Africa
The four billion people question
Demographers are attached to their theories. The field’s most enduring is the ‘demographic transition’, whereby modernisation inexorably lowers a society’s…
Wild life
Kenya Wondering what this year will bring, at dawn this morning I stood in the waves in front of our…
The problem with ‘vaccine equity’
‘A stain on our soul’. That was how Gordon Brown, in his latest missive on the subject, described the failure…
The Omicron variant: what we know so far
Will the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, be the black swan that pulls the world back —…
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…
A slippery slope
Have you heard of champing? Neither had I. Turns out it’s camping in a field beside a deserted church. When…
Wild life
Laikipia He was turned out in a crisp bush ranger’s uniform and handled his assault rifle like a man hardened…
The Nobel truth
I suspect that there are no people in the world quite so right-on as the Nobel prize committee members. A…
Escapist comedy at its very best
Lady Sylvia is a gorgeous aristocrat whose hand is sought by the charming Dorante whom she has never met. To…
What’s behind the South African riots?
South Africa is ablaze once more. In the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal (formerly Natal) and Gauteng (which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria),…
Wild life
Kenya The evening before the assault on Addis Ababa, my guide Girmay and I ventured into a complex stuffed with…
Boko Haram’s demise will only strengthen Isis in Africa
Multiple reports have confirmed that the Boko Haram chief Abubakar Shekau is dead. Shekau’s demise came after Boko Haram last…
Black African lives should matter too
The treatment of black people, particularly by law enforcement, has become a principal point of protest in the western world.…
Wild life
Laikipia In the past I had a low opinion of sheep. During my first forays into farming I saw them…
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…
Wild life
Laikipia As the train pulled into Victoria my wife Claire, back home on the farm in Kenya, revealed that a…
Things fall apart
Civil war is breaking out in Ethiopia
Wild life
Kenya I stood under huge skies in the open country of our farm in northern Kenya and, after months of…
Letter from Tanzania
Dar es Salaam The World Health Organisation has drawn up a shortlist of countries it’s most concerned about during the…
Year of the locust
Another plague is stalking Africa
Wild life
I keep thinking what I’ll do when we regain our liberty — and I picture that beer at the end…
Wild life
Africa ‘Ah, Africa,’ the French scientist sighed contentedly. This was 1995 and all around us was an Ebola epidemic…
Wild life
Death and failure are more integral to farming than any other experience that I’ve witnessed in my life. Some things…
