We would often go for picnics on horseback. If we had friends staying, we would take them along with us, even if they could not ride. There were no roads around Mulu, so everyone was expected to ride out for picnics. If they could not ride, we would mount them on very quiet horses and one of our grooms would lead them. This photo is taken from the monkey place, where we often went for picnics. It was called the monkey place as Gelada Baboons (Endemic to Ethiopia) would sit on the edge and if we came along, would sit in a circle around us and expect something to eat and then we would give them some rolls or bits of bread to eat and then we could give them something to eat and then we could persuade them to go away. They were a dreadful nuisance but if we had given them something to eat – we could shout at them until they disappeared. Our picnics always had what we called Curry puffs which were small pieces of pastry with leftover bits of curried meat inside them. These were a regular part of our picnics and could be accompanied with tomatoes and salad lettuce.
We were so lucky to live where we did, because not only Gelada baboons were endemic to Ethiopia but also Lamaguire eagles as well.