Cow Dung Saves Life

My uncle Alec Roberts’s accident is well documented in both the Lancetand in our family history records. In those days when cattle were long horned, they had to be dipped every week against East Coast Fever, a deadly parasitic disease for which there was no...
Ahoy Africa

Ahoy Africa

The world was at war in 1942, the year I was born. Allied forces were fighting to suppress a dominating dictator and to defend America against foreign forces. During this time of turbulence, I, Betty Elaine, was born to a young preacher’s family, joining my older...

On Growing Old in Kenya

I have not yet found any area of the planet earth in which it would be pleasant to grow old. I do however count myself extremely fortunate to be growing old in Kenya for the following reasons. The indigenous populations of East Africa have a culture of respect for the...

The Parable of the Layby

Here’s a topical thought since layby-occupying ‘Travellers’ are being ‘hounded’ in the UK this month, while laybys are an often-overlooked pleasure of life in Africa. So heed ye now The parable of The Laybys. Drive from Lands End to John-O-Groats in the UK and lay by...

New Life

Looking out over ‘my’ three-acre property here above Lake Naivasha, my daughter and I recently recorded the sighting of three juvenile Greater Spotted Cuckoos. It had been many years since I’d seen one out on the dirt road to the Maasai Mara. Being avid birdwatchers –...