209 replies to this topic

[Geoff]

Wow this is good. more please.

[dikdik]

I am floored by the quality of the photos.

And thanks again for sharing, truly great.

[twaffle]

The second house we lived in during our time in Kampala was in a suburb called Nakasero. At the bottom of a hill next to the house there used to gather dancers from various tribes who would dance and sing for whoever chose to stop and listen. It was fantastic, the beat and the rhythm would invade our house and garden and we would rush down the drive and sit in the grass watching with amazement. (Nothing to do with topless women, I hasten to add! )
This hill was where we used to take our tin and cardboard slides and laboriously climb up, then slide down exultantly. My older sister in particular, had scant regard for our safety.

Acholi dancers

We weren’t to know that within 10 years Idi Amin would preside over the wholesale slaughter of the Acholi people.

Baganda dancers

On one occasion, a documentary crew came to film the dancers but I don't have information on who it was for. The camera and tripod can just be seen at the top left hand side of the photograph.

Heading north east to Karamoja along the Soroti-Moroto Road.

A Karamajong village with thorn walls.

In Moroto, the regional capital.

For those with an interest in Uganda, Karamoja is a very arid area bordering Sudan and northern Kenya. In the north of this area is Kidepo National Park which I believe is starting to re assert itself as a safari destination. This area, known for its warriors has been a particularly troublesome area for travellers.

[twaffle]

Thank you for your supportive comments … it is quite daunting putting part of your life on display.

[twaffle]

Dad took us on a safari of a different kind, to Europe. I imagine we did some sort of snow activity but it is of little importance to this story. What was really significant was that we purchased our first NEW car. How exciting for us children. It was a Ford Taunus and we picked it up in Europe and drove it around then had it shipped back to Uganda. Sports cars might be good as a 'boy's toy' but they aren't much fun if you're squashed in the back.

After Christmas 1964 we packed up the new car and set off for a beach holiday in Mombasa. Unheard of … sand, sea and sun!

This is us lunching on the first day of driving. The young man in attendance wasn't one of our servants, but a local who dropped in for a chat. You could never have a picnic without having attendant watchers. It is something we all got used to. I am the one stuffing food in my face … I remember thinking that I needed to be doing something when having my photo taken, but why food I don't know!

Our first stop was at Lake Nakuru.

Halfway up the Eastern escarpment of Eastern Rift Valley.

We next stopped at Tsavo National Park but we only have a few photos of gazelle and ostrich and they really aren't worth showing.

Next we spend some time Gedi National Park and travel back to Uganda through Nairobi National Park, where we actually saw Wild Dogs, unbelievable but true. But I need to scan these in so "that's all folks" … for now!

[Game Warden]

Great Twaffle: I'm really enjoying your hard work, as I'm sure the other members are.

[russell]

Fantastic Twaffle, please keep on sharing.

[basto]

Absolutely amazing. Thanks a lot for sharing this Twaffle! Please keep it coming!

/Tom

[Hebog]

Twaffle,

Thank you for all your hard work and bravery in sharing your early life. Now I must do some work - at least until the next chapter!

[twaffle]

Hebog, you'll have plenty of time. I have boxes of slides to go through to try and chose ones which will be of interest. Then I have to scan them and of course I have to work as well. But I think doing this has unleashed so many memories, as Hari alluded to earlier. So many stories are coming to mind that I can't think which will be interesting and which will be as boring as watching a yacht race.

But thanks everyone for coming along on the ride with me.

[madaboutcheetah]

Thanks a lot, Twaffle ...... very appreciative of your time and efforts!

[Pangolin]

Everybody has said it already, but this has been great to see. Thanks for your efforts, Twaffle.

[Paolo]

Fantastic memories! I thought that Northern White Rhino had already disappeared from Uganda by 1964....but truly you (and your family) had an amazing sighting. It really must have been wonderful back then.

Thanks so much for sharing.

[twaffle]

The rhino sighting was extremely rare, I don't imagine that there were more than a handful left. I remember even as a child, hearing adults talking about white rhino and hoe they thought they would all be gone soon. At least when we got to Kenya we saw large numbers of black rhino, which I loved.

[twaffle]

One other comment about white rhinos, back then I am not even sure that the northern white rhino had been scientifically separated from the southern white rhinos. I believe (correct me if I am wrong) that the northern rhinos were isolated to areas north west of the Nile. I don't know how long the 2 were separated and how widespread the northern ones ever were. When I have time I will do a bit of research. Dad has some old books from that time which may shed light on how rhinos were perceived in the '50s and '60s.

[Paolo]

I also recall - from older books - that Northern White Rhinos were mostly localised in the so called Lado Enclave north west of the Nile. At least, big game hunters at the beginning of last century (including their clients such as Roosevelt) used to hunt them there.

Not sure whether at that time they were considered scientifically separated from their southern cousins.

[madaboutcheetah]

So, did the Rhinos at Nakuru come from SA?

[Game Warden]

We weren’t to know that within 10 years Idi Amin would preside over the wholesale slaughter of the Acholi people.

That's a poignant line right there...

[twaffle]

So, did the Rhinos at Nakuru come from SA?

Hari, I am pretty sure that all the white rhinos in Kenya came from South Africa … I may be wrong but when we were there we never saw white rhinos, they had been wiped out. I would be confident to say that the white rhinos which used to be in Kenya wouldn't have been Northern whites as they didn't cross the Nile. I must say though, that it does make me want to find out more about some of the issues that have come out of going through these slides. Someone reading may shed more light on this as my knowledge is woefully short.

Matt, very poignant and so sad. Idi Amin was a general when we were there, no one could possibly have thought how bad it would become. But no one probably imagined the genocide would be so bad in Rwanda either. When I first scanned the tribal slides a few years ago for an idea I had for a book, I did quite a bit of research on which tribes were affected the most by Amin's regime. It would be a good topic for a Masters or PhD, perhaps someone has already done that.

[twaffle]

I remember visiting the ancient ruins of the Swahili town of Gedi. I don’t remember much about the first Mombasa visit but we stayed at Malindi (up the coast) and Gedi is just South of there. I remember dense jungle and great humidity. We walked through the undergrowth until reaching a clearing where you could see the beginnings of the ruins. Ancient stone walls still fighting to escape the encroaching plants. It was an eerie place with not many visitors, in fact I don’t remember any other people there at all. I don’t think the excavations had been going for very long because of the state of the town and lack of tourist infrastructure.

Back in Mombasa, loading dhows.

We returned to Kampala through Nairobi with a stop at the Nairobi National Park. The hartebeest and wildebeest fascinated us, but now when I look at the photos the hartebeest were mainly topi. We never knew them as topi, all the antelope with that unusual shape were called hartebeest. How ignorant we were!
This is a view over the river Athi in the Nairobi National Park.

In later years, when we had settled in Nairobi, sometimes we would visit Nairobi National Park early in the morning just to watch the hartebeest (topi) and wildebeest at play. In those days the traffic was non existent so the trip took no time at all. We would drive out onto the plains, find the herds and sit with our thermos of tea and watch the antics. One of those simple pleasures that you don’t seem to get when on a safari lasting a couple of weeks. I will make a vow to spend more time just sitting with antelopes, no matter what everyone else wants to do! I will obviously need to travel on my own.