The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Kirrie crowd’s Kenyan shock
Former expat jute wallah Kenneth Miln still frequently savours, quite literally, a taste of his old South Asian stomping ground via his exotic culinary interests.
Thinking back to the 1960s, the formerly Calcutta-based Monifieth man recalls a curious episode that occurred during an East African sojourn that almost left a bad taste in his mouth – and in the mouths of some holiday companions from Angus!
Mr Miln remembers: “Almost 50 years ago, during a period of leave from Kenya, the Miln family were spending a few days with our good friends at their house named Malindi at Kirriemuir.
“The name Malindi was shown, in bright gold lettering, above their front door. When asked about this unusual name, our friends replied that when they purchased the property the name was already in place.
“However, some months later we invited them to join us for a holiday in Kenya, part of which included a week at the coastal resort of Malindi. Our friends were thrilled with magical Kenya, especially so with exotic Malindi on the Indian Ocean with its silky-sand beaches and crystal clear sea.
“We had rented a beach house within easy walking distance from high tide mark and from where numbers of large crabs could be seen at sundown, while we enjoyed our ‘sundowners’. One evening, after a sizzling curry dinner, a fisherman appeared carrying a sack full of giant crabs for sale – without hesitation the crabs were purchased and the fisherman left them with the cook.
“After watching a splendid tropical sunset, as the golden disc of the sun sank below the western horizon, we retired for the night
below mosquito-nets to avoid the ubiquitous mosquitos.
“The night was quiet apart from the pleasing sound of surf breaking over the fringing reef and we were soon soundly asleep. However, a restful night it was not to be, as we were awakened by scraping noises from the bedroom door and our friends shouting, ‘Who is trying to open our door?’
“Within seconds we were all up and cautiously opening the bedroom doors
leading out to a long corridor, where a number of monster coconut crabs were scurrying around trying to escape.
“They waved powerful claws which could have snipped off a finger with ease. By this time we were all fully awake and running around dodging the now furious giant crabs when suddenly the cook appeared.
“He had two sturdy broomsticks, which he held out to us while calling out instructions as to how we should push the crabs back along the corridor and into the kitchen from where they had managed to escape.
“After several minutes of battling with the giant crabs, all was quiet and we returned to our bedrooms and a few hours of sleep.
“Despite the ‘crab incident’, the holiday was enjoyed by all – our friends expressed their wish for another visit to Kenya.”