Continuing up the coast -- To Watamu

(um...these are the two blogs we had written while in Kenya and simply hadn't uploaded...things got a bit hectic once we got back home! If anyone's still interested in hearing about the end of the trip, you can read these entries. Soon, when we focus our thoughts back on Kenya to write our formal write-up for the grant, we will finish our final reflections on the last few days in Kenya and upload them. We are still struck by what an amazing trip we had!)


We arrived late morning to Watamu, along the northern coast of Kenya, ready to see up close and personal how the tourist industry works (read: go into true vacation/lazy mode). When we walked into the lobby and were greeted with eucalyptus towels, fresh juice, coffee, and tea, the idea of staying a fourth night rather than the planned three was already taking root in our minds. The Turtle Bay Hotel was beautiful; our room had a comfy bed, provided drinking water, and a hot shower, had an electric tea pot for morning tea on the balcony and even a/c…we were loving it. The hotel boasted eco-friendliness and marine conservation and we appreciated that as well. They sponsored a project to save endangered sea turtles, offered volunteer trips for hotel guests to help repair schools, planted extra trees to cover their carbon footprint, recycled water they used to keep the lawn up and asked guests to re-use towels (the first place we’d seen that urged that). We made our way down to the pool after grabbing some bitings, as they say in Kenya, from the great all-inclusive buffet and some mimosas from the all-inclusive bar…nice.
At 4pm Justus picked us up to go visit the Gede Ruins – an ancient city from the 15th century (as we write this we wished we had taken notes while the guide spoke though we did record the tour). We had a guide who spoke faster than anyone we’d met in English or Kiswahili. He had a special thing for the toilets and at every part of the ruins, made sure to point out where the sultan relieved himself. He had been a guide there for 7 years and was very knowledgeable, although he did say some contradictory things to what we later read in the museum. What was really cool from the ruins was to see how this ancient village had so many archeological finds from other countries. There were Spanish scissors, Chinese pottery, and Arab architectural influence. In the museum we saw hairpins made from ivory, pots and vases, jewelry, and replicas of original dhows in which they traveled. The place was also full of a new kind of monkey that we hadn’t seen and gorgeous, huge trees. We were impressed with the physical beauty and the historical significance of the ruins.

Unfortunately we were too late to see the Kapepeo Butterfly farm but got to read about it – a project employing local community members to collect butterfly larvae in the local forests. The butterflies that are raised here are shipped out all over the world and the profit from the sale comes back to the community. As we were driving away we saw a local dance group performing traditional dances – there was a small charge to enter. One thing that stands out so far about the coast vs. other areas of Kenya that we have visited thus far is that there is much more effort to include the local community in profiting from tourism. The money earned from many of the local projects and sites come back to the community. While it still might not be supporting the community as people there might like, it was definitely more than any other place we saw.