Safari Stories

Hanging Gardens of Malindi

Published on by Rupi Mangat1 Comment

Above: Orchid bloom in Hanging Gardens of Malindi – Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 20 October 2018

Everyone’s heard of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – but the hanging gardens of Malindi had me intrigued. Malindi is more famous for its wide bay, protected by three reefs that make it totally safe for swimmers and ocean sport fanatics. From March till December the monsoon winds create the perfect conditions for kite surfers, so much so that this tiny little historical town where six centuries ago a ‘Malindi lad’ showed Vasco da Game the Portuguese sailor the sea-route to India, is now doubly famous as the ‘Mecca for surfers’.

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Humpback whale in Watamu, Kenya coast, Indian Ocean, doing its back flip Copyright Jane Spilsbury/Watamu Marine Association

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Whales and Waves Make Adventure in Watamu

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Above: Humpback whale in Watamu, Kenya coast, Indian Ocean, doing its back flip
Copyright Jane Spilsbury/Watamu Marine Association

Published 13 October 2018 Nation Saturday Magazine

The waves surged, heaved and fell at full throttle, grey and dark with the wind howling. In the raging ocean, with a lurching stomach, l kept my eyes glued on the equally dark, grey heavy clouds threatening to burst at any point. And they did.

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Humpback whale in Watamu, Kenya coast, Indian Ocean, in Seastorm the Hemingway boat impressing tourists. Copyright Jane Spilsbury/Watamu Marine Association

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Chasing After Shrews and Elephants in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest

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Published 6 October 2018 Saturday magazine, Nation newspaper

Above: Copyright Nobert Rottcher -Golden-rumped elephant shrew in Arabuko-Sokoke forest

When friends in Malindi announced they were off to Arabuko-Sokoke forest I was on it – and for one sole reason – to look for the ‘only to be found here in the world’ animal, the Golden-rumped elephant shrew.

On reaching the ancient forest that’s just meters from the Indian Ocean, l’d missed the early morning birders who had wandered off into the forest at the crack of dawn.  Undaunted and in need of a good walk, l strode off in search of the sengi that is now the new name for the shrew.

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On The Heights of the Aberdares

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Published 6 October 2018

I feel like l’ve stepped into a hidden, magical world on the heights of the Aberdares. We’re entering a part of the Aberdares that until recently was shrouded in mystical mists only accessible for tough hikers and mountaineers. We’re in the northern part of the 160-kilometer range that looms in the skyline when driving along the Nairobi-Naivasha upper road or towards Nyeri-Nanyuki.

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Soysambu’s Cats, Colobus, Raptors and All

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Published 29 September 2018

Above: Seen on Sept 13 2018 at Soysambu. The male in the photo is SM2 (collared) who is Flir’s son and the female is SF3, Valentine’s daughter. We think Flir and Valentine are sisters so they would be cousins. Unknown father’s  but  they are one or two of the males in Nakuru National Park. Copyright: Kat Combes

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Soysambu Conservancy with Flamingos on Lake Elmenteita and Delamere’s Nose. Copyright Rupi Mangat

There’s so much happening at Soysambu, the wildlife conservancy straddling the soda-fringed Lake Elmenteita in the Great Rift Valley. It draws one like magnet to keep up with its intrigues. For starters the wildlife haven is set picturesquely between the fresh water Lake Naivasha and the alkaline Lake Nakuru and being part of the volcanic upheavals from the last 20 million years or so, it’s a tapestry of little mountains with craters, volcanic rubble and an inch-thick layer of soil good only for hardy grass and trees.

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