After arriving at Makerere in October of 1964 and having found the tennis courts, I was playing with some unsuspecting soul when I substituted a ball from the vacuum can I had brought with me for the unpressurized balls we were playing with. My first serve bounced 20 feet and was unhittable! Under more prosaic conditions I played a lot of tennis in Uganda and Kenya. I played many days at Lugogo Stadium with Robert/Bob Greenwood, a Brit TEAr who was a Cambridge blue. We even played in the Uganda Open in 1965, an exhibition against Donald Dell and Allan Fox at Jinja, and a few other tournaments. I had more success with doubles than with singles. Most of the players were Asian or European. When my parents visited in August of 1966 we saw Laver and Rosewall play in Nairobi. Bob and I have continued our friendship, but I missed seeing him in EA11 when he decided at the last minute not to venture forth from his Diani Beach (Mombasa) residence.

I also played squash with a small team organized by T. A. Brett of the UK. Our best player was a 30-something woman who had once been world ranked. She said that here parents had come out to Kenya in the 1920s and walked up to Nanyuki behind an oxcart to start what became the Silverbeck Hotel whose bar, if I recall properly, was right on the equator. We played a few clubs in Kampala, Kisumu, and Nairobi. It was my introduction to the international game which had different court dimensions and different scoring. It’s where I learned to lob since the outdoor courts generally didn’t have a ceiling (no dummy, me). Coincidentally, I came across Bwana Brett 8 years ago on the internet.

One of my fond Makerere memories was the University Games of 1965. On our basketball team, I believe the lanky Robin Wilkins was in the pivot and Ward Heneveld played power forward. Jerry Atkin may have been the shooting guard. I think I also played volleyball. I also played some basketball in Nairobi on a team playing opposite Peace Corps volunteers. One of my most instructive times was learning to play field hockey in Makerere phys ed classes. I damn near got killed and developed then and there a very healthy respect for those who play the game. It is definitely not a game for sissies.

Like travel, food, and music, sport is a great transcultural experience.