Lost in Arabuko Sokoke

Never imagined I could live one of the cataclysmic episodes of my life during my visit to Kenya this time. Exploring Kenya had always been a prolific experience. This was my second salute to the country. Being sanctified to be a bird photographer, it has been a catalyst for most of my travels to different countries with an aspiration to be transformed into a better birder cum photographer. Its a good way to hibernate too. So far the count of bird species I photographed has tanked up to around 600. My last visit to Kenya fetched me 185 species of birds. I targeted a count of 200+ species for my next trip. After two years post my first visit, I battled to steel some time for birding and as soon as I got some days at my disposal, a flight to Kenya was the best and most preferred option.

Visiting the coastal areas of Kenya had always been on my favorite to-do list, but for some apparent reasons it did not favor the agenda in my list trip. When I kick started my trip to Kenya this time, I never primed my list of target species for birds. But I definitely fancied certain birds and on top of that list was the Sokoke Scops-owl which could be found only in a very diminutive area of Kenya and Tanzania. It is an endemic species to the coastal forests of these countries. I treasured a friend in Kenya who also happened to be birding guide. Meshack Onyambu. He had been my partner in crime in Kenya. When I expressed my wish to see a Sokoke Scops-owl to my Meshack, I had little belief of it being sagacious in such a busy schedule knowing it was arduous. The best place to find Sokoke scops owl is Arabuko Sokoke forest.

This was my sixth day in Kenya. Well equipped for birding, I and Meshack could make it to Arabuko Sokoke early in the morning. The Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is located on the coast of Kenya, 110 km north of Mombassa and is protected as a national Forest Reserve. The forest contains three forest types, mixed forest, Brachystegia and Cynometra, each of which protects different communities of plants and animals.

Sokoke Scops-owl

I met Andrew Mwasi on the gate. He must be in his early twenties. He is one of the names contributed to the birding guides list in Kenya. When I expressed my expectations from Arabuko Sokoke, he admitted his novice hood and my expectations called for someone extremely proficient and a veteran guide. This is where the birding eagle Mr David was most desired and we were successful enough to line up his schedule to accompany us. It was an honor to have Mr. David Ngala as my guide. His dexterity for birding is simply impeccable. He has been a very well known birder and guide in Arabuko Sokoke area with a teeming 20 years experience in birding. That’s one name to be called if you target to sight a bird in Arabuko Sokoke.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I met him. I felt, I was in the right hands. I did recollect having heard of him earlier, but could not recall the occasion. I chose to be silent and not spill the beans about my familiarity to him.

Having finalized on our terms and conditions we snaked our way into the forest. It was drizzling a bit and I didn’t want to jeopardize my costly gear to be destroyed. Besides I found it very difficult to bird in the deep jungle mainly because the birds seemed pretty dour. An hour of lethargic birding miffed us now, and adding another hour was futility. Eventually, the agenda for the day changed tables. We decided to hit Malindi to check for shore birds.

We birded on the Malindi beaches till afternoon and headed to Athi River Delta. It turned out to be a triumphant deal. We found around 30 species of birds out of which 11 of them were a first watch. In fact that pretty much summed up a day. The bizarre thought of the Sokoke Scops-owl still haunted me and I confronted David for it once again. By now, David could empathize what I need when I talk about a bird. He knew I only count a bird when I get a decent photograph of it. He said he can show me the bird in the night, but it is going to be a fight to get a decent photograph of it. I was proud enough to confess that I may not be a good photographer but I knew how to make best use of the available light to get some decent shots. The next question he raised was ‘search light’? It added to my pride once again to have one of the best search lights one can find in the market. The torch has been an enduring companion on my birding trips. It has a permanent place in my camera bag.

Now the fun begins. Well armed with the required equipments, we reached Arabuko Sokoke Forest around 7:30 and drove into the woods. Having driven several kilometers, Captain David instructed Evans Nyambane, our driver to stop in a particular area. It was a group decision to park the car there and walk on the track and so did we. David had an interesting player which played the call of a Sokoke Scops-owl. After walking a couple of kilometers, the magic of David’s player started producing fruits. We started getting replies from the owls. The night birding started taking rousing turn, but the calls were less audible. After adding another two kilometers on feet, we heard a call which sounded much clearer than the other calls. That is when David recommended penetrating into the deep forest. That means we have to leave the tracks and really get into the forest. I looked into the sky which wore a cloudy blanket. I could not see the moon or any stars. Suddenly all the creations of Almighty were in a mood of playing hide and seek It was pitch black. The last person we saw was a forest security officer around 10 km back. And we only have one search light with us. We were four, David, Andrew, my friend Meshack and me. The xenophobia couldn’t put a damper on things and we squeezed in.

It was a thorny way to walk. We had to play a ragged woodcutter breaking the branches to snake our way in. At times we had to sweep under the thick branches. My ritzy idea of wearing swanky shorts started revealing on my body. Scratches and wounds were just trivial comparatively. Invisible though, I could feel the pain. Morning drizzles had dampened the ground. David led the path followed by Andrew, then me and Meshack as the last compartment. We marched for almost 15 minutes. It was after the 100 to 150 meters, the HEART OF THE DEAL’ unveiled. Captain David spotted the Sokoke Scops-owl. Suddenly all the uphill struggle started paying, and all the scratchy pains were vanished. My eyes which turned blind for all the Almighty’s creation earlier, got invigorated and found one of the most beautiful creations of the Almighty. My joy didn’t find an end to have achieved one of the fancied goals of my trip. I should have bowed Hats off to Captain David. This baby had landed on a branch with not much villain branches between us. Man! that was a premium policy. I instructed David to focus the light on the bird and he was more than happy to be a part of my photography. For the next 15 minutes we had a round table conference with the bird and he enacted good enough to give some shots. It was a providential 40 shots clicked in those 15 minutes. It was an intricate photography while holding a focus on bird. Initially, neither the light nor the picture frame matched my judgment, one of the reasons being my gigantic sweetheart, 600mm lens. But I was overwhelmed to incarcerate the bird in my camera. The bird provided us entertainment all the time. In fact, when we left the place, the bird glued to the same branch. He liked the visitors. It moved a bit here and there every now and then but never flew away. David caged the sight of bird in his camera too. Our goal was achieved and we decide to head back with contentment.

David spoke another piece of my desires by offering a sight of Night Jars. I have spent a lot of my nights in UAE searching Nightjars. Most of the time, I was successful in finding them. In fact it taught me photographing birds in night. With no second thoughts, my answer was YES. We looked out for a nightjar for another 10 minutes in vain. For some unknown reason, an eccentric feeling was clouting me. I was a bit reluctant to articulate my feeling to David knowing that he is the best person who knows the forest better than anyone else in the team. I was sure he has done this kind of trip a numerous times and so never voiced my thoughts.

We continued for some more time that way. David stopped every other minute and searched the area. It is then Meshack asked the question of the day to David. “Are we lost?” And I heard the most unexpected answer from David “Yes”. There was pin drop silence for a fraction of minute. “It is only when the tide goes off one realizes who had been swimming naked” – Warren Buffet.

David added, “I cannot find the way we came in. Don’t worry. I know what to do…” David’s expressions resembled the languid government making inadvertent commitments. Suddenly my feeling once again mirrored the disappearing creations of Almighty that struck me some time back. Another angel of God came with one of the neediest gifts, Andrew had a compass. That gave us a breather. David took sometime to do his mental calculation on the direction he wants to go. I asked, “which direction we are supposed to go???” and East was the answer. We checked the compass and found where east was. We started moving towards that direction. The thick undergrowth and the branches were a big hindrance and kept disgracing us from the right direction.

When I turned back, I found Meshack fidling with his mobile phone. He looked at me and said “No signal”. That was the next best thing that could happen. In fact when I was photographing the Owl, Meshack’s phone rang when I asked him to put it on silent mode and not to disturb the bird. Mobile phone was the last plank of wood we were swimming on. Are we going to drown?

Rejuvenating our spirits again, we followed David for another half an hour trying to find the track. I was sure we were encircling in that area. We were fully armed hunters derelict in the woods but couldn’t hunt a prey. I cursed myself for not carrying my iPhone with me which is installed with GPS software, thnks to the criminal underbelly of internet. It would have definitely changed the climax of my day. In the meanwhile Meshack got a signal in his phone, kudos to the network providers in Kenya. Eager to taste life again, I asked David if we could get some help. This time Andrew came up with the best answer, “The best person who can help in such a situation in Arbuko Sokoke is with us”. He said that in a very low voice to make sure he doesn’t mortify David. I asked Meshack to call Evans in the first place and ask him to keep driving three kilometers to and fro in the same area where we left the car, with the head lights on high beam. Meshack did that. After walking for few minutes I looked into the sky and realized my oversight over the darkness. The devil darkness wouldn’t keep the visibility of the car light as well. I insisted Meshack to call Evans once again and ask him to keep blowing the horn ever 5 seconds while he drives. Atleast the GOD gifted sensory organ, ‘Ears’, could put an end to this blind journey, until we realized, we had some more misfortune left in bag. Meshack’s mobile lost signal once again. Kudos to the network providers once again. With no other options left, we continued slogging our fatigued feet. We all kept our ears vigilant enough to be able to hear the sound of the moving car or look out for a beam of light, while Evans was doing his job.

Time for the next question to Andrew, out of curiosity, “What kind of snakes do you find in this forest?” It was then the worst answer I got… “Black Mamba, Pythons, …” He continued. I did not hear the rest. Suddenly all my sensory organs went for a toss. I was zapped and deaf!!! Black Mamba? The world’s most poisonous snake? The Python which can kill a strong man with just his might? I stepped into a different phase of life. About an hour back, I was the happiest person. I must have forgotten the Almighty for a second. And now, I am in the deepest trouble one could think of. I found myself in a foreign land, in deep forest in the middle of the night, with some of the world’s most dangerous animals around. These are definitely castigations, or am I paranoid, or may be its just another nightmare. Can we come out of this forest alive? I was foreboding with all the ambiguous thoughts. It turned me contrarian to the popular belief ‘Life is Short’. In fact its too long and we have too many idle hours to fill before we keel over and die.

It had been more than three hours since we entered into the forest. My enduring companion, my torch may not be able to help me for long as well due to limited battery life. The average span of time that one can use the torch is around 4 hours, which means another one hour before the battery runs out of breath. And when that happens? Well, I had lost my appetite on risk by now. I asked everyone to find some wood to light a bonfire. But morning rain had left everything damp. David, who was silent for quite a while, still looked very confident and kind of ignored my suggestion. He asked us to continue for some more time and if we fail, we will think of the other alternatives. Well it was time to quell the dissent and abide by the Captains advice.

Sokoke Scops-owl

Vulnerable traumatic feet couldn’t find a cushion, when Meshack gave a shout, he got a signal. He rang up Evans immediately instructing him to keep blowing the horn every 5 minutes as we planned earlier. Evans, our driver who was been disregarded so far, was the most favorite and beloved person by now. We halted every minute to check if we could hear the honking car. We continued for another 10 minutes or so. It was then our ears were hit by something similar to a church bell ringing kilometers away, it was Evans honking and we could hear it, for the very first time. A smile ran around on every one’s face. I could get my breath back with the hope of exiting the forest alive. Meshack tried reaching Evans to stop the car at that particular spot, since he was driving to and fro. Sneaxxxx!!!! We lost the signal once again. Oh God!!!!!!!!!!!! We got drowned at the shore probably. Nevertheless giving up was not an option. We walked toward the direction in which we heard the sound. Meshack kept checking his phone every other second to see if he gets the signal. Almost after 5 minutes or so, he got the signal. We stopped there and waited for the horn of the car. We were opportune to hear it this time again. Meshack asked Evans to stop the car there itself, and so did Evan. We started walking in the direction of the car.

After 15 minutes walk the horn sounded sharper and the lights were visible. We continued walking. Every step we took and every second it took was equivalent to a day. Every step was making the feet heavier. Alas, after all that laudable efforts, we finally reached the track. Eureka! Was the only word I could shout.

Soon after we hit the track, offloading my cameras off my shoulders was the first job I did. Sqeezing out of my shirt which was drenched in sweat and dusting away the dirt out of my body which included small branches and spider nets and what not, was second. I could feel the pain from my hemorrhaged legs. But I felt alive. I felt so happy to see Evans. Suddenly I felt he is the most important person. This angel drove us back out of the forest. It was really blissful to come out of Arabuko Sokoke alive and in one piece.

Looking back at it now, I take it as an adventurous experience. I love to talk about it to my friends and colleagues when they ask about my Kenya trip. I narrate, I got lost in Arabuko Sokoke….