More Stories from East Africa's past for you to enjoy
Baby Encounters Python
In l957, my husband Jobst was building a boarding school at the small settlement of Chimala on the Great North road between Iringa and Mbeya. At the time we lived in Tukuyu, the Headquarters of Rungwe District and about 70 miles from Chimala over a mountainous,...
On Growing Old in Kenya – Part 2
My enthusiasm for all things Kenyan originates from my having been granted my Kenyan citizenship soon after independence and I thus find myself being one of the ‘oldest’ Kenyan cits around. Having spent 37 years of my life as a British citizen and 46 years as a Kenyan...
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...
Old Africa Author on YouTube
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...
Christine Nicholls’ Blog, 25 January 2012
My 2 January blog talked about the arrival of Jewish people in Kenya. One of the earliest, Sammy Jacobs, was a real entrepreneur. He started ‘The Dustpan’ store in Nairobi, where you could buy almost anything. This is what the magazine African World said about his...
Kenya Cup Rugby Final 1976
Who's who? In 1976, he first year I played rugby for Kenya Harlequins, the Kenya Cup was a split side competition with each of the big Nairobi clubs putting up two sides. I played for Quins Ruffians. We won the Kenya Cup semifinal against Nondies Lions and the second...
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...
Kenya High School
Some photos of the Kenya High School have reminded me of the origins of the school. Perhaps a few of you would like to add details or bring the account below up to date? Does the swimming pool still exist, and the open air theatre? The Kenya High School had its...
Historic Photo
This photo shows Naivasha town in about 1907.
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 –...
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia
Going through some dusty mission archives last week, I found a note on some old committee meeting notes that Prince Paul of Yugoslavia visited Kijabe in 1942 and donated 500/- to the work of Africa Inland Mission. Prince Paul of Yugoslavia? Some quick internet...
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...
Christine Nicholls’ Blog, 8 January 2012
Happy New Year to Everyone! I received a greetings card from Tommy Joseph over the festive season. Some of you will have known him in Kenya, where he grew up and went to school. He’s the author of an interesting book – Why There Were Jews in Nakuru (Haifa, 1998)....
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, 13 December 2011
We had such a windy night in Oxford last night, with 70-mile-an-hour gusts, that I awoke with a start at the sound of a crash. I thought, in my sleepy, state, that there must be a poltergeist in the room. This reminded me of the Ghost of Leven House, in Mombasa. In...
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...