The Seychelles are at the same latitude as Kenya and Tanzania and the nearest island is roughly a thousand miles southeast of Ras Kamboni. The blue line on this map indicates the extent of Somalia's territorial waters: http://mappery.com/map-name/Somali-Pirate-Attacks- Map-as-of-Dec-12-2007

Bechtel didn't finish the Kisimayu port until late spring, 1966. Even at that point, there were no cranes or loading equipment. The island isn't more than a few hundred yards long. The Bajuunis are not Samaale. They are thought to have mixed antecedants, which include Bushmen. They speak kiBajuni, a Bantu language, and, as a group, have cultural and other ties to the broader Swahili culture.

Good for them! Amoud U graduated their first medical class in 2007: http://saylaci.com/2007/08/09/graduation-of-medica l-doctors-from-amoud-by-abdirahman-adan/ Check out the happenings at: http://somalidoc.com/

The front courtyard in the compound of the first wife of the Mayor of Jilib. The Mayor's daughter-in-law is half-Italian. The two boys in front are friends who attended the Eqyptian School with the Mayor's son. Jilib, 1966.

JB, That is really out of the blue, coming from a 3 year old. I have to wonder, though. Can all this be because you made tea but drank coffee?

Gheele.T, I stayed a total of four nights in Hamar, or actually in Shingaani, but I never got to know it at all well and I don't have any photos from there. The photos that I do have were parts of only two rolls of film, all shot in Jilib, plus a few prints given to me by others. The ones I took myself I sent to my parents to reassure them I was OK, and I have now refound them years later. We were told that taking photos would be seen as offensive in some quarters, possibly even jasuus-like in others. Most of us were trying to create a good impression and avoided anything that might make us look bad. Consequently........

Baashi, No photos. I never felt sufficiently comfortable in Kismayu to take the camera. I banked there and got in once briefly to shop every other week, rarely staying overnight. Bechtel was just finishing up the road and port as I arived in April of 1966. Actually, I didn't get to see any of the construction; they were just selling off unused supplies and equipment and tying up loose ends. The port consisted of a two-lane fill road out to a small island just off the coast. The dock consisted of cast-concrete piers and a cast-concrete deck. It wasn't big. You could get one full-sized banana boat on the long side and a dhow or something else smaller on the short end. The big problem they had with the entire project was finding enough stone. Most of what was available locally was a softish coral limestone, and not much of that. I know they scoured the coast for miles. The whole project was intended to bring the bananas to market more efficiently. The road was a marvel. Traffic was mostly at 25 mph or less, and not much of it, so it didn't wear. It seemed brand new the whole time I was there. There was a daily round-trip bus service originating in Jilib. If I remember corectly, one way fare was 8 SS. The only isbaro in the country was at Kuumsuumma.

I was told Kismayu means "shallow wells" in Swahili and that it was one of the Banidiri "ports" going back at least to the Omani/Zanzibari Sultanate. http://books.google.com/books?id=2Nu918tYMB8C&pg=P A11&lpg=PA11&dq=Original+settlement+in+kismayu,+So malia&source=bl&ots=P3r5BQhHD5&sig=ukfAM5GMtH_WSID SVdYtR05q09U&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct =result#PPP1,M1 This article indicates Bajuni lived in villages surrounding Kismayu and on the off-shore islands and suggests they are composed of a number of non-Somali peoples native to the area. It is my understanding the Ina Jaberti groups did not begin arriving until the early decades of the Twentieth century. The Kismayu that I knew in the Sixties was said to be far more religiously observant than the hinterlands, and also to have a more rigid class structure. It was considered "different". There was still something of an Italian presence when I was there in 1966, but it seemed like they were ouside the town rather than in it. Also, they had administered Juubbaadda Hoose from Jilib. Honestly, I have always thought there was something in Kismayu of which they were afraid. (?)

Bob, See if this does anything for your paranoia. http://www.somaliaonline.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/t opic/6/11200 If not, Somalinet will be back up next Wednesday and you can check out over three years worth of regular posts. Ask me or them any questions you want. I probably do know more about Somalia, and have seen more of it than most here, but I have never been debriefed by anybody. The worst you can blame on me is teaching your parents or grandparents English. Yes, that is highly subversive!

Bob, The site censored it. Ina Ismaycil Jaberti. After building the port, Bechtel paved the road to Jilib and built the bridge at Kumsuumma in order to get the bananas to the port. I know for a fact that gelay and olio semsem from Jilib fed part of Kismayu, and much of the local income was from the bananas. Kumsuumma, Jamaame and Jilib were all part of the Kismayu economy. But the Gosha were not welcome in the city proper.

I can't speak for other periods, but in the Sixties, Kismayu was said to be a ****** city. I made the mistake of taking a Gosha friend there to stay the night with Peace Crops friends in a rented house, because it was too late to return to Jilib. I was later told that must never happen again. The episode reminded me of the segregation we were fighting in the States, so I never went back to that house again.

Sayid Somal, Your mail box is full.

HA, I regret to say I never had my camera with me when I was in the North. These were taken by Eric Schwab in the very early Sixties, possibly even before. The one with the radio is probably not from the North. I have prints I got at the PC office is Mog. The only other stuff I have that is not generally available is in the booklet.

Folks, I taught ESL at the government school in Jilib in 1966-67. The shot of me also shows the wife and daughter-in-law of the Mayor of Jilib, Mohammed Shaykh Suleiman. I stayed in their compound until my own house was built. The double shot is of the two ends of main street, showing the minaret of the mosque and the District Commissioner's office and post office. The cluster of white buildings is the government school. The child's hairdo was more of a pig-tail than mohawk. Most children got haircuts with a razor blade, some (rarely) with patterns. These are somewhat fewer than half of the photos I have. I also have a booklet of Tom Smoyer's photos that was privately printed in Kenya in 1969 that I don't think has ever been generally available. I see it as a time capsule and I would like to deposit all of it somewhere it won't be lost.