We lay in bed listening to the bird song for some time - we're the only people here - apparently tourists rarely come here, the campsite is used mainly by researchers and scientists. Kakamega is the last remaining part in Kenya of the vast forest that once stretched from here across to the Congo and beyond. It really brought home to us what an impact man has had on Africa - in the last 150 or so years this entire rain forest has all but disappeared so that we can have the foods that we want - a lot of the destruction having been to make way for tea and coffee plantations.
We followed some trails through the forest - Kakamega has a good reputation for birding - but as usual whenever we go somewhere with such a name we see very little - mainly due to the dense foliage, perhaps if we were to spend several weeks here we'd start to see birds more easily. At the start of one of the trails Sue suddenly said "STOP". This normally means that she's spotted a bird she wants to look at, but this time she pulled me back slightly and pointed to the ground - there, just where I was about to step, was a snake - olive coloured, thin, about 3 feet long with a slightly irridescent blue head. It flickered it's tingue and silently slipped into the undergrowth. We've tried identifying it but no luck so far. Kakamega is also well known for it's snakes...... This trail led to a dead end where a large tree had fallen across the path, not wanting to go climbing through thick vegetation we beat a reteat. The next trail took us upwards past a group of Colobus monkeys in the treetops to an area where the ground was more rocky and the trees opened out giving us a view above the forest to the nearby hills. The next trail took us into a different type of forest - apparently it was "primary forest", so undisturbed. Lots of monkey activity in the trees ahead, but they kept their distance until we learnt to just stop and wait when they gradually reappeared, some guenons appearing even to "come and have a look at us".
In the afternoon we had to leave as our 24 hours was up - it's a shame that even low-key reserves like this are expensive in Kenya - it cost almost as much as Amboseli/Tsavo - as we were going to leave for Kericho in the morning we had decided to try a campsite just outside the park gate.
The campsite next door was down a very small track, but when we got to the end it turned out to be in a nice clearing next to a small village - some children came out to see us and were over the moon when we gave thema couple of sweets each. We don't usually do this, so we also gave them all a toothbrush each along with some toothpaste- which they all seemed very happy with.
Kennedy came over - he comes from Eldoret and has moved here to find work - he lives in a simple hut in the campground and was very keen to chat. He invited us over to his hut, it is very simple but clean, he manages to go home to see his wife and child about once a month - the fare costing about £2.50. Wages here are low.
We followed some trails through the forest - Kakamega has a good reputation for birding - but as usual whenever we go somewhere with such a name we see very little - mainly due to the dense foliage, perhaps if we were to spend several weeks here we'd start to see birds more easily. At the start of one of the trails Sue suddenly said "STOP". This normally means that she's spotted a bird she wants to look at, but this time she pulled me back slightly and pointed to the ground - there, just where I was about to step, was a snake - olive coloured, thin, about 3 feet long with a slightly irridescent blue head. It flickered it's tingue and silently slipped into the undergrowth. We've tried identifying it but no luck so far. Kakamega is also well known for it's snakes...... This trail led to a dead end where a large tree had fallen across the path, not wanting to go climbing through thick vegetation we beat a reteat. The next trail took us upwards past a group of Colobus monkeys in the treetops to an area where the ground was more rocky and the trees opened out giving us a view above the forest to the nearby hills. The next trail took us into a different type of forest - apparently it was "primary forest", so undisturbed. Lots of monkey activity in the trees ahead, but they kept their distance until we learnt to just stop and wait when they gradually reappeared, some guenons appearing even to "come and have a look at us".
In the afternoon we had to leave as our 24 hours was up - it's a shame that even low-key reserves like this are expensive in Kenya - it cost almost as much as Amboseli/Tsavo - as we were going to leave for Kericho in the morning we had decided to try a campsite just outside the park gate.
The campsite next door was down a very small track, but when we got to the end it turned out to be in a nice clearing next to a small village - some children came out to see us and were over the moon when we gave thema couple of sweets each. We don't usually do this, so we also gave them all a toothbrush each along with some toothpaste- which they all seemed very happy with.
Kennedy came over - he comes from Eldoret and has moved here to find work - he lives in a simple hut in the campground and was very keen to chat. He invited us over to his hut, it is very simple but clean, he manages to go home to see his wife and child about once a month - the fare costing about £2.50. Wages here are low.