King Leopold's Congo...

So after a three hour delay and a horrible flight I am back home in one piece - I guess here it's the end result that is important and not the process per se. I have come back to a very cool and rainy Accra - can only hope that the water is finding it's way into the dam. Seems as if a number of persons got flooded out over the weekend, and even more unfortunate, seven persons died. There is now a call by the Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment to clamp down on illegal buildings and dumping, all of which has contributed to the flooding. Let's see what will happen.

On the return journey from East Africa back to West Africa, we flew for two hours over the Congo forest. Made me think of the book I had just finished reading, ' King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Terror, Greed, Heroism in Colonial Africa' by Adam Hochschild. It's a well written book though it's hard to say I enjoyed it, as the story was quite gruesome. It was hard to put it down though once I started, never having recognised the extent to which the then Belgian King Leopold III had gone to in ensuring his own economic gain. It is said some ten million native inhabitants died through a combination of forced slavery (to harvest rubber), torture and murder. The extent to which Belgian officers carried out their gruesome duties in keeping resistance in check has been described as sociopaths by some. Records revealed the fact that officers/soldiers would often times 'harvest' the hands and feet of men, women and even children as proof of the number of people killed. One report told of an officer collecting the severed heads to border his garden!

Unfortunately just before he died King Leopold III gave orders for many of the detailed records to be destroyed. One can't help but wonder what those would have revealed.

Sad how many times history repeats itself.

From West to East...

Started this the very day I arrived in Nairobi and after a week am not just posting.

Came to Nairobi, primarily to attend a conference and team meetings at our new offices. Isn't my first time in East Africa - have been to Tanzania before - but yes first time in Nairobi or Kenya for that matter. I do like what I have seen and am already planning on coming back! Thinking it would be cool to spend some holidays here with Ashes.

It's quite modern city - sky scrapers, plenty of things to see and do. The energy reminds me a lot of Kingston - could actually see myself living here. It's the largest city (population) I have ever been in - it's a bit more than twice the size of Accra with a population of roughly 9 million people.

Interesting how some sub-cultures remain the same where ever you are. Take for instance the 'matatus' or what would be referred to as mini-buses in Jamaica or tro-tros in Ghana. While I haven't ventured on one, driving in the city with them around just seems to be one of near misses and constant prayers. Funnily enough, drivers here seldom blow their horns, driving just seems to be an intricate job of flashing your lights and intuition.

Did manage to take a quick trip outside the city on the day I arrived to Lake Naivasha which is about 90 min trip from the capital. On the way up the mountains, there is a beautiful view of the Rift Valley. Yesterday also went to the Karen Blixen house. For those for those like me that didn't know, Karen Blixen is the famous author of the book Out of Africa, which was then later made into a movie starting Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. The book is essentially her auto-biography and details her time spent here in Kenya.

Friday night did the Carnovire (restaurant) and Casablanca (dancing) which was also fun - now off to see the baby elephants, giraffes and do a bit of shopping and meet up with some Ghanaians who are living here.

Certainly won't be my last trip to Nairobi.
DC