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Letter from Phil - 1974 Nairobi

Dear Granny and Grandpa,

Mom is writing a letter to you so I decided to as well since I have not written to you for a long time.

School started last Tuesday (today is Friday) and since I have missed a week of it already I had a lot to catch up on.

Dad, me and a man called Jaimie went, in our Landrover, travelling all over - Serengeti, Lake Victoria and Northern Kenya - visiting Oxfam projects. First Garba Tulla, which was the last place we went to on the first three day leg.

Garba Tull is a very small town in the North of Kenya where the wind blows all the time and the sun is very hot. It is almost desert land. Here I drank smoked camel's milk in my tea. The Somalis who live there are a very beautiful people. In Isolo, a much larger town 100K or so from Garba Tulla, we visited an orphanage where huge pots of maize were being cooked to feed all 300 of them. We bought gum Arabic and visited people's houses. One child of a small family was living off tea without milk or sugar or anything and would not eat solids. They (the parents) had spread the blood of a chicken on his head. Drinking the blood would have been better.

After that we went to Kisi and Kericho (western Kenya) where the land was being used fully for growing crops - rainfall was high. This was a change from Northern Kenya. We drank tea most of the time like everybody in Kenya does. This was appropriate, since all the tea estates were there; we picked some. After visiting numerous projects we slept in a very grim hotel (nothing unusual for this trip) and then later on we went through Serengeti where we chased buffalo in the Landrover and saw thousands of animals. Anyway, we had a nice time seeing cattle dips, Mount Kilimanjaro, coffee growing areas etc.

Mom and dad have been working away for hours. Two friends who were sleeping here, David and Marie, left the twins with their friends and I've just come back from playing football. Uncle Heini was nice when he came. How's Erna? I hear she is in hospital. Send her my regards if she is with you as I liked Erna a lot when I saw her in Munich.

Nairobi is nice at this time of the year, but hot. And I have to walk to school as my bike is not fixed. Today I walked home and back. Played football and then ran back. Which may not sound like a lot, but is a lot for me. I read all the leaflets you sent mom and was impressed. I like that type of music too. I am sending you some gum Arabic which you burn, but I just smell it. Anyway, lots of hugs and kisses

Love Phil

P.S. Do you like Miles Davis?
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