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. 

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...

The Prosaic Problems of Very Early Nairobi

The Prosaic Problems of Very Early Nairobi

The early colonial governors of Kenya were much exercised by the unglamorous subject of sanitation, particularly in the swamp on which Nairobi had inadvisedly developed from the few storage shacks constructed there by the railway builders, before they tackled the long...

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...