Kenya
The James Herriot of Africa
Great Rift Valley The mare hangs her head; her neck is swollen, her eyes bloody red, crammed by flies. She…
The Kenyan night is like a busy shipping lane, but silent
Night falls like a fire curtain at seven and I go to bed not long afterwards, serenaded by bullfrogs after…
The right track
Sebastian Coe’s new job as head of world athletics will be a heck of a lot easier thanks to the…
Degrees in disaster
From Greece to Kenya, the worst economic ideas come from alumni of British universities
Wild life
Laikipia A quarter of a century ago I met two young South African men who had ridden their ponies 1,700…
Just giving
Seven years ago I wrote here about a site called Kiva.org. I had met the co-founder of this charity when…
Recent crime fiction
The act of reading always involves identification: with the story, the characters, the author’s intentions. Renée Knight takes this concept…
Portrait of the week
Home Talha Asmal, aged 17, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, died in a suicide bomb attack on forces near an oil…
Wild life
Laikipia, Kenya Out cross-country running on the farm in Kenya recently, I came face-to-face with a gang of bull…
Redefining aid
In this week’s Queen’s Speech, the government promised as usual to cut red tape for businesses. But David Cameron is…
Wild life
Nairobi Trout were first introduced into Kenya’s highland streams in 1905. Men like Ewart Grogan, ‘baddest and boldest of…
Portrait of the week
Home Tony Blair, the former prime minister, opposed a referendum on membership of the EU. In a speech at Sedgefield…
Wild life
Laikipia With a shriek, the warrior arched his body, readying to sling his spear at my chest. The tear-dropped javelin…
Botswana
As a boy camping with my father on safaris deep in the African bush, there were no tents involved; we…
Wild life
Laikipia We are privileged to live with lions on the farm. We hear them most nights. We encounter them frequently.…
The White Widow myth
Samantha Lewthwaite almost certainly isn’t as monstrous as the papers say. And she definitely isn’t as important
Murder in the mall
So you’ve just popped down to the supermarket for the weekly shop, toddlers in tow, when the grenades start to…
Wild life
England We dropped off our daughter Eve at her new school in the Midlands and started the long journey…
Faster, higher, stronger
The remarkable story of the missionary and the Masai running champion
Wild life
Rift Valley Many of my British tribe fled Kenya around independence in 1963 because they believed there was no future.…
Wild life
In bed Safety measures — I’ve never been good at them, so inevitably I inhaled and got soaked by the…
Letters
Why we need a free press Sir: As bereaved parents and (to borrow from some signatories of last week’s advertisement)…
Wild life
Laikipia When I first knew Michael Cunningham-Reid he was such a strict teetotaller that he would not eat trifle for…
Wild Life
Laikipia In the cattle rustlers’ camp, I know as I write this that the warriors are sharpening their blades, staring…
Wild life
As I write this, my hands are seared and bruised from holding a hot iron after branding our cattle. We…
