A hill from Nakasero stretched west and swung past the European Golf Club and swept by the station. This hill formed a backdrop for Mwanza Sports Club, which we went to in the evenings. The Indians in the town and outlying areas established this club. It offered all the sporting and social facilities and was the gathering place for the community and town many sporting and social events were held here. Wedding, christenings both Christian and of other denominations, and celebrations for all occasions were also held here.

A lare granite slab about ten meters long jutted out in a gentle slope from this hill. Both the tennis and volleyball courts abutted this slab which was used as a viewing deck. During various tournaments and matches it was crowded with spectators. Above the slab the hill was full of rocks, boulders and many outcrops. Very tall cassia and gum trees wooded it as well as berry, thorn acacias and African silky oaks grew on it. While other children played cards, ludo, carom, or some other board games, I spent my time at the top end of the slab or sat on one of the boulders further up. This area was full of all sorts of small wild life and birds and it was another favourite haunt of mine.

Here I watched the vervet monkeys as they returned from the lake. They bounded from tree to tree, as they moved to their night perches higher up in the hill, safe from the prowling hyenas. Tawny kites circled prior to settling on their trees while the black and white dinner suited African crows crowded other trees amid a loud cawing, arguing and pecking about their roosts. In between the low bushes, tiny brown and crimson finches, gray blue tits and the yellow rumped bulbuls flitted about, their chirps and songs adding to the general cacophony as light began to fade.

Occasionally a few storks arrived to roost as well and this added to the rumpus in the top branches as they hopped from branch to branch to find a spot, only to be chased by the regular occupants. But they too found empty spots in the upper canopy, and made a thin-legged two-point landing, wings in a rapid flutter for air brakes. As the sun descended behind the hill and darkness enveloped the trees the noises gradually died. Only an occasional caw or a squawk gave an indication of any life on the trees. Pretty soon the quiet of the day birds was replaced by the hoots of the tawny owls, clicks of the bats circling the tree tops, and in the distance, hoo, hoo, hooo, of the hyenas.

Kwa Pelele, the Place of the Pelele, however, was well known for another small furry animal, the hyrax. The hyraxe look like rabbits and are commonly but incorrectly known as rock rabbits. They are in fact not rabbits at all but the only living relatives of the elephants, and have tiny hoofs.

The hyrax live in large and permanent colonies and reside in one regular place. Another peculiar habit of the hyrax is that they always use the same spot for their toilet, which is over a slopping rock away from their burrows and crannies. This makes it very easy to spot their area as after a while the droppings leave a wide white mark on the rock. The hyrax also like to bask and come out to sit on the nearby rocks. Mostly they sit still well camouflaged against the dark rocks amid yellow green grass but a few scouts dart about keeping a watch, and from time to time pop up their heads or stand up on the hind legs. A short sharp bark warns of any danger, particularly of the tawny kites, and the whole mob skitters into the burrows in between the rocks and boulders. They are then extremely hard to get at. You boys may recall seeing two hyraxe basking on the high rocky lookout in the Masai - Mara National Park.

On the far side of the slab was a very wide but a shallow hole. All the garbage from the club was dumped in this hole. This hole was frequented by a variety of animals and the mburukenge, the monitor lizards, all of which came down to scavenge on the scraps of food. The mburukenge were rather scary. They were about a meter long with a thick black and yellow body and a long tail. They flicked their long black tongue constantly as they scrabbled on the garbage. When they rose on the hind legs to scan around they looked very fierce as the tongue continued to flick.

Whenever the club staff came to empty the garbage bins they carried a short stout stick. They beat the bins as they approached the hole because a mburukenge can inflict a very nasty bite. As the men came closer all the mburukenges rose to investigate, then with all legs extended they took off. As they raced over the garbage they scattered it about. Empty cans and tins clattered, cardboard boxes tumbled and paper ripped. Sometimes a piece of paper got caught in the sharp claws and a mburukenge tore away with a page or two of the East African Standard on its legs. With great speed they clamored out of the hole and disappeared into the hill.

These large lizards were given the name monitor for a very strange reason. Among other stuff the monitor likes to eat are bird and crocodile eggs. To find crocodile eggs it searches up and down the riverbanks. The early White explorers and observers of the African wild life thought that the lizards showed where the crocodiles were, that is they monitored the presence of the crocodiles, and it was so named.

 

Mburukenge on hind legs	Hyrax on rock

 

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