Babati History

To get to Babati in the 1928 one would travel west across some of what was the most concentrated game country until one reached Mtu wa Mbu on the shores of Lake Manyara at the base of the Rift valley escarpment. One would travel to on to Karatu and along the wooded Mbulu Escarpment before descending down into Babati and it's wondrous Lake. The town itself was just a handful of dukas laying on the flat shrubland which is surrounded on 3 sides by forested mountains concealed all manner of game, including "the unpredictable rhinoceros whose thunderous approach can send you shinning up a tress a score of times before breakfast".

"The Fig Tree" bar, restaurant and hotel (three detached guest rondavals accommodating those incapable of getting home), on the Singu Farm, was the base camp for Baron and Cockie Blixen. After his divorce from Baroness Karen Blixen (of "Out of Africa" fame), he left Nairobi and settled in Babati on land owned by Dick Cooper, one of his hunting clients. The homes might have lacked the finer comforts of life but the time spent there was idyllic and visitors flocked there including Denys Finch-Hatton, the then Prince of Wales (the current Princes of Wales' great uncle). It was whilst at Babati that the Prince received a telegram to return home due to his father's (King George V) illness.

Blixen often visited Mount Ufiome (just outside Tarangire) where they hunted lion and befriended Michaeli, chief of the Wa'Mbulus thought to be part of the Watusi tribe from Rwanda/Burundi.

Whilst at the Fig Tree Blixen wanted to open up this part of Tanganyika (west of Arusha) to tourism and he consulted the local (colonial) Babati farmers and the Governor of Tanganyika and the Commissioner of African Affairs were invited. They climbed one of the local hills and enjoyed the beautiful. The group was escorted not far from Singu House to a vantage point where they deliberated; the sight encompassed a breathtaking view, at which no one could remain unmoved. The suggestion - to improve the roads and the postal services, build hotels and rest camps, and implement stricter controls of game poaching- met with loud cheers.

The Blixens later moved from farm to Ngasagu (??) once they earned more money, but as the marriage broke up (1932) Blixen went to Babati less and less, the sparkle had gone out of Babati life and Blixen's favourite proverb could be applied. "Life is life and fun is fun, but it is all so quiet when the goldfish die"