Friendly fire
Laikipia, Kenya My cousin Charlie Williams is a young Irish Guards captain about to deploy in Afghanistan. The other day…
Battle lines
South Africa Rarely is Jonathan Clayton, the Times man in Africa, far from the front lines — but this month…
Let’s do business
Tanzania Here’s this Chinese guy in the midday sun. Straw hat, faggy in his mouth, bright eyes, tanned face. I…
White-knuckle ride
Rainy Season on the Cattle Stock Route From the side of the track, a Samburu youth waved me down. I…
Let’s have an adventure
Colombian jungle The first day I was in Bogota I saw a big yellow bus speeding by, full of old-aged…
Shooting the breeze
Malindi, Kenya I’m at Malindi’s Driftwood beach bar, nursing a Tusker beer. I’m gazing at the Indian Ocean. The day…
Entrance exam
Before disembarking at Bulawayo airport I stuffed the book I was reading in the front-seat pocket. It was Peter Godwin’s…
Plague of pachyderms
Laikipia ‘That elephant is almost human,’ my wife Claire said. ‘That,’ I replied, ‘is the problem.’ I called him Stomper.…
In the line of fire
Laikipia ‘Let us go in amongst the cattle and talk,’ said the Councillor Jeremiah. That means a serious matter is…
Bankrupted by paradise
Kiwayu Island, Kenya I came on a holiday to unwind and decompress but I have just been handed the bill…
Wild Life
Kuala Lumpur I dropped into Malaysia armed with F. Spencer Chapman’s anti-Japanese guerrilla war memoir The Jungle is Neutral and…
Wild Life
Kenya An image I will never forget is of Ben Freeth’s three little children on the front lawn of their…
Wild Life
Indian Ocean As a child I wandered Kenya’s north shore beaches. On coral reefs I hunted rare cowries. The Bajunis…
Wild Life
Indian Ocean Coast I am woken at dawn by bastardised Australian and Swahili. ‘Wakey wakey hands off snakey,’ says Abo.…
Wild Life
Kenya While staying recently on a lonely farm in the Highveld east of Johannesburg, I met a grey parrot that…
Wild Life
Zimbabwe ‘Ah, and no cake to offer you!’ Mrs H— said. ‘I would have baked one if only I’d known…
Wild Life
Laikipia As our farm manager Celestino Sikuku drove home with two other workers last month a gang of bandits waylaid…
Wild Life
‘Where’s Ajay?’ My producer Ed and I are making a film about India’s coalfields. ‘Ajay is busy.’ I complain, ‘But…
Wild Life
36,000 feet Hello Link When I was a teenager on a flight to Nairobi I sat next to a pretty…
Wild Life
Port-au-Prince Haiti seems almost beautiful from the air. Hillsides eroding into the Caribbean like a rained-on sandcastle. Up close I…
