Chapter One

How it all began

It was love at first sight: he saw her running errands in Arusha on her bicycle. She was reputed to be the prettiest girl in town and enjoyed the admiration of the region’s entire European male population. The efforts of many young men to approach her and to flirt with her, however, proved fruitless. He began a campaign to win her heart. He would often see her looking adorable in those daring shorts she wore for cycling. He tried to follow her on foot several times but she always managed to slip away on her bicycle. Eventually, he was able to meet her at a party held at the Greek Community Club. Their first dance resulted in a wonderful romance that led to their marriage in 1951. I was born nine months later!

My father had arrived in East Africa in 1947, after the Second World War, to train as a civil engineer in a construction company. For a short time he served in a special corps of the Tanganyika Constabulary, which protected European settlers during the Mau Mau uprising. There were atrocities on both sides. My father never spoke about this experience. I suppose he was deeply scarred by seeing and doing things that no young man should have to see or do.

My mother was born in Tanganyika, the only daughter of four children. Consequently she was spoilt and enjoyed a lot of freedom for a young European girl growing up in Africa. She was a devoted fan of Hollywood movies and stars like Cary Grant, Tyrone Power and Gary Cooper, but her favourite was Alan Ladd, whom she dreamed of marrying one day! Alan Ladd did actually visit East Africa, and when she heard the news she made every effort to get in contact with him. She even managed to meet him. She kept a souvenir of this short ‘romance’, a photo of the star emblazoned with his autograph, but fate had other plans for her. Waiting in the wings there was another young man, who, as it happened, looked a lot like Alan Ladd. It was my father!