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The Tusks and Uhuru Park – of Royal Tusks, Flying Foxes and Other Small Oddities

There are places in the world that are so famous you almost feel you’ve already been there before you arrive. You’ve seen them on postcards, in holiday photos and on enough Facebook profiles to recognise them instantly.
The Tusks in Mombasa are fortunately not one of those places that leave you disappointed.
Quite the opposite.
Even when you know they’re there, they still manage to surprise you. Perhaps because they’re larger than you imagined. Perhaps because they stand in the middle of traffic that appears to have been organised by a man wearing a blindfold. Or perhaps because you suddenly realise that an entire city seems to revolve around four giant white elephant tusks.

A Princess, Some Canvas and a Rather Good Idea

The story begins in 1952, when the young Princess Elizabeth was due to visit Kenya. Mombasa wanted to make a good impression, and when a city decides to impress a princess, a flowerbed simply won’t do.
So they built a giant pair of elephant tusks across the road.
Not from steel.
Not from concrete.
Not even from wood.
They were made of canvas stretched over a wooden frame.
In other words, Mombasa’s most famous landmark began life as the world’s largest theatre prop.
It was, in fact, a very elegant way of saying:
“We sincerely hope it doesn’t rain too hard today.”
The princess arrived, drove beneath the tusks and continued her journey. A short time later she became Queen Elizabeth II, and suddenly Mombasa had a story far better than anyone could have hoped for.

Then the Little Sister Wanted to See Them Too

A few years later Princess Margaret, the Queen’s younger sister, was also due to visit Kenya, and a problem appeared that every host knows all too well.
What do you do when your guests expect to see something that was originally meant to be temporary?
You build another one, of course.
In the meantime, Moi Avenue had been widened into a four-lane road, and the original pair of tusks simply wasn’t enough anymore.
So a second pair was built, this time in metal.
The result is the four tusks we see today, and if you stand in just the right place and squint slightly, they form the letter:
M
For Mombasa.
It is either a stroke of genius in urban design or a happy coincidence that somebody was quick enough to claim credit for.

The World’s Most Photographed Tusks

If you stand beneath The Tusks for just ten minutes, you get a wonderful introduction to life in Mombasa.
Cars, buses, tuk-tuks, motorcycles and people all approach from different directions at the same time, and somehow everything continues to move with a calmness that would cause most European traffic planners to break down in quiet tears.
There is also an unwritten rule:
If you don’t have a photograph under The Tusks, you haven’t really been to Mombasa.
So every day you can watch tourists taking the same picture over and over again.
“Just one more.”
“Another one.”
“No, wait. I blinked.”
If you had earned one shilling for every selfie taken here, you could probably afford a small island somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

Mombasa’s Green Living Room

Right next to The Tusks lies Uhuru Park.
The word uhuru means freedom in Swahili and commemorates Kenya’s independence in 1963.
The park is Mombasa’s green living room.
People come here to sit in the shade, escape the heat for a while and let the city slow down around them.
Some chat.
Some rest.
Some simply watch the world go by.
And then, of course, there are the flying foxes.

The Day the Sky Grew Wings

They arrived one morning several years ago as though they had read an estate agent’s advertisement that said:
“Large park, excellent mango trees, nice city views and free parking.”
Around four thousand of them moved in, and they have been there ever since, hanging in the trees like a collection of slightly grumpy Christmas decorations.
Nobody really knows why they chose Uhuru Park.
They simply did.
And in true Kenyan fashion, people looked up, shrugged and thought:
“Well… I suppose we have flying foxes now.”

Hotel Mango

Most of the trees in the park are mango trees, and the flying foxes love mangoes with an enthusiasm bordering on religious devotion.
When the fruit is plentiful, they stay.
When the buffet begins to run low, they fly out into the night, raid other fruit trees around the city and return again at dawn, rather like people after a particularly successful evening out.
Tourists adore them.
They stand beneath the trees with cameras pointed skywards, trying to count them, which is roughly as hopeless as counting mosquitoes on a summer evening.

A Small Warning from Above

There is, however, one thing you should know before venturing underneath the trees.
The flying foxes are generous creatures.
Very generous.
And if you stand there long enough with your head tilted back and your mouth open, there is a not entirely insignificant chance that you may receive a rather personal greeting from above.
When it happens—and it does happen from time to time—the locals simply smile and say:
“Congratulations. You have been blessed by Mombasa.”
It is probably the only blessing in the world that people immediately try to wash out of their hair.

Why We Remember This Place

And perhaps that is exactly why people remember The Tusks and Uhuru Park.
Not because they are Africa’s grandest attractions, but because they are filled with stories, small oddities and moments that make us smile.
People come to Mombasa for the beaches and the safaris, but they often return home talking about the giant white tusks and the flying toilet bombers that have turned a small city park into their very own kingdom.
And if a souvenir is something that makes you smile long after the suitcase has been unpacked, then The Tusks and Uhuru Park may well be among Mombasa’s very best.

The Tusks og Uhuru Park – om kongelige stødtænder, flyvende hunde og andre små mærkværdigheder

Der findes steder i verden, som er så berømte, at man næsten bliver lidt skuffet, første gang man ser dem, fordi man allerede har set dem på tusind postkort, femten Facebook-profiler og mindst tre køleskabsmagneter hjemme hos vennerne.
The Tusks i Mombasa er heldigvis ikke et af de steder.
Tværtimod.
For selv om man ved, at de står der, kommer de alligevel lidt bag på én. Måske fordi de er større, end man forestillede sig. Måske fordi de står midt i en trafik, der ser ud, som om den er blevet organiseret af en mand med bind for øjnene. Eller måske fordi man pludselig opdager, at hele byen nærmest drejer sig omkring fire store hvide stødtænder.

En prinsesse, et stykke sækkelærred og en god idé

Historien begynder i 1952, da den unge prinsesse Elizabeth skulle besøge Kenya. Mombasa ville gerne gøre indtryk, og når en by vil imponere en prinsesse, er et blomsterbed simpelthen ikke nok.
Derfor byggede man et sæt gigantiske elefantstødtænder hen over vejen. Ikke af stål eller beton, men af sækkelærred spændt over et træskelet. Det var i virkeligheden en meget elegant måde at sige:
“Vi håber virkelig, det ikke blæser i dag.”
Prinsessen kom, kørte under stødtænderne og fortsatte sin rejse. Kort tid senere blev hun dronning Elizabeth II, og pludselig havde Mombasa fået en historie, som var langt bedre, end man havde turdet håbe på.

Da lillesøster også ville se stødtænderne

Nogle år senere skulle prinsesse Margaret besøge Kenya, og så opstod der et problem, som enhver vært kender.
Hvad gør man, når gæsterne forventer at se noget, som egentlig kun var tænkt som en midlertidig dekoration?
Man bygger naturligvis nogle nye.
I mellemtiden var Moi Avenue blevet udvidet til en firesporet vej, og derfor måtte man bygge endnu et sæt stødtænder, denne gang af metal.
Resultatet blev de fire stødtænder, vi ser i dag, og hvis man står det rigtige sted og kniber det ene øje sammen, danner de bogstavet M for Mombasa.
Det er enten et stykke genial byplanlægning eller et tilfælde, som nogen var hurtige til at tage æren for.

Verdens mest fotograferede stødtænder

Hvis man bliver stående under The Tusks i bare ti minutter, får man et glimrende indtryk af livet i Mombasa.
Der kommer biler, busser, tuk-tukker, motorcykler og mennesker fra alle retninger på én gang, og alligevel flyder det hele videre med en ro, som ville få de fleste europæiske trafikplanlæggere til at bryde sammen i stille gråd.
Der findes også en uskreven regel:
Hvis du ikke har et billede under The Tusks, har du næsten ikke været i Mombasa.
Derfor kan man hver eneste dag se turister, der tager det samme billede igen og igen.
“Tag lige ét mere.”
“Et til.”
“Nej, vent. Jeg blinkede.”
Hvis man havde fået én shilling for hver selfie, der er blevet taget her, kunne man sandsynligvis købe en mindre ø i Det Indiske Ocean.

Mombasas grønne dagligstue

Lige ved siden af ligger Uhuru Park, der betyder Frihedsparken, og som er Mombasas grønne dagligstue.
Her finder man skygge, kølig luft og en fornemmelse af, at byen tager en lille pause fra sig selv.
Folk mødes her.
De slapper af.
De snakker.
Nogle sidder bare og ser verden gå forbi.
Og så er der naturligvis de flyvende hunde.

Da himlen pludselig fik vinger

De ankom en morgen for nogle år siden, som om de havde læst en ejendomsmæglerannonce med teksten:
“Stor park, gode mangotræer, udsigt over byen og gratis parkering.”
Omkring fire tusinde af dem flyttede ind, og siden har de hængt i træerne som en samling sorte, lettere utilfredse julepynt.
Ingen ved helt, hvorfor de valgte netop Uhuru Park.
De gjorde det bare.
Og i ægte kenyansk stil kiggede folk op, trak på skuldrene og tænkte:
“Nå … så har vi også flyvende hunde nu.”

Hotel Mango

De fleste af træerne i parken er mangotræer, og de flyvende hunde elsker mangoer med en hengivenhed, som grænser til det religiøse.
Når frugterne slipper op, flyver de ud i natten, finder nye træer og vender tilbage ved daggry, præcis som mennesker efter en vellykket aften i byen.
Turisterne elsker dem.
De står med kameraerne pegende mod himlen og forsøger at tælle dem, hvilket er omtrent lige så håbløst som at tælle myg en sommeraften.

En lille advarsel fra oven

Der er dog én ting, man bør vide, før man begiver sig ind under træerne.
De flyvende hunde er generøse skabninger.
Meget generøse.
Og hvis du står længe nok med hovedet bagover og munden åben, er der en ikke helt ubetydelig risiko for, at du får en ganske personlig hilsen fra oven.
Når det sker – og det gør det fra tid til anden – plejer de lokale blot at smile og sige:
“Congratulations. You have been blessed by Mombasa.”
Det er sandsynligvis den eneste velsignelse i verden, som man øjeblikkeligt forsøger at vaske ud af håret.

Derfor husker man stedet

Og måske er det netop derfor, folk husker The Tusks og Uhuru Park.
Ikke fordi de er de største seværdigheder i Afrika, men fordi de er fulde af historier, små mærkværdigheder og øjeblikke, som får os til at smile.
For man kommer til Mombasa for strandene og safarierne, men man rejser ofte hjem og fortæller om de store hvide stødtænder og de flyvende toiletbombere, der har gjort en lille park midt i byen til deres helt eget kongerige.
Og hvis en souvenir er noget, der får os til at smile, længe efter at kufferten er pakket ud, så er The Tusks og Uhuru Park måske nogle af Mombasas allerbedste.