As I sat on the shore looking out to sea, I noticed several figures who seemed to be walking a mile into the sea. ‘Is it me or do I see human figures walking inside the ocean?’
‘Yeah,’ the security guard replied. ‘Those are people doing the coral walk. Would you like to go there?’
‘Are you kidding me?’ I replied. ‘What would I do if the ocean came rushing back? I’d never make it to shore on time.’
‘The sea has regular times when the tide goes in and out. With a proper guide, anyone can go in there,’ he reassured, but I wasn’t buying any of it.
True to character though I found myself on the very walk two days later. My husband had negotiated with a beach guide and soon the arduous journey began. We had to be in shoes, or at least strong, well-covered sandals. Reason? Sea urchins - and all sorts of other creatures ready to sting your bare feet should you accidentally or otherwise step on them.
My sandals soon proved pretty useless for the walk and our guide kindly offered me his sports shoes (he was well prepared), and I promptly accepted, giving him my sandals instead. See, he was more experienced than I and could easily dodge any mischievous sea-creature.
The walk was incredibly slow - walking in water is no mean task, and there was so much to see. Beautiful seaweed and sea flowers; corals, numerous marine life including sea urchins, starfish, sea-gherkins (living creature that very much resembles the plant gherkin); crabs, and shells of all kinds used as shelter by various creatures.
If you had told me I could walk a mile into sea without being more than two-feet deep in water, I might have disagreed until now. It so happens that along the Mombasa North Coast is a natural barrier to the Indian Ocean in the form of Coral Reef. As such the deep sea does not really begin till you are at the Reef. Between the Reef and the shoreline though is the flatish expanse where the sea overflows to during high tide. At low tide it recedes leaving an area one can walk on, though still marshy at places. This ritual goes on every day, except at certain rare times when the sea is rough and the tide does not quite go back enough for people to make the walk.
Once you reach the Coral (barrier) Reef, you thank God you made the trip. For this really is where the sea begins, and the waves break constantly in wonderful yet awesome formations, providing that beautiful sea breeze and experience that gives the Coast its true name. You watch the deep blue waves suddenly break into sparkling, pure white foam, then wash gently against your feet as they pour onto the shallow side of the Reef. You get drawn by the sheer vastness of the abyss that is the blueness spreading out before you into oblivion, and it dawns on you you have no desire to attempt to cross the barrier without being on some high speed boat or motored craft.
This is where the forward walk must end for those on foot, so you begin to walk along the deep sea shoreline till you start the journey back, this time walking over live and dead coral, and dodging a colony of sea-urchins like you’ve never seen. At this point my skin literally crawled. The black, spiky creatures looked ready to strike at any moment, clearly visible by the dozens under the pristine water. It was a precarious journey through this section and the guide cautioned as much.
By and large it was an exciting and thrilling experience but not without its downside, for my husband did get stung even while wearing his sandals. He downplayed it though but I can just imagine the pain he endured for the remainder of the journey. Later when he asked me for a pin or needle I had no idea what it was for until he produced the little bit of a spike the sea-urchin had managed to plant into his foot… uuhgg!
I was glad when it was over. Glad that I had indeed done the walk – the view of the sea from the barrier reef is priceless; glad that we had made it back without a Tsunami sweeping us forever into the sea; delighted at all the precious and beautiful marine life we had feasted our eyes on; and definitely glad to be firmly back on dry land!
All that night I dreamt I was still doing the walk, or that I was swimming. That’s what a 2-hour walk in the water can do to you. My brain kept going long after my body had stopped… ha ha ha.
If the beach guide got stung under those useless sandals of mine, I’ll never know. He, like my husband, was a perfect gentleman and only worried about getting us through safely. His sports shoes were just what I needed. I never would have escaped otherwise.
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