And Now For Something Completely Different

In light of the recent attacks in Nairobi (my heart goes out to the victims and my fellow 'fellows'), I feel like changing course. 

Other than my flat, where I feel very safe, I have a happy place here in Mombasa.  It’s where I forget about everything but the sun, the trees, and the sky.  It’s where I meditate and relax. It’s also where I’ve seen quite a lot of interesting wildlife.

At dawn, about 5 times a week, my host and I drive to the Mombasa Sports Club for our daily dose of exercise and meditation.  We both love it there because we run/walk out in the open, far from any claustrophobic, smelly, noisy gym. We use the cricket field, but we also have an adjoining football field at our disposal.

Apart from watching the sun rise as I do yoga stretches and listen to Bon Iver or Radiohead, I have had some awe-inspiring moments with nature during these runs.  Here are some of the things I’ve encountered on my runs:

(Note: Unfortunately my MP3 player is not also a camera, so I’ll credit Google for the following pictures.)

The morning return of African Fruit Bats:

 The first time I saw this my jaw nearly hit the ground.  In Cambodia, my fiance and I had hoped to watch the nightly migration of bats coming from the old museum in Phnom Penh. We didn't really get our chance, and most mornings I now see this amazing (sometimes nerve wracking) sight of flocks of fruit bats returning from their nightly hunt.

Ewwww

The worst part is that they live in the trees on the sports club grounds, and I often have to run directly under them as they settle in for the day. If it weren't for my music, I can hear their screeching that sends shivers up my spine. 

 During a particularly rainy morning, I almost tripped over an African Giant Land Snail just as I was setting off to run. I had to stop...shake my head...and look back. Yes, that's what I saw, the most ginormous snail I have ever seen. 

It would have been really tragic (and pretty gross) if I had stepped on it.

Most days there has been one or two of these birds, just hanging around and scrounging for food.

I looked it up finally and discovered that it is called a Hadeda Ibis. This kind of excites me because I read a story in grade 7 called "The Scarlet Ibis".  It's a very sad but profound story that I think I'll re-read.

There are thousands of stray cats in Mombasa, especially in my compound. Nightly, usually around 8 p.m - which I call 'the witching hour'- I can hear cat fights which sometimes sound like babies crying.  But one morning I saw a whole litter of stray kittens trying to find their way around the sports club grounds.

Awww.

 On one particular morning run, just as the sun was about to break through the clouds, I felt like I was suddenly on an African safari. I couldn't believe my eyes when a family of Vervet Monkeys ran along the cricket field walls. 

Some even crossed my path as I rounded the corner. I almost quit my run so I could stand and watch them play and climb around for hour.

And I won’t get into the swarms of black crows and flies.

I keep hoping for a chance that a family of elephants will wander past during my run, but the odds of that are very slim. I’ll have to wait until my safari in January.