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Raymond Glover’s Diary
Tidal Forests of Kenya
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August 1, 2009: Back to work
 Today we were back in Kinondo. We split into three teams. I was working
with Robert and Michael recording fauna on the remaining plots. One
team was recording biomass and the other recording the insects on plots.
After the welcome madafu break Michael and I were given the task of
taking four shallow sol temperature readings from each of the 36 plots.
With all the data collected we returned for lunch. In the lab this
afternoon two teams were entering data on the computers and Tima and
myself were working on the next stage of the soil samples. Today we had
to separate the sediment into two sizes: 63 microns and 500 microns. We
did this by making two sets of foil trays for each sample, then stirring
each sample for 10 minutes to separate the sediment before passing this
through two sieves and putting the sediment into the trays before going
back into the oven for drying. Once they are dry we will return to
weigh them and record the data.
At 6 pm we were given a talk by Dr Kairo about his family and his work
in Gazi and with KMFRI. He came to Gazi in the 1990s as an graduate student
studying the mangrove forests. It is clear from being in the village
the impact his work has had on the community here; from helping to
provide better water and sanitation in the village, the funding of new
buildings for the primary school to assisting with the sponsoring of
students to continue their education. There are currently more than 30
children benefiting from the assistance of sponsors introduce to Gazi
by his work.
With no electricity in the village tonight (unplanned) we made
arrangements to go to a club in Ukunda t o see a singer called Mr. Blue.
Tima and Zulekha had to get permission from their parents to attend.
When we arrived there was no one inside the club; we were quite early; but as we had a drink outside there were very few people turning up.
With this and the high entry fee, we ended up going to a more
traditional Kenyan bar where a live band were playing and entertaining a
reasonable sized crowd. We had fun watching the differing dance moves
between the men, who were very restrained, and the more
flamboyant moves of the women (one in particular drew a lot of
attention). We then headed back to the village to get some well
deserved sleep.
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