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Watch: Oom Willem makes his way into Zanzibar and Kenya (Film 2)

Exploring Zanzibar's rich history: from palaces to markets

By Andries van Zyl • 7 June 2025
Watch: Oom Willem makes his way into Zanzibar and Kenya (Film 2)

Join Oom Willem's 1920s East African adventure! Digitized 16mm film reveals his journey from Zanzibar's spice markets and Sultan's Palace to Mombasa's ancient fort and bustling streets, ending with a glimpse into the now-prohibited ivory trade.

We continue our “walkabout” this week with the intrepid Oom Willem van den Berg and his almost-100-year-old journey up the East Coast of Africa, all captured on 16mm film and recently digitised. Did you have time to watch our second home movie of Oom Willem’s travels, and do you know where he headed next? If not, let us bring everyone up to speed again.

In our first movie, we saw Oom Willem depart by rail from South Africa, crossing into what was then Rhodesia before heading east into M...

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