09. Kakamega

Probably my overall favorite trip of my week with Dani was to the Kakamega Forest Preserve, which is about 2 hours West of Eldoret. This is a several thousand acre remnant of old-growth African forest which was originally preserved by a missionary family. The land then underwent several business incarnations - including an orphanage and a farm - but now is a retreat/resort. The grounds are lovely, and there are experienced birders who act as guides into the surrounding forest where you can see some birds that you cannot find anywhere else in Kenya. And even some that are found nowhere else in all of East Africa! We left IU House on Monday morning and arrived in the early afternoon.

The entrance to our bungalow

We were able to get a deal on our room, since the resort has a long-established relationship with Max, the owner of the travel agency/cab service who contracts with the IU-Kenya program.

The outside porch of the bungalow

Bedroom

Living room

We settled in to the room, then set out on a hike with our guide, Gabriel. At first he was rather quiet with us, only pointing out birds and, just as he was telling us about some of the poisonous snakes that could be found in the forest, we came across a Bitis nasicornis, or Rhinoceros viper, one of the most poisonous, curled up in a tree right beside the path!
 

Rhinoceros viper

The hike took us about 4 hours, and was about 8-9 miles. The forest is magical.

Our best bird of the day was the Blue-headed Bee-eater. This is one of the species which can only be found in the Kakamega forest! They act a bit like flycatchers, finding an open area and picking a branch on which to perch, then flying out, catching an insect, and returning to the same perch. We ran into a pair!

Blue-headed bee eaters!

 And here's what they look like up close:

We also saw 3 types of monkeys. They are hard to get on camera, so here are professional pics of them.

Black-and-white Colubus Monkey

Blue Monkey

Red-tailed Monkey

Along the way we ran across local men and women who were illegally harvesting charcoal wood in the forest. They would cut down trees and burn them in place, then carry out the charcoals for sale. Gabriel said that he had no power to stop them, but he does try to report sitings of them to the authorities. This conflict between the local people trying to earn a living and environmental preservation is common across the developing world.

We also had several encounters with safari ants, who can bite something fierce! Gabriel, who was leading the way, would say, "Ants! Ants!" and start running, and we had then would run along the path for about 100 yards, then stop and stamp our feet, assuring that all of the ants were off before continuing on our way. Finally, we reached the Yellow River, which flows through the forest and eventually continues down to Lake Victoria.

Yellow river with me and Gabriel

Rapids on the river

On the way back to the resort, Gabriel opened up a little and told us about several of the organizations he has founded, including one for the empowerment of young girls, as well an organization that purchases sanitary pads for girls. This is a big issue for women in the developing world. A lot of women use pieces of cloth or other material which is non-sterile. They then either miss school or work due to infection. Gabriel said that it costs about $14US to buy pads for one woman for one year. We ended up contributing toward his organizations, and Dani plans to ask her classes in Bahrain to contribute as well.

After getting back to the resort and saying goodbye to Gabriel until the morning, when he was to lead us on a sunrise walk, we showered then had dinner at the resort's restaurant. The food was really great. We then stayed up for a while playing music and having a mini-dance party in the living room of our bungalow. Very fun.
 

Sunrise Walk
The next morning, we awoke at 5:30, before the sun rose and met Gabriel near the roadway. He then led us in the dark along the road. We could hear the Colubus monkeys "roaring" at each other to mark their territories. It reminded me a bit of the Howler monkeys of Central America, who also vocalize (especially at dawn) to mark their territory. After walking along the road a ways, we took a path that steadily climbed into the forest, eventually after about 1 mile opening out to a steep, treeless hill. The whole time the sky was getting brighter and brighter. When we climbed to the top of the hill we could see for miles, and the mist on the forest and the cool, pleasant air was intoxicating. The sun cresting above the distant mountains was glorious.

After sitting and just taking it all in for a while, we headed down the slope to an abandoned gold mine, the shaft of which continued into the hillside for about 50 yards. Inside were many fruit bats, who we tried many times to capture on film, but to little avail.

A bat in the mine

We then slowly retraced our route, birding as we went back to the resort. Our hike ended in a splendid breakfast. And then we rested for the rest of the morning awaiting our ride back to Eldoret.

Dining at Kakamega