Welcome to Old Africa

your window into East Africa’s past.

Old Africa books

Old Africa books are well-told stories in the same tradition as the shorter pieces

our readers have come to enjoy from the pages of Old Africa magazine.

Old Africa magazine seeks to tell the story of East Africa’s past through well-written stories and vintage photographs. Founded in October 2005, the first issue featured a story about the Royal Navy’s ill-fated attempt to launch a naval presence on Lake Rudolph (now Lake Turkana) and an account of the Kedong Massacre. Since then the magazine has published stories and photos from Kenya’s diverse ethnic groups – African, Asian and European – to preserve East Africa’s history. 

God Save Our Gracious Queen

God Save Our Gracious Queen

Readers who read Old Africa magazine and bloggers who blog may wonder why on earth Dick Hedges is duplicating an existing blog and why, known for his Leftist views, should he want any monarch saved, gracious or otherwise? To the former question you will see my blog is...

A Sukuma Ceremony

A Sukuma Ceremony

My father spent 45 years living and working in East Africa. During the first 15 years he worked with the Sukuma people in northern Tanganyika. The Sukuma people are the largest ethnic groups in Tanzania and they live in the plains just south of Lake Victoria. My...

The White Man’s Grave

The White Man’s Grave

Today, not even the most adamant critic of living in Sub-saharan Africa, would suggest that it was a particularily unhealthy area in which to live. This shows how very far medicine has advanced in the last 100 years, because for well in to the 20th century, Africa,...