Wild life
Kenya As late as the 1920s, it was believed that Africa’s tropical sun would boil a European’s brains. ‘The direct…
Hunger games
The real reason Africa can’t feed itself
Wild life
On the BOAC VC10 flights to Nairobi, the pilots would invite children like me up to sit in the cockpit…
Buffalo
Buffalo are now living in the fens of Kent. Why – have we slipped into the metaverse of Lewis Carroll?…
Wild life
Yet again, millions of civilians across the Horn of Africa are starving. The world blames the crisis on drought and…
Russia’s special relationship
Why so many African leaders support Putin
Wild life
Delayed, on Southern Rail Home From the Hill is a 1987 documentary by Molly Dineen about Hilary Hook, an elderly…
Wild life
Kenya During Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 I got a close look at Moscow’s troops and their kit. These…
Coming up roses
Kenya’s flower growers have a busy time ahead
Wild life
Malindi, the Indian Ocean When I lived in Jerusalem a long time ago, I often visited the Church of the…
Wild life
Kenya Wondering what this year will bring, at dawn this morning I stood in the waves in front of our…
Wild life
Laikipia Plateau, Kenya Our local chief Panta wore a government-issue khaki uniform with epaulettes, beret and swagger stick. On a…
Wild life
Kenya Each time I sit in St Bride’s on Fleet Street during the memorial of another friend, I look around…
Wild life
Kenya When I was a child in Kenya, the road from the Indian Ocean up to Nairobi was still…
Wild life
Laikipia He was turned out in a crisp bush ranger’s uniform and handled his assault rifle like a man hardened…
Wild life
Malindi, Kenya Beneath the Indian Ocean’s surface, I wondered if the pandemic had turned out to be a good thing…
Wild life
Nairobi Since my father first caught sight of Mombasa from his ship in late 1929, at least some of my…
Wild life
Kenya In March, Global Britain signed a new, post-Brexit trade deal with Kenya. This was a welcome agreement for my…
Wild life
Kenya The evening before the assault on Addis Ababa, my guide Girmay and I ventured into a complex stuffed with…
Wild life
Laikipia Until I promised to slaughter a fat-tailed sheep with a goat thrown in for a feast, the farm cowhands…
Wild life
Laikipia In the past I had a low opinion of sheep. During my first forays into farming I saw them…
Wild life
Laikipia In one of Kenya farmer Karen Blixen’s short stories, a character says: ‘I know of a cure for everything:…
Wild life
Malindi, Kenya I’ve learned that mourning must be tackled ever so gently. As a younger man, when friends were killed…
Wild life
Indian Ocean coast ‘I love you’ became just ‘love’, and that was the last word Mum was able to say…
Wild life
Laikipia I was drinking in the fresh air on the high earth wall of my farm dam last week, when…
