My Kenya Days

by Wilfred Thesiger

Following on from the author's autobiography, The Life of My Choice, this book provides a record of Thesiger's 30 years in Kenya. Since his first visit to Kenya in 1960, Thesiger has made a series of long journeys on foot with camels to Lake Turkana, Marsabit and other remote areas.

Genres: Travel, Africa, Nonfiction, Kenya, Travelogue

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, KBE, DSO, MA, DLitt, FRAS, FRSL, FRGS, FBA, was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

Thesiger was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford University where he took a third in history. Between 1930 and 1933, Thesiger represented Oxford at boxing and later (1933) became captain of the Oxford boxing team.

In 1930, Thesiger returned to Africa, having received a personal invitation by Emperor Haile Selassie to attend his coronation. He returned again in 1933 in an expedition, funded in part by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore the course of the Awash River. During this expedition, he became the first European to enter the Aussa Sultanate and visit Lake Abbe.

Afterwards, in 1935, Thesiger joined the Sudan Political Service stationed in Darfur and the Upper Nile. He served in several desert campaigns with the Sudan Defence Force (SDF) and the Special Air Service (SAS) with the rank of major.

In World War II, Thesiger fought with Gideon Force in Ethiopia during the East African Campaign. He was awarded the DSO for capturing Agibar and its garrison of 2500 Italian troops. Afterwards, Thesiger served in the Long Range Desert Group during the North African Campaign.
There is a rare wartime photograph of Thesiger in this period. He appears in a well-known photograph usually used to illustrate the badge of the Greek Sacred Squadron. It is usually captioned 'a Greek officer of the Sacred Band briefing British troops'. The officer is recognisably the famous Tsigantes and one of the crowd is recognisably Thesiger. Thesiger is the tall figure with the distinct nasal profile. Characteristically, he is in Arab headdress. Thesiger was the liaison officer to the Greek Squadron.

In 1945, Thesiger worked in Arabia with the Desert Locusts Research Organisation. Meanwhile, from 1945 to 1949, he explored the southern regions of the Arabian peninsula and twice crossed the Empty Quarter. His travels also took him to Iraq, Persia (now Iran), Kurdistan, French West Africa, Pakistan, and Kenya. He returned to England in the 1990s and was knighted in 1995.

Thesiger is best known for two travel books. Arabian Sands (1959) recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins. The Marsh Arabs (1964) is an account of the Madan, the indigenous people of the marshlands of southern Iraq. The latter journey is also covered by his travelling companion, Gavin Maxwell, in A Reed Shaken By The Wind — a Journey Through the Unexplored Marshlands of Iraq (Longman, 1959).

Thesiger took many photographs during his travels and donated his vast collection of 25,000 negatives to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a little different from Thesiger's other works, primarily because is was a work of dictation rather than writing. Written as a look back across his time in Kenya, Thesiger had by the time this book was created, lost his eyesight, rendering him unable to read or write.

From his first visit in the 1960s until 1993 (this book was published in 1994), Thesiger shares his most prominent memories. They range from explaining some of his many expeditions and travels through Kenya with a variety of persons accompanying him, to his thoughts on animals, anti-poaching and some anthropology around the tribes he spent time with.

As his last book, it contains a lot of his memories and some of his current thoughts when looking back at events, including a few regrets (but none major). He also tells a little about the people he met, both Kenyan and Europeans, and pulls no punches. Amusingly he has a significant dislike for Joy Adamson (although likes her husband George, and spends some time travelling with him) - the Joy Adamson of Elsa the lion fame. He makes one comment suggesting he couldn't understand why her husband didn't take her out and shoot her after she takes George to task rudely in front of guests. Well - he is well within his rights to be a grumpy old man by this point.

Probably the best aspect of this book however, are his well selected and excellent photographs. For me the format was excellent and far superior to a book which assembles all of the photographs in groups, as the end of each chapter brought several pages of photographs relevant to the chapter just read. This is a rare format, and it really adds to the readers experience, although it obviously means the use of higher quality paper throughout, as the leaves don't align to allow photo quality paper amongst the written pages. But I digress from his excellent photographs, which really are excellent - his landscape photography is brilliant, but really his portraits are where he excels. I understand he gifted his collection of photographs to the Pitt Rivers Museum, and many of these are available to view online as a virtual collection HERE, well worth a look.

Thesiger is an author I do my best to pace my reading of - I own a number of his books that i have not yet read, and do my best to resist doing so right away.

For me, this is easily 4 stars, and close to 5. Pushed to 5 due to the photography.

One quick quote, which I think works with Thesiger's grumpy old man humour.

P83: (Boran is the name of a tribe.)
Every night we had been sleeping on the ground, fairly close together, except for one young Boran who was on bad terms with the others and slept by himself a short distance away. In the morning when we woke up we found the tracks of three lion which had prowled around close to where I and my companions had been sleeping, in some places passing between us within a few feet. Lokuyie turned to the unpopular young Boran and said, "You see, even the lions wouldn't go near you."

[Aaron · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim at a local bookstore in a shopping mall in Nairobi. I looked at all this guys other books and they are well received. This is a book of his dotage. He wrote in his 80s- and rather dictated it. He comes across as a frumpy old apologist for British colonialism. For instance, he actively dislikes multipartyism in Kenya. I was hoping for a book that really described life in Kenya, but the majority of this book is Thesiger explaining how he walked with camels from one place to another in the Northern Frontier District (which is now split between Rift Valley), but has very other little insight or description. Anyhow, not recommended.

[Philip Tidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suspect he wrote this solely for the money as he was at the time financing the aspirations of his Samburu companions and its’ a bit of a mish mash of his early travels in Kenya and Tanganyika, and his later years living near Maralal in Northern Kenya. I spent several years living in Kenya whilst Thesiger was there, though sadly never met him. I’m not sure he would have approved of me if we had met, as he was definitely a man of the old school and a bit of an apologist of British colonialism. Despite that, I admire him greatly for the way he chose to live his life and for his friendships with and loyalty to Arabs and Africans at a time when such friendships were frowned upon by his peers. Like most of us he could be a man of contrasting convictions.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clearly written account of Thesiger's incredible life beyond his Arabian and Iraqi days up to almost the last years of his life. He chose to live with the families of his Kenyan assistants and helped them build their own homes and get established. (Apparently, after Kenya he spent the final few years of his life at a care home in the UK.)

[Liz Wager · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as fascinating as his books about his middle eastern trips but the photo's are beautiful

[Geir Ertzgaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ikke for sine litterære kvaliteter, for dette er ganske tørt materiale. Men fordi det handler om Kenya, om leve utenfor rutenettet, for innføringen i den harde, ugjestmilde men vakre naturen i steppelandskapet i nordlige Kenya, for innføringen i historien fra begynnelsen av 1900-tallet og fram til 1990, for de rare, merkverdige valgene, for det å bli kjent med hvordan en av de siste store oppdagerne og vandrerne tenker, så er dette en vinner. Den handler om Wilfred Thesigers år i Kenya fra 1960 til rundt 1993, og om alt som foranlediget hans valg om å bosette seg der. Han er innom delta-araberne i Irak, båtreiser langs The Wallace Line, møter med det gamle, britiske Øst-Afrika, noen streif innom London og hvorfor han ikke ville bosette seg i England. Thesiger er et menneske du knapt finner maken til, og hans nesten totale mangel på selvopptatthet er forfriskende.
Jeg? Får intenst lyst til å utforske områdene fra Nanyuki og nordover, jeg husker enda - det sitter dypt - min første safari til Meru, en påfølgende tur rundt Mt. Kenya til Isiolo, Archers Post, Samburu og foten av Mt. Kenya før jeg ble tenåring, og jeg kjenner suget etter å se det igjen. Derfor er dette en bok for meg - spesielt siden Thesiger og jeg bodde i nærheten av det samme fjellet i tre år mellom 1974 og 77.

[Borderscot]

A disappointment after his previous books. I found the accounts of his travels in what was Kenya's Northern Frontier district rather boring. I did admire him for his ability to sleep in the open with his Kenyan companions while hyenas and lions roamed round about but there were far too many accounts of the herds of elephants and groups of rhinos and other animals he encountered on his way to L Rudolf and back. The photographs of the people of the different tribes but were excellent and very well printed but the map at the front was unreadable. it names of the places were unreadable especially when printed on dark coloured mountain areas. A clear map showing his route would have been useful. I have been to many of the places on his route but still had to refer to n atlas map to follow his journey.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written biography about Wilfred Thesiger’s time spent in Kenya. Wilfred has truly lived an African life, serving in the military in Sudan and is spending his years living an incredibly simple life with people of the Samburu tribe in Maralal, Kenya. I wish this book was more descriptive. Wilfred writes about some really beautiful stories but I felt they would be more alive with description and feeling to them.

[Stefan Dion Garcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was wondering why there were very few personal stories. Then I noticed despite being a fierce hunter, the author seemed to describe men with an appreciative eye. So I did further research and it seems like the author was a closeted gay man. That explains why his personal stories seemed very tamed and this book reads more like a travel itinerary than an interesting read.

[Mark Bilahi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A description of a bygone Kenya from the eyes of a circumcision-happy colonial apologist. Seems to have been an odd man but by god did he know how 2 live

[David Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

WIlfred Thesiger is possibly one of the greatest travel writers ever. If you're travelling to the middle-east at all, he is a must read (albeit travels in a different time, it is an amazing insight into the cultures there). And what a man; intelligent, brave and inspiring. Nice little book about his later life - perhaps not as exciting has previous book but definitely one for the fans.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir Wilfred's last book. He was a friend, and he had a place just across from my Maralal haunt, where he would come when he needed a bath. So it's special for me. He was perhaps the man alive who knew when to take camels or donkeys or horses, and what to take on a six month stroll.

[Faith McLellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thesiger is one of my heroes. This is perhaps his most personal book. I remain very much in awe of his life and travels.

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great descriptions, social comment. Fascinating pespective.