Recollections of East Africa in the 1950s and 60s

from James Lang Brown

KENYA CASTLE at Gibraltar 1958 (right).  Together with the RHODESIA CASTLE and the BRAEMAR CASTLE these ships were eventually all one class ships.  Leaving London the usual ports of call were Gibraltar, Marseilles, Genoa and thence through the Strait of Messina to Port Said.

After transiting the Canal, they would call at Aden and Mombasa with the voyage terminating at Dar-es-Salaam.

Kenya Castle 1958 - Deck games while transiting the Suez Canal (below) - PHOTOs James Lang Brown

Port Said 1958 -  bumboats (left);  Kilindini boatmen 1964 (right) - PHOTOs James Lang Brown
Mombasa 1964 - Street scene (left), Fort Jesus (right) - PHOTOs James Lang Brown
Kampala - National Theatre  (left);  Parliament Building (right) - PHOTOs James Lang Brown
Kampala - 1960 - PHOTOs James Lang Brown

A regatta was held on Lake Victoria to celebrate the return of the Kabaka, Mutesa II, from exile.  October 1955, A government officer's bungalow, Fort Portal, 1956 - PHOTOs James Lang Brown

Katwe - 1957 - a fishing village in Toro by now showing signs of development.   Window shopping, Kyaka, Tanganyika, 1960 (between Masaka and Bukoba) - PHOTOs James Lang Brown

East Africa 50 Years Ago