From My Notebooks In 1974: Kenya
8th February 2026 |
The road from Moyale, on the border, to Nairobi had a bad reputation. It was unpaved, of course, and boasted a rich variety of stones of all colours and sizes but I found it relatively easy. There was game of all sorts – I saw my first wild ostrich and giraffe – but no traffic, and it was dry. The vibration, however, finished the job on my luggage rack which broke, leaving me stranded on the roadside with all my stuff. Then, as though the story had been written, a Peace Corps man drove by. He carried my gear on to Marsabit, a township on the way, where a blacksmith fixed it.
I slept on a floor in Isiola and then climbed up the side of Mount Kenya. The higher I rode the more like England it became. Then, on a farm gate, I saw a sign, “The Thompsons,” and turned in on a hunch.
The Thompsons, a slice of old England in the heart of Africa.
Arthur Thompson, Ruth & Charlton. 3000 acres, south of Isiola at Timau. On northern slopes of Mount Kenya. He, older, gray-haired, ulcers, from Northumberland. Came as a soldier after farming background in England. Traces of Geordie accent mixed with colonial. Places much emphasis on ‘classlessness’ of ‘White Highland’ community. She younger, plump, pretty, strong-natured. Small boy “Charlton” (his father’s name).
“One’s enough,” he said.
Ruth Thompson and son, Charlton.
Maize, wheat, barley, pyrethrum, 80 Jersey cattle, 1000 or so sheep. Fields of grass, Napier Grass (Elephant grass). Reclaiming the “Dongo’s” (Wash-outs – i.e. areas denuded by rain).
“Had a good life for 30 years, but it’s nearly over now.”
Where to go when Kenya government has bought the farm for African settlement? South Africa? Good prospect. “I can’t see Europe letting it go. If they do there’ll be no way round.” i.e. Shipping. Strategically important. “For the same reason I think they’ll leave Rhodesia alone.”
Africans: “You can’t trust them. Even if you want to, you can’t afford to. Because even if an African wants to be honest, trustworthy, there are others who can put pressure on him. After the six months I did screening (The Kikuyu during the Mau Mau emergency.) I learned that much.
Kenya government: “Every swindle goes right back to the top. There was a CID man brought here by the Govt. to help police. He resigned because every time he followed something through, it led to the top and was hushed up. Kenyatta has a farm with dairy cattle and wheat. The maximum moisture content was 14.5%. He put it up to 15.5% until he’d sold his wheat, because it was too wet. Then he put it back to 14.5%. The millers let it out, because they were paying more for water. Price of milk went up for the same reason.
“The self-help hospital is paid for through Kenyatta’s personal account. 3,000,000 has gone in – 70,000 has gone out.” (K.shillings, or £s ?)
Future: “Fifty per cent of population is under 14. What will happen when they leave school. There’s nothing for them to do. Once they’ve been to school, they can’t lift anything heavier than a pen.”
Aid? “All these tarmac roads don’t bring in a penny. The amount of money that’s come into Kenya in the last ten years is nobody’s business. Nothing to show for it.”
World Bank financed roads.
“If Europeans had been left here for the last ten years, Kenya would have advanced at a great rate.”
Saw the maize. Hardly a foot high. No irrigation. “They’ll get nothing off that this year.”
Settlement: “They get plots of dry land, one or two acres. Can’t survive. It’s not suitable for Kikuyu farming. Was much better used as it was, for grazing. The Kikuyu needs rain. Their method is to exhaust a patch, then move on and let it go back to brush. The Kikuyu goes round in circles. Round hut. The woman grows yams round the hut. Outside is a bigger circle, the man plants maize. And round that he hunts.”
“Was at the police station about some maize and a sheep stolen by one of his workers. Can’t get the police to take any initiative. When you’ve been used to something better, you miss it. There used to be only one police station at Nyuki, and one European to keep discipline over a huge area. But it was much better. The African cannot keep control over other Africans.”
Perfect lawn, flower beds – “You can grow almost anything here. Roses, etc.” Cooch grass, very spongy. Dove cot, like the Cotswolds.
“The European DC had a gardener, cook, houseboy, a kitchen wallah. The African DC moves in, his wife is gardener, cook, houseboy & kitchen wallah.”
[The Thompsons kept me for two nights, then I rode on to Nairobi and sought out the Lucas offices.]
Nairobi, January 6th
Total mileage, 7,500. Journey mileage (i.e. on the bike) 6,600.
The Delamere [A post-colonial club. I’m taken there by the Boss of Lucas, Nairobi. I made notes of conversation with members.]
Big game fishing. Marlin, off Kilifi (N. of Mombasa).
New Zealanders: “Aren’t allowed to boat a fish under 800lbs.”
How do you measure it?
“Calipers. Along and across. Doesn’t take long. They’re fighting all the time.”
The Mauritius. 1,100 lb fish. Talk of one at 3000 lb.”
They say, “Your boat’s in absolute shite order.”
Blue eyes all around. Dark, polished wood bar. Painted stone or cement pillars, mock Georgian, built in 1910’s. Parquet floors. Wine cellar below. Rooms broad, spacious, undivided, cool.
“Whatever they say, life is still pretty colonial here. The Africans pretend to object, but….”
Lambs kidneys Turbigo. Smoked Sailfish.
“It’s still a bloody good life here. Of all the emergent states it’s still the most stable.”
Publicity for Lucas – a sponsor.
[Lucas were generous. They paid for a hotel room.]
Two Africans sitting in hotel bar at lunchtime. Grey flannels. Short sleeved shirts. Swahili, punctuated by “Anyway,” or “Let us compare this thing” or “We must analyse this thing in detail,” or “ Is it better to make the wrong decision at the right time, or the right decision at the wrong . . “ As English parvenu used to lard their English with French.
Still there at nightfall. Beers coming at 3 or 4 an hour.
Africans are enjoying their freedom with ideas, split hairs with gusto, wear their education like tribal feathers, love to read out passages of official English – Customs Nairobi & document from Moyale.
[They] take refuge in nonsense where sense won’t win the game. But the Europeans can certainly work with them.
Overheard in hotel: Asian man (in turban) and African man replying to Asian woman.
She: “Look, can you see? One eye is higher than the other.”
Asian: “Well, your nose is crooked.”
She: “Yes I know. It was a bad accident I had. Very bad. Now I have the feeling when I look that one side is higher than the other.”
African: “You should take a hammer and straighten it.”
She: “You shouldn’t think it’s so funny.”
African: “It’s better to see something than nothing. But if you lie on the ground, I’ll give it a good kick.”