Around East Africa (1950s)

Oh yes. Yes. Young [Music] Only a few miles south of the equator, yet kept with eternal snow, rises one of the most famous peaks in Africa, Mount Kenya. In the far distant past, Mount Kenya was a volcano and probably stood 3,000 ft higher than it does today when it reaches to over 17,000. [Music] A 100 miles away, the biggest town between Johannesburg and Cairo. Founded less than 60 years ago as a small depot on the railway, Nairobi today is the commercial and industrial center of East Africa. [Music] A modern progressive city with broad streets and tall buildings. It has a mixed population of over 200,000. Africans and St. Indians share its amenities. It also caters for different religions as this mosque shows. Nairobi is the only city in the world with a game reserve on its doorstep. In the national disturbed in their natural surroundings [Music] [Music] While most animals ignore visitors, baboons often display great curiosity. Of course, the fact that the animals protected doesn't mean that they are protected from one another. [Music] Lions look affectionate creatures and seem quite harmless between meals. [Music] And where lions roam, nature scavengers follow. [Music] Jackals, vultures. [Music] This little fellow's name is not Bambi, but Tommy, short for Thompson's Gazelle, named after a Scottish explorer. Also named after him are Thompson's Falls, which lie northwest of Nairobi on the equator. The surrounding countryside, which is extremely beautiful, is covered with umbrella thorns. [Music] In the mountains west of Nairobi live the Kipsigis tribe. This is one of their markets. [Music] The women adorn themselves with gay colored earrings. They also do strange things to their ears in the interests of beauty. This kind of ear mutilation is very common among many African tribes. [Music] [Music] [Music] On the shores of Lake Victoria stands Intebi with its famous botanical gardens. Here a profusion of brilliant and delicate shades continually delight the eye. Nimosa passion flour. Bamboo flour. Felt flour. Bird of paradise flower. Arbutilon. Hibiscus, bottle brush, another kind of passion flour. Incidentally, that sound is not a locomotive bell, but an anvil bird. The biggest town in Uganda is Campala. Like Rome, it's built on seven hills. On one of them stands the Anglican Cathedral. The Roman Catholic Cathedral stands on yet another. The congregation emerging from the service provides a colorful spectacle. The ladies may not be wearing Paris fashions, but what they do wear certainly pleases the eye. Mccery College, Campala is the only university in East Africa. Large numbers of African students qualify each year as doctors, lawyers, and technicians. Just below the college is a banana market. Banana is the staple diet in Uganda. One of the most striking sites in East Africa is the Merchesen Falls. Here the waters of the Nile, second largest river in the world, thunder through a deep ravine only 19 ft wide. In the calmer waters below, many kinds of animals may be found. One can see elephants wandering along the banks, grazing peacefully or even fighting. [Music] Crocodiles lie basking in the sun or slide into the water with a sinister splash. [Music] Hippo to be seen on all sides peering curiously, ponderously submerging. [Music] [Music] Many crocodilears are over 20 ft long. Here's a portrait of a sleeping beauty taken at a distance of only 5 ft. He's not keeping his mouth open just to show the flies on his teeth, but in order to persspire, from the wandering herds of animals to the habitations of man, one of the best hotels in Kenya is the famous tea hotel at Kuricho, owned by Brook Bond. [Music] Kicho is the center of the tea plantations. A huge green area where there's an abundance of rain providing ideal conditions for tea cultivation. Some people need to work while others prefer to sleep. Mom and baby seem to have got this division of labor worked out nicely. [Music] At Greeo, the Africans live in small villages made up of picturesque huts. The market is always the center of activity. Some people are busy buying beads, others are selling goods and having a bit of a joke, too. But the chief attraction is the local musician who's collected quite a crowd to listen to his loot. And of course, being Africans, they don't just listen, they dance. [Music] [Music] Lord Hallelujah. Thank you. [Music] And here is a rather different kind of dance, a war dance by men of the Kipsugus tribe in honor of the queen's birthday. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] My [Music] [Applause] [Music] it. Let it out. Hey, from Kiche to Mombasa, chief port of East Africa. Mombasa is an island which has been associated with the Arabs for almost a thousand years. [Music] Quite a large proportion of the population is still Arab. They retain their own ways and style of building, but like other people, they do enjoy a nice cup of tea. [Applause] [Music] These are not gigantic elephant tusks, but just unusual street [Music] decorations. from Ambasa to the island of Zanzibar. Zanzibar is ruled by a Sultan under the protection of Great [Music] Britain. Like Mombasa, Zanzibar was once a great Arab stronghold. Much of its architecture is Islamic and very beautiful. [Music] [Applause] Today, the Arab section of the population still greatly outnumbers the [Music] European. The vast majority of the people, however, are African. [Music] [Music] [Music] Zanzipar Harbor is small and picturesque. [Music] Charming too are many of the islands beaches. [Music] It's from one of these beaches that the Sultan's palace looks out across the sea. And so to Tangana, where Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, looks down over rolling plains swarming with wildlife. [Music] One of Tanganaika's main towns is Arouchia. It lies exactly halfway between the Cape and [Music] Cairo. It's the same the whole world over. You can't stop women window shopping. In England, it's dresses. In Africa, its beans in Tanganika lies the great game reserve of Amboselli where every species of African wildlife is to be found. [Music] [Music] When elephants browse, they kick up the ground with their forefeoot to loosen the grass. Then they shake the dust out before eating it. When they get suspicious, they congregate and trump it preparatory to charging. [Music] [Music] [Music] The Boon have their method of dealing with grass, but they're searching for the roots. They do this in the evening when they come out in large numbers for their [Music] meal. Most wild animals move about in herds, but the rhino feels that two's company. [Music] The rhino is extremely dangerous, not only because he's very heavy, but also because he's very [Music] fast. Whenever an animal is found dead, an inquest is held. Here rangers are investigating a dead elephant and also extracting his valuable [Music] tusks. Death is always at hand in the bush and in the jungle. Life feeds on life. But wild animals never kill wantingly. These lions pull down a villbeast because they were hungry. And until the need food makes itself felt again, the weaker animals will be safe. [Music] satisfied after the feast. And now the others can have their turn. [Music] [Music] Hey, down through your king. [Music] But lions do make pets. Here's the Amberelli game warden, Major Taber, with a tame lioness, which he found as a cub. It's now 18 months old and as playful as a puppy. just as charming but not quite so tame are these Superb stings. This is the shrike or butcher bird who makes his lauder by impinging flies on [Music] thorns. One of the most interesting tribes in Africa is the Mara. [Music] These strange picturesque people live partly on a diet of mixed blood and milk. [Music] The Masai are nomadic, wandering from place to place with their large herds of cattle. They're warriors whose tide bearing distinguishes them from any other African people. And the women are as picturesque as the men. [Music] Another well-known tribe is the Cuyo. Unlike the Marai, they are settled people who live in villages of clustered huts. [Music] Despite the recent Mama outbursts, the Cuyo are a peaceful farming people. Great majority of whom are loyal and [Music] law-abiding. Another curious tribe is the Samburu living in the northern frontier district. There are very primitive people who have no settle home. [Music] [Music] And here is perhaps the most unusual hotel in the world. Treetops built into a fig tree overlooking a water hole. It's been specially designed to enable visitors to watch animal wildl [Music] Here's a warthog. Come in for his evening drink. Many baboons to be found here. They know that if they behave themselves, the white hunter will reward them with scraps of food. [Music] With treetops, we conclude our journey around East Africa. Steaming wildlife, its many people, and its magnificent scenery. [Music]