Monkeys, Birds, Butterflies, and Our New Camera Takes a Short Trip Without Us

Sunday, while the rest of Kenya was in church without us we visited the Kakamega Forest.  In preparation we got out our wildlife identification book, took a few pictures of birds at the hotel, bought two new pairs of binoculars at Yako (the kind that has a little compass built in should we get lost), and considered whether we should pack a few sticks and stones in our backpacks in case we encounter any baboons who want to do us harm.  To the latter point, the answer was no.  We figured we could find some on the spot if needed, or if that was not possible, some of us knew that we could run faster than the other(s).

Regarding birds, here’s the list of those spotted, identified, and photographed at the hotel.

Maribu stork

Glossy ibis

Black kite (formerly called a black shouldered kite by Terry.  I’m sorry Sandy, you were right!)

Africqan Peid Wagtail

Sparrow

We arranged a taxi with yet a different driver, Wilfred, who Sandy and I used last year to take us to the forest.  He is reliable, and he did not ask us why we were not in church like everybody else did.  We arrived at the forest at noon and treked off into the wilderness with no guide but with a toy map Maureen bought and sense of direction left over from last year, which turns out not to age well and only lasts two hours out of three once tapped.

We saw lots black and white Colobus monkeys almost immediately and I was actually able to photograph some in the treetops with my/our new super 24x zoom Christmas present camera.  More on the camera later.

We learned by observation without the aide of a guide that fresh Colubus monkey poop does not flatten completely on the road, even when dropped from 50 feet or more.  This needs verification, repeated observation, and peer review before I send it for official publication.

Of course, the Kakamega Forest (see Wikipedia) is known for big trees.  There were a lot, but the forest comes to abrupt ends where simply crossing a stream gets you into sugar cane fields, tilapia ponds, and/or banana trees, etc.  This encroachment has been curtailed of late, but man is still often the enemy of the forest.  Those forests and woodlands that do not have government protection are still heavily cut for lumber and wood for charcoal (which we understand is actually exported to Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia).

On the lighter side, our trek through the forest was often pleasantly punctuated by butterflies of various shapes, sizes, and colors.  They were mostly quite small and very active, not conducive to photographing.  We did see one butterfly/moth precursor though who held quite still and may have even smiled for the camera.

About an hour and a half into our journey, we crossed a “main” gravel road and rested for a bit.  There, Maureen indicated that she had about an hour left in her legs.  So we looked at her toy map and planned our exit strategy.  South across one trail to another.  Then west for a bit, passing three or four trail junctions should lead us to a trail heading north to the entrance gate.  The best laid plans of mice and men…

Woops, where were those junctions?  The sun is on our right shoulder.  Why are we headed south?  We check the compass built into our new Roy Rogers binoculars.  Yep, we are heading south.  Turn around, head north, and look for that junction where we may have made a crucial, even fatal error.  This one?  No, the next one?  Yes, we think so. A left turn and we are headed west, sort of.  A major intersections of trails arises and we take the one headed north, but less traveled.  What’s that?  The dreaded troop of baboons!

No sticks or stones do we have, only our cameras.  Might as well take a picture so there will be a record of what did us in.

As evidenced by this writing, at least I made it out.  I’ll let you guess about Sandy and Maureen.

Apparently, so flustered was I about Sandy and Maureen that I left my camera in the cab when I got out back at the Golf Hotel.  Fortunately, Wilfred, the cab driver is a very honest man and he returned it as soon as I called him and he found it under my seat.