In my ongoing quest to convert my old LPs and tapes to usable formats, I came across the tape "Roger Whittaker in Kenya", and now I'm very homesick, listening to "Good old E.A.R.&H.", "My Land is Kenya", and "Shimoni."
Oh the good old E.A.R.&H. will get you there on time
Those mighty engines rolling down the line
And no boy ever had a railway quite as fine as mine!
Oh the good old E.A.R.&H.
It's obvious from the songs that Whittaker was from the very privileged class. As, I suppose, was I, while I was in Kenya. One of my favorite songs on the album (except for E.A.R.&H.) is "High" which, although I guess he never says it, seems to be about a hot air baloon ride over the game parks. And so of course, my Kenya isn't the real Kenya, and I suppose I've always known that. But I miss it anyway.
You only have one childhood, and the memories that spring
When you see your house, the tree you climbed
And all those precious things.
The faces of the friends I loved, the images of home
When I close my eyes in the land I love
The land that I call home
My land is Kenya, right from your highlands to the see,
You'll always stay with me, here in my heart.
My land is Kenya, so warm and wild and free
You'll always stay with me, here in my heart.
I sure hope I get a chance to go back home some time, and take Sarah with me. It's been so long.
Just hope that maybe tomorrow, you can come back home again.
Your Kenya was real enough for you and at the end of the day I feel that is what counts!
This is my first time here, following a google link for MT - WordPress conversions, the last thing I expect was to find a track on Kenya.
Pleasant unexpected surprise!
How bizarre, I am sat in an office in Newbury, Berks, UK but was born and raised in Kenya, born in Mombasa and lived in Langata. We're all chatting about Roger Whittaker for some reason and I couldn't find an album with Shimoni on it, but good old google always comes up with something and so here I am.
I am lucky as I still have family out there that I visit but as Rog said - "it'll always stay with me, here in my heart!!!"
Yes, you're lucky to still have family there to visit. You're also lucky you live in the UK, as tickets are much cheaper from there than from South America, where I live.
Roger's music still resonates for me, too. Aren't too many people who sing about my experiences as a Mzungu in Kenya.
Was just googling the lyrics of the song and came upon your blog.
Everybody's Kenya is different. Mine growing up near the city is by no means the same as yours as a mzungu or that of a kid growing up in Marsabit, but it is Kenya all the same. I love that country, now I'm hopelessly homesick but will hopefully go visit soon.
Kwaheri..
I feel lucky being home here from all u guys r saying. Come back soon!
I too was brought up in the highly privileged class of colonial Kenya, though born in Britain. I lived in Mombasa and Nairobi. I went back for a fortnight just before Christmas 2007 and found things the same and changed. The people in Mombasa seemed much nicer than those in Nairobi, where being mzungu and alone makes you a target for various kinds of beggars and for pedlars. In the suburbs people spoke to me in Swahili, but downtown Nairobi is full of people, including child beggars, who speak quite good English. If I could exclude the beggars I suspect I'd find Nairobi - where I lived three times as long as in Mombasa - as nice as Mombasa.
I visited Saint Mary's, my old school. EAR&H is no more, of course, thanks to interterritorial squabbling.