“There’s a hole in the side of Africa, where the walls will speak if you only listen
Walls that tell a tale so sad, that the tears on the cheeks of Africa glisten
Stand and hear a million slaves, tell you how they walked so far
That many died in misery, while the rest were sold in Zanzibar
Shimoni, Oh Shimoni,
You have to find the answer, and the answer has been written down in Shimoni”
When Kenya-born singer-songwriter Roger Whittaker released this sad song in 1983, the village of Shimoni was a relatively quiet backwater on the southern Kenya coast, known primarily for its deep-sea fishing club. It is now a little bit larger and busier and tourists come to see the ‘slave cave’ that gives Shimoni its name (shimo-ni in Kiswahili means “at the cave”), as well embark on boat trips to the magnificent marine wilderness that is Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park. One could say that Whittaker’s song played a significant role in this development, by bringing Shimoni and its caves to wider attention.
When my father took us dolphin spotting on a local dhow trip to Kisite in 1984, my mother fell in love with Shimoni and the surrounding area. This inspired them to buy land locally and start the Pilli Pipa company with their partners Bruce Trebinski and his girlfriend Philipa in the ‘80s. It was then sold on to Selina and Harm (who have developed it into the great outfit that it is today) in the early 90s, after my parents left Kenya in 1990. My mother never forgot Shimoni though so she and I returned there in 1997 and she built the restaurant ‘Smugglers’ (which my father handed on to my Uncle Sam in 2001, when she died).
The entrance to the largest cave that the Arab traders used to hold slaves in the 17th century had become a local rubbish tip by then. My mother was a big fan of Roger Whittaker and perhaps it was partly her love for this song that encouraged her, along with other local business people, to push the local government to clean up this historical site and turn it into the tourist attraction that it is today.
Winniefred Wangui Theresa Rendell is buried on our land in Shimoni is still remembered fondly by the local people in Shimoni.
