Thursday August 5th

For day 16, we signed up for the afternoon trip to Malindi organised by the hotel, departing after lunch. This gave us the chance to relax by the pool for the morning.
Adjacent to the hotel lobby and bar there was the pool with flowers and weaver birds, and this stone turtle fountain. Its name Leonardo showed the influence of ninja turtles. We passed by it several times each day; this was the best photograph.
	Falconry of Kenya First stop on the afternoon tour was the Falconry of Kenya, a bird of prey breeding centre. Not expecting a great deal, we were very pleasantly surprised.
The main focus was on birds of prey, but this magnificent giant tortoise just inside the gate immediately captured our attention. Probably around a hundred years old, the tortoise was extremely tame and looking for attention.
	Somewhere I am sure I have the names of these birds. Most of them were perched on branches, tethered around the feet.
One or two were allowed to fly free, and were easily attracted back to hand with meat.
	Close-up, this beautiful owl looks more like a koala bear.
One solitary Vervet Monkey looked rather sorry for himself.
	The main focus was of course the birds.
We had the opportunity to handle one of the birds. All that was needed to get it to extend its wings was a gentle up and down motion.
	Most of the bird handling was done by the excellent guide.
Looking at the birds it was quite easy to ignore the garden setting. These two large and brightly coloured plants demanded attention.
	The tour ended with a flying to hand demonstration. For a while, this one enjoyed sitting in the tree and did not actually want to co-operate. From the falconry, we had a brief tour around the town of Malindi itself. There was little to see in the centre of the town, but the waterfront was much more interesting, starting with the youngsters playing football on the beach, above.
Vasgo de Gama Monument Malindi and the island of Lamu further North up the coast were important Moslem trading ports. The explorer Vasgo de Gama landed here and the white obelisk at the end of the jetty commemorated that landing.
	As in Watamu, there is still traditional boat building along the coast at Malindi. Here we see boats pulled up into boat houses clear of the water.
Crocodile Farm The final stop of the tour was at the Malindi crocodile farm where crocs are reared commercially for their meat and skins.
	First stop was at a set of tanks holding various types of local snake. I guess that the one we were given to hold was not dangerous. It was however completely dry and surprisingly warm.
There were tortoises. This time they were the smaller native ones, rather than the larger ones imported from the Seychelles.
	This rather larger snake was in an enclosure of its own, with a very solid glass barrier.
The main feature of course was the crocodiles. They were segregated by age and seemed very crowded. However they looked pretty healthy and not in any distress.
	Weaver birds were busy and noisy in the trees.
From the crocodile farm it was back to the hotel. On the way we passed one of the many coca cola stalls by the side of the road. The use of the container provides a combination of a ready made shop and very prominent advertising.

Thursday August 12th,

Day 16 - Day Trip to Malindi