The farmhouse was built by a Catholic priest for the current owners of the farm, who acquired the land in 1968I love finding out the history of places both at home & when I travel (much to my husband’s delight – he could think of nothing worse than being dragged around an old musty museum or historic home, especially when we are on holiday – ha !). I am constantly amazed when I am in England for example, of all the history there. I mean, it is everywhere around you. You can eat in, sleep in and photograph buildings that are hundreds of years old – and everything is neat, protected, maintained, sign posted - untouched.
But East African history is a little different – years ago, my husband was on his way to a very remote part of Tanzania and stumbled across a huge, ancient, German fort - in the middle of nowhere ! Very few people even know about it – even fewer have visited it. It was untouched and as far as I know, still is.
The local African people (especially those in remote, rural areas) can be very superstitious and as a result, many old buildings and homes here stand pretty much as they did years and years ago, with no vandalism or inhabitants.
There are many old farms and empty farmhouses around where we live and I have explored a beautiful old stone house on a neighboring farm – empty and left just as it was 40 years ago or more ? (I will write more about it an include photographs in a future post ….)
It is difficult to find out the history of specific places here, especially the lesser known buildings/areas because the older generation of Tanzanians are dying out and sadly, as many here are illiterate, stories passed down orally have not been written down. I know someone who has lived in East Africa all his life, who knows a lot about it’s history and who has talked about what life was like growing up here as a child and beyond. His stories are fascinating and I once said to him – you should write a book, you should record all this because when you go one day, your memories will die with you, and all that history will be lost. “Do you know what, Lynda ?” he said to me “Not many people are actually interested, which is why I will never do it.” I found that to be quite sad, but true.
Tanzania was part of Germany from the 1880’s to 1919 (“German East Africa”) and was a British mandate (“Tanganyika”) from 1919 to 1961 when Julius Nyerere became the Prime Minister as she gained her independence in 1961.
When we moved to this farm in 2005, I was interested to find out it’s history. I did this by talking to the current owner of the farm , studying the Title Deeds and talking to anyone I could who had lived in Tanzania before/during the 1960’s (and was still alive !) What I have managed to find out is patchy, and I am not sure how much of it is “fact” and I have only been able to trace it’s history back to 1938. What I have found out is fascinating but also leaves me wanting to know more …
As this is quite a long post, I thought that I would split it into 2 parts, so tomorrow will see the 2nd part of “Farm History” and what I discovered when I read the Title Deeds. (Note - You can now read Part II over here)
But East African history is a little different – years ago, my husband was on his way to a very remote part of Tanzania and stumbled across a huge, ancient, German fort - in the middle of nowhere ! Very few people even know about it – even fewer have visited it. It was untouched and as far as I know, still is.
The local African people (especially those in remote, rural areas) can be very superstitious and as a result, many old buildings and homes here stand pretty much as they did years and years ago, with no vandalism or inhabitants.
There are many old farms and empty farmhouses around where we live and I have explored a beautiful old stone house on a neighboring farm – empty and left just as it was 40 years ago or more ? (I will write more about it an include photographs in a future post ….)
It is difficult to find out the history of specific places here, especially the lesser known buildings/areas because the older generation of Tanzanians are dying out and sadly, as many here are illiterate, stories passed down orally have not been written down. I know someone who has lived in East Africa all his life, who knows a lot about it’s history and who has talked about what life was like growing up here as a child and beyond. His stories are fascinating and I once said to him – you should write a book, you should record all this because when you go one day, your memories will die with you, and all that history will be lost. “Do you know what, Lynda ?” he said to me “Not many people are actually interested, which is why I will never do it.” I found that to be quite sad, but true.
Tanzania was part of Germany from the 1880’s to 1919 (“German East Africa”) and was a British mandate (“Tanganyika”) from 1919 to 1961 when Julius Nyerere became the Prime Minister as she gained her independence in 1961.
When we moved to this farm in 2005, I was interested to find out it’s history. I did this by talking to the current owner of the farm , studying the Title Deeds and talking to anyone I could who had lived in Tanzania before/during the 1960’s (and was still alive !) What I have managed to find out is patchy, and I am not sure how much of it is “fact” and I have only been able to trace it’s history back to 1938. What I have found out is fascinating but also leaves me wanting to know more …
As this is quite a long post, I thought that I would split it into 2 parts, so tomorrow will see the 2nd part of “Farm History” and what I discovered when I read the Title Deeds. (Note - You can now read Part II over here)
