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 –...
Karen ‘Then and Now’

Karen ‘Then and Now’

It occurred to me as one of the geriatric ‘Staying-oners’ in Kenya, who has lived in Karen both ‘Then and Now’, that those who were there then might be interested in a familiarization with the modern Karen and the younger generations who are there now, might be...
Riled up Rhinos

Riled up Rhinos

On the eve of World War 2 I joined the King’s African Rifles (KAR). At Isiolo a thorn-bush covered hillside to the west had been set aside as a field firing range where the troops used live ammunition. One unit set out the targets – white six-inch square steel plates...

Christine Nicholls’ Blog, 5 December 2012

Who remembers ‘Miranda’s Merrier Moments’ in the Sunday Post?  It was a gossip column, at one time written by ‘Mugs’ Muggeridge, a secretary working for Shell. She had a lively social life and so was well placed to write the column. The column concerned itself with...