Well, here I go, to try to make this thing work at last---I’ve been having a terrible time trying to get this blogging thing up and running---computer access can be hard to come by, and when I do get something going, chances are I’m going to lose access in the middle of it, and have it all disappear into cyberspace….arghhhh!

So, anyway—my trip to Nairobi was really pretty uneventful---and it didn’t even seem to take nearly as long as I feared!---Rick and Phyllis picked me up at the airport—and whisked me off to Kijabe---navigating the roads of Kenya is a pretty terrifying experience---the lanes seem impossibly narrow, and just as I’m flinching, because I’m sure the oncoming vehicle is going to scrape the paint off of our car, it whizzes on by, and we survive to drive another day!---the roads are filled with bicycles, mutatus (small vans that serve as public transport) and people walking---cars rarely slow down at all, usually choosing to accelerate instead to zip around all obstacles----I’m so so so glad I’m not driving here!!!

I woke up to 60 degree weather in Kijabe—it really is the cool season here!!—thank goodness I have Nora’s sweatshirt and one pair of long pants!!! But it really is beautiful here, too---here is the view from Rick and Phyllis’ back yard---that’s Mt. Longonut that you see in the background—at some point, Rick will take me on a hike up to the top of it…..


But for now, it’s off to the coast---
---I’ve never really given the coast of Kenya any thought, and I probably wouldn’t have put it on my own intinerary, but Phyllis loves the ocean, and was really looking forward to one more visit before she leaves Africa---and it turned out to be a surprisingly wonderful experience
We flew into the town of Malindi, where our host, Henry, picked us up and drove us to his guesthouse in Watamu. The coastal area of Kenya has a heavy Arab influence---you see it in the buildings, the traditional crafts, and the people—

The beaches are practically deserted, and absolutely lovely---miles of white sand with the occasional coral formation---lots of holes in the sand, which I discovered are homes for ghost crabs---they pop out, skitter across the sand, and then pop back in---it’s very cute!—

At the guesthouse, we were welcomed by Henry’s wife Belinda and his 5 month old daughter, Ivy (such a cutie-pie---we all passed her around, and got our baby-cuddle fixes!), and a variety of volunteers---it turns out that this guesthouse is an outpost of A Roche, a Portuguese environmental organization. We spent a couple of hours with Carol, a staff member, while she described the programs they provide and support there in Watamu---it was really impressive, interesting, and inspiring----they have worked hard to come up with a program that actually works—and that is based on encouraging the people who live here to protect their own forest---Phyllis and I were really impressed—and also, the staff and volunteers were all so nice!!---we met a couple of college-aged kids, one of whom, Sam, has had a lifelong interest in reptiles—he’s here volunteering at the local sea turtle rescue operation---he allowed us to tag along while he checked on a nest that was nearing hatch-time-----on our last night, we went to check it again, by the light of the full moon, and it was TIME!!!----we watched the nest erupt into a bubbling mass of little turtles, and then escorted them to their new home in the moonlit Indian Ocean----I even helped to rescue one from a ghost crab, and then watch it set out on its journey-----it was SUCH an amazing experience, and nothing we had anticipated at all-----

If you look really closely, you'll see those really are little turtles crawling out of that depression in the sand!!! They were SO CUTE!!!

And here we are, in the truck riding back to the guesthouse, me on the left, Andrew---spending the summer after highschool graduation knocking around Africa, in the center, and, on the right, Sam--the resident reptile expert, and all-around extremely good kid....in all the times he's monitored nests, this was the first time he'd actually been on hand to witness the hatch, and subsequent trip to the water---he was thrilled! and so were we!