Denka, dinki, danke

I say!

Onan the Bavarian has been getting into hot water over at his Opening Time blog recently for posting about Germans. I do hope the same doesn't happen to me for posting the following story about what happened some time ago when Mrs M and myself found ourselves staying the night in a less than salubrius establishment in a rather rough part of Mombassa.

This was the result of an incident with a one-armed robber, a panga, and my wallet. As a result, we were forced to take refuge in a very basic 'hotel'.

The walls of the rooms were very thin, and in fact didn't even reach the ceiling.

In the middle of the night I was woken by the sound of two people entering the room next to ours. It became obvious from the voices that it was a local girl and a tourist from Germany.

After a brief spell, there was the noise of a bed creaking. It went:

denka denka denka denka denka denka

Then it gradually increased in tempo and sounded more like:

dinki dinki dinki dinki dinki

Which fairly rapidly turned into:

dinkidinkidinkidinkidinki

Then quite suddenly, silence.

Then, shortly afterwards, the sound of a voice saying one word:

"Danke"

Oh dear. What a rude (but true) story! To take your mind off it, here is a postcard from Lille in France, from around the time of the First World War. I think we won that one.

In fact, there was a great deal of activity in and around Malawi during the First World War. A lot of fighting in Portugese East Africa, as it was known at that time, and also up north. Lots of local people hereabouts were made to carry packs for many miles.

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Colour Bar

I say!

What a wonderful book I've been reading recently. Its title is "Colour bar: The triumph of Seretse Khama and his Nation" and it was written by Susan Williams, who works at the University of London. I can thoroughly recommend this book.

It tells the story of Seretse Khama, later Sir Seretse Khama, and his wife Ruth Williams, later Lady Khama. And what a story it is!

Sir Seretse Khama became the first president of Botswana, where, of course, Mrs M, myself and our two sons lived for a while before moving here to Kalimbuka. I used to shop in the same supermarket as Lady Khama in Broadhurst, Gaborone. I sometimes stood in the same checkout queue as the late president's wife, because she had no pretenses. Delightful woman, she was. Sadly no longer with us.

Well, I do not want to give too much away about the story of Seretse and his wife, but they faced many difficulties after they were married. The book chronicles a shameful period of racism in the 40s and 50s, in Britain and South Africa, but there is a happy ending. Throughout that period, the lovely people of Botswana showed a lot of restraint.

I shall post some snaps of Gabs soon, along with some more from Madrid, but in the mean time here are some final snaps from Lamu and Kilifi, on the Kenyan coast.





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Military reception

I say!

No-one found Mrs M in the last post. She is centre right, in the middle distance, white trousers, carrying a leather bag on her left.

Anyway, what a show they put on for us in Madrid.

First of all there was a fly-past by the airforce:

Then I had to talk to some high-ranking military people:


And then they brought out the tanks. Security was a bit excessive, but I suppose it's only to be expected after what happend to Bob Woolmer.




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Where's Mrs M and other questions

I say!

Here are three questions:

1. Which revolutionary sailed a yacht called the Grandma?

2. What is peculiar about the Royal Wajir Yacht Club?

3. This question is a bit like Where's Wally/Waldorf and has nothing to do with yachts, as far as I can see.

Can you see where Mrs M is in the following snap taken at the Palacio Real, in Madrid?


What wonderful architecture there is in Madrid. As an ex-student of architecture I found it fascinating. The next snap was taken looking up the Gran Via.


And the next one, from the other direction.


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Hotel Mediodia

I say!

Here are some more snaps from our recent sojourn in Madrid.

Firstly, our hotel, the Mediodia, in the Atocha district.


The view from the top floor of the Mediodia, towards the wonderful Estacion de Atocha.
The next one was taken from inside the Estacion de Atocha. Made me feel like I was in Kalimbuka!


Finally, a local shop.


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Quiz

I say!

Here are two quiz questions.

1. What was the first name of the second son, born in 1889, of President Theodore Roosevelt?

2, What do the following men have in common? Clue - they lived in Africa at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Halford Lucas of Ol Donyo Sabuk, Basil Culverhouse de Gex, Walter Stuart, William Harrison, Arthur Godfrey, Fritz Schindler, George Grey, and J.W.T. McClellan.

On a trip to dear old Blighty earlier this year I took the following snaps.





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