Watching a repeat Michael Palin programme about the Sahara, he was reading a book about the Niger river, and being me, I was tempted .... so managed to get a very cheap secondhand, ex library copy, post free, on the 'net. I visited the Niger about 48 or more years ago, at a place called Lokoja in Nigeria, and remember just about nothing of the trip ! But seeing Michael Palin visiting the Niger at Bamako and Timbuctu in Mali, my curiosity was stirred. I knew the Niger flowed out into the sea at the Bight of Benin, and that it had been seen (I think) by the explorer Mungo Park, but I had absolutely no idea where the source was/is ..... and am now astonished to find it rises in Sierra Leone, flowing north-east, and then taking a sudden turn past Timbuctu, to the south-east. For hundreds of years it was thought it started at some unknown lake or springs far north in the Sahara. "Ex Africa semper aliquid novi." I'm enjoying the book !
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My second new book is about the 'white settler' houses to the west of the Aberdares.
There is a group of enthusiasts who have formed a group called 'The Happy Valley Heritage Trust', who have realised the importance in the history of Kenya of old buildings ... and Juliet Barnes, who wrote 'The Ghosts of Happy Valley' is one of the trustees. They have a Facebook page:- https://www.facebook.com/happyvalleytrust/
So when I saw in Old Africa magazine that they had published a small book called 'Happy Valley Homes' .... well, I was more than tempted ! Several of the houses have fallen down or are in an advanced state of disrepair, but others are now used as schools and community venues. I can imagine that, if repaired and advertised, several would be very profitable small hotels, and could bring useful $$$ in to the community. Look at how successful Giraffe Manor (in the Langata suburb of Nairobi) is as a hotel now, where guests can feed the giraffes who poke their heads in the bedroom and dining room windows !
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