End of the Season?

Salty Sea Dog

It has been a very busy Season, and now that Easter has passed it should be winding up - no-one seems to have told the beach that and it is pulling out all the stops to look even more stunning than usual.   Take a look at these photos - all taken this month...

Some of the dawns this season have been spectacular - the colours just beyond belief.

'The Rock' - if you have ever stayed in Ocean Sports, Blue Bay, Turtle Bay Beach Club or Hemingways, you will be familiar with this rock. It is the rock that everyone walks there and back from in order to feel deserving of that next beer or next meal.

The clarity of the sky and the air, now that the winds have changed..

The return of the weed heralds the end of the season.

The southern end of Turtle Bay beach approaching the mouth of Mida Creek is so clean and free of weed right now.

More spectacular colours brought to us by Watamu and her winning ways.

Watamu Family Creek Fishing Competition - Easter 2012

The Mollers and the Taylors aboard 'Ali Tatti'

Holly Darnborough on 'Hoof Hearted'

Cameron and Rupert on 'King'

Hot Dogs on the go on the Pontoon

The McCrones pass by

Sean Darnbough and his 1.2kg Kole Kole

Sarah Looman wins Largest Fish.

Fishermen relax after a hard afternoon.

There were 7 entries - no limit on number of fishermen or rods off any boat.  The points were awarded as 1 point per 10g of fish caught, divided by the number of rods fished.  There had to be at least one under 16 year old per boat.

Lines out at 2pm, following hot dogs and sodas aboard Geoff Bell's pontoon in Mida Creek.  It was a pretty quiet day, fishing wise - 3 hours of fishing (lines in at 5pm) resulted in no fish for Sundance (last year's winners - the Engels and the Davies), King (Cameron Harries and Rupert) or  Ali Tati (5 kids aboard including the Taylors, Tiva Moller and Owen Ashley).  

The prize for Oldest Competitior went to Chris Venn, who fished with his family aboard 'Nduru', with his grandson, Joseph (aged 10) responsible for a 1.2kg Kole Kole and taking the most successful boy angler prize (photo attached).  'Nduru' came in fourth place with 4 points.

 The youngest male competitior went to Xander Curtis who fished aboard 'Hoof Hearted', skippered by Pete Darnborough and fished by Pete's family.  'Hoof Hearted' came third with 5.5 points, thanks largely to a 1kg Kole Kole from Sean Darnborough (aged 12).

The Scott Family, aboard 'Shika' came in second overall, having fished 2 rods and scoring a total  of 7.5 points.

The clear winners, though, were 'Triple S' on  11.1 points.  A number of prizes here, including a double prize for youngest girl competitor and most successful female junior going to two year old Sasha Looman, and largest fish going to her mother, Sarah Looman, for a 2.9kg Kole Kole.  'Triple S' was an all girl crew of Sarah Looman, Sasha Looman and Sandra Helier (photo attached.).

Peace - it is a wonderful thing

This morning, when I took the dogs down to the beach, there was an amazing number of small fish leaping about in the sea. That and a few rather shiny, leathery, smiley Italian ladies paddling in amongst the fish - how do you not worry about getting a tan that dark?
Tanned women aside, it was one of those spectacular mornings where the air seemed cleaner than normal, the colours almost unreal, and the peace only interrupted by the lapping of the waves - utterly mesmerizing. Watamu - you ate something else!

Sunday, Sunday

So, this morning was a late starter, as Sundays should be. Slightly hung over from a fantastic wedding party at Che Shale. The most I could do was a brief stint at the beach with the dogs. Oh I do so like a good, lazy Sunday!

Building up to half term

A strange morning, this morning - really overcast and even a spot of rain. I spotted this man with his tripod, his back to the beautiful sunrise - strange - I looked where he was looking and it was just trees.

February 3rd and all is well.

It is good to feel ahead of things. Somewhat bizarrely anything I post here is time-stamped as yesterday. Today is Thursday 3rd February - I was up at 5.45am - I have walked down the beach, I have taken some photos for the website, and yet when I post this it will be marked down as 2nd Feb. if only I could catch up on work that way - always to have a day in hand - wouldn't that be great?
It is a lovely, bright morning on the beach today. Not too many folk that I noticed, mainly as I tune out the world and listen to an audiobook as I walk - there is something very satisfying about listening to a story set on a cold blustery night in Scotland whilst walking on a beach in Kenya as the sun comes up. So, my apologies to E and D for not hearing them whooping behind me for a while - they could have been part of the audiobook. Keep up the striding down the beach girls, and enjoy your well deserved cappuccino!

Good Morning, Watamu!

Good Morning, Watamu

We are so lucky not just to live but to work in one of the most special places on this planet.  Every day I try and get a picture to prove just how lucky we are with one or two shots as I take my dogs for a walk on this spectacular stretch of the North Kenya Coast.

The Southern End of Turtle Bay Beach - 23rd January 2012 (from some angles it looks like a crocodile!)

Good Morning Watamu - 23rd January 2012