Category: Family

  

2000, March – Madeira

Spring break, flight directly to Madeira. Nice hotel overlooking Funchal harbour. Various excursions by bus around the island and walks along the levadas – more than 200 man-made channels carrying water for irrigation of agricultural fields, with walking paths beside them. Afternoon tea at Reid’s hotel, overlooking Funchal. Toboggan ride, with two carreiros in white uniforms and straw hats, guiding the sledge downhill.

 

  

2000, May – Norway, Germany and Austria

Arrived in Kolbotn in time for Norway’s National Day – national dress and ribbons, parades, flag-waving and a special family lunch. Then took the car on the boat to Keil in north Germany and drove south-east, staying in Berlin for two nights, then to Potsdam, through Brandenburg to Leipzig, Dresden and then through the Czech Republic and into Austria at Passau. Stayed in Salzburg (‘Sound of Music’ sights), Innsbruck, and then picked up the motorway all the way to the Channel port Ostend, where we queued on the dockside for the ferry, and home.

 

 

2000, July – Hamburg and Copenhagen

We took David, Jenny and Alison to Germany and Holland. Overnight car ferry from Newcastle, reaching Cuxhaven by breakfast time and sailing slowly up the River Elbe to Hamburg, where we disembarked. Drove north to Denmark and spent the night in Hans Christian Anderson’s town of Odense and looked around it. Then on to a farm outside Copenhagen, where Jenny rode horses. Visited the harbour and the Little Mermaid. The highlight was an afternoon and evening at the Tivoli Gardens amusement park. It was necessary to reserve seats on the train back to the town nearest to the farm. At the appointed time, no one wanted to leave Tivoli, so Ian rebooked for a later train. This happened twice more, until only the last train for the night was available. Return was by car ferry from Esjberg to Newcastle.

 

2000, October – Norway

Cheap flights started by Ryanair from Prestwick to Torp airport, marketed by Ryanair as ‘an airport serving Oslo’ although it is 68 miles south of Oslo. It suited us well to get to Sandy, with car-hire and a ferry across the fjord to the main road north to Kolbotn. While he was at work, we re-explored some of our favourite places around Kolbotn, including the pier at the museum (his house) for Roald Amundsen, the first to reach the South Pole in December 1911.

 

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1999, February – Malta

Package holiday, flight, transfers and a hotel in the middle of the island with a swimming pool. Explored everywhere by bus, including a trip past St Paul’s Bay and over the short sea crossing to Gozo. We also visited the Crusader sites in Valetta and sailed around its harbour.  Photo of Ian.

 

  

1999, March – Dumfries, Lesley’s 40^th birthday

Her friends displayed this banner on the side the road leading to their house in Dumfries; flowers and cake at the joint party with a friend in the church who was celebrating similarly.

   

1999, May – Kolbotn and Oslo

Abigael’s christening in the American Church in Oslo, as part of the Sunday morning service, followed by a family lunch. Hired a car at Oslo airport and Sandy arranged for us to stay in a neighbour’s house – he and Christina were still in the Norwegian Missionary Society house. Photos of Sandy, Christina and Abigael in the church, Tina and Joyce and Abigael at the reception and the cake.

 

   

1999, July – Verona and Venice

Package holiday to the Opera at Verona. Flight to Milan, then bus. Excellent seats for the performance – photo of the theatre filling up, before we went to our seats in the front row. Sight-seeing on the next day included the balcony where Romeo wooed Juliet. On to Venice – photo of Joyce at the Bridge of Sighs – before flying home.

 

 

  

  

1999, July – Oslo, Germany and Switzerland                                    

Took our car on the ferry from Newcastle to Kristiansand and stayed with Sandy for a week. Then ferry to Keil and drove leisurely south-westwards, through Hamburg, Bremen, Munster (fascinating time looking at the mementos of the Anabaptist insurrection of 1534 (this website, History, Church History – 36 Illustrated Lectures, Lecture 21), picked up the Rhine at Cologne, then up the Mosel to Bernkastel and stayed in the same room in the Drei Konige Hotel as we had for the first week of our honeymoon. Then on to Heidelberg (second week of our honeymoon), and a night in Nuremberg and an interesting sail along its main canal. Then on through Munich to Oberamergau, Garmisch-Partigeren and finally to Interlaken, where we made the Hotel Seeburg, right at the pier at Ringenberg on the Brienzersee, our base. We sailed on both lakes, drove up to Lauterbrunnen, took the railway up the Jungfrau and sailed on the Blausee, before driving back up the Rhine, then to Bruges for the ferry home.

 

1999, August – Puerto Pollensa, Majorca

First visit with Robin, Frances and their children to the hotel Miramar (photo of it from the pier). Boat trip from the pier to Cala San Vicente and Cap de Formentor. Spent most of the rest of our time on the beach, but also walked along the promenade into the town, for some meals. Hired a car to explore the inland town of Pollença and up to the Formentor Lighthouse.

 

1999, December – Norway

To spend New Year with Sandy, we flew to Oslo and he met us at the airport. Brought in the New Year, then the skies opened and snow closed all roads around the house. We were eventually sufficiently dug out to get back to the airport.

 

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1998, January – South Africa bus tour

Package, starting with flight to Johannesbug. Advantage of flying north-south, not west-east, is no jetlag. Much amused at our first hotel. We asked the tour guide if she would point out the Rosebank district of Johannesburg, if we passed it, because our friends Gerald and Kitty Griffiths had accepted a ‘call’ to a church there after leaving Charlotte Chapel. She replied sharply that she would not wish to go near Rosebank, and that we were going to a country hotel for a few nights. On arrival, we found there had been a fire, so after much telephoning we were taken, in the dark, to a hotel in Johannesburg. Pulling back the curtains in the morning, we were looking at the Rosebank Union Church.

 

Game drives in the Idube Game Reserve – photos of a game drive and of a break for refreshments, with ostrich eggs in the foreground. On return to the Lodge, a dip in the pool beside the dining room was refreshing – Ian in the water, Joyce in the deck chair. Then the whole party flew to George, stayed at the golf course there, and then drove along the Garden Route to Cape Town, with a boat-trip around Featherhead Bay, so named because it was the first anchorage where sailors on east-bound sailing ships could have a good sleep after rounding the Cape.

Then we were driven north, through hill country, to an ostrich farm (Ian mounting to ride one), and visited pre-historic cave paintings; on the way south, we stayed at Matjiesfontain, a quaint, self-contained village in theKaroo, where the Blue Train (we saw it come through) used to stop for passengers to have breakfast on the platform. Then to Cape Town, where we visited the Waterfront, Table Mountain, and the Cape of Good Hope. Direct flight home to Heathrow.

 

1998, March – Alison’s tenth birthday, to London

As with David and Jennifer (1994 and 1996), train from Edinburgh and stayed in a hotel near King’s Cross station. Her choices included visits to Harrods and Hamleys and Horse Guards’ Parade, and a full guided tour of Buckingham Palace. Her choice of theatre was ‘Whistle down the Wind’. On the Sunday we had lunch and spent the afternoon with David Saunderson and his family.

 

1998, June – Jeremy’s graduation from London Bible College

Jeremy studied at London Bible College from 1995-98, graduating BA(Hons) in Theology. We took the car to the graduation ceremony, partly to bring back his belongings and partly to stop off at Center Park in Nottingham Forest (not otherwise listed here) for a week with Lesley and family.

 

 

 

1998, July – Disneyland Park, Paris

Joyce took David, Jennifer and Alison to Paris for a few days, staying in Disneyland Park, which had opened in 1992. They went on the rides and exhibits and dressed up as Disney characters. On arrival at the airport, in the queue for a taxi, this driver not only took them to Disneyland, explaining the sights on the way, but arranged to come back the next day and show them around Paris, Eifel Tower and all, and, at the end, took them to the airport. For all of this, Joyce described him as her ‘guardian angel’.

 

   

1998, August – car to Norway 

Car ferry from Newcastle to Kristiansand on the southern tip of Norway, easy drive to stay with Sandy, first at their house and then at their holiday cabin in the mountains at Geilo. Lovely mountain walks. Also bicycle trip (two photos) organized by Terge, downhall all the way to the fjord, with spectacular waterfalls. A train took us and the bicycles back up the hill to Geilo.

Then two-day drive north to Alesund to stay with Paul and Anne-Marit Saunderson – the car sat on ‘cruise-control’ for long spells as there was a strictly enforced 70 km limit on the long straight roads. Drove back to Bergen to pick up the Newcastle ferry.

 

1998, September – Roundelwood Health Spa, Crieff

A week of healthy meals and treatments morning and afternoon. Group sessions of reflexology, the application of pressure to specific points on the feet and hands, using thumb, finger, and hand massage techniques. As the management were, incidentally, Seventh Day Adventists, Saturday was spent as we would spend Sunday – services, meditations, etc. Photo of us in the lounge.

 

 

1998, November – St Lucia and on to Young Island

Front row of the upper deck of the British Airways 747, as before. Heathrow to Barbados, where many got off, and we were alone in the bubble for the rest of the flight. Nice beach hotel, explored the island, including a rumbling but safe-to-visit active volcano. One curious incident. We had booked a boat trip round the island, but shortly after setting off the captain said that it was too rough to continue and sailed around the marina inside the breakwater. By chance we spotted Sonia Balfour’s and Alex’s yacht – we knew that they were based on St Lucia and chartering their yacht for a living. We asked the skipper to draw up alongside and at that moment Sonia returned from shopping and chatted away as if we had been expected.

Flew on in a tiny aircraft – we were the only passengers – to St Vincent and had another week on Young Island. As we were there for only one week, we did not qualify for nights away on their yacht. Home via a scheduled flight to Barbados and then British Airways overnight to Heathrow. Interesting experience on the latter. We had, as usual, booked the front row on the upper deck of the 747. The check-in clerk said that these seats was not available and put us elsewhere. We suspected he had given them to two of his friends. Ian asked to see the supervisor. He came back and with a wink said, ‘Don’t say any more – just leave it with me (although he left us with our unwanted boarding passes). When we got to the steps, we were directed to First Class. Great experience, but we would never dream of paying the asking price for it.

 

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1997, February – Paphos in Cyprus and a cruise to Egypt

Package holiday, with a hotel on the coast at Paphos. Photo of grounds. Too early for many restaurants to open. Visited the traditional places where Saint Paul preached and performed miracles – Acts 13:6-12. Hired a car and drove into the mountains and up to the closed border with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Included was a three-day cruise from Paphos to Alexandria in Egypt – one day’s sail each way and one day excursion to visit Cairo, including its main museum, then on to a sphinx and pyramid, temples and an amphitheatre.

  

1997, May – bus tour to Prague

Our first bus tour was with Sheerings in April 1992, but this time we chose their great rivals, Wallace Arnold. Again, a feeder bus to the Channel port, where passenger swapped to their dedicated coaches. Ample time to explore Prague. Photos of Joyce and Ian in Prague.

 

1997, August – China to visit Sandy

Sandy and Christina were on a two-year assignment with the Norwegian Missionary Society to teach at a school in Longyan, Fujian Province, People’s Republic of China. We flew into the new Hong Kong airport and had two nights in a hotel. A Hong Kong doctor, whom we had entertained while he was a student in Edinburgh, came for coffee and gave us a case of medicines for our welfare ‘out in the sticks’. Fortunately none of it was required and we left it with Sandy.

 

  

Sailed overnight on a coastal steamer, the Scandinavian-built Jimei, to Xiamen, where Sandy and Christina met us. First stop, an air-conditioned McDonalds.  Two nights in a hotel there, to explore Xiamen, especially the influence of Christian missionaries, as it used to be the ‘gateway to China’. Overnight sleeper-bus
to Longyan, and stayed in their flat (photo). Tips – eat only what you have seen being cooked and for fresh milk ask a vendor to fill your canister as you watch. (photo)

 

Visited a touring exhibition of the Terracotta Army, sculptures depicting the armies of the first Emperor of China. Then, because of its spectacular scenery, we flew back to Hong Kong via Yunnan – despite the hair-raising nature of domestic China air travel – staying for a few days and visiting the Stone Forest in Kunming. Sandy had booked the Norwegian Missionary Society Furlough House on the spectacular island of Cheung Chau, an hour by boat from Hong Kong. Photo of us pulling our luggage up the very steep and extremely hot path to it, on the top of the island. However, lovely restaurants at beach level. We woke on the Sunday morning to news that Princess Diana had been involved in a traffic accident – information that it was fatal came through as we had breakfast.

Said goodbye to Sandy and Christina at Hong Kong airport; they gave us no clue that they were coming as a surprise to Edinburgh for our fortieth wedding anniversary in April of next year.

We had a few more days in Hong Kong. The doctor friend took us in his Lexus – which persuaded us to buy a Lexus for our next car – to find the grave of Joyce’s relative, Walter Pryde, who had died in 1944 while interred by the Japanese during WW2 – see ‘The Family Tree of Joyce’s Father’ on this website, first entry.

Joyce has, among her mementos of her parents, a letter sent to her father in January 1945 by the sister-in-law of (the recently deceased) Walter Pryde, which reads:

 

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1996, January – London for Jennifer’s tenth birthday

As Jeremy was studying at London Bible College, he offered rooms there instead of a hotel. As well as Hamleys in Regent Street and a theatre, we visited Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Marylebon Road (the central figure in this picture is wax) and fed pigeons in Trafalgar Square.

 

 

1996, May – Bruges, Belgium

Train to Newcastle, bus to the Ferry Port, overnight sail to Zeebrugge, bus to Bruges for three nights. Sailed the canals, sampled the restaurants, then back home by the reverse route. Photos of Ian disembarking and two of Joyce with the canals (main image) in the background.

 

1996, November – cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore

Thirteen night cruise on the Sun Viking. Flew from Heathrow into the old Hong Kong airport, coming down below the flats on either side of the runway. Owing to an industrial dispute at Heathrow, our cases had not been transferred, so the Representative told us to replenish our wardrobes in the Hong Kong shops and to send him the bill, which we did. The cases arrived two days later. Excellent table companions at a large table. Photo of us and the Captain at the Captain’s Dinner.

Five days at sea and shore excursions on eight days. The first three visits were to Vietnam, all with ‘promote Vietnam’ themes: (a) lavish and lengthy welcome parties on the quayside, as here at Ha Long Bay, (b) excursions to productive farms, factories and ‘our marvellous nursery schools’, as here at Chan May and ‘our recent military struggles’ – tank on the lawn in Ho Chi Minh City. At Bankok there were gold ornaments everywhere. One of the excursions included elephant rides; Ian’s mounting was not graceful, but eventually successful.

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The last visit was to the island of Ko Samui in the Gulf of Thailand – palm-fringed beaches, coconut groves and dense, mountainous rainforest and a 12 metre (39 foot) golden Big Buddha. When we later told Sandy, who had been there, he asked what we thought of the spectacular staircase leading up to it, and we replied that our only thought was not to climb it.

When it rained unexpectedly, vendors produced stands of light plastic macs, to be used once and thrown away. Full day in Singapore, including a ride on the Skyride chairlift to Sentosa Island and a visit to Raffles Bar, home of the Singapore Sling. One of our best holidays ever.

 

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1995, January – one-day visit to Iceland

Enterprising tour operators used the availability of aircraft on Sundays to fly to various European locations, breakfast and evening meal on the plane and a choice of excursions at the location. We flew from Edinburgh to Reykjavik, swam in the geothermal Blue Lagoon spa, had a tour of the island’s volcanic activities, lunch and a tour of museums – with Viking headgear. Most shops not open on Sundays.

 

     

 

  

1995, March – Israel, Eilat, Petra and the Dead Sea

Flew into Tel Aviv and then on to Eilat, for a week in a resort on the edge of the sea, built to resemble a Thai village – great snorkelling, with lines marked on the seabed, so you looked down and chose your route to wherever. Photo of Joyce in village.

Day outing into Jordan, to visit Petra. Moral question at the Jordanian passport control – ‘You can join that queue in the sun or you can slip me ten dinar and go through now.’ Petra was fascinating, but heaving with tourists – contrast Ian’s visit in 1953, when he seemed to be the only person there (‘The Lands of the Book’ on this website, Part Three, 31 March.) Three photos inside Petra.

Another day outing, this one to St Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, claimed to be on the site of the burning bushwhere God first revealed himself to Moses. Some visitors stay the night, are taken before dawn by donkey to the top of Mount Sinai to see the sunrise, then breakfasted at the monastery and sent on their way. We spent only the day, looking round its treasures.

After a week in Eilat, we hired a car, spent two nights on the shore of the Dead Sea (swimming/floating again) and then drove to Jerusalem and back to Tel Aviv.

 

1995, June – Arran

Based at Robin’s house, but overnight at a B&B just up the hill from them. Bus tour round the Island and also much walking and climbing on the west coast. Visited Ken and Gretta Pritchard at their holiday home in the north of the Island.

 

 

1995, September – Sandy’s wedding in Norway

Flew to Oslo and hired a car. Wedding at the church in Drobak and the reception and meal at a splendid castle near Oslo. Wedding pictures

1995, September – David Saunderson’s wedding to Fiona in Eire

Flew to Dublin and hired a car for three days. Before driving south to stay at Fiona’s home, we did the tourists sights of Dublin – photo of the portrait of Christ in the Book of Kells in Trinity College Library. Very lavish wedding. Photo of David and Fiona cutting the cake. Amusing incident on our return journey. After handing in the car, we had some hours to spend before the flight home. We went on the ‘hop on-hop off’ sightseeing bus. The guide gave an interesting commentary. As we had time to spare, we sat on for another round-the-city-tour. A different guide joined, and gave a completely different commentary on the same sights.

 

 

1995, December – Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Zanzibar

Paul Saunderson’s wedding to Anne-Marit at the Mission compound in Addis Ababa. We arrived, via Nairobi, a few days before the wedding, and Paul and Anne-Marit showed us and David and Fiona Saunderson some of the hill country round about Addis Ababa.  Ian made a video of the ceremony and the speeches at the reception, but few back home wanted to watch it. Flew on the following day to Nairobi, with Paul and Anne-Marit, then they went on their honeymoon and we flew to Zanzibar for a week in a sea-side cottage. Explored the island – interesting history, including David Livingston. Fascinating British Airways flight from Dar-es-salaam to Heathrow, one stop at Nairobi, clear skies all the way, easy to follow the scenes on the ground by looking on the map as we flew over Africa, the Mediterranean, the coast of Italy and the Alps.

 

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1994, February – London for David’s tenth birthday

We took the grandchildren to London for a week-end for their tenth birthday – usually a hotel in central London, visits to Hamleys Toy Shop in Regent Street, a theatre of their choice, something on or around the Thames, exploring the Underground, etc. David’s was the first of eight such visits. (For Kezzie and Ellie, see July 2021.)

Train from Edinburgh, stayed in the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in Baker Street. Visited Madam Tussaud’s Waxworks and Harrods Store. David’s choice was to see the film ‘Cool Running’.

1994, March – Nice

Flew from Edinburgh directly to Nice and hired a car at the airport. Pleasant hotel looking onto the seafront – photo of the view from it. Explored the area in the car and walked along the promenade.

 

  

1994, May – cruise from Leith to St Petersburg and various Baltic capitals

Another attempt by the National Trust for Scotland to use its annual booking of a Fred Olson cruise ship to get to St Petersburg, this time successfully on the 28 year-old Black Prince. Stopped at various ports on the north shore of the Baltic on the way, and at Tallinn and Gdansk on the way back. Photos of Ian in St Petersburg, Joyce in the Hermitage Museum, a street market and in our seats at the classical Mariinsky Theatre, for a performance by one of the world’s leading ballet companies.

 

1994, July – Center Parc, Nottingham

Another week in a chalet; photo of Ian, David and Alison.

 

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1993, February, cruise of the Canary Islands

Cruise from Southampton on the Cunard Princess, with a day ashore on most of the Canary islands. These photographs, of the ship and of the fruitmarket, were taken on Tenerife. Joyce was determined to swim in the sea on her birthday, 19 February, and achieved this by taking a local bus along the coast to a town with an easily accessible beach – but the water seemed freezing.

 

 

 

1993, June – helicopter ride

Robin and Frances’ birthday present to Ian was a 30-minute sight-seeing helicopter tour for the four of us, taking off from the foreshore at Cramond and going up the Forth then over and around Edinburgh and down to Musselburgh and back. A scary (deliberate) twirl as we landed. Robin and our trusty Granada are in the foreground.

 

 

1993, July – Center Parc, Nottingham

Ian, Jennifer and Alison at the Pancake House, a favourite café, which adjoined the jetty where paddleboats were for hire.

 

 

 

1993, July – Japan 

Sandy was teaching English as a foreign language for a year in Japan, so Joyce flew with Japan Airlines from Heathrow to Tokyo, on her own, to visit him, and was very impressed. Photographs at local temples.

 

1993, November – Young Island, St. Vincent 

Return visit for another very enjoyable fortnight. Overnight (this time) flight to Barbados, which gave us all the next morning, before flying on to St Vincent, for a taxi drive around the island; the driver took us to the beginning of the promenade between the fabulous Sandy Lane hotels and the spectacular beach, and gave us time to walk the length of it and back.

The fortnight included, again, a three-day sail on the hotel’s yacht anchored offshore, skippered by Rueben. Reuben went further afield this time, including letting us ashore on the private island of Mustique.

Our last ever attempt at scuba-diving; staying at a depth, and getting back into the boat, were such an effort that we decided to stick to snorking from then on. Photo of Ian with the cylinder for the oxygen. The sympathetic boatman, learning about our love of swimming in the Grenadines, arranged for us to join a scheduled flight from St Vincent to Union Island, for a local boatman to take as to beaches for swimming, to a hotel on nearby Palm Island for a superb lunch, and then to hover over the wreck of a gunboat so we could swim down to it and admire the fish.

 

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1992, April – bus tour to Rome, Sienna, Florence and Venice

Sheerings’ feeder bus started in Edinburgh, picked up people all through central and south Scotland and northern England, and arrived at Dover with all the other feeder buses from the various regions. We then moved to the bus for our onward tour and were driven comfortably through France and Switzerland to Rome. Photos of Joyce overlooking Florence and Ian in Rome. Then along the Po Valley to Venice and back to Dover, where we swapped back into buses for local destinations.

 

1992, July – Center Parc, Nottingham

Another week in a chalet, similar to the previous three visits. Photo of the central lake, the village and the dome of the subtropical swimming paradise.

 

1992, November – Young Island, St Vincent, Grenadines

Attracted by an advertisement in a travel brochure, we flew from Heathrow to Barbados, then on a smaller local plane to St Vincent. Young Island was spectacular and the management friendly. Photo taken from the shore opposite. Swimming pool and swimming in the sea, lounge chairs on the beaches. The motorboat in the picture took passengers to and from the island – people did not, as in one of the promotional films of the island, swim across with a waterproof rucksack on their back.

For three days in the middle of our fortnight we sailed with two others on the hotel’s own yacht, captained by Reuben, one of their staff, to various surrounding islands – much swimming from the boat.

 

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1991, February – bus tour of Andalucia

Flight to Seville, then seven days guided bus tour of the hills, rivers and farmland bordering Spain’s southern coast. Moorish legacy in the architecture of Córdoba’s Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral and Granada’s Alhambra palace (the main reason why we chose this tour – spectacular). Photograph of us outside one of the churches visited during the early part of the tour; no photographs of the Alhambra palace as Ian accidentally dropped the camera into one of the fountains while photographing it and ruined the film in the camera.

1991, May – cruise around Scotland and across to Norway

National Trust for Scotland’s annual charter of a Fred Olson ship – this time the Funchal. From Rosyth, bus pick-up at the Waverley Bridge. Resident entertainment was the Aberdeen trio Scotland the What? Photograph of gulls in a feeding frenzy, with St Kilda in the background. Too rough to land on the island, but we circumnavigated it – spectacular cliffs. Photo of Joyce coming to the sundeck in better weather, but still well wrapped up. Then on to Norway, very rough on the way back, but even that did not stop the National Trust hardies from queuing for a full Scottish breakfast; as a younger passenger remarked, ‘With that lot in charge, no wonder we won the War’.

1991, July – Center Parc, Nottingham

Return visit for a week – Jeremy and Sandy with us; again much time in the subtropical swimming paradise. Photograph of a typical chalet.

 

 

1991, November – Kenya

Fascinating three weeks. Robin and Frances were working as doctors in Kenya and Joyce’s cousin, Paul Saunderson, at a leprosy clinic in Addis Ababa. Paul offered to take us all in the Mission Ambulance Land Rover on a guided tour of Kenya. We asked travel agents Abercrombie and Kent, who had served us well in the past, to book accommodation for a circular anti-clockwise tour from Nairobi, first to stay with a missionary-teacher in Narok and then to resorts at Lake Naivasha and Nakuru and back to Nairobi.

On arrival at their office in Nairobi, we found they had booked the tour clockwise, which did not matter except that we would be a week late in reaching Narok and had no way of letting Mary Wight know.

In the meantime, splendid hotel at Lake Naivasha (photo of lunch in the garden) and much observation of wildlife. When we arrived in Narok, Mary shrugged and said ‘African time’ and was not the least put out.

The others then went back to their work and we hired a car for another ten days (two photos of the car), staying at Baden-Powell’s home, Tree Tops (two photos – made famous because Elizabeth was there when she became Queen on the death of her father) and the Ark, both with spectacular wild-life viewing (two photos).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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