Sunday 6 April 2014

29.3.14 Saturday. Set Settal



Change of plan again today.  We were going to set off early but then discovered it was ‘clean up day’ which means of course that we cannot drive until after 1pm.  The time of the journey to Kumbija depends entirely on the queue at the ferry and so we decided to break the journey and stop at Tendaba Bird camp tonight for a change.  We all spent the morning relaxing after packing for the trip.  Omar arrived just after 1pm and we loaded the minibus and then set off, with a quick stop at the builders’ merchants for 5 padlocks for Loumen as requested.  The journey was quite uneventful apart from the usual animals wandering across the road.  We arrived at Tendaba about 4pm and just had time to check in, a quick dip in the pool, and then met at the jetty for a boat trip through the mangroves on the far side of the river.  The river was lower than normal and so we had to walk through the village to the other jetty which is further out in the river.  We all climbed down a ladder and into one of the large dug out canoes and got settled for the trip, the motor started and we crossed the wide river with our guide and captain.  The mangroves here are 100 feet tall, the tallest in the world and are full of birdlife.  We saw pelicans, herons of all kinds, kingfishers and the elusive osprey along with a myriad of smaller birds.  The trip lasted over an hour and a half before we returned to the camp for our evening meal.  As there were several other guests tonight, including a party of  American peace corps workers, the evening meal was a buffet.  We plan to leave just after the 7am breakfast tomorrow so retired before half past 10, leaving the peace corps in the bar, some of them are returning to America and so a party was called for.

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