7.1 August 23, 1967 Letter from Frank

 August 23
Dear Folks,
    We finally arrived at Kigari. This is a beautiful spot! Our house faces the southeast and we overlook the plain down toward the ocean just as far as we can see. Visibility today was about 25 to 30 miles and then things vanished into haze. We of course could not see the ocean, but it goes down hill from here to the ocean. Our house is a three bedroom stone structure with a tile roof and plastered on the inside with nice sized windows looking out over the plain. We are about 30 miles from the top of Mt. Kenya, and we haven't been able to see it yet because of clouds. We are about  5700 feet altitude here and are about 70 miles south of the equator, but the temperatures are very mild. Nights are down right cool and days are comfortable in shirt sleeves, and of course this is their cool season.

    So far we have about every kind of fruit growing here at the school. Tropical fruit that is. We have bananas and grapefruit growing in our yard, also many flowers and fir trees, some sort of deciduous trees, strawberry garden, tomatoes and cabbage that grow like weeds. We have a funny little stove outside the house but under the eaves that is used to heat the water. We are on an individual power plant here at the school that goes on about 6 o'clock in the evening and goes off about 10 pm. (generator)

    We are right on top of one of the higher small hills ,so we get a good view, but about seven miles out of Embu on a road that has a sign on it "Closed to all traffic when wet or raining." The soil is absolutely red. I don't mean just a tint but really red!

    We pay 100 schillings rent, water and electricity per month and something for bottled gas that we use for cooking. A shilling is equal to fourteen cents American, so that is $14.00 if they don't decide to change it.

    This was once a Catholic school and still goes by the name of St Mark's College. However the address we gave you seems to get here alright. The school has a thirteen acre farm on which they run a ten head herd of Jersey and Guernsey cows (we can buy milk from them), a grove of banana trees, coffee trees, tea, and then some for sweet potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, and two Landrace gilts (pigs). I don't know yet what they will have me do but I'm afraid that I will not have the agriculture. Probably Science. It seems that they didn't know that I was coming here at Kigari until two or three weeks ago, and they had a full staff at that time. Someone was transferred, I guess, to make room for me. I have not seen the principal yet as he is on leave and was married last week end. There are about 250 to 300 students enrolled in the school and all of them are boarding students. It is co-ed. We did some shopping in Embu this morning for the necessities of a household. This was quite an experience. Prices are quite interesting, and in many cases discouraging, because of the cost. Anything imported is very expensive and not all native products are cheap.

    There are many birds here...about six horn bills in our own trees plus five other varieties that we have counted.

    We have been to the Nairobi Game Park and got many good pictures too...lions, zebras, giraffes, etc. This is quite a park. You drive out into what resembles a grazing land and here are all these animals more docile than cattle at home. We drove up to a pride of nine lions feeding on a gazelle about fifty feet away...they didn't move and we stayed in the car. I will send you some pictures as soon as I get this roll finished, and I will finish it around the school so you can see what it looks like.

        Love, Frank

        P.S. Everyone is well.