april-may 2015

2 travel news April-May 2015 April-May 2015 travel news 3

digital media at its best made in kenya for the world issue 51/52 - april-may 2015

travelnewsKenya

Delta DunesThe Wild Place By The Sea

The HadzabeVictims of Progress

Book Reviews + Guest Gallery + Miscellaneous Ramblings + Battlefield Tours


our opening shot

A room with a view - at The Sanctuary at Ol Lentille in northern Kenya. Click HERE to learn more...


contents

news 10

delta dunes 16

miscellaneous ramblings 26

the hadzabe 28

guest gallery 34

battlefield tours 40

book reviews 46

Publisher & Editor Tony Clegg-Butt

Director Alison Clegg-Butt

Sales & MarketingDavid Kiathe

Editorial Contributors

Julia Lawrence, Lauren R. GianniniDan Stiles

Photographic Contributors

Christopher Haslett, New African TerritoriesDan Stiles, Lauren R. Giannini

On the Cover: Sand yachting at Delta Dunes

The opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers who cannot accept blame for errors or omissions. The publishers do not accept responsibility for the advertising content of the magazine nor do they promote or endorse products from third party advertisers.

©2015 Travel News (Kenya) Ltd.All rights reserved.

Contact us: click HERE


editorial

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WelcomeMy sincere apologies for us being away for so long. 'Beyond our control' sounds like the right sort of excuse - if indeed an excuse is needed. All will be revealed in this month's Miscellaneous Ramblings on page 26.

This combined edition might be the future, with Kenya's already perilous tourism industry in shatters following another senseless attack on our innocent citizens. Global terrorism sadly is a fact of life. Someone overseas asked me if I could guarantee their safety in Kenya. My reply was that that was a question too far, in that I couldn't even guarantee their safety on the street where they lived.

Peter Silvester a longtime high-end safari operator here in Kenya posted what follows on social media. Well meaning, with a touch of anger - we salute you for your commentary:The world has changed and the mainstream media is struggling to remain relevant. We have always had the media 'promoting’ terrorism, even in the days of the IRA, ETA and the PLO. What has changed is that we are now promoting a new cause or organisation almost every month. ISIS, AL Q, AL S, BOKO H, each one is killing for attention, each one needing to commit a despicable act as publicly as possible to get that attention, and each one with a limitless choice of soft targets. It is just too easy and we would save a lot of innocent lives if we simply moderated the way we reported it. Even leaving out the name of the organisation would make a huge difference: ‘Mindless, nameless radicals attacked a church, a school, a train, a plane’.Painful, Shameful, Impotent, Obscurity.In the days of the IRA and PLO we understood at some level ‘the cause’. Now it is mindless violence, designed to exchange shock for sound bites. This is not about Islam, it is not about self governance or oppression.This is about Anarchy, Power and Organised crime. The Charcoal Business, The Ivory Trade, Poaching, Human Trafficking, Kidnap and Ransom.Is it not time we called it exactly what it is and stopped legitimising it as if it had some altruistic cause, some higher meaning? “

Tony Clegg-Butt


the news the newsNew KWS Chairman AnnouncedGlobally recognised conservationist Kenyan Dr. Richard Leakey has been appointed by HE President Uhuru Kenyatta to Chair the Kenya Wildlife Service Board with immediate effect. It is hoped that he will bring together a public-private partnership to eradicate the poaching of Kenya's endangered wildlife. Also appointed to this board was the Mara Conservancy's Brian Heath. Dr. Leakey previously served with the KWS as Director in the 90s.

Stogdale ElectedProminent Kenyan hotelier David Stogdale has been appointed by HE President Uhuru Kenyatta as a Board Member of the Kenya Utalii College with immediate effect.

He is the principal of DWS Africa a hospitality and hotel consultancy based in Nairobi. Previously he was CEO of Heritasge Hotels and Block Hotels.

New Airline Service To China Announced

China Southern Airlines have announced new non-stop A330-200 service from Guangzhou to Nairobi effective 5th August 2015.

Flights from Guangzhou operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12.45 a.m. arriving Nairobi the same day at 7.00 am. Return flights from Nairobi depart on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 1.35 p.m. arriving Guangzhou the following day at 5.50 a.m. Click HERE to visit their English language website.


the newsthe news"“Whatever you fear most has no power - it is your fear that has the power.”

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Giraffes in Australia! At Sydney's Teronga Park Zoo with the famous Opera House in the background.


the newsKenya Airways NewsAirline Routes reports that Kenya Airways last Boeing 777-200 flight will be from Dubai to Nairobi on 18th May and that the last 777-300 from London Heathrow to Nairobi on 26th September. Based on schedule updates all flights previously operated by 777's will be operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Kenya Airways has further revised its East Asia flights from 12th July - 24th October as follows:Nairobi - Bangkok - Guangzhou 4 weekly (up from 3 weekly)Nairobi - Bangkok - Hong Kong 3 weekly (down from 4 weekly)Nairobi - Guangzhou (1 weekly service cancelled)Nairobi - Hanoi - Guangzhou 3 weeklyClick HERE to visit their website.

British Airways economy passengers will have the option of buying an alternative "enhanced" meal for between £15 and £18.The airline will offer five choices — Gourmet Dining, Taste of Britain, Great British Breakfast, Healthy Choice and Vegetarian Kitchen — to World Traveller passengers from 12th May.The new meals will be available initially on BA services from London Heathrow to Seattle, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Mexico City, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver and Atlanta. Roll out system wide will follow.

5,KKshsKshs. 5,000/- per person


feature

If your idea of a great holiday involves beach, surf and sun with as few people as possible and a castaway vibe, consider Delta Dunes. If you need endorsement, this gem of a lodge won the 2014 Safari Awards’ Best Marine Property in Africa. Accessible only by boat or by air, Delta Dunes, also known as “the wild place by the sea,” nestles cozily among doum palms and majestic sand dunes where the Tana River meets the Indian Ocean.

The beach stretches for 50-km with total seaside privacy — the only people you might encounter are other guests and members of the wonderful Delta Dunes staff. You can’t get much farther away from the frenetic bustle, crowds and stresses of your high tech, fast-paced daily life. Delta Dunes is simultaneously serene, peaceful and full of excitement and adventure if that’s what you seek.

I have never visited a more fabulous beach resort. Everything that I heard and read about Delta Dunes piqued my interest more.

Three nights’ stay where river and ocean meet at this “wild place by the sea” was everything I dreamt it would be and then some. The only problem: I didn’t say long enough! Delta Dunes was a delightful way to conclude my first visit to Kenya and, yes, I plan to return, again and again, to the wild place by the sea.

Getting There Is Half The Fun

That saying certainly proved true throughout my travels in Kenya. Remember Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in the wonderful classic children’s novel by Kenneth Graham, “Wind In The Willows”? I love to drive. I’m crazy about road trips. I love manual transmissions, older tough-built vehicles with a healthy 5-speed, and the option of 4-wheel-drive. I was prepared for adventures.

What I experienced in Kenya surpassed my wildest imaginings.

Riverside approach..

by Lauren R. GianniniThe Wild Place By The Sea is Paradise

Delta Dunes

18 travel news April-May 2015 April-May 2015 travel news 19It doesn't get much better than this..


I had a safari by 4WD with my intrepid guide Lekopien from Speke’s Camp in the Masai Mara to Jan’s Camp in the Loitas. On my final morning at Jan’s, the Maasai staff gathered by the campfire while dawn was still a promise to bid me kwaheri (farewell). I departed Jan’s Camp, blinking away happy/sad tears, with my rafiki (friend), Lekopien, who drove me to the bush airstrip where I would board the Safarilink plane destined for Wilson Airport in Nairobi in order to connect with my flight to Malindi.

It’s a good thing my plane was running late. I managed to get trapped in the ladies loo at the side of the airstrip. After expending great energy pounding on the door and screaming for help, Leko (trying not to laugh) pulled open the door (no knob on my side – what?) and released me. We enjoyed a good laugh and I am certain he entertained everyone with that story when he returned to camp.

The Safarilink plane arrived, I bid kwaheri to Leko, and boarded the flight with anticipation. Access only by boat or by air… 50-kms (about 31 miles) of uninhabited coast, a beach with no people… I couldn’t wait to get there. A member of the Delta Dunes staff met me as I emerged from Malindi’s terminal and we set off on the approximately two and a half hour drive up the coast road, then eastward on a dirt road to the landing and 20-minute boat transfer to the lodge… I thought I had seen and experienced amazing adventures, but the best was yet to come.

The rainy season in Kenya is a force of nature. Heavy downpours in May and June of 2013 had caused the Tana River to overflow its banks, causing extensive flooding and lingering stretches of deep and often bottomless mud. Tamsin Corcoran of New African Territories has modified booking options for Delta Dunes, which now closes during the months when you simply can’t get a car from the highway to the river, because the mud in places can be so deep that the best 4-wheel drive vehicles are mired well above their axles.

It was worth every minute that it took to get to my destination. In fact, the entire experience of getting to Delta Dunes created priceless memories. We finished the muddy trek to the lodge’s river landing in total darkness. It was lovely, cool air carrying scents and sounds, the night wrapping around me like a cloak. I believe it was Kazungu, longtime vital member of the Delta Dunes staff, quintessential game guide, who helped me into the boat and guided us down the river. I felt tired, but the engine’s quiet purr, murmur of voices, and stars glittering like diamonds against the dark velvet of the night sky energized me.

When the boat swung wide, light from a small handheld torch revealed the riverbank, and we turned in a smooth arc to the left and powered across the river. The boat drew up to Delta Dunes’ landing dock and again, someone gave a helping hand as I stepped onto the landing where I was welcomed warmly by Tamsin, her daughter Kyela, and several members of the lodge staff.

We made our way along the sandy path to the bottom mess, surrounded by baobab trees and doum palms, and a resident family of genet cats. There, I met up with dear friends from the states.

Down to the sea...


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Rick and Alice Laimbeer and their Highland School group had arrived earlier. I found myself sipping a glass of crisp, chilled white wine and, a few minutes later, sat at the long, beautiful, candle-lit dinner table. I had no clue that I was about to enjoy the first of several most delicious seafood meals of my entire life.

Every Meal Is A Feast

The food at Delta Dunes is absolutely fabulous. Breakfast runs the gamut of eggs, bacon, waffles, fruit, cereal, porridge, you name it — all cooked to order in the top mess, a lovely lounge area about 140 feet up a huge sand dune with 360-degree views. You can gaze at the Indian Ocean on one side and the Tana River on the other. We had lunch in the Top Mess, dinner in the bottom mess or on the beach. Lunch and dinner — always scrumptious, and the seafood — crab, rock cod, koli koli, red and white snapper and, in September, jumbo prawns — are caught fresh daily. I remember one lunch that featured the most delicate ravioli with crab filling… Yes, there are vegetables and salads, too.

Delta Dunes is implementing a self-catering rate for residents. Be sure to contact Tamsin Corcoran, Managing Director of New African Territories for the details. Delta Dunes is open for guests from 12th March – 12th April; 15th July – August, September, and October; and 15th December 2015 – 15th January 2016. It is closed in 2015 from 13th April — 14th July and November — 14th December.

Afternoon game drive!!


Wildlife & Activities

This enchanting “wild place by the sea” teems with wetland wildlife from hippos and crocodiles to elusive bushbuck and lions, buffalo and elephant, as well as all sorts of primates, small cats, and enough rainbow-colored, winged creatures, more than 400 species, to thrill the most enthusiastic bird watchers. Be sure to pack along good, compact binoculars.

You can choose from walking safaris with Delta Dunes game guides, river cruises and kayak excursions with guides along the mangrove-lined waterways.. Early morning and towards sundown are often the best times. Activities at Delta Dunes include tubing on the creeks, waterskiing and boarding on the river with an experienced powerboat skipper, fishing, and sand yachting on the beach. A pool high up on the dune, below the top mess, offers views of the ocean and a great place to relax, splash in the water and work on your tan.

Conservation & Community Involvement

Delta Dunes, via Tamsin Corcoran and New African Territories, and the Tana River Delta community established the Lower Tana River Delta Conservation Trust. About 50,000 hectares of unique wetlands support diverse fauna and flora. Delta Dunes Lodge employs local people and also donates a conservation fee to the Trust for every guest. These funds help to support education, employment and medical care for the more than 13,000 people living in the Tana Delta community.

The Delta Dunes lodge offers seven open-fronted, split-level cottages, nestled on the massive dune. Two of the cottages can sleep four people with two bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms, and a sitting room. The huge Swahili bed is the height of sleeping comfort and luxury. The ensuites offer the best in modern conveniences and unique views. The décor is natural, castaway style, found on beach walks: shells, driftwood, pieces of old dhow (local fishing boats) and other treasures washed ashore. The ambience, thanks to the setting, is beyond special.

As for nightlife, at Delta Dunes, it’s all-natural: amazing skies filled with stars, phases of the moon that look like special effects, sundowners after an evening cruise on the Tana, a special dinner on the beach and a bonfire.

Delta Dunes introduces guests to an ancient world that is timeless, full of wonder, and the best getaway if your goal is to escape temporarily from the “real” world. The wild place by the sea will occupy your thoughts and dreams until eventually you find your way back to the Delta.

Click HERE to visit their website.

Images courtesy of New African Territories & Lauren R. Giannini

The Phone Tree - the only place you can get a mobile signal

The River Horse - a dominant male with his harem

Poolside...


miscellaneous ramblings

tcbBy way of explanation for the temporary disappearance of Travel News, let me first of all apologise to all our readers. We missed you and I hope you all missed us.

The plan as you might remember was to publish the April 2015 edition a week late on 7th April. I was away in Australia promoting the 2015 Skal World congress in Mombasa in October, and as this is essentially a one-man-band driven publication, I thought I had my bases covered.

Quite obviously not so. The dreaded man-flu was contracted pretty early on in my trip downunder - and nothing I did could shake it. I soldiered on, not taking a sickie as I had work to do. Some bright spark said I must have Ross River Fever, on asking what that was, he said you've got flu for life mate. At the time, I didn't see the humour.

The highlight of the trip was a visit to Broome in northwestern Oz. We think we have the best beaches in the world, perhaps we should think again. An image is worth a thousand words they say. Check the image below - mouth-watering, and the beers always bitterly cold!

Now to my travels.

The new fangled security system just introduced on entering Jomo Kenyatta Airport from the highway is certainly state-of-the-art. Cars, you, evidently everything is screened - however the boys in blue have taken to ordering you out of your car to frisk you BEFORE you enter the all bells and whistles security cordon. Daft - in a word!

Travel was in the right part of the aircraft courtesy of Qatar Airways, and highly recommended.

Cable BeachBroome WA has

5-metre tides, no reef and you can drive on

the it. Magic, add it to your bucket list.

A 3-hour flight from Perth.

As were the flight transfers at Doha's brand new Hamad International Airport. This is the future...

I visited Melbourne, Sydney, Coledale, Perth and the aforementioned Broome - marketing said Skal World Congress. We had over 100 keen Australians coming, then the travel advisories changed on 27th March followed shortly thereafter with the Garissa massacre.

Actually, the whole Skal Congress is now in danger of being sent elsewhere, as I write this the 500 or so Skal Clubs around the world are voting whether to come here or not.

My pitch, and I think I say this elsewhere, is that terrorism is not a Kenyan issue but a global issue. That we in the travel and tourism industry must transcend the fear of travel - in that if we don't travel our clients might look at us and say 'If they don't travel, what sort of message is that?'

I'm mesmerised by the fortunes or lack thereof of our national airline The Pride of Africa - Kenya Airways.

What's happened?

In the 1980s Ethiopian Airlines ruled the very profitable intra Africa travel market, everything was routed through a rather dilapidated Bole Airport in Addis Ababa.

Along came the recently privatsed Kenya Airways with an slightly less dilapidated airport our beloved JKIA and took the fight to Ethiopian.

Nairobi always has and always will be the natural hub for air travel in East and Central Africa, and so it proved. Kenya Airways reached new heights both for destinations served in Africa and more happily for profits earned from these endeavours.

Ethiopian fought back, introducing a new airport and more overseas flights to a host of European, Far East & US destinations. Offering more choice to everywhere than Kenya Airways.

They have recently introduced flights to Dublin and Los Angeles.

Kenya Airways saw no overseas adventures other than the tried and tested routes to the Far East and Europe. Albeit only to London, Paris and Amsterdam in the latter case. Hanoi was added recently, I'm not sure what that is all about.

Where did the imagination go? How were they going to fill all those new aircraft without expanding?

The proof of the pudding if you will is there for all to see. Retiring not so old aircraft that other airlines fully employ, and selling almost brand-new 77-300's. Talk of redundancies, selling of land based assets etc. They appear to be in a terrible mess.


Stopping the car on the brow of a hill, I gazed out over the vast grasslands east of Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania. Only cattle were grazing the pasture, apart from three ostriches on the horizon. I had reached this place by ‘bundu bashing’ through thick scrub, as there were no roads. I was taking a detour from a safari to the Serengeti Plains. “You see this plain?” Gudo, my passenger, asked me. “This used to be a good hunting place. Now the Datoga have come to spoil it. Everywhere our land is being taken away. The wild animals are killed or chased off. What will become of us?”

The HadzabeVictims of Progress

words & images by Dan Stiles

Gudo belongs to the hunter-gatherer Hadzabe, one of the last peoples in Africa to practise this ancient way of life. He was taking me to the small settlement of Gelatu – more commonly known by its Bantu name Mongo wa Mono (River of Pots) – to show me what was happening to his people as they face an increasing multitude of threats.

The Hadzabe number about one thousand souls. They inhabit mainly the country east of Lake Eyasi, which lies below the Ngorongoro highlands, though a few scattered groups live to the west of the lake near Mount Oldeani. They are surrounded by farming peoples and herders have moved in with their cattle. During colonial times the Fauna Conservation Ordinance gave the Hadzabe the right to hunt, though the Game Ordinance outlawed the use of poisoned arrows. Since independence in 1963, however, the Tanzanian government has followed a policy of settling the Hadzabe and turning them into farmers, though with little success. Since the 1950s, the Hadzabe have been the focus of anthropological research because of their traditional way of life and their unusual language. It contains four of the same clicks used in the Khoisan (Bushmen/Hottentot) languages of southern Africa, and some vocabulary seems to have a shared origin, but it is in a class by itself.


Hadza country is very dry, with highly variable rainfall, and the vegetation is mainly acacia-commiphora bush. The Yaeda Valley forms a large, grassy plain and an area of doum palms called Endamagha is located along the north eastern shore of the lake. Along the lower stretches of the Barai River in the Mang’ola area one finds a lovely wild fig, tamarind and fever tree forest, but further down the lakeshore a massive area has been cleared for mechanised agriculture growing mainly onions and maize. The onion fields, the largest in East Africa, have attracted outside labour and the population has grown from about 2,000 in 1984 to over 50,000 in 2013. To the west, the Rift Valley escarpment rises 600 metres and to the northeast Mount Oldeani (3,200 metres) and the Ngorongoro highlands feed Lake Eyasi with streams and sub-surface drainage. Water points are particularly important to the Hadzabe in this dry environment. They are scattered around the edge of the lake as springs, seasonal streams and pools, and the Yaeda plain partly floods at times. The Hadzabe also find water in the trunks of Baobab trees and in rock crevices during the dry season (May-October). Lake Eyasi shrinks during this period, exposing a white, salt fringe. Gudo told me that large mammals such as elephant, rhino, giraffe, buffalo, eland, zebra, kudu, waterbuck, hartebeest and wildebeest, and small mammals such as gazelle and wart hog used to be plentiful in the area. But, with the influx of Irawq and Isanzu farmers and Datoga herders many wild animals have migrated towards the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. “But even worse for us,” Gudo went on, “is professional sport hunting. The hunters frighten away the game, so finding meat is much more difficult now. We are forced to eat more tubers, fruits and nuts.” “Tell me more about the sport hunters,” I asked, as I had heard some pretty alarming things about them. “They come and chase the animals in big vehicles,” he said with disdain, “and they even use bright spotlights at night to attract them. These methods are illegal and no Hadza would hunt that way.”

Gudo went on to tell me that a hunting safari company representing clients from the United Arab Emirates had used their influence and money with government to obtain a hunting concession for much of their territory in 2006, excluding the Hadzabe. Many Hadzabe vigorously opposed the deal and with help from NGOs managed to get it cancelled in 2007. In 1995 and 2007 Hadzabe were beaten and imprisoned for protesting against seizure of their land for sport hunting. Several have died in police custody.We arrived at Gelatu, marked by a rocky, isolated hill dotted with thorny acacias. Hadza huts, flimsy glass domes made with bent-bough frames, lay scattered to the north. After setting up my camp I started chatting with a group of about ten Hadzabe curious about me, the stranger. They were friendly and welcoming and I tested their patience with enumerable questions about their way of life and the changes taking place.


The picture they painted of their present and future was brushed in distinctly sombre hues. The majority expressed a strong preference for continuing their hunter-gatherer lifestyle but, in addition to diminishing game, the loss of critical water sources to immigrants made it increasingly difficult to do so.

Hadza life revolves around water. In the dry season, the Hadzabe bands cluster around water points and the camps are large. During the rains the camps break up and the people scatter into small camps. Camps move about every two weeks for various reasons: to find an area with more game or fruiting trees; to resolve interpersonal conflict; death or an illness; a water shortage; to collect and trade honey; to flee vermin that infest huts; or simply the feeling that living for too long in one place is bad.

Land is communal and any person can gather or hunt where they please. Hunting is done almost entirely with bow and arrow. The bows are large and powerful, some measuring up to two metres, and shorter men must stand on a rock to string one. The only bows in Africa of comparable size and pull (up to 100 pounds) are found amongst the Wata of Kenya’s coast and hinterland. Women can help in locating game and pursuing a hit animal, but normally their work is gathering plant foods, which make up about 80 percent of the diet.

Arrow types vary according to the intended prey. Metal arrowheads, made from pounded out nails, with wood link shafts smeared with poison are used for larger animals. The poison is made from Adenium (the Desert Rose). Wood-tipped arrowheads with crescent-shaped barbs are used for smaller game.

The Hadzabe trade bushmeat, skins and honey with surrounding tribes for maize meal, tobacco, clothing, metal tools and nails. Tobacco is important, and the Hadzabe have invented a cylindrical, soft-stone pipe for smoking. One end is stuffed with tobacco and the smoking end with charcoal, a prehistoric filter. When Hadzabe smoke they characteristically go into a coughing frenzy, sometimes rolling on the ground, which is quite disturbing when seen for the first time, but becomes comical when one realises it is normal.

They used to trade elephant tusks and rhino horn as well, but they did not realise their value. Gudo was disgusted by the fact that they used to exchange such prized commodities for a little tobacco or a few beads.

Today, the Hadzabe spend more time in semi-permanent settlements near water points because the government and NGOs are encouraging them to grow maize and millet. They plant during the rains and must be present when the grain ripens to chase away birds and wildlife and, of course, be at hand for the harvest. They are also being forced into settlements because areas of former bush that once provided berries, fruits, honey and tubers have been burnt and are now used by the cattle of Datoga herders. But the Datoga, too, are casualties of progress. They were forced into Hadza country because their grazing lands were taken over by the Tanzania-Canada Wheat Programme.

The Hadzabe and their land are seriously threatened by uncontrolled immigration, land clearance, burning, charcoal manufacture and sport hunting. The Lake Eyasi-Yaeda Hills area is still one of marked beauty and important biodiversity. The Tanzanian government should devise and put into action a land management plan for the region to provide security to enable the Hadzabe to survive, while also protecting the wildlife.

Before leaving Gelatu, I asked my new Hadza friends what they wanted most for the future. “We want a land of our own,” was their unanimous reply.


guest galleryAfter graduating from the University of Toronto in 1987, Chris set off to backpack Asia on a shoestring. He fell ill in southern China and spent several years trying to recover in Hong Kong. He first visited Africa in 1994, though without a camera. He became passionate about photography in 2012 when he acquired a Nikon P510 for $400, and nowadays relies mainly on a Canon SX50. He maintains a photography home page on National Geographic, which has published one of his photos. Now 50, he lives to travel, and continually builds his picture portfolio with emphasis on cultural, social, tribal and street/urban themes. He does limited safari and animal photography when funds permit, but his newest passion is expedition mountaineering. Since 2012 he has climbed and photographed Mt. Kenya, the Rwenzoris and the Mexican volcanos. In 2015-16 he hopes to trek and climb in Ethiopia, Colombia and the Indian Himalayas. In next months Travel News he writes about the Walled City of Marti, in northern Kenya.

Christopher Haslett

Chaotic Kitale

Tomoca Coffee Shop - Addis Ababa Mother & Child - Old Town, Mombasa


To submit your photos to the Guest Photographer

gallery click HERE

Laughing Girls - Stone Town, Zanzibar

Rescued Chimps - Sweetwaters, Ol Pejeta

The Boys - Suluta, Ethiopia

Street Soccer - Addis Ababa


Above: House of Wonders - Zanzibar. (The first building with electricity in East Africa) Right: Kabala Tea Estate - Uganda. Below: Capsizing Practice - Lake Malawi

Rwenzori Mountains - Uganda

Above: 1-hour after sunset - Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Left: Modern transport - Stone Town, Zanzibar


Last year marked the Centenary year of the start of World War One, which rumbled on into 1918. The East Africa campaign, often forgotten, was fought in Kenya’s Taita Taveta County, which pitted forces from German ruled Tanganyika against British Empire forces protecting the British colonies in British East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Nyasaland (Malawi) Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and the Belgian Congo (DR Congo).

The first shot in the East African campaign was fired on 15th August 1914 at the border town of Taveta. The then Acting District Commissioner fired the shot from the Taveta Police station, which killed a German soldier, whose grave is in the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery there.

Battlefield tourism, something relatively new to Kenya, specializes in tours of battlefields, cemeteries, memorials and related historical sites. It focuses on historic battlefields where the fighting was intense and is strongly linked to heritage and commemoration.

KENYA'S FIRST WORLD WAR BATTLEFIELD TOURS

The cast of the 1970s film 'Shout at the Devil' based on the novel of the same name by Wilbur Smith, was loosely based on the East Africa Campaign. From left: Lee Marvin, Ian Holm and Roger Moore.

Lions Bluff Lodge and Sarova’s Taita Hills Game Lodge both located in the immediate area have identified many of these sights and have come up with several exciting historical journeys to these areas of significance to the East African Campaign of the First World War

IMPORTANT WW1 BATTLEFIELD SITES

Voi Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery A consolidated cemetery with graves recovered from scattered burial places, after the war and re-interred here. Lt. Dartnell VC is buried here.

Tsavo Railway Station The Man Eaters of Tsavo Railway Station that is virtually unchanged since it was built in the late 1890s. The nearby Tsavo River Bridge was a target that the Germans were continually trying to reach to blow it up. It was however, too heavily defended.

Kichwa Tembo Fort One of the first dry stone wall forts built in September 1914 to prevent the Germans from gaining access to water and therefore not allowing them to use the river route to approach the Uganda Railway. Built on a knoll now fairly well overgrown with wait-a-bit thorn trees (locally referred to as the ngoja-ngoja thorn trees) and often inhabited by sleeping hippo and buffalo. The site is accessible by a rough walk uphill for about 150 metres.

Crater Fort The Fort was built in 1915 inside the crater of an extinct volcanic cinder cone. It is difficult to climb as the ground is loose lava cinder and shale on a steep hill with lots a prickly bush, but great views over the Tsavo River Valley, Kilimanjaro and of the Ngulia Mountain Range. It’s a well preserved terraced campsite with revetments. Lion are fond of catching the breeze and view their next meal from here! The Rhodesian Bridge that spans the Tsavo River, adjacent to crater fort makes for a nice shady picnic lunch site.

Fort Mzima Originally built whilst under attack by the Germans on a knoll overlooking a bend in the Tsavo River. Extensive impressive trenches and barbed wire entanglements are still in place. Relatively easy to approach following a game trail 75-metres off the road through low bush, crossing several trenches. Buffalo and hippo like the area.

Mzima Springs An amazing fresh waster spring in the desert of Tsavo West National Park. Provides water to Mombasa.

Poachers Look Out As the name suggests, an easy drive to the summit with extensive views over the Tsavo West National Park and the Tsavo River. Often used as an observation post alternatively by the British and Germans. And today a popular sundowner spot.


Snipers Baobab Legend has it that a German woman was holed up in this magnificent hollow Baobab Tree, sniping at British troops as they tried to attack Salaita Hill.

Salaita Hill Described by the British Commanders as the “cork in the bottle” that had to be taken out before the contents of German East Africa were revealed. Strategically located between the Pare Mountains in the South and Kilimanjaro in the west. Salaita was quickly occupied and made into a strong defensive position by the Germans in 1914. The hill was attacked three times by the British who were beaten off with heavy losses each time.

Mahoo A Church Missionary Society mission post that was occupied by the Germans in September 1914 and subsequently fortified by them. Several well preserved trenches can still be seen here.

Former Taveta Police Station In desperate need of restoration. It was from this building that the first shots of the land campaign were fired from, signalling the start of the East African Campaign.

Taveta Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Mainly holds the dead from the various attacks made on Salaita and the surrounding area and also from the battle at Latema & Reata Ridges. Also has the dead from the German war. On a Battlefield Tour, ceremonial wreaths may be placed at the Cross of Sacrifice.

Latema Nek & Reata Ridge The last major fight that took place on British colonial soil as the Germans withdrew into German East Africa. This was the first major fight for the South African Forces under General Jan Smuts. From here Smuts removed most of the British commanders and replaced them with his own staff from South Africa.

Serengeti A dummy fort built by the Germans to deceive the British that they were holding the area in force, became a staging post for the British prior to attacking Salaita Hill.

Mbuyuni Started off as a British motorcyclist’s observation post, taken by the German who fortified the area well with trenches. Attacked by the British and repulsed with great loss of life, final attack some months later saw the start of a slow German withdrawal from occupied British territory. It became a, vast British camp with a full hospital, post office, theatre, airstrip etc.

Maktau A dusty sleepy little village today. But in 1915 it accommodated over 20,000 Empire troops and the first airfield in East Africa. Unfortunately nothing remains of the important role the area played. Nearby is Picket Hill with remains of dry stonewall fortifications on top with magnificent views over the Tsavo Serengeti Plains to the west and Kilimanjaro. One can often drive close to the top followed by a short walk to the fort. Maktau Railway Station on the now abandoned military line between Voi and Taveta is quite interesting to see the remaining railway signalling. Maktau Commonwealth War Graves Commission Indian WW1 Memorial to the Indian soldiers who were killed defending General Malleson when ambushed by the Germans. It was originally had British casualties who were re-interred at Voi.

Mashoti Fort Built by the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in late 1915, trenches and typical regulation design British fort laid out according to the ‘book’. Today, it is eroded but fairly visible and easily accessible.

Mile 27 on the Voi – Maktau Military Line Close to Mashoti is the site of a skirmish between a coy section of the 25th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and a group of German saboteurs where they engaged in close hand-to-hand combat resulting in fatalities from both sides.

Allied horseman - East Africa Campaign - on horse disguised as a zebra.........


Mt. Kasigau This is the scene of two big skirmishes between the British and Germans. The Germans held the British for several months during which they had easy access to the Uganda Railway.

Samburu Railway Station Between Mombasa and Voi. Headquarters of the Railway protection Unit under the command of Field Marshall Kitchener’s brother who was deployed there after falling out of favour with the British Military hierarchy in Nairobi.

Taita Hills An isolated fertile range of steep, rocky hills often referred to as being the “Switzerland of Kenya” cool air and superb views over the low lying scrub lands of the Tsavo Serengeti plains and the Taru desert.

Bura Mission The first inland Catholic Mission established in 1892. Interesting History of its involvement with WW1.

Ngerenyi Home to Rev. Capt. V.V. Verbi OBE. An Anglicized Bulgarian with interesting links to the East African campaign and the Russian war against the Bolsheviks of 1919.

Required Reading“Guerrillas of Tsavo”, by James G. Wilson, 2012, Self Published ISBN 978 9966 7570 1 2 “Tip and Run” by Edward Paice 2007, Weidenfeld & Nicolson ISBN 13: 9 780297 847090 and 10: 0 297 847090 “The Battle for the Bundu” by Charles Miller, 1974 Macdonald and Jane’s ISBN 0 356 04915 9

WebsitesGreat War East African Association – click HERE Guerillas of Tsavo – click HERE The Soldiers Burdon – click HERE

For More InformationSarova Hotels World War 1 Battlefield Tours – click HERE Lions Bluff Lodge World War 1 Battlefield Tours – click HERE


book reviews book reviews

Reviews byJulia Lawrence

The Girl on the Trainby Paula Hawkins

The story features three women, two of whom are emotionally damaged. They comprise Rachel, an alcoholic, Megan who has never recovered from her beloved brother’s tragic accident and death when she was still in her mid-teens, and Anna who is ‘normal’. The book opens with Rachel’s story which although sad – she has undergone a divorce that has increased her alcoholism – becomes a monotonous whinge, even when the plot moves on to Megan who comes over as attractive but decidedly irritating. It has all the makings of a rather unpleasant book, which indeed it is, although redeemed by Hawkins’ talent for tightening the tension.

Rachel travels to London and back by train every day. When it stops at a particular signal, which it usually does, she watches a young couple who live in a pleasant house near the track. Fantasising about them, she calls them Jason and Jess. She imagines them as her ideal, talented, good looking and very much in love. Meanwhile she makes her ex-husband and his new wife’s life a misery. Tom and Anna, by this time have a young baby, but are almost demented by Rachel’s constant harassment, and consider contacting the police. Rachel’s alcoholism increases, and one wonders how her kind flatmate can put up with her.

Matters accelerate one Saturday night when Rachel gets hopelessly drunk. She manages to alight from the train, but after that cannot remember what actually happened, although she knows that it is significantly bad and somebody is lying. But the missing pieces won’t come together. Meanwhile the story suddenly picks up, while intrigue and suspicion grow after one of the three main characters disappears.

Apart from one of them, the men in the story are not exactly paragons of virtue either. Additionally there is a man who often travels on the same train as Rachel. He appears friendly and she recollects that he was there on that fateful night when she had her alcoholic blackout. What does he know about what happened, and will he try to harm her?

Hawkins has been compared to Hitchcock (her book has already been recommended for filming) in her ability to build up tension. This is a nasty but clever book, and once the rather off-putting beginning is covered, it is very readable, however obnoxious the characters may be.

Time and Time Again by Ben Elton

Elton elected to weave a tangled web when he chose his latest novel’s theme. It asks a question: “If you had one chance to change history, where would you go, what would you do and whom would you kill”? It is Christmas 2024 in Cambridge, not a very happy one for an uneasy Britain. Hugh Stanton, ex-soldier-cum-hero, goes to spend it with his ex-history professor. She has a scheme to which she wants him to agree. Through Isaac Newton’s scientific brilliance, there is a way whereby Stanton can step back into past time, and by changing events he will improve the future. Stanton is sceptical and asks, why him? The answer is because he has the right qualifications – military bravery, know-how, and no personal ties.

Finally he agrees to undertake the mission, which she requests. They travel to Istanbul, which is the place chosen for his disappearance back into time. The selected date is June 1914. This of course covers the build-up of events leading to the Great War. What will Europe be like if Stanton can stop it happening? Surely nothing but good can come of preventing this holocaust of slaughter and tragedy? Once transferred by some strange happening predicted by Newton, he goes from the world he knows back to that year when the world changed forever.

Elton deals masterfully with this ‘happening’, which is difficult to imagine. Stanton arrives in a world where the people he knew originally are not even born. He struggles against using present day slang for a start. To change the course of history he must travel to Sarajevo, which he does, after which his final destination is Berlin.

Mostly Elton manages to make this bizarre situation plausible, holding interest through describing how events develop. Stanton does make a number of silly mistakes, such as becoming involved with an attractive lady, then drinking too much – would a seasoned warrior like him be so foolish? Towards the finale, the time warp becomes slightly confusing and even more complicated, but the message comes over loud and clear: it is futile to try and change history.

An exciting concept that Elton manages to make almost plausible, the story will keep most people reading, if only to find out what happens in the end. Sadly that is something of a disappointment. It is as though he suddenly became tired of his cleverness and thought ‘time to stop’.

Advice to those who enjoy thrillers-cum-crime, read it. For the rest, don’t.


our parting shot

A fisherman and his crab traps at Maungu, south of Malindi. Image by Barry Koenecke, click HERE to visit his website

april-may 2015

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