East African Safari

Despite the air conditioning I didn’t sleep too well as it was too warm. The breakfast was not as enjoyable as at Emerson & Green, in fact the food at this hotel not up to the standard that we had enjoyed in Zanzibar. We had arranged with the taxi driver who had collected us from the airstrip to pick us up this morning at 10.00am for a trip to Pangani but first John asked him to turn left at the exit to explore the area to see if John could identify the house where he used to live. John recognised the Rascazone Swimming Club where he used to go when small, but was unable to identify the house. We then turned around and headed towards Tanga where the drive stopped to fill up with Petrol.

Pangani is south of Tanga and the road was appalling, the taxi is ancient, 20 years old, at least, with most of its accoutrements either missing or just fallen off. It took forever to arrive at the Orgivia Lodge for lunch. However the scenery was worth it as every few kms. we would pass through an African village, the houses were constructed similarly to the farmer’s houses in Zanzibar. They consisted of a frame made of upright poles laced with cross members and the gaps filled in with mud. They had pitched roofs covered with coconut palm fronds which are very plentiful in this area. As it was examination day in the schools today all the small children were at home. Similarly as in Spain the sheep, goats and calves are taken out every day to graze. In this area there are enormous sisal plantations, hectare upon hectare of sisal in different stages of development, some of the plants that had already been cut appeared to have short trunks.

After arriving at the lodge we were shown the estate. For bedrooms there are separate stone rooms and tents with “en suite” bathrooms set on platforms and they looked amazingly comfortable. The gardens were beautiful and we walked through them on a concrete path down towards the sea where there was a swimming pool, a bar and chaise longue. From here it was a short distance to the beach and sea. It would be a lovely place to spend a quiet holiday.

We returned to the main building and as we approached the entrance there was a Mahogany log carved with a myriad of elephant, so many it was impossible to count them. The thatched roof building consists of an office, dining room and kitchen. The huge dining area is open and overlooks a lawn.. We invited our driver to have lunch with us. We then had a very welcome Kilimanjaro beer and the driver a Coca Cola. After ordering we all three sat down, we were the only guests, the driver had ordered a hamburger and chips and we a salad of pasta, mango and chicken. It was delicious. After lunch we set of for the return journey on a single track road that passed through villages where at one house was a large gathering and the driver said it was a wedding party.

On arrival back in Tanga John asked the driver to go down Pangani Road to see if he could identify another house where he once lived however the driver didn’t seem to understand the instructions and we never found it, we did however pass the church where he was christened.

Before we went out to Pangani this morning we met the wife of the owner of the Mkonge Hotel, she is an Austrian and her husband an Indian they met in London. They own three hotels the other two are in Mombasa and Nairobi. She was bewailing the fact that as in every other part of East Africa after the bombs, there are now too few tourists. We then asked her was it safe to go out for a short walk, yes but we were to remove watches, rings etc., and take no money. This was advised was because, recently, a Japanese tourist had been attacked at 2.00 pm recently. We went out around 6.00 pm and it was the time when people were returning from work and alighting from Matumbas. I didn’t feel entirely safe. We walked down he path to the Rascazone Swimming Club that we had seen this morning but we were not allowed to enter as it was a 200Tsh., entry fee and we had no money.

We rose at 8.00am, went up to the restaurant for a cooked breakfast, vacated room, paid the bill as we were going to Tanga later in the day. We walked down towards the main port and saw a very old giant Baobab tree, under which two dhows were being built. The men became quite agitated with John because he took some photographs so we moved rapidly away. The old dispensary, now restored by the Aga Khan Trust to its former glory looked very impressive and is now a Culture Centre. Next we visited the old Customs House from colonial times when Zanzibar would have been a thriving port and a Sultan’s Palace which is now a museum. The story goes that anyone who passed the Palace had to lower their eyes as should one look up it was death.

We had a taxi arranged for 1.00 pm to take us to the airport and it took 15 minutes to arrive at the airport. Before going through departures John checked into Coastal Travel and had to pay 5,000 Tsh each as airport tax. First a 12 seat plane took off for Dar es Salaam then five minutes later our plane arrived. We were last onto the plane and there was no seat for John, the rep. for Coastal Travel went back to the office and after some minutes returned and removed one passenger. So John had a seat after all. There was much hilarity amongst the passengers and the pilot joked that he would have had to throw me of as well. We headed for Pemba and after landing most of the people alighted there, all that remained on the plane was a citizen of Tanga and us. We arrived at Tanga 15 minutes after takeoff landing on grass airstrip. There was a prearranged taxi, which transferred us to the Mkonge Hotel. Our room was on the 1st floor overlooking the sea. The gardens swept away from the building down to edge and were lovely there we had tea. We met an American business man who owned a farm at Dadoma where maize, sisal and spices including coriander were grown. Later from the terrace of our room we watched a group of monkeys playing on the lawn.

This morning from the small balcony off our bedroom I looked down into the narrow street and watched children going to school, quite early as it was before 8.00 am. Coming from the opposite direction was a woman cleaning the street her only equipment was a basket and two pieces of ply to collect the garbage from the street. Opposite the windows were hung with curtains that looked like rags. Many Swahili families live in poor accommodation around the town.

After breakfast we met our prearranged guide to tour the town on foot. Our first visit was to the market on the edge of Stonetown. We visited the fish, meat and poultry markets. Fish is the cheapest and poultry the most expensive. Every part of the cow or bullock is displayed. All the innards, the head and the rest of the cuts are for sale, it was a very gory sight. Chickens come in many guises they are smaller than we are used to in Europe. You are able to buy one alive and take it home, dead but not plucked, or dead and plucked. We then moved onto the fruit and vegetable stalls. The tomatoes were stacked in pyramids it was a painstaking procedure and required a lot of patience, there were breadfruit and enormous grapefruit and of course spices being a spice island.

Next we visited one of the sites where the slaves were kept before being sold. The building today is a small church which we entered and then went down into the dungeon. The slaves were chained and segregated and kept on platforms. The river used to run through the building which sluiced away the urine and excrement of the slaves, it must have been foul. They were poorly fed and often died. Normally they were kept for a week in one of these places before being sold. At the sale they were beaten by the merchants who sold them to show which were the strongest. The sale took place on the green opposite where the Serene Hotel now stands, The hotel was built by the Aga Khan, the site is known as Kaleli Square and Kaleli in Swahili means noise. The noise came from the screaming of the slaves from the beatings they received.

We then visited the Anglican Cathedral, Church of Christ. Inside, sitting on pews were school children having a history lesson with their teacher. The first bishop is buried here behind the altar. There is a crucifix made from the wood from the tree that David Livingstone died beneath in Africa. He wanted his heart to be buried where he died and his body interred in England. At the entrance to the cathedral are two load bearing columns that were installed upside down. It seems the builder went away for a few days and was not there to supervise their installation, instead of having them reversed it was decided to leave them as they were.

We were taken into shops I think with the idea that we might buy something, there is probably an arrangement in order for the guides make some extra money. Our guide said he wasn’t feeling very well as he was suffering from Malaria. He told us that he shared an apartment with some other young men and they were rationed with water every day. It is difficult to have a wife because he would have to give her father a bride price. As mortgages don’t exist they build houses very slowly adding to it as and when they can afford it, which explained the amount of houses in different stages of construction.

We wandered through the old Arab Fort that is now used for shows at nights and afterwards the House of Wonders where slowly exhibits are being created showing the history of Zanzibar. it used to be a Sultan’s Palace, then an administrative building.

We had dinner up in the rooftop restaurant and we were entertained between courses by an Arab who played the violin, not very well, who passed around his cap for remuneration.

As we had booked to go to the Rain Forest and a Spice Farm today we were up early for breakfast at 7.30am. Our driver/guide, Omani, arrived at 8.30am and immediately set off. Out of town the people live in small houses along the road side, some are stone houses and some rectangular mud and thatched houses. Native cattle were used to pull the carts, not donkeys. A rubbish dump that was burning didn’t seem to be the right place for children to be rummaging around but they were. Further along we passed a walled area in which there had been a Trade Fair years before and now abandoned to the elements.

As we approached a stretch of road there appeared to be Mango trees planted symmetrically. The legend was that at the beginning of the 19th Century the sister of the Sultan had a palace on the coast in this area she employed only male slaves. At night she took one of them to bed and if he proved sexually unsatisfactory he was killed the following day, however if he was good she would keep him for three nights and then he too was executed. So for every slave that had been killed a Mango tree was planted.

We arrived at the Rain Forest and were appointed a guide. Firstly we were taken to the habitat of the Red Colubus Monkeys. They were sleeping and we could see a couple of babies. Their preferred food is the Indian Almond Tree which was just beginning to come into leaf and they prefer the young tender leaves for food and ignore the tough ones. Like cows, the monkeys regurgitate the food to chew. Their gestation period is seven months. Perhaps we were too early because they were not very lively monkeys.

The rain forest was very impressive as there were huge Red Mahogany trees, Eucalyptus and Pine from Australia all reaching up to the sky. As there is a high water table, and some of the trees have short roots, they sometimes topple over, lurking in the ground are water crabs living in little burrows, elsewhere lizards, snakes, centipedes plus red and grey squirrels. Giant Ficus with Sycamores intertwined, palms that once they flower die. Emerging from the rain forest we entered the Coral forest, less dense and less humidity and came across more Colubus monkeys which were far more active, swinging through the trees and playing. There was a lot of coral rock and we were reminded that Zanzibar emerged from the sea as an island. The coral rock is used for building. When we arrived back at the beginning of the tour we had a soft drink and set off for the Spice Farm.

We retraced the original route and then after a short time turned off the main road and entered a small privately owned farm. All our preconceived ideas of how spices grow were removed. Our first spice was a vine growing up a tree with berries, they were unripe pepper corns. Cinnamon trees from which the bark is removed, dried and like cork trees they renew themselves. Ginger root was easy to identify, Turmeric is a root which surprised us. Nutmegs grow on large trees and like a coconut they grow in a husk, when that is removed there is a red membrane covering the nut and this is Mace. There is a custom that a bride one hour before her wedding is given an infusion of nutmeg which is an aphrodisiac and this ensures the bride will be ready for her husband! Cloves grow on a tree, they also were unripe, a Jack Fruit tree, the fruit is huge and eaten sliced and is very sweet. The flavour is a cross between banana and pineapple. From the Lipstick bush the fruit is dried and used for colouring for Tandoori curries. Vanilla was just coming into flower and the banana palms were in flower but also bore fruit. The Pineapples were very small and take a year to reach maturity.

Then the tour was over and we were driven back to Stonetown. At this time there was a petrol shortage due to some dispute and any petrol was coming to Zanzibar from Dar el Salaam on the mainland, therefore there were very few cars around for a few days. We were lucky that our driver has able to fill his tank.

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.