FROM THE EAST END TO EAST AFRICA

THESE PHOTOGRAPHS FOLLOW IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER THE TEXT OF MY BOOK.

My last cruise on the Nile, January 2024
I cruise past a croc on the bank of the Nile

The East End Maternity Hospital, 396 Commercial Road, Limehouse, Stepney, where I was born.
My original Birth Certificate
Grandad at work at the Beckton Gas, Light and Coke Company (aka Beckton Works), in the driver’s cab of his locomotive (photo circa 1960).
Just a very small partial view of the huge and sprawling Beckton Works in East Ham (at that time, the largest industrial site in Europe), with the River Thames in the background.
Partial view of the staircase up the rear wall leading to the garret
Shops in the East End with Barton’s bakers.
A partial view of the rear of Bartons, with our garret flat side window indicated (London Picture Archive). The access to the flat was by an iron staircase at the rear of the building (not visible in this image)
The garret where we lived, above Bartons Baker’s shop in the East End – our front window indicated (London Picture Archive).
Romford Road circa 1950s
The Bryant & May match factory in Bow, East End, circa 1950s
Dagenham looking north-west to Dagenham Heathway station, circa 1950s
My nan’s laundry mangle, and my bath!
My grandad, Jack Jarrold, giving a piggy back to my brother Grant and me.
My Nan, with me and Grant, in Wigmore, Kent.
In our back garden in Lewes Close, Crawley, with my first pet and my first bike. Aged 8.
In the play area at Worth Road primary school, in Crawley, aged 7.

The view from my YMCA room, Mount Kilimanjaro
Dr Marcus Borner of Frankfurt Zoological Society. The man who opened the door to my life of adventure in East Africa!
My first safari, 1993, at Simba campsite, Ngorongoro Highlands, with Amango Tours
The grave marker of the Grzimeks on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater
A Maasia moran and a layoni, at the Munge Stream waterfall, inside the Ngorongoro Crater.

Hugh Maynard and Anthony Hopkins (a still from the movie, “In the Wild – Lions”.)
The cheetah, on the roof of our Land Rover.

Banagi (former home of famous Park Warden, Myles Turner). In 1993 when I visited, it was home to Marcus Borner and the SRI. (photo by the late Martin Johnson).
The staff rest house in Seronera

My tent on Rubondo Island
Drying off after a bath in the lake, watching a Hamerkop heron
The radio shack at the Lukaga ranger post
A ranger and his family at their ‘house’, just a single room
About to set off on patrol
On the bare head of the tallest hill on Rubondo
On patrol
Hippo grazing on land in daylight
The croc next door
Captured poachers being escorted to the island (you can just see Mtahiko, at the bottom right of the photo)
Tangled jungle, typical of Rubondo Island’s interior
A meal with the rangers before a night patrol
One of the poachers beaten up by a patrol is placed back in his lake boat
As a Ranger takes this photo, the gang are forced to put one of their beaten comrades into the boat
The end of a long night patrol (I look cold and pissed off!)
The two beaten poachers are placed back in their lake boat by their gang
My last day on Rubondo Island (Photo from Land Rover World magazine)

Reggie Heyworth and the lads
Omari setting up our mobile radio base
Heading out on a sector patrol in Burigi Game Reserve. We camped overnight in the bush.
Servicing our vehicles at Seronera workshop
On the rim of Ngurdoto Crater
Down inside Ngurdoto Crater, just minutes before running into a buffalo.
The Grave of Margarete Trappe

David Read.
Harley’s Grave and Garden of Rest, Flat D2, Riverside, Arusha.
My first summiting of Kilimanjaro.
The start of my first ascent of Kilimanjaro, with my clients
My second summiting of Kilimanjaro!
On my second climb of Kilimanjaro
The Ice Man Cometh! The glittering glaciers on Kilimanjaro
As the Tour Leader, with two Ranger Safaris driver/guides
With my camp crew, on a Mountain Travel Sobek camping safari
A typical luxury mobile camp setting, with Zak at his tent.
The croc in the Grumeti
My eldest son, Zak on safari!
The Rhinos in the Moru area
A blurry close up of the three rhinos
The rhinos in the distance. We could not drive any closer.
The hyenas kill by disemboweling and eating their prey alive. Photo by Zak
The hyenas kill by eating (the wildebeest was still kicking). Photo by Zak
Zak and me on the summit of Mount Meru (photo from the front page of The Dar es Salaam Guide magazine)
Zak on the summit of Mount Meru
Saita, me, and Steti are on our way to climb Mount Ol Doinyo Lengai (in the background). The photo was taken by Zak and is from the Dar es Salaam Guide magazine.
Making the packed lunch for the next day’s climb
The only extant photo I have of the summit of Ol Doinyo Lengai, is this one, taken from the pages of the Dar es Salaam Guide magazine.
My Hoopoe Adventure Tours vehicle, out on the Maasai Steppe
Jim Woods at Kirurumu
This is the Black Mamba mentioned in the chapter concerning Kirurumu, although the incident and photos took place in 2016 in Nzara, South Sudan.
The Mamba’s head. Not the black interior of the mouth, giving the snake its name.
Me, preparing the Mamba for lunch; fried in egg with salt and black pepper.
The local shopkeeper, near Kirurumu Tented Lodge
This Maasai Moran, Naorokot, was one of two engaged as an ‘Askari’ at Kirurumu Tented Camp and was my interpreter whenever I visited the manyatta where Marita lived, way out past Mto wa Mbu.
Marita. For a time, I was her Asanja.
Marita
Marita’s hut. All the huts are built and owned by women
This poor-quality photo is of one of my visits to the Manyatta with my clients. I am removing my beaded belt to get one of the ladies to repair it.
Maasai warriors perform their traditional feats of jumping, to prove agility and gain prowess (photo by Zak, when I took him to visit to the manyatta).
Local livestock vet assists with difficult calving
All the ladies are adept at making beaded adornments, so it was easy find one who could repair my belt.
Maasai children show off a new baby
Calf emerges alive
Mum is shown her newborn calf
Maasai warriors skinning a goat.
Cooking the slaughtered goat and drying the skin.
The original plaque at the Laetoli Footprints site, Olduvai Gorge
With my guide, Kassim on the summit of Mount Hanang (Lake Balangida in the background).
Mount Hanang (Lake Balangida in the foreground)
With a client on a camel safari, with Maasai camel herders.
Lunch in the bush on the camel safari
I had to help cut thorn bushes to make a safe boma at night
Dr Mary Leakey
An archive photo of the Leakeys (from left – Richard Leakey, Mary Leakey, Philip Leakey, Louis Leakey, and Jonathan Leakey) with their beloved Dalmatians.
The plaque at Olduvai Gorge prehistoric site.
Parked up in the bush behind the camp site, where the lions stalked around our tents at night.
Elias and I arrive at the Chobe camp site in the truck I drove in Botswana
Soren Lindstrom, Botswana
The broken-down truck on the side of the road in Savuti (note the flat roof above the cab, where Elias slept after the hyena incident)
The lioness on the track in Savuti. I just managed to take this photo before she turned off the track.
The hyena approached my tent, as we sat around the campfire in Savuti.
At Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, while awaiting the issue of my Work Permit for Botswana
The ‘photo mad’ family, gorilla trekking, eastern Zaire. 1996.
The ‘photo mad’ family in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda
One of the three gorilla oil paintings I bought in Zaire (now DRC)
“Oscar”
The reverse of Oscar’s “canvas” (a flour sack).
Side view of our house in Garuga, Entebbe
Front view, It looks out towards Lake Victoria
The huge veranda, looking out to Lake Victoria .
The open-plan living space in my bungalow in Garuga. Lots of wood and natural stone floors.
Clients on a cruise up the Wami River.
A turtle hatchling in the vivarium Dave Guthrie had constructed at Saadani.
Dave Guthrie – of A Tent With a View Safaris.
With Mr Kabange, in Saadani on my 47th birthday.
Playing ‘bao’ with the watchman from Muller’s Lodge, in Lushoto, up in the Usambara mountains.
“Moonshine” brewing in the Uluguru mountains.
Abandoned steam engine in Morogoro
Abandoned locomotive in a disused train yard
I cross a sand river, on the way to the Selous with clients
Pushing on a bit further!
Back on dry land!
The grave of F C Selous (with a vehicle from A Tent with a View Safaris – from Sable Mountain Lodge)
Banners, painted with the image of Osama the man-eating lion eating a man, and then the death of the lion by gunfire,
Dr Rolf Baldus
The skull of Osama the man-eating lion
Supi on a game drive in Saadani (with one operation done).
You can see how badly deformed his right, unoperated foot is. The left foot had the same deformity.
Supi – on his way back home
Loita.
A section of the Editorial page of ATR with Dr. Jane Goodall
The cover of “Barefoot” (note the Dung Beetle logo also used on the doors of David’s safari vehicles!)
David Read is the boy in the center.
In his book, David tells of his great boyhood friend, Matanda, a young Maasai of his age group. The lady in this photo, Aipano, is a relative of Matanda, who David met unexpectedly in 2001.
The Editorial page of ATR, introducing my interview with David Read
A Beautiful Samburu Ndito
Also appearing on the front cover of ATR magazine in 2001, another Samburu Ndito, from Samburu National Reserve, Kenya.
The KAIRO walking expedition through the Selous: “The Selous Challenge”- L to R, Tony Pomfret, Joshua (camp assistant), Mustapha Koch, me (expedition leader), Tommy Kai, and John Robbins (Directors of KAIRO Casinos) at the crocodile-infested Lake Tagalala.
The source of the Hot Springs in the Selous
The hot water runs down between rocks, depositing sulphur and algae.
The hot pool.
The Hot Tub!
An elephant enters the Ishasha River to cross (Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda).
The elephant sees me, and gives a warning trumpet
Keeping an eye on me, he surges forward
The herd arrive and are grazing peacefully at the Ishasha River as ai watch
A tree-climbing lion in Ishasha
The Mpanga River in Kibale Forest, western Uganda
Wildlife ranger, Milka. My armed escort poses next to a giant strangler fig
Ready to rumble in the jungle! (with my Gandalf staff!)
Typical ancient woodland scene, in Kibale Forest.
A giant Strangler Fig in Kibale Forest
Typical thick vegetation in Kibale Forest
I take a sit-down break from hiking in Kibale Forest
Milka at the Mpanga River
A huge Hawk Moth, on the tyre of my Land Rover, showing relevant size
Snares on display at the Chimpanzee Research Centre, Sebitole (note the severed foot of a Sitatunga).
More awful exhibits. I added six that Milka and I found
Date markers and numbers of snares on the display posts
Emergency relief rations were distributed to the porters in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (my daughter Ashleigh was dressed in cream and orange).
At the final distribution point. The porters thank me and Classic Africa Safaris for the emergency rations, as this is filmed for a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoegPLy4lUM)
My children, Sam, Ashleigh and Zak, in the Botanical gardens, Entebbe in 2019.
Zak and Sam
Ashleigh, Zak and Sam enter the rain forest of the Botanical Gardens.
The bridge over the Nile at Paraa, Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda,
Nile River Safaris jetty (on the south bank) early 2023.
With my team at Nile River Safaris, December 2023
Left behind after the floods. A stern reminder you were inside a National Park!
The collapsed restaurant dining deck
Beware of what?
A flood-damaged cottage
A croc basking on the foundations of a ruined cottage
A croc on the foundations of a ruined cottage
A view of the Nile from Anyadwe House veranda enjoyed by me and Winnie
A partial view of the interior of Anyadwe House
My house inside Murchison Falls National Park
Baboons on my car, right outside my house
A bushbuck at the rear of my house
A hippo, poolside.
Hippo footprints outside my house, showing relative size
Hyena footprints outside my house, showing relative size
A warthog outside my house.
The warthog is darted with tranquilizer
The deep would from where the wire snare was removed from this warthog’s torso,
You can see how deep this snare was embedded in the warthog.
The Nile River Safaris jetty in March 2023, from the bridge.
Storm clouds over the Nile
A cloudburst over the Nile
Cloud formations over the Nile
Forming up ready for the Walk for the Elephants in Pakwach (Ivory Belongs to Elephants).
Ready to set off on the Walk for the Elephants, in Pakwach.
Me posing at the top of Murchison Falls
With my son, Sam at the top of the falls in 2023
Sam at the top of the Falls in 2023
Sam at the top of the falls in 2013!
Sam in Murchison Falls National Park, 2023
Sam in Murchison Falls National Park in 2023
Sam in Murchison Falls national park in 2013!
Paul Goldring of Wild Frontiers safaris (mentioned many times in my book), holds a Nile Perch that Sam caught in Murchison Falls in 2013.
Happy at work!
I take a final cruise on the Nile at Murchison Falls, in my final job in East Africa, in January 2024.
Where it all began, 72 years before! The East End Maternity Hospital.
The “Lankaster Clock” outside the East End Maternity Hospital
My Professional Guide’s Licence, Botswana
My FRGS Certificate

 

My reference letter from the International School of Tanganyika

The Selous Challenge reference letter

My VETA reference letter