East African Safari

Breakfast was served on the rooftop where we had dinner last night but we felt rather foolish as we assumed that we would be asked to remove our shoes again, so took the precaution of not wearing any. We were slightly disconcerted to find, instead of carpet, bare boards and tables and chairs. From our vantage point we were able, in the morning light to appreciate the view of the sea with the distant islands. Breakfast was a choice of mango, papaya, pineapple and passion fruit. John also had a seed cake and this became our normal breakfast most days.

We then set off to Coastal Travel and found it teaming with tourists doing all the usual things in an agency, we only wanted to confirm our flights to Tanga and had to wait for some time for the tickets to be written out. We were informed that on Tuesday we would be collected from the hotel at 1.30 pm. Afterwards we walked around familiarising ourselves with the geography of the town. Under a tree near the beach we saw a dhow which was being constructed to be displayed in The House of Wonders, a museum charting the history of Zanzibar and the Dhow will be one of three. The other two are in Germany and England. For 1,000 shillings John was able to go on board and watch the men using traditional tools and take photographs. If my skirt had allowed me to climb the ladder and lift my leg over the side I too could have gone onboard.

Later we went to the Blue Restaurant to have a coffee and booked a table for the evening.
After lunch once again in the Kidude Restaurant we took a siesta. Later we went in a different direction, going along narrow streets and never knowing where we would come out. In a wide street were two imposing buildings that belonged to the Aga Khan and had been renovated and painted. We attracted three little boys who accompanied us as far as the sea front. We had been warned not to give children money as it would spoil them. All the streets are very narrow and they in turn have alleys leading off them, we could see why we had been warned that it was very easy to become lost. Taking a different route we picked up another unsolicited guide who could speak Spanish. When I asked him where he had learned the language he replied, “From the tourists”.
On the corner of our street there is a shop where we bought some post cards and tee shirts as presents. The total was 12,000 Tsh and we didn’t have enough money on us so John had to go back later.

That evening we went up to the Rooftop Restaurant to watch the sunset and have a drink and then went out to dinner. In the Forodhani Gardens as it was a Saturday night all the stalls were laid out with their wares of trinkets, barbecued maize and sugar cane and there were some young Masai in traditional dress. The light from dozens of barbecues along the sea front lit the darkness, Europeans and Africans were eating lobsters and other fish. The usual local craft was there and also for sale were paintings on banana leaves of animals and Masai Warriors. The Blue Restaurant is built on stilts out over the sea, we had a seaside table, the sea was illuminated by the lights and therefore we were able to watch the fish darting about in the water. As I have still not quite recovered from the side effects of the Malarone I had a Spaghetti Bolognese and like all the other food cooked here was spiced!

It was raining this morning when we woke up, I am still waiting for the African sun! We visited the Sheldrick Trust Centre. Daphne Sheldrick is responsible for saving orphan baby elephants and rhino. The Trust is situated on the edge of the Nairobi National Park. We waited for the elephants to arrive with their keepers at a given area which was roped off. The elephants ranged in age from three months to one year old. The smallest baby, now three months, had become stuck in a sandy river bed and left abandoned when something startled the herd she is was only 10 days old when she was rescued. They were all given milk from bottles. The milk is the same SMA baby formula milk. The three month old baby is fed 3 hourly, 24 hours a day until she is six months old. Daphne had tried many other types of milk in the past without success until she found with the SMA Formula the babies thrived instead of dying. Then the larger babies ate some grass, drank water with their trunks and took mud bathes. Afterwards the keepers were playing games with them with a football which was enjoyed by everyone. The eldest baby sighted some Wart Hogs that came on the scene hoping to forage some food, she took exception and shooed them away running at them with outstretched trunk.

When we left the Trust Joe decided we should go and visit another old police colleague of John’s from the Emergency. To approach his house we drove along a track which was ablaze with all the different colours of the Bougainvillea which grew wild on each side of the track. As there is so much crime in Nairobi we noticed that each property was guarded by an Askari. We were in luck as Tony Archer was at home and we sat for a time whilst the men caught up with the news of each other. Tony Archer now works in conservation for the protection of the wild animals.

We then went and had some lunch and afterwards we visited an African Market called a Mitumba that sold clothes and shoes. Somehow I had the distinct feeling that these clothes were donated during an emergency to a charity from all over the world. A lot of European women in Nairobi clothe themselves from these markets. On the way back to the Emmett’s we stopped at the Ya Ya Centre and ordered a taxi for the following morning for our flight to Zanzibar.

Gracious Living!!!! Tea brought to us at 6.30 am on a tray and breakfast at 8.00am. Out with Elsie to buy more medication for John as he was suffering from congestion, the Pharmacist had been to Spain and knew La Bisbal a town that specialises in Ceramics. It was also necessary to confirm tickets with Kenya Airways in the Travel Agency, where we collected our Mombasa train tickets, 6,4000 KS for our flight to Zanzibar, however we were told that the flight tickets had been cancelled and we needed to go to Kenya Airways, Barclay Bazaar in Nairobi City Centre. When we arrived there we found it was a take a ticket and wait for your number to be called. When it was our turn finally we were told that Trailfinders had cancelled the tickets but we were reinstated thankfully.

We then set out for Lake Naivasha at 11.30 am, a one and a half our drive. Along the main road at intervals were shanty towns, the usual Africans walking along the side of the road, farther out were goats, sheep and cattle grazing, usually with a young girl in charge of them. Cabbages, Carrots and other vegetables were for sale from specially constructed wooden displays plus sheep and goat skins. The shanty towns are run like villages with butcher and grocery shops etc, and bags of charcoal. We saw the Rift Valley and Longanot Mountain and the crater. Perhaps once, before Independence, Naivasha was a smart, clean well run town for European travellers but now it is a shanty town teeming with humanity. On the other side of Naivasha the road runs to Lake Naivasha there are huge greenhouses where roses are grown for the World Market and are flown out every morning in aeroplanes. The growers provide employment and housing for the Africans. As there are so many children some of the schools have to provide two individual sessions a day. The children wear uniforms but not all were wearing shoes. There were some ethnic round houses with pitched thatched roofs, some inhabited some derelict.

Eventually we arrived at Elsamere, overlooking Lake Naivasha, originally the house belonging to Joy Adamson of Born Free fame. Not only is it a lodge but also an education Field Study Station. The front overlooks the lake with a lawn running steeply down to the waters edge. Wooden tables and chairs were arranged on the lawn and we sat and he a welcome cool beer then lunch from the buffet arranged inside the building. The Managers are friends of Joe and Elsie so it was interesting to talk to them but unfortunately, the numbers of tourists are declining after the Suicide Bomber attacked the hotel in Mombasa. Whilst we were having lunch we watched the birds, an Ibis, a Red Baron and Starlings with beautiful plumage, in the tree above and the lawn

After lunch we walked down to the lakeside where some Africans were driving poles into the lake bed standing, rather precariously, on a stool which was in a boat. Afterwards we had a look at some of Joy Adamson’s possessions preserved in a room next to the dining area.

On the return journey to Nairobi we called in on Jane and Peter Shepherd, friends of the Emmett’s. They have two and a half acres of land beside the lake and have game roaming freely. Jane took me for a walk and I saw my first game animals. In the area were Impala, Grants Gazelles, Zebra, Water Buck, Wildebeest and two Giraffes, Mama and Mtoto. Walking back to the house I spied the hulk of a boat. It was used for meeting passengers from the Flying Boats that used to operate on the lake plus the old Customs Post.

Up early, we went for a swim before breakfast, quite cool this morning. After a shower and breakfast we packed and were ready to leave at ll.00am. There were a few spots of rain and the sun was becoming very warm. When we went to the office to pay our bill, we were told that our plane from Malindi airstrip would now not leave until 4.00pm. We had vacated our rooms and now had a lot of time to kill until departure at 2.45pm. So sat in the lounge area, read had a drink and then lunch. At the appointed time John, our taxi was waiting for us and on arrival at the airstrip we didn’t have to long to wait until our tickets were checked and we were issued with boarding cards. As there was no X-Ray machine to put the luggage through it was all opened and searched by hand. We had to sit in a waiting room for a time before boarding the plane. The flight took 15 minutes and we were met at the Lamu airstrip by a guide and a Captain? We had to walk quite a long way and then because we had to cross the sea to Lamu we boarded a very long narrow boat powered by an outboard engine. On arrival at the Lamu Palace Hotel we were greeted by the Manager and a glass of juice brought by a waiter called Daniel.

At 5.30pm the guide returned to the hotel to take us on a Town Tour. We started off in the Swahili quarter, walking through very narrow streets and occasionally we were offered the opportunity to visit varying shops selling silvery jewellery, clothes, wood carvings, haricot beans, lentils and chick peas. We then came into a huge square with an imposing building. It was the old Fort and once the sea came right up to it. John remembered this and having seen monkeys there in 1949 when he visited Lamu the last time and we have a photograph to prove it. We then had a guided tour, there didn’t seem to be too much there apart from an exhibition for school children. We were told that there were 46,000 inhabitants on Lamu with 26 mosques. After 35 minutes we decided enough was enough and returned to the hotel via a Donkey Sanctuary provided by a British charity. There are many donkeys on Lamu used as beasts of burden and there are only 3-4 motorised vehicles on the island. Along the sea front there are many buildings, The Post Office that used to have a garden at the front, the District Officers House and many other imposing Victorian buildings, but all are now in various stages of decay. The drainage around the town consists of open drains running alongside the footpaths, not sewage, I’m not sure, but washing water which all runs into the sea. At the hotel we were introduced to Captain Bubu who would take us to Manda Island in the morning for an agreed price. Our captain wanted to take us at 9.30am but we said that was too early and postponed it for one hour.

The Lamu Palace Hotel is situated right on the water front and there is a constant stream of people and donkeys passing the door. When we were shown to our room we found that we were at the front and could see the sea when lying on the bed which was very good. After showering and changing we went downstairs to the bar for a restorative Gin & Tonic. We got talking to the barman who told us about himself and how difficult it was to find work in Kenya. There are five children in his family and his father could only afford higher education for one at a time but as he has a twin brother he made a deal with him. The brother could go and train as a doctor but on completion of his studies he should finance his twin to go through his chosen subject which is IT and Business Studies. We then had dinner and went to bed.

We were up at 7.00am and sure enough we found the means to make tea outside on the terrace. Afterwards we had a long walk along the beach before breakfast. Breakfast was Chef Special, fish cakes and they were very good too. At 10’oclock we left with a resident taxi called John. He took us to Gedi to look at the ruins of an ancient Arab town 14-15th century. In the 17th century the town was abandoned, it is thought possibly because the sea had receded. Some of the buildings one could imagine how they used to look and there were some interesting things like a bathroom with washbasins and bidets, double toilets and in the Sultan’s Palace a bath that was filled through a hole from outside. The temple had no roof but had some walls. More than 50 years ago when John last visited this site there were Arab tombstones with Chinese porcelain set into them. It has all be removed and looted.

We then drove to a place that John called the Blue Lagoon and when the tide is out the small islands look like mushrooms. There we met some good natured Africans who thought it absolutely hilarious because John could still speak some Swahili. John and Joe Emmett camped here when they both worked for the Rice Irrigation Scheme more than half a century earlier.

Dinner tonight is to be a barbecue by the poolside. All the tables from the dining room were taken down there and arranged for various size parties. The hotel is called Driftwood Beach Club and the members can use the facilities whenever they want to. A lot of Europeans from long ago have retired to Malindi so tonight they have come to dinner and to meet with friends. Yesterday John noticed a gentleman and his wife having a drink before lunch, they then left, John was convinced he had been a District Officer and so it proved to be the case. After dinner we went and sat with them at the bar and talked to them for some time. When John told him that he had to go to England to live because of recurring malaria he was told that he hadn’t looked after himself, had he? There is a full moon tonight.

The drive to the Emmett’s house was filled with scenes to which a European who had never been to Africa would find a completely new experience. Africans were walking along seemingly going somewhere, people sitting and selling baskets, others cobs of corn cooked over charcoal, old clothes and shoes, furniture, beds and sofas, fruit and vegetables. There were depots from where Coca Cola can replenish the Coca Cola carts. Nairobi has a large population living in Shanty Towns the public transport consists of vehicles called Matatus with evil black toxic fumes belching out of them. They are overcrowded and inevitably people are to be seen hanging on and leaning out of the bulging mini bus risking life and limb.

The Emmett’s house is built in the colonial style a large bungalow with a verandah to the front set in a huge garden with high, protective fence surrounding the property. There is every variety of exotic plant, orchids, a mango tree, an avocado tree, with a lawn, swimming pool and Bantams with the run of the garden free range. At the back of the house are the orchid houses, Bantam pen and the accommodation for the two girls that do the cleaning, washing-up, laundry and preparation of meals etc. They also employ a Shamba boy who looks after the garden and cleans the cars. It seems that the American Missions have moved into Africa to spread the Word, there is one on the other side of the wall at the back of the Emmett’s house

We had a trip to the local supermarket and shopping mall called the Ya Ya Centre. There John booked our train tickets to Mombasa and I ordered some new glasses as I had had my eyes tested in England. John said he was suffering from Gout on arrival at the Emmett’s so we consulted with a Pharmacist and she gave him some tablets. It wasn’t gout but an infected big toe.

For the rest of the day we just sat around and talked and talked, John catching up with Joe whom he knew from his youth in the rice irrigation scheme. We went to bed at 9.00pm.

As we had stayed last night with Jane, our daughter, in England after flying from Barcelona yesterday, she took us to Heathrow Airport and saw us through Check-in and waved us through Security. We took off at 10.10pm, had dinner around midnight, filled in Immigration Entry Cards and managed to have about four hours of fitful sleep. The plane landed at Jomo Kenyatta Air Airport in Nairobi at 8.05am local time. We seemed to walk for miles through the arrivals, had our visas checked and finally we were out. The scene that greeted us was quite overwhelming, there were taxi drivers galore, some holding placards with client’s names on and others touting for a fare. I kept saying, “Thank you for offering but we are waiting for friends to collect us”. Elsie and Joe Emmett, our hosts and base for the time were in East Africa, were a bit late arriving due to traffic hold-ups.

At 5.25am I was awoken by the telephone ringing. It was an alarm call which we had not ordered, being polite I said, “Thank you” the reply was “You are welcome”. I lay there worrying whether we should get up or not, reason prevailed and I stayed where I was because Edward said yesterday evening “I will see you in Reception at 8.00am”. After breakfast we went to tell them about the call and after consulting the list decided it was No. 46, which was not written distinctly, should have had the call.

After arranging for some washing to be done we met Edward at the appointed hour and we drove down into the Crater where we spent the next nine hours. On the way down we spotted a Masai with a herd of cattle and goats, it was a precipitous walk for man and beast. It seems that once upon a time the Masai used to live down in the crater until the Government moved them out for conservation purposes and now they are only allowed to take their animals down to take water from the lakes once a day. The first thing we saw was a male lion with a kill, further along an enormous herd of Buffalo and later when we returned to the kill the vultures were there with hyenas waiting for the pickings. Today we have seen Kongoni or Hartebeest for the first time, the other animals jackals, zebra, wildebeest, elephant, ostriches, hippos in the pool on their sides because the water is spring fed and not so deep. We were looking forward to seeing Pink Flamingos in the Soda Lakes but there were very few, we did see some in flight but it was not the same spectacle as we would have seen in Kenya. The most impressive thing was the hundreds of Zebra and Wildebeest gathered on the bank of the Mumbe River. The animals would wade for a drink, something would frighten them they would all rapidly climb out repeating the exercise with frequency. Before we went off for to eat picnic lunch by a lake we came across a gathering of safari vehicles with a Ranger. We learned that a rhino with a four day old baby was lying down in the grass and it should be getting up soon as it was around the time to feed the baby. We waited and waited but it wasn’t going to oblige so we left. As with all the picnic lunches provided by the lodges it was more than adequate and enough to feed two people. Running around on the bank were Guinea Fowl practised at eliciting food from the tourists. We then returned to the place where the mother and baby were but they had moved on.

We came across an extraordinary sight, where the male ostrich, his neck was pink indicating he was in season doing his best to gain the attention of the female in order to mate. With outstretched wings and head bowed he was going a mating dance, after some time the female began the same behaviour and it was obvious it was going to take some time so we abandoned the courtship. Earlier in the day we had seen a group of five ostriches, two male and three female one of whom was showing, unluckily for her the males were not interested. Edward then glimpsed through binoculars a lioness with two cubs but not visible to the naked eye. John expressed an interest in seeing some black rhino, we drove around for ages without sighting one and then at 6.00pm Edward announced “That’s it, the end of the safari”. We started the return journey passing a large rock mound which served as a den for a hyena family with two cubs peeping out. The journey up the track out of the crater seemed a lot steeper than when we ascended this morning.

On arrival back at the Lodge we went for a short walk up the drive as we had seen a plaque on the way in from the Land Cruiser. We learned from it that the Aga Khan had built the lodge and he had opened it two years before. It was built sympathetically to blend in with the terrain, unlike the other lodges that could be seen from the crater floor, it was literally covered with bit grey pebbles. John took a photograph of the plaque and a Masai asked him if he would like to take a photograph of him but as we already had one we declined his offer. It was probably not appreciated as everyone is looking for a dollar,

Before dinner we remembered we had put out laundry to be done whilst we were out for the day and needed clean clothes so we phoned internally and it was delivered. Whilst having a drink before dinner Edward came and sat with us, we asked him would he like a drink, he asked for a Coca Cola. We have noticed most Africans prefer not drink alcohol, but in conversation we got the impression he used to drink once. We were informed that we would be leaving at 8.00am the following morning for the Mobile Camp.

John Leigh, my husband was born in Tanga, Tanganyika (Tanzania), 23rd July, 1931, during a small earth tremor, where he lived until he was seven years of age. John’s parents separated and his mother took him to England in 1938. Up until 1946, he had no contact with his father. John was put into a boarding school in Felixstowe soon after his arrival in England, but after suffering from a mastoid was removed. He hadn’t been at all well cared for.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 John and his mother went to live in Somerset where John attended a primary school until the age of 11 years. He then won a scholarship to Taunton School which he attended as a day boy for two years and then became a boarder. After gaining his School Certificate John’s father arranged for him to fly to Nairobi with Airwork Airways on a Viscount. It was one of the first airlines to operate to East Africa after the war.

John was then apprenticed to the East African Telecommunications, based in Nairobi where he worked for a short time, he wasn’t enamoured with it and left. He then helped his father to farm before he joined the Kenya Survey Department. He was then seconded to work with Americans on Primary Triangulation work in Kenya and North Western Tanzania. The work enabled John to see a vast area of the country living under canvas for long periods.

On return from U.K. leave, John was employed on a film set of the film Mogambo, starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. Afterwards he ran his father’s farm growing maize, beans, pawpaw to be used as a meat tenderiser and castor oil plants. The farm was situated in Sanya ju in Tanzania near Moshi.

Then as the Emergency in Kenya had begun, volunteers were needed to join the Kenya Police Reserve where John was in charge of a temporary Police Station in the Embu region. Later as a volunteer from Tanzania, he was able to take up work on a projected rice irrigation scheme. This scheme employed hundreds of African detainees who were housed in an armed camp.

As John was suffering from recurring Malaria, first infected whilst out on a survey safari, he returned on leave to UK and remained until we moved to live in Catalunya in N.E., Spain in 1992.

After nearly 50 years John had the opportunity to revisit the land of his birth and was 14 months in the planning using the services of the internet and flights via Trailfinders.

Wake up call at 5.30am with a tray of tea. We then went out to the front of the lodge and met Richard and a Swiss couple and left for our last game drive at 6.30am. We visited the area where the cheetah and three small cubs were two days ago but she had moved as the cubs are now strong enough to move around. Great excitement as we came across a pride of lions with two fully grown males, one dominant, they are brothers and brothers do not fight one another, two lionesses with four cubs whose manes were just beginning to grow. We then came across a family of jackals, parents and three young who feed from their parents who regurgitate the food. In amongst the trees were two lots of giraffe and on the grassland two herds of impala, Grant gazelles and then it was time to return for breakfast, pack, go to reception to pay and it was time to leave.

We enjoyed the short experience of staying in the Mara Club Lodge where once again it was comfortable the staff attentive and always smiling. The food was incredible. For every meal apart from breakfast we were served soup at the table and then we chose from the buffet which seemed to groan with food and always delicious. At breakfast if one wanted eggs they were cooked for you as and when you were ready. It was all luxurious and the tents set in beautifully kept gardens and of course the hippos.

We were taken back to the airstrip, the plane landed and we were the only passengers to board.
The Air Hostess gave us our tickets for our onward journey to Manyara. The plane a DASH 7, 4 engine, took off, landed on three more airstrips for other lodges and then onto Wilson Airport where we were greeted with the question, “Are you the party going to Kilimanjaro”? We were rushed through immigration and customs and then loaded onto a small plane, Air Kenya with 24 seats when we arrived at Kilimanjaro we were met by a representative from Elite Travel with the itinerary for the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti. We were taken into the airport building where we had to pay $50 each for International Airport tax and $5 each for local airport tax. We then boarded a 19 seat Regional Airservice plane, the same type we had flown in from Zanzibar to Tanga. We dropped into Arusha Airport where a few passengers alighted then took off and arrived at Manyara Airport three quarters of an hour later.

Edward our driver/guide met us with his reasonably new land cruiser, he will be our guide for the rest of the safari. The road to begin with was brand new and once again the money came from the Japanese Government, unfortunately the road deteriorated after 5 kms and the time to reach the Ngorongoro Crater took two hours after 70 kms. We had to wait for a while for Edward to do whatever was necessary at the entrance to the Reserve. We went into a building selling cards and maps, there were all sorts of people around with vehicles in various states of repair also waiting to arrange the paper work to pass through.

On the way Edward had told us the story of the Mbulu people. In the 18th Century a tribe called Iraquwe from North Africa travelled down to Kenya to settle. This however was not possible because the land already belonged to the indigenous tribes so they kept walking into Tanganiyka, Tanzania today, where they had the same problem as the land belonged to the Masai people. A compromise was reached if they went over the mountain of Ngorongoro they could settle there. They are the grain growers in Tanzania and are the only people to grow grain in Tanzania, wheat grown for bread and barley for beer. In the same area there is a small tribe of Bushmen, they number 99 in all and it is possible to arrange a visit. It is believed the Mbulu originate from or near Ethiopia because some of their words are similar.

On the way to the lodge as we passed along the top of the Crater, Edward stopped at the Memorial and burial place of Bernard Grzimek . This man had spent years of his life working for the Serengeti and was responsible for it becoming a Reserve making it safer for the animals. He was also responsible for the film, “Serengeti Shall not Die”. He and his son, Michael, worked together on the film and sadly Michael when flying his plane over the Crater had an accident and died.
Eventually we arrived at the Serene Lodge overlooking the Crater. We were greeted at Reception with Mango Juice and then checked in. We were shown to our Room 41, immediately we went and slaked our thirst with a beer at the bar. We then went back and unpacked, showered and went to dinner. The food once again was excellent but this time we ordered from a menu and brought to the table by a waiter. We noticed the Africans had some extraordinary names from the name badges. On returning to our room we discovered we had central heating which was very necessary because as night approaches it becomes very cold.