Aidan Hartley Aidan Hartley

Our exile in NW1

We are stuck in London until Kenyan airspace reopens

We go for walks in Regent’s Park and head for the zoo where we can hear lions and tigers roaring. Credit: cirano83 
issue 11 April 2020

Laikipia

The sweetest sound to me now is the dawn chorus of birdsong at home on the farm. I lay awake in bed and listened, as a light rain fell on the coconut thatch above me. When I walked out into the garden the three dogs burst out of the house to go off exploring. While I made coffee in the kitchen, our cats Omar and Bernini rubbed against my legs until I fed them and then in walked Long John Silver the orphaned calf, looking for a bowl of milk. I headed out to the crush where the herds were coming in to be dipped. Cattle were mooing, the sheep were bleating and the cowhands were whistling and shouting. With dew sparkling on the grass and the air alive with the hum of bees, I felt so grateful to be here. Home.

‘We’re not used to being two metres apart — it’s usually further.’

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