Holiday

Our students have a long "holiday" during December to visit their parents. So we decided to join four other families and take a holiday to the coast of Kenya.

Those having cars drove the eight hour trip but Holts and we took the train, a fifteen hour trip from Nairobi to Mombasa.



































We stayed about thirty kilometers south of Mombasa at Diani Beach. The Indian Ocean there is spectacular.







































Our accommodations were lovely - a square stone structure with a very high thatched roof. We ate most of our meals there with local fisherman arriving daily with fresh fish.






We went there to rest. The heat and humidity kept us from doing much else. Our friends and neighbors, Jim and Gale Holt, are demonstrating how we spent much of our time!
















The highlights of the trip for us were birding outings to Shimba Hills Nature Reserve, Haller Park in Bamburi, and Nguuni Sanctuary. We hired a local driver and were very fortunate to find an excellent bird guide in each spot. On those three trips alone, Vic added forty birds to his life list. Here are a few he saw and was able to photograph:





Golden
Palm
Weaver












Grey-
Headed
Kingfisher







White-
browed
Coucal






We saw other wildlife including the following:




An Oryx
in Nguuni
Sanctuary










Sykes monkeys and huge tortoises in Haller Park which is built on top of an old stone quarry.





























The giraffes are fenced in
and Charlotte chose
to feed them.


















Africa is a country of extreme contrasts.
Here are some pictures taken while waiting
for the Mombasa ferry. The sign says, "A
laptop is a must."













Transporting
merchandise
to their
duka (shop).




















Men use carts, women use their heads!
























Need a new pair
of shoes today?













Most of the train trip was at night but both mornings coming and going children watched and even ran along the side of the train as we passed by their homes. Here are some pictures taken from the train (again, notice the contrasts!)






















A typical country home




















A showroom of beautiful trucks (on the way
into Mombasa.)






















A poor section going into Mombasa and
lovely apartment buildings on the
way into Nairobi.















Let us leave you with pictures
of the beauty of the Kenyan
coastal area.












Flame
tree

























View
of Indian
Ocean
from
Shimba
Hills











Orange-
headed
lizard










Baobab
tree
with
Vic,
Jim,
and
Gale







Our Christmas
Greetings
to you