Already 12 days into 2012...

Happy new year!!

Christmas came by and passed so quickly, as it always does I suppose! Christmas in Diani was very hot, very humid but also very relaxed! Christmas back home can often get quite hectic and stressful, so it made a nice change to take it easy and enjoy the day with the rest of the volunteers , along with the managers at Luciana’s (one of the founding members of the trust) lovely beach house :-)

Preparing the captive monkeys christmas feed!

One of the captive vervet enjoying christmas lunch!

 

Betsy didn’t join us for the Christmas meal, which was a mixture of Italian treats, fresh fish, and lots of tasty veg, as she may of attempted to feast on all the festive food before we had the chance to...and it’s probably wise that a colobus monkey doesn’t eat panatone cake or cauliflower cheese! Though we was joined by Luciana’s suini antelope, which are the smallest species of antelope, and her two dogs Lycka and Tatum!

Suni the suini antelope trying to steal some christmas dinner!

Following Christmas, during the week running up to new years eve, Betsy, the colobus monkey in our care took a bad turn and was rushed to the local hospital for x-rays. She caused a great amount of worry amongst everyone at the trust, especially as x-rays were not able to confirm what was causing her discomfort.

Her stomach was severely bloated, and she was extremely lethargic and disorientated...which is not really normal behavior for any colobus monkey, especially the usually mischievous little Betsy! After the hospital were not able to assist with Betsy’s condition, it was decided that Betsy would be driven the 35 km journey from Diani to Mombasa to see a reputable vet whom was luckily in Kenya at the time of need as he is known to be one of the top wildlife vets in East Africa.

Meanwhile back at the trust ourselves and the other volunteers continued to worry, thinking that she would have to be put under aneasthetic and operated on, which is a great risk to colobus monkeys as they are so sensitive! Bloat is quite a common digestive disorder which occurs in ruminants. Unlike other primate species the colobus have a digestive system very similar to that of a ruminant species such as a cow or sheep. As the risk of operating on Betsy was so high, the vet recommended that we tried Betsy on coal tablets, to help aid her digestion and get rid of any nasty toxins in her gut. So after drinking a sloppy drink of coal mixed with water, over the course of a few days her bloat reduced and she started to turn back to her normal, cheeky and energetic self! We knew all was well when in the morning she greeted me and max with a big hug and then a slap on the head, as she then proceeded to pull down the remaining Christmas decorations!

 

New years eve was partly spent at a local Kenyan restaurant witnessing Max and two of the colobus crew, Osher and Tony feasting on the all you can eat meat barbeque like modern day cavemen, whilst I gorged on salad...the best salad in Kenya, possibly even in East Africa!? We then spent the rest of the evening monkey sitting. Luckily by new years eve Betsy was finally getting back to full health, so she was able to enter 2012 a healthy little colobus! Meanwhile I seemed to be taking an opposite turn! Which meant a very sober new years eve, but equaled no hangover on new year’s day :-)

New years day was spent relaxing on the beach, having drinks with the other staff and volunteers, and having a spontaneous camel ride on the beach courtesy of the colobus trust’s vet Gabriel! Being used to riding horses we didn’t think a camel ride would be too different! You have to climb on the camel whilst it is sat on the floor, and as the camel stands up you jolt forward nearly tipping over its neck and then backwards nearly toppling down its back! It was a random, but amusing experience...

New years day camel ride on the beach...

After not feeling much better later in the week, Max suggested I should take a trip to the hospital (the same hospital Betsy had earlier had her x-rays!). 3 hours later after being prodded and poked lots by the doctor, having what seemed like a large amount of blood taken from my arm, and declining the doctors order that I should be hooked up to an IV drip (eeek!) and an overnight stay for observations, I left the hospital with a much lighter purse and a week’s supply of antibiotics and probiotic! Finally after a week of being on the meds I am finally starting to feel healthy again- hurray for Abi and Betsy!

And what a better way to celebrate the new year, then with a much deserved shopping spree! When it comes to shopping in Mombasa you can have a near to hassle free time and pay +100% of the actual price, OR, you can be brave, put your haggling hat on and barter and negotiate a price that suits you more, and still allows the shop keeper to make some sort of profit (though perhaps not the 100% they get away with adding with most tourists!). We also found out if you want a real bargain, then you also have to be adventurous, leave your comfort zone and venture away from the main high street and touristy markets and brave the back alleys of this chaotic yet charming city and head to where the locals shop! After trawling the high street stalls and getting slightly lost we came across a small yet busy market, down some random little alleys. Single file we traipsed through the market and discovered endless fabric stalls, handicrafts and traditional dressmakers- it was like another world... After an hour of discovering this hidden market we were laden with lots of fabric- Kikois, khangas, kitenge and katenga!. These are traditional kenyan fabrics which are most often used to make dresses, shirts, shorts, suits, cushion covers, bed spreads, bags- anything really, you ask the local tailor to make it and they will...at a small charge of course! By the end of the day we had more than what we came for and more- a very successful shopping trip indeed!

Taking a well deserved break from shopping in a local cafe!

It is still hard to believe that we have been in Kenya almost 2 months now, time really has flown, it only seems a moment ago we was frantically packing and unpacking then repacking our backpacks! 

The manager returns to England this week for almost a month, which means that Max and I will be the sole carers of Betsy- a 24/7 job, 7 days a week, for 3.5 weeks! So fingers crossed it all goes well...as during this time we don’t expect to get much freedom. In fact to “celebrate” our last day of freedom before we take on this role we are visiting a nearby Island just off the coast called, Wasini. Here we will spend the day taking it easy, visiting a marine park for snorkeling and dolphin spotting, exploring the area, trying lots of seafood and experiencing the local communities that live on this remote Island. But we are still looking forward to the following weeks with Betsy, it will definitely be an experience, and we get to stay in a Kenyan style Makuti house!  We have promised to keep the manager updated daily via skype or phone about Betsy (and Badabing, the jack russel will also be in our care too whilst we are staying at their house!).

A now healthy Betsy, enjoying a stolen apple core!

Until next time! Asante sana!