Arms Trade in East Africa

Arms Trade in East Africa In 1847 the missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf saw a caravan taking 1000 muskets inland; this was just one example of the vast number of arms supplied to the interior of Africa. When traders, Arab and other, reached Uganda it was common for them...
Epidemics in Early Nairobi

Epidemics in Early Nairobi

Now that we are suffering another epidemic, it is interesting to look at the epidemics in Nairobi 120 years ago, when the city was in its infancy. There was an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1902, in the Indian bazaar. There were 69 cases of whom 55 died. Energetic...

Europeans Settle in Molo

Europeans Settle in Molo In 1819 Sir Frederick Jackson was travelling from Naivasha to Sotik. When he emerged from the Mau forest he saw miles of rolling countryside. The first surveys of this area were made in 1903. It was an uninhabited plateau, too cold at...

The First Kenya Railway Survey

The First Kenya Railway Survey The final routes of the East African Railway Now that the new railway is again under consideration it is interesting to look at the original plans for the first Kenya-Uganda railway.  The preliminary surveys were made in 1891 and 1892...
Mombasa’s Roman Catholic Cathedral

Mombasa’s Roman Catholic Cathedral

In 1885 the first modern Catholics in Mombasa were encouraged by Monsignor Raoul de Courmont, Vicar Apostolic of Zanzibar, who sent from Zanzibar Father Alexandre le Roy, a Holy Ghost missionary disguised as an Arab to avoid religious rivalry, on an exploratory visit...
Trout Fishing in Kenya

Trout Fishing in Kenya

Trout Fishing in Kenya Kenya is renowned for its excellent trout fishing, but trout are not indigenous to the country.  They were introduced to Kenya rivers during the early years of the 20th century.  Lords Delamere and Colonel Grogan purchased a large consignment of...