Here is what a reader of my book wrote and I reprint it because he mentions folks some of you might know:
Dear Cyprian
Thank you for your email. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your book Yesterday in Paradise.
My wife and I arrived in Kenya just after you left. It was the beginning of January 1975 and we stayed until 1986. We had a wonderful time and managed to see most of the country, from Kisumu to Lamu. Only the far north east was out of bounds due to the shifta. I had recently qualified as a chartered accountant and joined Murdoch McCrae and Smith as a manager later becoming a partner. I then co-founded my own practice with Bob Entwistle with an office in the Hughes Building. Samson Muriithi was our landlord and became a good friend.
On our arrival, we stayed at Brunners Hotel until our accommodation was sorted out. As you know, my employer Stephen Smith founded Alliance Hotels with Kenneth Matiba. Brunners was their first acquisition so it didn’t cost Stephen much to put us up! Staying at Brunners was the perfect introduction to this completely new world. Neither of us had ever travelled outside the UK and the blast of a new and very different culture was intoxicating. We got to know some of the African staff at the hotel and their kindness and consideration to a bewildered young couple will never be forgotten. Neither can one ever forget the innate courtesy and dignity of the African people of Kenya.
I’ve tried without success to discover the history of Brunners ( I think it was Queens Hotel initially) and to track down photos. So it was a marvellous surprise to see the photo of Marcel Brunner in your book.
As you rightly say, Goans were renowned for their honesty and financial acumen. I had dealings with many of them over the years. There was ARC Mascarenhas, chief accountant at Wiggins Teape, whose wife made the most delicious curries, Joe Coutinho at Across Africa Safaris, hard-working Bonny D’Souza the accountant at Alliance Hotels and many more. There was also Mr De Souza at Ivory Safaris. A colleague was young Orlando Fernandes, destined for great things, who moved to Montreal. Some took me to the Goan Institute and in Mombasa there was Albert Diniz, Prem Prinja’s assistant, who took me to the Goan Institute there. Albert was a true gentleman.
It is fascinating to read about the times preceding our arrival and about people such as Pio Gama Pinto and Tom Mboya. Your book is a much-needed counter to the memoirs by settlers and colonial administrators. It is also, if I may say so, a valuable record of a particular time in Kenya’s history.
Thank you very much for writing the book.
With best wishes
Tony Nicholson
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