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
travelnewstravelnewsKenya
Delta Dunes
The Wild Place By The Sea
The Hadzabe
Victims 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 & Marketing
David Kiathe
Editorial Contributors
Julia Lawrence, Lauren R. Giannini
Dan Stiles
Photographic Contributors
Christopher Haslett, New African Territories
Dan 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

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Welcome
My 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 news
New KWS Chairman Announced
Globally 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 Elected
Prominent 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 news
Kenya Airways News
Airline 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 weekly
Click 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. Giannini
The 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.
TheSafarilinkplanearrived,IbidkwaheritoLeko,andboardedtheflightwithanticipation.
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.
Itwaswortheveryminutethatittooktogettomydestination.Infact,theentireexperience
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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to place for airline bookings we now have the capability
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Do yourself a favour the next time you plan to travel. get
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an informed decision of what best suits your travel needs.
SERVICE AND NOTHING BUT SERVICE, is the only thing
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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 Beach
Broome 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 Hadzabe
VictimsofProgress
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 gallery
After 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
ThefirstinlandCatholicMissionestablishedin1892.InterestingHistoryofitsinvolvement
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
Websites
Great War East African Association – click HERE
Guerillas of Tsavo – click HERE
The Soldiers Burdon – click HERE
For More Information
Sarova Hotels World War 1 Battlefield Tours – click HERE
Lions Bluff Lodge World War 1 Battlefield Tours – click HERE

book reviews book reviews
Reviews by
Julia Lawrence
The Girl on the Train
by 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
significantlybadandsomebodyislying.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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