A Single Swallow (42 page)

Chad 169

Chaucer, Geoffrey 34–5

Chechnya 219

China: and Africa 85, 117, 118–19, 127

CIA 114

collective nouns 50

colonialism
see
Britain; France; logging; slavery; USA

Congo, Democratic Republic of (DRC) 80–1, 97, 101–2, 104; Kinshasa 98, 121

Congo-Brazzaville 99–142; history 101–2, 102–3; Makoua 123–9, 312; Ouesso 132, 140–2; politics 103, 132; visas 13–14;
see also
Brazzaville

Congo River 98, 115–17

cormorants 34

coucals 39

crocodiles 110

crows 50, 275;

pied 85

cuckoos 34, 275

de Gaulle, Charles 118, 218

desert navigation 255–6

Dikongoro 61–2

Dinesen, Isak
see
Blixen, Karen diseases and illnesses; bird-borne 191;
see also
Ebola; malaria

Dover 298

doves 35

dragons 61–2

DRC
see
Congo, Democratic Republic of

DRS 214

eagles 34, 50; fish eagles 67

Ebola 126, 138–9, 142

Ebro River 278, 279

elephants 75, 76

Elf oil company 102, 103

England
see
Britain English Channel: ferries 296–8

Ethiopia 1–2, 97

falcons 240; Eleonora's falcons 67–8; hobbies 67, 75, 244–5; peregrine 66, 67

festivals; International Women's Day 156–7; Ncwala 89–94

fieldfares 275, 315

Finder Keepers
(Heaney) 16

FLN (Front de Libération Nationale) 218–19

folklore and superstitions; birds 275; swallows 7–8, 39, 275, 279, 280, 287, 302, 316–17; travel 17; witch doctors 95, 103, 199–201

football 57, 58–9, 222–3

France 287–97; and Algeria 212–13, 217–19, 224; Bordeaux 293; Calais 296–7; and Congo-Brazzaville 101–2, 103, 104, 118; and logging 155–6; and Morocco 239; Narbonne 291–2; Newby on French 291; and Niger 204; northern countryside and agriculture 296; Paris 294–6; Perpignan 287–90; Toulouse 292

Fulani people 186

Gabon 120, 124

Garden of Secrets
,
The
(Goytisolo) 241

geese 34, 275;

Canada 315

GIA 214

Gibraltar 261–5

Gibraltar, Straits of 261

Giggs, Ryan 222–3

goats 53–4

goldfinches 219

Goytisolo, Juan 241

Great Karoo 26

great snipe 28

Growing Business Foundation 189, 190

Guinea, Gulf of 8, 179

gulls 253, 275

harmattan 190

Hausa people 186

hawks; bat hawks 67; goshawks 67; sparrow-hawks 67

Heaney, Seamus 16

Himba people 44

hip-hop 195

hittistes
215–16

HIV/AIDS 84, 96

Hobbit
,
The
(Tolkien) 28

‘Home Thoughts from Abroad' (Browning) 306–7

hoopoes 30

Ibo people 187

International Women's Day 156–7

Islam; in Africa 186, 187, 191, 192; buildings in Spain 278; unrest in Algeria 213–14

Kabila, Joseph and Laurent-Desiré 104

Kaokoveld desert 43, 56

Kavanagh, Patrick 19–20

Kenya 79–80

kestrels: lesser kestrels 32

kites 50–1; red kites 29

Kovango River 61–3, 65–6

Kruger, Paul 25

legends
see
superstitions and folklore

Leopold II, King of the Belgians 101, 172

Leuillette, Pierre 218–19

Likouala River 135

La Linea 265–9

Lissouba, Pascal 103

Livingstone, Dr David 78

logging 136, 155–6, 157–8, 164, 171

London 302_4

Lonely Planet Guide to Namibia and
South Africa, The
16

Luangwa River 87–8

Lusaka 84–7; Cairo Road 85; Cha cha cha Road 85

Madrid 270–7; Atocha Station 277; British Consulate 276–7

Magnus, Olaus 10

magpies 275

Malakani nuts, carved 51–2

malaria 15–16, 68, 85

Mali 203

Mambili River 115–16

Marrakech 229, 237–47; Jamaa el Fna 238; Medina 245–7

Mawanasa, President 92

Migration Atlas: Movements of the
Birds of Britain and Ireland
9

millipedes 58

Moller, Anders 29

Morocco 227–57, 292; Agadir 254; border with Algeria 225; Casablanca 229–37; Essaouira
249–54; Fez 256; Tangier 257; Taroudannt 254–5; time zone 280;
see also
Marrakech

mousebirds 45

music; hip-hop 195; rai 195–6

mythology
see
superstitions and folklore

Namibia 41–76; Caprivi Strip 55–6, 59, 75–6; Divundu 76; Grootfontein 51; history, politics and living conditions 42–4, 56; race relations 48–9; Rundu 52, 55, 56–9; shape 56; Trans-Caprivi Highway 46; Tsumeb 47–50; Windhoek 42

navigation 80, 255–6, 292

Ncwala festival 89–94

Newby, Eric 291

Niger 193–205; Birni n'Konni 193–4; Niamey 202–4; Touareg rebellion 203–4; visas 14, 168

Niger River 199, 201

Nigeria 177–93; Abuja 187–90; Bornu 186; Calabar 180–4; crime 186; Cross River State 185; happiness 187; history 186–7; Kaduna 192; Lagos 187; politics 185; slavery 182–4; Sokoto 192; visas 14, 168; wealth 185–6

nightingales 34–5

nightjars 139–40

Ninjas (Algeria) 214

Ninjas (Congo-Brazzaville) 103

Ntumi, Pastor 103

Nuttall, Rick 29–36

oil 179, 184, 211, 216

‘On Raglan Road' (Kavanagh) 19–20

Orange River 40

owls: eagle owls 35

Paris 294–296

‘Parlement of Foules' (Chaucer) 34–5

peregrine 66

Perpignan 287–90

Piaf, Edith 230

pirogues 115

plovers: blacksmith plovers 65

Plutarch 274

Politkovskaya, Anna 219

predestination 275–6

Pygmies 133, 135–6

Rafter, Denis 272–3

rai 195–6

rails: water rails 29

rain: African 39–40, 79, 122

rainforest 129–30, 131–6, 155–6;
see also
logging

ravens 50, 275

red bishops 30

red kite 29–30

redwings 275

religion; African sectarian divide 191;
see also
Islam

riads 238–40, 241

rollers 30

rubber 171–2

rugby 36, 48, 146–7, 164–6, 188

Russia; and Africa 120, 121, 216; and Chechnya 219

Sahara desert 12, 194, 201–2

Sahel 189, 192, 193

Sangha River 141–2, 146

Sao Tome 124

Sarkozy, Nicolas 118, 293–4

Sassou-Nguesso, Denis 103

Savimbi, Jonas 56

shebeens 54

slavery 182–4

snakes 21, 60–1, 95

SNCF 290–1

snipe: great snipe 66

South Africa 4, 17–41; Great Karoo 26; history 23–5; Kimberley 24–5, 26; Matjiesfontein 25; Natal 24; Orange Free State 24, 27; race relations 17–19, 26–7; Transvaal 24, 25; Upington 40; visas 13;
see also
Bloemfontein; Cape Town

Spain 265–87; African immigrants 272, 277–8, 279–80; Algeciras 261; Barcelona 285–6;
see also
La Linea; Madrid; Zaragoza

springboks 70

Stanley, Henry Morton 101

storks: white storks 240–1

sunbirds, double-collared 32

superstitions
see
folklore and superstitions

swallows; in Algeria 217, 220, 221–2; appearance 3, 21–2; arrival dates in Europe 281; in Britain 2–3, 305, 306, 307, 308, 312; calls 242; in Cameroon 153, 170; collective noun 50; in Congo-Brazzaville 110, 115–17, 134, 138; courtship, mating and parenting 68–70, 83–4, 312; feeding habits 34–6; flight 11–12, 30, 34, 40–1, 170–1, 201; folklore and superstitions about 7–8, 39, 275, 279, 280, 287, 302, 316–17; in France 292; greater striped swallows 29; in history 9–10; in the Koran 191; learning to fly 315; in literature 34–5, 274, 306–7; longevity and mortality rates 31, 44; migration dangers 201, 202; migration departure 315–16; migration fat reserves 201–2; migration groups 83–4; migration routes 4, 8–9, 10–11, 281–2, 298; in Morocco 229, 237, 244, 257; moulting 22, 83; names around the world 7–8, 96, 241, 279, 306, 316–17; in Namibia 50; navigation 256, 292; nests 309–10, 312; in Niger 201, 202; in Nigeria 191; pearl-breasted swallows 29; predators 67–8; sense of sight 117; in South Africa 8, 11, 21–2, 26, 29, 33–4, 40; in Spain 265, 273, 278–9, 285; tail length 170–1; tracking movements 9, 11, 30; types 10–11; in witchcraft 200; in Zambia 83, 96, 97

swifts 242–4; European swifts 240; little swifts 29, 240, 243–4; pallid swifts 240

Tate, Peter 309–10

tattoos, swallow 44

teeth-sucking 173

television: African 172–3

terns: Sandwich terns 21

thrushes 306–7;
see also
fieldfares time and time zones 280–1

Tolkien, J. R. R. 28

Touareg people 194, 203–4

Toulouse 292

trees see logging Tunisia 295

Turner, Angela 9, 16

UNITA 56

uranium 204

USA; and Africa 106–9, 205, 215; CIA 114; and slavery 183

Usk River 306

Van Riebeck, Jan 23–4

VAT washing 297

Vicwood-Thanry 156

visas 13–15, 76–7, 80–1, 147–8, 151–2, 167–8

Wahlberg, Mark 192

Wales 2, 105, 106, 222 3, 306, 311, 313, 315

water rail 29

White, Gilbert 10

White, T. H. 2

Williams, Shane 250

witch doctors 95, 103, 199–201

Yoruba people 186

Zambezi River 56, 65, 78–9

Zambia 76–97; Chinese business activity 85; Chipata 89–94, 96; flag 86; Great East Road 88–9, 96–7; lack of coins 77; Livingstone 77–81; race relations 77; unemployment and life expectancy 81–2; Victoria Falls 56, 78–9; visas 13, 76–7;
see also
Lusaka

Zanzibar 56

Zaragoza 277–9; Alfajeria 278; cathedral 278

Zeekoevlei nature reserve 20

Zeekoevlei water treatment works 20 22

Zimbabwe 77; Mana Pools 65

Zulus 8, 24, 39

All thanks to Roger, Sue and Claire Paterson, for the days in Rasiguères, where I saw those five inspirational birds. Thank you Claire, especially, for your great kindness, help and encouragement.

Thank you, Angela Turner, and thank you, Rick Nuttall, for your time, trouble and priceless expertise.

In South Africa, thanks to Neville, Muriel and Clive Rubin; to Jonty and Anne Driver; and especially to my father, John Clare, for such a happy and informative week in Cape Town.

In London, thank you Alexander Clare, dear brother, for keeping me in touch with home – and the updates on where to avoid. Thank you, dear Mum, for your excellent advice and fearless encouragement.

Thank you, Judy and Denis and Jane Rafter, for being saviours in an hour of need. God bless you – on behalf of all of us who have knocked on your door.

All thanks to my treasured friends Julian May, Merlin Hughes, Anna Rose Hughes, Elizabeth Hughes, Sally Spurring, Gerard and Margaret Morgan-Grenville, Mohit Bakaya, Rob Ketteridge, Fliss Morgan, Chris Kenyon, Toby Lynas, Suzi Fogg, Tamsin Cooper and Lawrence Pollard for your love, kindness, spare rooms and wise counsel.

Many thanks to Robin Jenkins, Bushra Sultana, Ambar Rashid, Norddine Kamay and Rosie Ryan. I hope we all meet again in Essaouira.

In Rochdale, thank you Jenny and Emma Shooter, and especially
Robin Tetlow-Shooter for taking a strange immigrant into your lives, and for being so understanding of the peculiar habits of a writer. Thank you Jodi Trick, Jazz Powers, Esther Pryce, George ‘Jud' Greenwood, Miria Griffiths and Janey Majid for your great kindess, and for making me feel so at home.

For the time to begin thinking about this book, I would like to thank the students and staff of Atlantic College, particularly Ken Corn and Dave Booker, for the residency, which was a joy.

For the assignment which turned into a path-finding mission, many thanks to Peter Browne and Sarah Spankie at
Condé Nast Traveller
. The opening lines of Patrick Kavanagh's ‘On Raglan Road' are reprinted from
Collected Poems
, edited by Antoinette Quinn (Allen Lane, 2004), by kind permission of the Trustees of the Estate of the the late Katherine B. Kavanagh, through the Jonathan Williams Literary Agency.

For work on this book all thanks to Tif Loehnis, Alison Samuel, Rachel Cugnoni, Parisa Ebrahimi, Lisa Gooding, Stephen Parker and all at Chatto & Windus. Thank you Jeff Edwards, for your beautiful maps.

Many thanks to Frances Macmillan, and all at Vintage, for this beautiful volume.

Thanks to Gill Coleridge, for your reading and suggestions, and thank you, above all, Rebecca Carter – superlative editor! Without your tremendous work and wonderful skill this book would have been a poorer thing indeed.

And to all those along the way, some of whom appear in these pages, and many of whom do not, who helped in so many ways, thank you. Thank you particularly, Mark Evans, Anna Reeve and Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien.

I would like to thank France Spackman for helping with my French, and above all I would like to thank Roger Couhig, otherwise known as ‘Welsh Rog', or ‘Roger le Gallois', as they call him in Cameroon, for his kindness, connections, quite wonderful assistance and friendship.

Finally, thank you, dearest RKS, for so much. This is for you.

Ayto, John,
Dictionary of Word Origins
(London, 1990)

Browning, Robert,
Poems
, selected by Douglas Dunn (London, 2004)

Butcher, Tim,
Blood River
(London, 2007)

Camus, Albert,
The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
(Paris, 1942) , tr. Justin O'Brien (New York, 1955)

Evans, Martin and Phillips, John,
Algeria: Anger of the Dispossessed
(Yale, 2007)