Bush Shirts

Some of the photographs stuck in the albums which went with us to school in England contain photos of people who are a bit of a mystery. I have no idea who this man is with Richard and I but suspect he was one of the many visitors who came out from England as part of my father's business, whom we had stay with us for the duration of their time in Mombasa.

The photo looks as if it was taken on one of the many sandy beaches to north and south of Mombasa: it may be Nyali, where we had a beach-side house for just over a year. The boat behind us is an ngalowa, a local lateen-sailed outrigger fishing boat.

Richard and I are oddly dressed. He looks as if he's ready for a swim, I'm wearing shorts and a bush shirt. We loved our bush shirts....

....and there are pictures of both Richard and I in them, though not one of any of our friends. If not in a bush short, we tended to wear a t-shirt.

Bush jackets were loose-fitting and, although made of quite thick khaki cotton, remarkably cool. Their biggest advantage, from the point of view of a small boy, was their four large pockets.

This picture was taken at Mombasa railway station. I'm looking happy, so it's unlikely to have been on one of the days when we were setting off back to England and catching the train to Nairobi for the BOAC flight to England.