Manda Bay Newsletter

December 2009

We have had unprecedented rain in October and our total expected rainfall in one month, which has been fabulous.  The grass is green, the buffalos are delighted and although our guests were not sunbathing for a few days when it seemed to rain all day, we did manage to still have fun even if it was in bar and in the dining room and not out snorkelling!  

Ed spent all of last month on the ocean on Shakina.  He took the Ablitts on a fabulous safari up from Mafia Island, in Southern Tanzania, to Zanzibar and then to Pemba Island, Tanzania, and onto Funzi keys in Shimoni and finally up through Watamu and Malindi and then to Lamu.  The fishing was not outstanding but they had some fabulous exploring along the way and enjoyed some luxury accommodation along the way as well as camping out on the boat under the stars.

Since then, both Cheza and Shakina have been fishing the Lamu and Kiwayu waters looking for Sailfish.  The heavy weather seems to have disrupted the fishing a little but there have been quite a number of sailfish coming in now and we are catching at least one or 2 every day.

We have had a quiet November with a few fishing safaris and the home crew have taken the opportunity to get the fitness regime into place and do a little skiing and swimming to get into shape.  We have also taken on a Kite – surfing instructor for December and hope this is a success.
The helicopter has finally arrived at Manda Bay and we can now offer her services for fishing excursions, scenic flights, charters and of course specialised flight safaris.   So far, it has been a great success.   

Fuzz, Bimbi, Andy and Caragh are all well as are Charlie and Ed.   We had a huge excitement last week when the Leopard was spotted on a number of occasions near the airstrip hangers.  

We look forward to welcoming guests here for Christmas and New Year – for the rest of you who are unable to come to the sunshine – have a wonderfully festive season and we look forward to catching up with you in the new year.