Facing Mount Kenya
Facing Mount Kenya

Author: Jomo Kenyatta

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 1978-12-29

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9966566104

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Facing Mount Kenya, first published in 1938, is a monograph on the life and customs of the Gikuyu people of central Kenya prior to their contact with Europeans. It is unique in anthropological literature for it gives an account of the social institutions and religious rites of an African people, permeated by the emotions that give to customs and observances their meaning. It is characterised by both insight and a tinge of romanticism. The author, proud of his African blood and ways of thought, takes the reader through a thorough and clear picture of Gikuyu life and customs, painting an almost utopian picture of their social norms and the sophisticated codes by which all aspects of the society were governed. This book is one of a kind, capturing and documenting traditions fast disappearing. It is therefore a must-read for all who want to learn about African culture.

No Picnic on Mount Kenya
No Picnic on Mount Kenya

Author: Felice Benuzzi

Publisher: MacLehose Press

Published: 2017-10-10

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 1681440156

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In the shadow of Mount Kenya, surrounded by the forests and creatures of the savannah, life drags interminably for the inmates of POW Camp 354, captured in Africa during World War II. Confined to an endless cycle of boredom and frustration, one prisoner realizes he can bear it no longer. When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea--an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea. Not many people would break out of a POW camp and trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meager rations, and a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef as their most accurate guide. Fewer still would break back into the camp on their return. This is the remarkable story of three such men--a powerful testament to the human spirit of rebellion and adventure--reissued in a deluxe edition featuring Benuzzi's own watercolor paintings of the expedition and a final chapter that has never before appeared in English.

The Ecology of the Alpine Zone of Mount Kenya
The Ecology of the Alpine Zone of Mount Kenya

Author: M.J. Coe

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9401178313

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For centuries the peak of Mount Kenya has held a magical and religious significance for the Bantu and Nilohamitic peoples around its base. The Kikuyu live around the Eastern and Southern bound aries and the closely related Uembu and Umeru on the S.E. and N.E. respectively. Early in this century the Masai lived to the N.W. and North, but after continual warfare between them and their neighbours, the European administrators of that time moved them to a special reserve to the South, which accounts at the present day for the retention in the Masai language of many words that refer to Mount Kenya. Kikuyu folk-lore tells how, when the earth was formed, a man named Mogai made a great mountain, Kere-Nyaga. The fine white powder (snow) covering the peak, which they called ira, was said to be the bed of Ngai (God), and during male and female circumcision ceremonies a white powder was placed on the wound, and the ini tiates were told that this material had been brought from the summit of the mountain. In fact all important tribal ceremonies were, and in many cases still are conducted facing the mountain. Such occasions include marriage and sacrifice when, in time of hardship, Ngai's aid is called upon (CAGNOLO 1933, KENYATTA 1938, CRIRA 1959).

Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya
Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya

Author: Cameron Burns

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 9781871890983

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Cameron Burns presents a detailed guide to t hirty of the majour routes for climbers in the East African mountains of Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. '

A Change in Altitude
A Change in Altitude

Author: Anita Shreve

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2009-09-22

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 0316071749

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Margaret and Patrick have been married just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Margaret quickly realizes there is a great deal she doesn't know about the complex mores of her new home, and about her own husband. A British couple invites the newlyweds to join on a climbing expedition to Mount Kenya, and they eagerly agree. But during their harrowing ascent, a horrific accident occurs. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Margaret struggles to understand what happened on the mountain and how these events have transformed her and her marriage, perhaps forever. A Change in Altitude illuminates the inner landscape of a couple, the irrevocable impact of tragedy, and the elusive nature of forgiveness. With stunning language and striking emotional intensity, Anita Shreve transports us to the exotic panoramas of Africa and into the core of our most intimate relationships.

Glaciers, Nature, Water, and Local Community in Mount Kenya
Glaciers, Nature, Water, and Local Community in Mount Kenya

Author: Kazuharu Mizuno

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-03-18

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 9811678537

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This book describes the challenges for the natural environments and local communities in the future. Among the high mountains of Africa, only Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, and the Rwenzori Mountains are still capped with glaciers. The retreating rate of these glaciers has accelerated, and they are expected to disappear in the near future. In the area around Mount Kenya, the precipitation is generally low, such that rainfall cannot stably supply water for farmlands and daily life. It has been revealed that the glacial meltwater has produced springs at the foot of the mountain. It is therefore important to characterize the condition of water sources near Mount Kenya for use by local people. This book discusses the relationships between the actual state of the climate and glacier shrinkage around Mount Kenya, the surrounding vegetation, soil, and water environments, and the lives of the foothill region inhabitants confronting the glacier shrinkage. This book is valuable in the contemporary age, when the assurance of a sustainable relationship between nature and mankind is critical.

From the Slopes of Mount Kenya
From the Slopes of Mount Kenya

Author: Mary T. Wanjiku

Publisher: Trafford Publishing

Published: 2012-05

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13: 1466928468

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I was born and brought up in Kenya during the struggle for independence from the colonial rule. This book is about the trials and tribulations that took place during those difficult years. It is also about the cultural changes that the African families endured in that period, but where everyone looked out for each other. My family moved away from the village into the new emerging cosmopolitan towns and a new way of life where there was the merging of cultures from all over the world.This move meant losing some of their cultural identity process but on a positive note, led to their embracing in the activities found in the brave new world. My story is a personal journey that started with humble beginnings on the slopes of Mount Kenya with the euphoria and excitement that accompanied the freedom from the British rule. It is about growing up during the transitional years of post colonial Kenya and taking advantage of the many opportunities and challenges of a new nation and doing whatever was necessary to enable me to reach my goals and to find my identity and role in the new found freedom and independence.

No Picnic on Mount Kenya
No Picnic on Mount Kenya

Author: Felice Benuzzi

Publisher: MacLehose Press

Published: 2015-11-12

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 0857053752

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A rediscovered mountaineering classic and the extraordinary true story of a daring escape up Mount Kenya by three prisoners of war. When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, prisoner of war Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea - an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea. There are not many people who would break out of a P.O.W. camp, trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meagre rations, and with a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef among their more accurate guides. There are probably fewer still who would break back in to the camp on their return. But this is the remarkable story of three such men. No Picnic on Mount Kenya is a powerful testament to the human spirit of revolt and adventure in even the darkest of places. "The history of mountaineering can hardly present a parallel to this mad but thrilling escapade" - Saturday Review "A most extraordinary prisoner-of-war and escape story" - New Yorker "A mad venture and a gallant tribute to man's deep yearning for freedom" - Kirkus Reviews "The book crackles with the same dry humour as its title. It contains the prison-yard bartering and candlelight stitching that mark a classic jailbreak yarn; the encounters with wild beasts in Mount Kenya's forest belt are as gripping, and the descriptions of sparkling glaciers as awe-inspiring, as any passage in the great exploration diaries of the early 20th century" - The Economist