-friendly fuel that, even if not carbon-neutral (these communities cannot afford that luxury) releases less smoke than traditional charcoal, hence being less damaging to people’s health. As the members of the association work on it voluntarily, and the ingredients are free to obtain, the final product is fairly competitive as regards traditional charcoal.

However, the process to collect, mix and, particularly, press the materials is hard and time-consuming, and the teachers that form the bulk of the association lack of the necessary time. Our next steps are clear: trying to simplify the process or develop a more efficient press that makes the process easier and faster. Also, more demonstrations, outreach and awareness-raising occupy an important place on our agenda.

In the long term, the ideal scenario would be involve the charcoalers and try to make this activity efficient enough to them to abandon the traditional charcoal in favor of this new alternative. There’s already a charcoaler n the lines of SEA, but as this is an illegal activity, most times the charcoalers are difficult to approach, as they won’t recognize their activities, making our outreach a little more difficult.

In any case, I will keep you updated of our news and achievements!

Back into the marine project

I have spoken to you in several occasions about the adventures we have enjoyed of on board of our dhow, the Bardan. And I think it’s time to tell you a little about the marine conservation project we are carrying out in the Kisite-Mpunguti MPA and surrounding waters. Basically, we conduct marine research on behalf of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which, despite being extremely efficient in the protection and management of terrestrial habitats, lacks of the necessary knowledge, trained manpower and experience within the marine environment.

Basically, the individual projects we carry out from our enduring little boat are mainly the following ones:

-          Dolphin ecology: distribution, abundance, behavior, interaction with tourist boats.

-          Megafauna surveys: distribution, abundance, ID and other ecological features of whales, rays, sharks, sea turtles, whale sharks, manta rays and, even if infrequent (only two sights) dugongs.

-          Fisheries: distribution and abundance of fish traps, fishing effort, fishing sites, fishing gears and methods (as the unfortunate spear-gun fishing)…

-          Reef fishes: distribution, abundance, population dynamics of reef fishes.

-          Socio-economic surveys: impact of the tourism in the local economy, surveys among the tourists, studies of the interaction with wildlife.

-          Mangroves: utilization, socioeconomic importance, outreach, vegetal coverage surveys.

Looks interesting? Personally, I find it amazing!

Kisite Island

FSF: next steps

At last I can say that, during the last few weeks, I have held several meetings with FSF in which we have been discussing their next steps. I think this meetings have been very successful, and he have discussed several options and projects for the following quarter. I can’t wait to start developing them!

One of the initiatives they had already was getting the property of the kayas (sanctuaries in the forest), a keystone from which to keep on fighting. For that, they need to get them registered in the Kenyan museums as national heritage, and then ask for their protection. They are planning a trip of the wazee (the old people of the village, and the ones they still use this sacred sites) to the district forestry office, to ask for protection for these areas.

On the agenda, we can also find computer and accounting lessons (for FSF and community members), an Earth Club for the kids of Shimoni, the construction of an information banda, more outreach and awareness-raising, among others. I will keep you updated!