by Shel Arensen | Jul 11, 2018 | Shel Arensen
Mystery of Italian Inscription at Longido Solved by Annamaria Alfieri The first step in this quest belongs to Old Africa Magazine. A few years ago, as a new subscriber delving into back issues, I came across—in Number 12—a photo of a rock wall in Longido Tanzania....
by Shel Arensen | Mar 6, 2018 | Shel Arensen
Janfrans van der Eerden is a Dutch architect with a keen interest in 20th century architecture in Kenya. At present teaching classes at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, he travelled around Kenya for many years, looking for old houses and taking...
by Christine Nicholls | Dec 28, 2017 | Christine Nicholls
Early Farming Disasters in Kenya When the first white settlers started farming in Kenya in the early twentieth century, their enterprise was far from successful. Potatoes were tried, but they died of blight. At his first farm at Njoro Lord Delamere decided to raise...
by Shel Arensen | Dec 26, 2017 | Shel Arensen
In 1932 a writer identified only as JW wrote a tongue-in-cheek article about the evolving language of Kisettla, spoken in Kenya by settlers as they attempted to communicate with their African neighbours and staff. The article first appeared in the East African...
by Christine Nicholls | Nov 25, 2017 | Christine Nicholls
Rinderpest Brings Disaster in the 1890s In the 1890s many of the early European visitors to what became Kenya commented on the famine that had hit the country. What had happened? The famine was largely caused by the disease rinderpest, which had started to infect...
by Christine Nicholls | Oct 23, 2017 | Christine Nicholls
When did Electricity Come to Nairobi? In order to supply electricity for lighting and power in the district of Nairobi, the Nairobi Electric Power and Lighting Company Limited, with a capital of £30,000, was founded in February 1906. Its originator was Clement HA...
by Christine Nicholls | Oct 2, 2017 | Christine Nicholls
How did Christianity come to Kenya? The first Christians to visit East Africa were Vasco da Gama and his crew, including Roman Catholic missionaries, in 1498. He did not, however, leave any of these in East Africa and the next missionary we hear about is...
by Christine Nicholls | Aug 21, 2017 | Christine Nicholls
Odoriferous Mombasa In the first decades of the twentieth century Mombasa was often a far from pleasant place to work or live in. The old town had a graveyard where leg and skull bones stuck out of the thin layer of soil. In the Old Harbour there was a large deep tank...
by Christine Nicholls | Jul 21, 2017 | Christine Nicholls
Hugo van Lawick, Wildlife Photographer One of Hugo van Lawick’s wives, Jane Goodall, is perhaps better known to the public than he is. But van Lawick’s work was important in bringing the issue of conservation to the forefront of people’s interest. Hugo was born in...
by Christine Nicholls | Jun 19, 2017 | Christine Nicholls
The Donovan Maule Theatre Many of you will remember Nairobi’s Donovan Maule Theatre. My abiding memory is of us Kenya High School girls trying to persuade our headmistress, Miss Stott, to let us go to see Lock up Your Daughters there in 1960. She eventually relented....
Recent Comments