Kenton is a popular tourist resort in South Africa, with the month of December being the most popular for visitors. During this month, braais on the beach are commonplace and, with the locals all getting ready for Christmas, plenty of festive parties take place on the sands. Unfortunately, with an increase in visitors, comes an increase in litter, and with the tourist season drawing to a close the students were ready to give the beach a much needed makeover!
Black binbags and gloves were handed out by the rangers and the group went around picking up ring pulls, barbecue trays and the plastic surrounds from beer packs. It was disgusting to see the sheer amount of litter, and between them the students managed to fill more than a couple of black bin liners.
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As well as being a popular tourist resort, Kenton is known for its vibrant birdlife. Being an oxpecker I found it distressing to think that someone I knew could have caught their beak in the plastic and wish that people would take more notice of the signs asking them to take their litter home with them. Luckily the students did an absolutely fantastic job and got the beach looking as good as new in no time.
With the afternoon at leisure, the rangers arranged for the group to go on one of the resort’s famous bird-watching cruises. From the vicinity of their boat, the students spotted white pelican and chestnut-banded plovers, but it was the endemic Whitebacked Mousebird that proved to be the highlight of the trip. Alongside the pelicans and plovers, Kenton’s shallows are home to hundreds of migratory waders that would have definitely benefited from the earlier clean-up session. Another group that profited were the students themselves; after dipping their toes in the now clean, tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, they were finally rewarded with the cooling-off session they had been craving.
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