By Anne Petty
OUR first family home was in Naivasha, 90 kms from the capital, Nairobi. The wooden house sat in a large fenced garden with views to the endless plains. We saw the occasional lion, graceful bucks, zebra and giraffe.
One morning my parents awoke to see a giraffe poking its long neck through their bedroom window, an amazing experience.
As children we called insects doodoos. One day I sighted a large doodoo on the verandah and ran to announce the news to my mother.
She must have been horrified to be confronted by one of Africa’s deadliest snakes; a black mamba. An African gardener was despatched to the neighbour to call for help.
I was told to quietly retreat to the back door of the house.
A great joy was visiting Lake Naivasha. It abounded with hippos, an abundance of many bird species, including the elegant pink flamingos.
The birds and the pink of the soft, fluffy-headed grass endeared me to an enduring love for this colour.
Christmas was spent at my grandparents’ house in Nairobi. Our journey took us over the escarpment, giving us a magnificent view of the Rift Valley below. We often observed great herds of stampeding wildebeest.
Our Christmas preparations started by choosing the best looking branch off one of the many fir trees that grew along the terraced acre garden. My brother and I helped our grandmother with decorating the tree; cotton-wool snow, various ornaments, tinsel and small red candles in silver holders. The paper chains we had made, festooned the ceiling.
My grandmother was a professional cook, so the traditional Christmas feast was awaited with greatest anticipation.
We enjoyed a happy childhood, apart from a dark period of life restricted and more protected during the Mau Mau uprising. Along with the neighbourhood children, our games included, cricket, badminton, totem tennis and many other childhood games.
Our few coastal holidays at Mombasa took a full day’s driving, most of it on dirt roads, often through forest. We saw elephants, occasional lion and the highly entertaining baboons. Our drive was broken by a stop at Voi to eat, refresh and re-acquainting ourselves with our friend and host of Hunter’s Lodge.
The exciting port of Mombasa had seen many and varied aspects of life, still vividly fascinating – a picture of scent, colour and history woven into a beautiful tapestry.
Many centuries as a trading centre, Mombasa was visited by graceful Arab dhows bringing rich spices, Bangalore tiles, and exquisitely woven Persian carpets.
Mombasa was set in an abundance of coconut palms, white sands and fragrant frangipani trees, mingled with spicy smells of the East.
In 1961 we emigrated to Perth, Western Australia to start a different journey …. but that’s another story.