A Guide to the Birds of East Africa
Nicholas Drayson


On first introduction, Mr Malik is a gentlemanly retiree who spends his time bird-watching. Pleasant enough, but perhaps not the most exciting prospect for Rose Mbikwa, the widowed guide of the weekly bird walks in Nairobi, Kenya.
When a flamboyant schoolmate, Harry Khan, turns up from Mr Malik’s past, the stage is set for a contest between the two. Whoever identifies the greatest number of bird species in a week will earn the privilege of asking Rose to the Nairobi Hunt Club Ball.
This book’s unassuming charm grows on the reader, rather like Mr Malik. Decency and goodness are not the most flashy qualities, but as the contest progresses, Drayson has you rooting firmly for the “short, round and balding” underdog.
The story appears somewhat slight at first, but there is more to bird-watching than meets the eye. It is a hobby, but it can also be a lesson about the virtues of paying attention to one’s surroundings and discovering the richness around us.
A bird’s-eye view can be instructive as the avian world can be read as an allegory for the shenanigans taking place in Kenyan politics.
Drayson does not shy away from the darker side of life in Nairobi. Besides talking about corruption, he also touches on crime, the devastation caused by Aids and the abduction of young men to be sold as soldiers in nearby countries.
A seemingly trifling premise opens up into a far more bountiful world.


If you like this, read: Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
This genteel tale of crime-solving is set in Gaborone, Botswana.
(ST)