Claire Sandford’s time in Ethiopia

Remembers Wilfred Thesiger coming to tea at Mulu.

I was in attendance and very nervous and intimidated by such impressive company.

Aunt Chris poured the tea into cups and just as she picked up the milk jug to add it to the tea, an enormous bluebottle fly dived into the milk. Without the slightest hesitation, Chris picked up a teaspoon, and held the fly back, saying politely to Wilfred, milk??

Riding horses at Mulu. I seem to remember that when we went riding horses at Mulu. We would go quite slowly on the outward journey but the moment we turned round to go back, the horses would immediately start to canter and then gallop until we reached the stables when they would stop so suddenly that we would nearly fall off over their heads.

Robyn Sisman and I cashed in our return air tickets to the UK to fund an alternative journey home overland. It was agreed that we would meet at the Thorn Tree café in Nairobi. I travelled down on my own.

Day 1 by bus on tarmac, Days 2 and 3 by Toyota on gravel, Day 4 Pick up fellow travellers from Switzerland.