I've packed and locked my big bag, (medical kit and childrens clothes and ladies bra's is all it contains) and my neighbour came round to help me hoist it onto my spring balance. Took out a couple of books and its now 1 kg under weight, so thats OK. (22kg of ladies bra's ??) Only my smaller bag to pack when I've done some ironing.
Been thinking about the number of times I've been to Kenya. When I first went in 1968, Nairobi was only just loosing its 'settler' look, after independence in 1963. Then, the Maasai still walked down Kenyatta Avenue wearing nothing but a red blanket over one shoulder. My mother when she visited and we took her to the Ngong Hills, sat down to chat to a Maasai elder ... the wind blew his blanket aside !! She went nearly as red as the mans blanket.
Nairobi's streets are now all tarmac, whereas I remember some still being red murram earth. The city is rapidly becoming just like any other city in the world; sky-scrapers dwarfing the few remaining buildings like the Norfolk Hotel which date back to the 1920's and 30's. Those were the days when one was asked, "Are you married, or do you live in Kenya ?" !! Ahh ... the time of the hedonistic happy valley set; Lord Errol, Hugh Cholmondeley, Josslyn Hay, Karen Blixen .... Thankfully, its all different now, though some of their descendants are now Kenya citizens and run farms.
Enough of that; I'm going to be visiting a shanty town which couldn't be more different to life in those days. I've been considering trying to set one of my short stories in Pandipieri, with the locals as the characters .... just as I set some of my earlier ones with the Maasai ... want to read one ? I'll see if I can find them !
UPDATE: I've found them in the files my son rescued from my laptop when it went wrong; trouble is, I can't open them ! I'll have to consult him .... when I get back.
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