Some changes come as a real shock and are really hard to accept! I had an opportunity to participate in a project evaluation in East Africa a few years ago. This took me back to Muguga, a community where Anne and I had lived for 4 years in the '60s. The community was 15 miles out of Nairobi along the Nakuru / Uganda highway. Muguga was a research station of the Kenya Forest Department. Community is rather stretching it. In fact there were 6 homes for foreign professionals and a row housing complex for the African technicians. An office compound consisted of working space for the pathologist, entomologist, silviculturist, silvicultural technician and district manager. There was a small labour force working in the nursery and living in a village of thatched roof 'kibandas' further down the valley.

The station was surrounded by Mexican pine plantations, a very pleasant setting particularly for those of us in senior houses, each complete with a couple of acres of landscaped garden looked after by a gardener. One poinsettia 'tree' had over a hundred blooms. Houses were stone bungalows, spacious and fully equipped. The property was encompassed by a high picket fence for protection and was patrolled nightly by an 'askari'. Needless to say we had a very pleasant secure life style in the midst of a sizeable pine forest.

Fast forward 25 years. I was attending a conference in Limuru, a town in Kenya, down the road from Muguga. Time was short, but I was able to have one hour back on my old station before we left for Tanzania. I don't know what I expected but I wasn't ready for the massive changes that had taken place. Nairobi had grown out into the countryside engulfing Muguga. Poor housing and 'dukas' ( stores) had replaced the pines. The new developments had encroached even on the beautiful residential lots. With a fair amount of looking I eventually found 'our' house, but the gardens which had been our pride and joy were hardly recognizable. The current residents obviously had different ideas of property (mis)management. In short - disappointment.

Nairobi was another disappointment. I remembered it as a beautiful city with flowering trees and boulevards of bougainvilleas, poinsettias, and golden showers. It was a neat, clean and tidy city at that time. It was also safe and peaceful, with tribal groups living generally in harmony. The highlight of our travels and particularly for visitors was touring the game parks. This unique form of zoo had a vast array of animals in the wild while visitors were in cages, that is within the safety of cars.

Fast forward another 15 years. The T.V. and newspapers are filled with tribal violence. The Kenya we had known had such potential as a transformed colony. It had been the dream posting for members of the diplomatic corps. The new Kenya, a far cry from the old, required a new breed of diplomats, provided with danger pay as incentive to accept positions there.

The last count I heard was over a thousand deaths. No member of the Kikuyu tribe was safe in communities in the Rift Valley, Nakuru, Elburgon, Londiani or points west in Luo tribal territory around Lake Victoria. A national economy based on Tourism is in tatters and it will be many years before it can possibly recover.

I had wanted to return to Kenya, a land of beauty and peace, and incidentally the birth home of our second son. I would love for Geoff to visit the land of his birth. My return trip in 1992 certainly tempered my dreams. But the more recent developments dampened any interest in my returning either as a tourist or to work in forestry development which had been so much a part of my career. It would be great to be part of a resurgence of the Kenya I used to know but it does not appear likely that any significant form of recovery will occur during my lifetime.