A month long journey from Southampton calling at Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malaga, Marseilles, Genoa, Port Said, Port Sudan, Aden and eventually Mombasa. I know we have more postcards of some of the ports which I will be able to post later but there are only these two at present. He will be here in Kenya on this first trip until 22 Feb 1927 when he returns to the UK, again on the SS Wangoni.
The Military Hospital Gibraltar
The Wangoni arrived at Port Said on 7th November 1925 by this time a very busy international port which developed since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. I quote Blake Burleson's book (and see previous post) to give an idea of what it must have been like.
"Within walking distance of the ships one could find a post office, tea houses, cafes, a railway station, sporting clubs, department stores of various kinds, mosques with tall minarets, churches and synagogues. Walking along the Rue du Commerce was like walking on the midway at a circus ; shopkeepers, sidewalk vendors, jugglers, fortune tellers and magicians courted the tourists."
Another fascinating detail from his book is that Port Said was one of the first places in the world to use gaslight in the streets to increase the visibility for ships.
Port Said: The Customs Quay
On from here they went through the Suez Canal south to the stifling heat of the Red Sea. My grandfather talks in future letters of the terrible heat, it being too hot to, either sleep at night or, hold the deck parties and dances they had enjoyed in the Mediterranean. On a future journey in 1927 they had dogs on board . He writes "the butcher comes every now and then and sluices cold water over them" . Blake Burleson writes that mattresses would be taken on deck at night to take advantage of whatever cooling breeze they could find.
Arriving finally at Mombasa on 12 November 1927 they dock at the Port of Kilindini and then I think he would continue his journey by rail on the Uganada Railway to the station of Menengai just north of Nakuru.
This is a copy of his photograph. From here perhaps by car to Lord Egerton's Estate at N'gata.
The Station: Menengai
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Along the Suez Canal, through the Red Sea and so to Africa
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Voyage to Mombasa on the SS Wangoni (complete with Ship's Cat)
The Wangoni was one of the great German East African /Woermann Line steamships that took adventurers across the world. It operated passenger and cargo services between Germany and East African, West African and South African ports and between South Africa and India.
The journey must have been fascinating with such a motley crowd of passengers from adventurers, business men, tourists, big game hunters and military personnel.
I found out by accident that Carl Jung was also travelling on this ship on his way to make a survey for the British Government. In his excellent book, Jung in Africa Blake Burleson devotes a chapter to this voyage He describes the atmosphere on board, the passengers' reasons for travelling, the after dinner conversations ranging from the terrible catalogue of diseases they may encounter to " fears and fantasies of this "terra incognita" of the Dark Continent.
I have yet to find out who Mr and Mrs Percy Woodmore were and what relationship they had with Allan Thackeray, but here is a photo of the three of them with small unnamed girl.. (I wonder what happened to her).
Photo on Board
Written on the back is
"Mr and Mrs Woodmore & Self. photo by Capt Maxwell, Bay of Biscay."
Postcard of the Wangoni : It must have been sent to Mum in a letter..
“My Darling Joyce. This is the steamer Father is in, You would like to see my little cabin and the narrow bed like a couch where I sleep. We have a nice Pussycat on the steamer, but not a dog. Sometimes the spray of the sea comes right over the deck and we have to run or else it would soak us. Your loving Father”
The Deck of the Wangoni.
Another photo postcard. I would assume these were for sale on board.
A few word about the journey in the next post.