Dancing with Swahili Dogs

I have been so busy the past few weeks here in Diani being an eco-volunteer for the Colobus Trust. www.coloboustrust.org I really can’t believe how fast time is flying and that I will soon be departing Diani later this week. I have been invited to stay longer or come back as a long term volunteer for six months or a year if I would like. It has been immensely rewarding to be of service and help out in a small way towards conservation. It is very tempting!

Although I am here during the rainy season it still is so beautiful. I have been lucky with the weather during most of my stay here but we did have quite a bit of rain this past week. We have also had many power cuts (courtesy of Kenyan Power Supply) intermittently so it’s one of the reasons to why I haven’t been able to update my own personal blog.

I have blogged for the Colobus Trust and you can read my blogs on their site which is sponsored by Wildlife Direct: www.colobus.wildlifedirect.org
I had also assisted one of the staff members here in writing his first blog (Hamisi) although he is already such a talented writer that I ended up only assisting him with word press and uploading photos!

Living and working in Diani has been such an amazing and fulfilling experience. Tourism and volunteer numbers are still so low from last year that even a few weeks here has made a big difference. Let’s hope that next month that tourist and volunteer numbers will return to Diani and Kenya.

As I have mentioned before I have a huge appreciation and love for the sun and the beach so every morning I have been getting up around 6 am and heading to the beach for my run and work out before we start work at 8 am. I don’t wear any thing of value (no watch, no jewelry of any kind) and use only my little iPod shuffle which I stuff down my shorts to keep out of view. I am one of those people that absolutely have to run with music so regardless of where I travel I somehow manage to hang onto my iPod and running headphones (although there was the time in Madagascar where I did have my old iPod nicked so the word is I “try” …)

Waking early and greeting the day (and the monkeys) has been bliss. I am the first one up in the volunteer house and I get the beach gate keys and make my way down the beach path hoping not to get attacked or swallowed by huge spider webs (bugs are my Achilles heel – don’t really like them on me in any way especially that lovely early morning ‘Amy -Winehouse- beehive -spider- web-do’ that I sometimes get when I walk into a big web) I say "Jambo" to the Sykes monkeys in the trees eating their breakfast and I take the risk of bugs and spiders early in the morning to arrive first on the beach with an amazing view of a burnt orange sun rising over the coolest blue Indian ocean. The sun’s glorious rays shine on the breaking waves in the distance on top of the coral reef and the sun’s rays glisten on the hand carved Dhow fishing boats bobbing up and down in the shallow waters awaiting the Swahili fishermen to hoist their sails and greet their day in Kenya.

I run on the softest coral white sand. Diani used to be under the sea hundreds of years ago so all the ground is made of what was pristine and virgin coral of all types. The sand is so fine from years of being pounded by nature that my shoes sink about 3 inches with each stride making my run more and more work. Sometimes I stop and walk a bit and look for unusual bits of old coral or small seashells that have been abandoned by their previous residents. The shells I usually pick up are the really small ones similar to the ones that the village people on Wasini Island scour the sands for to clean and dry and then sell to exporters. I saw what looked liked millions of them laid out on old sheets on Wasini Island. I asked the guide what are they going to be used for locally and he said they are harvested and then exported to China where they will be probably be used in mass production of clothing or curios items. My picking up 2 or 3 small shells that I then give to local artists for jewelry seem (well no pun intended) a drop in the ocean.

The last couple of days running in the morning there haven’t been many people on the beach not even some of the local fishermen as the weather has been a bit precarious with a lot of wind and heavy rain. I have been lucky as my runs have been perfectly timed with no rain and a bit of sunshine so early in the morning. I sometimes see some of the locals walking and exercising their dogs on the beach either on lead or off lead. I greet the dogs and the owners whenever possible.

Yesterday I met one of the locals, a lovely Indian woman who lives and works in Diani with her husband running one of the smaller hotels and restaurants. She walks three rescue dogs – one Dachshund, one Jack Russell and one Swahili bush dog that she adopted from the Mombasa KSPCA. We chatted about her dogs and then one of the local fisherman’s Swahili dogs came bounding over to her bush dog. I could easily see that they were best friends as they played and bounded into the water. I started my run again and both dogs starting playing with me almost egging me on to run faster. I must have had the biggest smile on my face as they continued to run with me for about 5 minutes down the beach.

This morning the sun decided to finally come out and I was so happy to be greeted first on my morning beach run by two different Swahili dogs (they must have been from the same litter as they looked like book ends!) These dogs were the same colour as Vizslas but they had the same build as a Swahili dog and the cute long, skinny and curly tail that goes up when they are happy. With collars and tags I knew these were pet dogs belonging to an owner of one of the many beach homes in Diani. They must have sensed I was a dog lover as they both came running over to me and greeted me with big licks on my salty, sweaty and white sandy legs. After a few pets and good scratches on their heads they decided to join me for the rest of my run. I ran a good portion of the beach with both dogs at my side who were playing, jumping, smiling and encouraging me to dance with them. I was the only one on this beautiful stretch of beach this morning with just these two dogs dancing in synch with me in the receding tide while listening to Take That’s “Greatest Day.” It certainly felt like it.

The Dog Reporter
www.thedogreporter.com

KSPCA - Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals

KSPCA

I was only able to volunteer for what seemed like a very short time of 8 days helping at the KSPCA. I was willing to do anything - help clean cages, pick up poop, walk dogs, anything! I was quickly ushered into the office where I was asked to put my marketing expertise to work. I started to brief them on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and other digital marketing means to get some attraction and hopefully donations from outside Kenya. The KSPCA are amazing for what they do to help support the local communities and villages with domestic animals in particular dogs. They run on a shoe string budget and I mean shoe string - we are talking child's shoe size 3.

www.kspca-kenya.org

www.facebook.com/kspca

www.twitter.com/kspca

A lot of people wonder and ask what is the point of having a SPCA in a third world country or developing country where people don't have money or care for their animals like we do in western civilisation. I beg to differ. No matter where I travel I see and meet people (granted not the majority) but people from the poorest communities who care and love their pets just as much as we do. They may not have the money to pay for vaccinations, spaying or neutering or even have the resources to feed their animal every day (people come first here when there is so little to eat) but they still love and care for their animal. It is just that their version of care is different from what we might expect or want. I always have to give myself a big pep talk when I travel to developing countries. I know what to expect and I know what I will see or hear. It can be heart breaking but my cause and my mission is to find the positive dog stories and the positive work that people do with their dogs. Dogs are so amazing (as most of you who read my blogs and updates know!) They are the only domesticated animal that has such a special relationship with man.

KSPCA are a fine example of what can be done in small ways to help support people less fortunate than us. They are very small and very poor but they help offer support, experience of animal care and a place to go for questions relating to care of their animals. Many dogs and puppies have been given to KSPCA instead of being tossed in a ditch (which sadly is very common here) where they can be given an opportunity for re homing or care temporarily.

The KSPCA also go to local villages and talk about spaying and neutering and will spay and neuter for free where possible. They have very little surgical supplies as they have one set for neutering and spaying but when possible they will spay and neuter as many dogs as possible if people are too poor to pay.

The in-house vet who is Kenyan is a lovely young man who cares greatly about dogs and the animals in his care. It was amazing to see him work with some of the sick puppies that came into the KSPCA whilst I was there working. I will be editing some more short videos to support the KSPCA when I return to the UK in August.

The KSPCA also support greatly the care and rehabilitation of donkeys. Donkeys are often mistreated due to poor care or ignorance of safety equipment such as no cutting bridles and well balanced weights for carrying. The KSPCA make and sell and sometimes donate where possible bridles and carrying tack so people can use their donkey without injuring them in the process. They also teach people in villages how to care for their donkeys so they can last longer and have a more sustainable livelihood. I filmed some great interviews with the Kenyan guys who hand make these bridles and carrying tack all from ropes and old blankets.

I am saving the best story from my time at the KSPCA for one of my videos. It is a story about one of the dogs that came into their care two years ago. He probably has the most amazing dog story I have ever heard in my life yet.

More to come ...

the Dog Reporter
www.thedogreporter.com

Jambo! In search of Kenyan Dogs

Hi everyone, very sorry for the long delay in blogging from Kenya. I arrived in Africa last month after departing London for Nairobi on May 19th. So what I have been up to you ask? Well so much! I landed in Nairobi and went directly to Karen (a suburb of Nairobi on the outskirts of the big bad city) Honestly I have no desire to really explore Nairobi too much especially after what everyone has warned me about in terms of crime. It was suggested I book into this hostel/camp in Karen which is 5 minutes by car to the KSPCA where I had arranged to volunteer for 8 days. I was very happy to have made those arrangements as Karen Camp is a great place and very secure. Best yet they have three big dogs who act as part of their security on the property. They bark for anything that gets too close to the fenced perimeter and as I discovered on one of my last days at Karen Camp they also bark like crazy when there are squirrels or monkeys in the trees. Karen Camp is very close to the Nairobi National Park so there are animals everywhere in close proximity.

KSPCA. Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals. KSPCA will get its own blog following. I have been uploading like crazy as many pictures as I can to my flickr account so please, please, please check out my flickr to see some pics from my dog adventures.

After 8 days in Nairobi and working at the KSPCA I took a coach bus (a very nice coach I might add!) to Mombasa and from Mombasa I headed to Diani where I am now situated working as an eco-volunteer at the Colobus Trust . The Colobus Trust (again deserves their own blog so will write more about them later) is a fantastic NGO that was created here in Diani. I wanted to work with primates again as I did in Madagascar so I found the Colobus Trust which rescues and helps rehabiliate the endangered Angolan Colobus monkey as well as other monkeys from the area such as Sykes, Vervet and Baboon. However I have since learned that that Colobus Trust do so much more that just help with monkeys. They truly are a wonderful conservation NGO working with local Kenyans to promote the environment as well as keep the eco-system in place here. They do things from tree planting of indigenous trees in the forest and hotel areas as well as educate kids from all over the area in their learning centre. They also host eco-tours for the tourists and any visitors in Diani to help raise awareness about the Colobus plight as well as local conservation efforts. You can read more on their website and blog (which I have been helping to write the past two weeks) www.colobustrust.org

Now to dogs! Yes, I have seen many dogs since arriving from day one in Kenya. KSPCA I had the opportunity to meet and pet loads of their local residents who are so sweet. They also have the biggest collection of three legged dogs in one place! All very sweet and well tempered dogs that have been rescued or adopted by the KSPCA. There is the most amazing lady named Jean Gilchrist that runs the KSPCA. She has been there for over 40 years and is still going strong even though she is 73! You would never guess her age as she looks like she is in her 50's. Jean is one special lady and she has dedicated most of her life to helping Kenya with the care and support for domestic animals. She is heading back to the UK next month to pick up a long overdue OBE from the Queen herself. Jean was awarded one over a year ago but delayed it since there were more pressing emergencies at the KSPCA the last time the Queen was doling out medals. Her work is tireless and she often has about 3 or 4 dogs under her desk. I enjoyed working at the KSPCA so much and look forward to popping back in before I set off for my overland later this month.

Kenyan Dogs. I saw many mongrels, bush dogs, and african looking dogs at the KSPCA but Jean and others had told me that there is such a thing as a Swahili dog on the coast. I was very excited to head to the Colobus Trust as it sits right on the Kenyan coast and I would hopefully meet some people who could tell me more about the real Swahili dog.

Life is a beach. Now a quick update to where I am now and what I am doing at present.

The Colobus Trust is situated right in Diani meters from the beach. It is SO scenic and idyllic I think I will move here next year (actually it is very tempting to come back as a longer volunteer to be this close to such a beautiful beach!) For some of you that know me I love the ocean and I love the sun so Diani suits me perfectly. It is a lot warmer here than Nairobi (by many degrees) and you get the real tropical weather - humidity, rain and also the mosquitos to boot which is why I LOVE my mosiquto met even more. I have been getting up around 6 or 6:30 am and heading to the beach to run every morning and let the sunrise greet me over the lovely turquoise indian ocean. It is paradise here except when the beach boys hassle me (although I think I have managed to communicate through my weird exercise body language on the beach that I am unapproachable) Yes, I am that exercise nutter going up and down on the beach flapping my arms and boxer punching in the air to not only keep fit but to distract the beach boys from following me up and down the beach and guess what it works.

Second day in Diani on the beach I met Peter who works at one of the nearby posh hotels. Peter every morning walks two lovely pedigree type dogs (Keeshond and a Tibetan Terrier cross). Peter had a very kind way with the dogs and I started to chat to him about dogs (as I do everywhere I go in the world). Peter introduced me to Elvis and Kozo (Kozo is for short as I can't remember how to spell his very long name the TT cross) and we hit it off as dog friends. Peter introduced me to some of the other dogs on the beach and I asked Peter if he knew any real Swahili dogs where I might be able to visit and take some pics. He said of course I know! He was very excited to propose that he be my guide to some local villages to allow me to see some real swahili dogs. Many people think that Swahili dogs are just mongrels but there is a certain type of dog that has been bred on teh caost of Kenya for over hundreds of years. The dog is skinny, long tail that curls up and big ears. They are often white with brown or tan patches and sometimes can be black with brown markings. They are used for hunting in the bush as well as the most important job of these dogs today - guarding. They will bark for alerting any intruders or animals (such as monkeys or baboons) that get too close to the huts or houses.

I really wanted to see a real Swhaili dog in a local village.

June 7th I had the opportunity to finally take a day trip with Peter to not only his village but to his brothers' village in the North Coast of Mombasa. Here are a couple of pics and I will tell you more tomorrow!

The Dog Reporter

www.thedogreporter.com