We have neglected our blog!

Since Simon last wrote our blog we have gotten married in the UK, built a large treehouse at Imani with a new bar, had his best friend to visit and his dad, and been busier than ever with guests!! I will probably write the blog from now on, after going back and forth from the UK alot last year, I am now also a permanent fixture at Imani. It is truly wonderful to be together here now, we're all settled in and just continuing to try and make progress...! Next year we hope to be able to build a jetty over the bit of coral rock in front of Imani, but for now we are very pleased with our 'treehouse'. It provides a great view from inside the villa, and a lovely spot for dining or sitting. At night, once the sun has set, the lights from the fishing boats make a romantic twinkle on the ocean.

The latest highlight has been swimming with dolphins at the south of the island. We were reluctant to go at first because we were concerned about reports that the dolphins felt harrassed. However, some guests still went on the trip and repeatedly told us how the dolphins love to play, and they are free to swim away at any time they choose, and what a wonderful experience it is!! So, finally, when Simon's dad was visiting us we decided to make the trip. And truly, we can endorse that it is a great trip!! The dolphins come back again and again to play with the humans, and they choose to swim up to the surface to see us up close with our snorkel masks on. They come so close!! It is a fantastic experience. We saw a mother and baby very close, and could hear the sounds they make to communicate with each other. It was a fantastic experience!
We don't have an underwater camera, but below is a picture from the boat. There are only 3 in the picture, but we were surrounded by an entire pod, about 15-20 dolphins in a pod, and even another pod came to see us!

Continuing the wildlife theme, Simon's dad was very eager to spot a bushbaby, which jump around the garden at night. They are quite shy creatures, but now the treehouse is on a high level amongst the foliage, it is easier to spot them. Finally, on his last night he saw one. In the same week, Simon and I had been extra lucky- we were sat up in the treehouse about 10pm, both quiet reading, and a bushbaby came inside the treehouse, did some hop skips and jumps and then hopped up on to the adjacent wall. He then hid behind some palm leaves, and gently making a little opening with his paws he stuck his head through and looked right at us!! It was as if he was playing peek-a-boo with us!!! Then he ran along the wall, doing some specatular little jumps stood up vertically (like a kangaroo?!!) and he was away in to the night! It was quite a show!!! And they are supposed to be shy!!! We normally spot one at least once a week, but such a performance is unusual.

I will sign off with a picture of a bush baby from the internet, we haven't tried to picture one with our own camera in the dark! We don't have such a great camera, and also you never know when you will see one, so the likelihood of capturing the moment on camera is quite slim!



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