We first visited the tomb of Mereruka in sakkara. It's the largest tomb in Sakkara. Cameras were not allowed here. The walls were filled with drawings on all over describing the daily life, dances, punishments and other..
Next we saw the step pyramids of king zoser, It was one of the first pyramids that the Egyptians built.
In Memphis which was the capital of Ancient Egypt more than 5000 years ago we saw limesone statue of ramses II :
alabaster sphinx
and a statue of some pharoah
This pharoah was alive when its statue was made as its left leg is forward.
Our guide then took us to Siwa perfumes who dealt with flower extracts. I was suprised to learn that they exported their essences to major companies like estee lauder, calvin klein, channel, D&G etc. These companies would mix 20% of the essence with 80% alcohol.To recognise true essence add a drop of essence to water and it will sink to the bottom before mixing in.. Students of chemistry will probably know better.I got myself Golden wattel (said to help in concentration) and Ramsses (the Egyptian equvalent to l-eu de issey).
And lastly we went to see the 3 pyramids and the sphinx. They were all massive. Each pyramid had sooo many million stones and each stone weighed about 2 tonnes. The stones came from Aswan by the Nile, they were then raised by ramps. Our guide mentioned that the location of pyramids was chosen according to some stars.
So I left for Cairo today from Heathrow airport. The flight was good, and the food even better :) Some lady mentioned that on Egypt Air's website the baggage allowance was 20kg, but at check-in she was told 40kg. The reason..well Egyptians would otherwise have carried 60kg if 40 was the limit. lol..
1 23 4 5 6 7 [1][2] By Air between Zanzibar and Daresalam (15 min) [3][4] Streets of stone town [5][6][7] By sea between Zanzibar and Daresalam (2 hours)
I have returned from Tanzania, and this time surprisingly I really enjoyed myself.
We decided to drive instead of flying the usual way as there have been alot of delays reaching over 5 hours by the only airline that flies between Mombasa and Daresalam. The drive was pleasant :) I loved it!
One thing I learnt was how road drivers communicate with an upcoming vehicle to ask of any police nearby. lol. They flash once. If a police is not present nearby then wave, if he is, then some hand action is done which I did not see properly lol.
Near Daresalam, a man stood in the middle of the highway, at first we thought he was probably a maniac, on reaching nearer he moved to the edge of the road and we realised he was trying to make sale of the maize corn in his hand.
I was born by the name Atich Christianized and called Grace My husband Njoroge Was called John We were happy
Obtained a license for setting up a kiosk Freshi was its name Chai, chevro, sodas and sweets Were just a few things we sold We were happy
A girl, Followed by a boy I gave birth to Our customers loved them We were happy
My children began school Enjoyed it they immensely Accessories they also needed We worked long to keep up their demands We were still happy
Now Kapuki and Wajaro are in university My husband and I have tired ourselves Just four more years of struggle The children will soon be on their feet We are still happy
My daughter dreams, Of becoming a teacher She yearns To train future leaders My son dreams, Of becoming a doctor, Opening his clinic Is his aspiration
The media spreads disturbing images Of a clash with a shop owner and kiosk Awareness is raised All kiosks are automatically termed bad We try to be happy
Now we must be careful For we are under prying eyes We live in fear Of being incapable to fulfill the dreams of our dear ones We struggle to be happy
Those askaris, they harass us Do they not understand? This is not a crime It is the only form of living we have known It is difficult to be happy
The sun rises what a beautiful day We go to work But there is no work We are no longer happy
They have come, With their pangas and bulldozers Destroyed our kiosk Destroyed our life We are sad
My son cannot complete his studies Neither can my daughter They have dropped out And instead are doing odd jobs
We sit here on Mama Ngina Street, Selling what we have at home, Whilst the bruises from the beatings Are still visible, We are torn apart
I was going through my picture archives, and came across this photo.It was taken in February 2004, at the House of Hope. It is a school in Mtwapa a few kilometers north of Mombasa which provides education for 300 children from poor families.
In 2004 I went there with a group whose aim is to help the less fortunate. The group organised a fun day for them and provided them with a few necessities such as school books, pens etc. All the children were so lovely. They organised a play for us in swahili which was excellent. What was even more appealing was the sound effects they created using their voices, one particulary of note was of the creaking door.One of the teachers read us some poetry and finally they sang traditional songs and performed a few dances. lol.
Lunch was then served. A lady from the US told me that in her time that she spent there, she had not seen them drink milk. The children would normally get water and maharagwe (red beans) daily. It was really sad.
Anyways today is Madaraka day! The first National holiday of Kenya. In 1963 today was the first time the flag was raised and the anthem recited. This is the day when the heroes like Tom Mboya, Dedan Kimathi, Jomo Kenyatta, Harry Thuku and other Mau Mau freedom fighters struggled against the chains of colonialism. Today is the day to recall the lives that were lost and the sacrifices that were made, so that Kenya could be free.
Last year after coming to terms with the features of Google Earth, I entered Mombasa, hoping to see it from up above. The search was worthless, no results were found :(
I ended up entering places such as my university-to-be and areas I wanted to visit in the United Kingdom.
Now that exams are over, and with the little free time I have, I found myself on Google Earth all over again. This time the search for Mombasa proved fruitful. Found a few places of interest:
The famous tusks built to commemorate the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Mombasa
TSS (Tallest building in Mombasa) and the bustling area of Mombasa
When I born, I Black, When I grow up, I Black, When I go in Sun, I Black, When I scared, I Black, When I sick, I Black, And when I die, I still black.
And you White fella, When you born, you Pink, When you grow up, you White, When you go in Sun, you Red, When you cold, you Blue, When you scared, you Yellow, When you sick, you Green, And when you die, you Gray. And you calling me Colored?
It begins with showing scenes from the uhuru(freedom) days in Kenya. Shows us the trial of Njoroge kamau who I believe supported the military campaign against his fellow kikuyu.
Then goes on describing what a popular sport fox hunting was during the times of colonial impearilism. Since no foxes existed in Africa, a blackman had to drag a piece of meat behind him to leave the scent for the dogs.
It illustrated some instances of poaching. It showed how to get your hands on a baby elephant, i.e provoke the mother, draw her away from her baby, and give her illusion of reaching you, soon she'l be far from her baby and unable to defend it. The slaughtering of animals(gazelles and elephants) in this film is no doubt horrifying.
In 1964 John Okello along with his men overthrew the sultan of zanzibar-Jamshid Bin Adbulla. Many lives were lost in a single night and several people fled the Island. The narrator claims that this is the only existing footage between January 18 and 20, 1964.
In 1964 the bantu(hutu) massacred the watusi(tutsi) in Rwanda and fleed to the Ugandan border. On the banks of the river kwoni amputated hands were found, whilst the river Kagera washed the corpses downstream.
During the Tanganyika rebellion the corpses were lined outside the mortuaries as they were full. We see vultures waiting nearby. Some rebels chase a man in Daresalam, he jumps off a seawall only to be drowned later on by them.
It also mentioned the Simba rebellion and showed their defeat by the Congolese and White mercenaries.
Overall it was depicted really well, though not a film for the faint at heart!
Some muslim girls were looking for a place to pray, and stopped to ask a restaurant owner. While the owner shuffled through his mind a little girl sitting there came up to them and said 'I know a place, go round the corner and there's a church'
Prolly the nicest thing that happened to us today :)
About 2 weeks back I visited the lovely town of Oxford :) With its old buildings and narrow streets it somehow seemed like 'The zanzibar of Britain'
Below are the pictures:
The High street
The Radcliffe Camera
From inside the Bodleian Library And probably the highlight of my trip. They had an exhibition called 'The flower garden of spring-paintings from Mughal India' The collection (from around 1560 to 1800) was marvelous and the paintings featured characters such as Layla and Majnun, Ashtar and Jayyida, Sohni and mahinval, Shah Jahan, Akbar and others which I cannot recall.
An e-mail i received Adapted from "Paradise Lost" by Prof. Yusuf Kassam*
I left Mombasa, island of raha (hapiness), To emigrate to America, land of opportunity.
Forsook the tropical sun For cold frigid weather. Left behind the warm ocean breeze For the windchill of winter.
Abandoned white pristine beaches For brown muddy shores. Turned away from a turquoise ocean For polluted lakes.
Gave up mangoes, papaya, mabuyu, achari and sunflower For processed apples, pears, peaches and cherries. Gave up white snapper and king fish For boxed cod and sole.
Gave up mishkaki, nyama choma mahambri and bharazi For cereal, bagels,cheese, and salads Gave up drinking coconut water straight from the coconut And settled for bottled water.
Left behind the street coffee seller For the office coffee pot. Left behind the exotic fragrance of phapa and langi langi For the pungent smell of sulfuric emissions.
Deprived of hearing the call to prayer For the sound of police and fire sirens. Deprived of seeing women clad in mysterious black buibui For women dressed in jeans and miniskirts.
Deserted a slow relaxed pace of life For the fast lane. Gave up afternoon naps For gym workouts.
Gave up riding a bicycle through the narrow streets For driving a car on the highways. Discontinued a course on the coral marine life For a course in stress management.
Discarded mud and thatched dwellings For concrete and steel. Left behind a community-based life For a human zoo.
It makes me wonder If I have also left my soul behind in Mombasa?
An East African Asian who has lived in Mombasa 93.23% of her life.
Now spending the 7.77% of her current life in Education studies and battling with home-sickness!
"Paradoxes of the infinite arise only when we attempt, with our finite minds, to discuss the infinite, assigning to it those properties which we give to the finite and limited" Galileo Galilei "Corruption has turned our joys into pains, our dreams into nightmares, our achievements into shame, our heroes into villains, our strengths into liabilities and our hope into despair." Raila Odinga "I am a revolutionary.' And you're gonna have to keep on sayin' that. You're gonna have to say that 'I am a proletariat I am the people, I'm not the pig." Fred Hampton
3
2 
3
5
7
8
9
10
11
12
