Experiments with a Critter Cam 1

Someone told me about these infrared wildlife cameras you can get. So I got one. My first picture was a little disappointing, in the sense that, if this was the best I could do then perhaps I had wasted my money.

But at least I knew it worked. So I tried again. This time I set it up in the garden overnight, to catch a glimpse of all the critters inhabiting the night just beyond the windows. I captured the following.

So it was time to head to the bush. Tsavo East surely offered a greater chance of recording the movements of wild creatures. I set the camera up on a known hippo trail, and left it to do its work. It was quite exciting to find the following the next morning.

At last, a truly wild critter caught on camera. And then my luck doubled.

OK, not bad, but on a scale with the tabby cat at one end and the sasquatch at the other, these were almost pussy cats. So the next attempt will be in one of the world’s great wildlife wonders of the world – the Maasai Mara, during the great migration. Rhino, lions, leopards, black mamba, jumbos, buffalo, hippo, cheetah, hyena, not to mention wildebeest dodging crocs. I can’t fail to catch something on the critter cam, outside our small tent, can I?

Lamu

Another car-less island in a warm ocean, just a short boat ride from a vast continent. A twin for Cheung Chau.

Transport is by foot or boat. Or donkey… The boats are speedboats or dhows or something in between. But while Cheung Chau is prospering in the orbit of China’s boom, Lamu is struggling to stay above the water line, literally.

Very few Kenyans holiday in Lamu, apart from when the prices drop, like when the foreign tourists stay away. But even then the charms of Watamu or Kilifi are more accessible. Somalia, just up the coast, creates a constant tension. So the Lamu economy struggles.

The visual signs of depression are obvious. Walking through the alleyways of the old World Heritage town are again reminiscence of the lanes and yards of Cheung Chau, but the faces of the youth tell another story.

Is that guy on khat or heroin or both? First impression is hustlers at every turn, offering zombified tourist services.

But then the contrast. Lamu’s history is long and diverse, and its signs are everywhere. Fantastic museums, historical mosques, and castles tell you that this just might be the origin of Swahili culture.

And like all good islands, there are characters. From Bush the raconteur restauranteur to the Shela Beach expats.

For them it’s all about the moon, as befits a place of Islam. Where it rises and its phase dictates the tide and the mood. After an extended period of waning the new moon is starting to wax again, rising in full view of the beach sundowners.

Trees in my Garden 1

1. Pigeon Wood (Triema Orientalis). Indigenous. Good for coughs, pneumonia, bronchitis, and as an antidote for poisoning. Pretty good for attracting pigeons, doves and butterflies. Wood good for poles and fuel. Leaves make handy mulch and fodder as well as brown dye. Bark makes black dye. Looks OK, functional, but unspectacular.

2. Mexican Cypress (Cupressus Lusitanica). Exotic, native to Mexico and Guatemala. High altitude evergreen conifer tree. Good for furniture, construction wood, fuel, poles, posts and pulp-wood. Not bad as a hedge or shade tree. Just doesn’t belong in Kenya…

Here are its seed cones.

3. Rose Apple (Eugenia Jambos). Exotic, native to India and Malaysia. Quite a small ornamental tree, with funny little fruit that turn yellow when ripe and with pinky green dense leaves.

The mini-apple fruit smells like a rose, hence the name, and you can make jelly and jam out of it! Wine?

4. Mango (Mangifera Indica). Well, everyone knows what a mango is. But did you know the flowers have pyramidal heads and are pollinated by flies and other insects? The ripe fruit come in various shapes and colours too, from round and yellow to oval and orangey pink. And if you ever get bored of the fruit you can make a canoe out of the wood. The wonderful world of the mango.

5: Bottle Brush. From down-under. It’s main feature is its bright red flowers, shaped like, yes … bottle brushes! The sunbirds and the bees love them. Why wouldn’t you? When the seasons right, I’ll put in a picture of it in flower, but for now here’s how it looks.

Time to Blog

I’m not sure I have time to blog. But now is as good a time to blog as any. So I am blogging.

This is going to be about places, mostly in Africa, pictures and ideas. And a little bit about the big important things in life. That means kids and houses and education and work and health. But also means learning, developing, doing, enjoying, wondering and observing.

Let’s see if this lasts!