3.09.2015

Bwana Afya

Bwana Afya (BWAH-nah AH-fyah), aka Marabou Stork, is a very large and rather ugly bird that we have here in East Africa.



They have received the local nickname "Bwana Afya" because they are generally found on trash piles. Bwana Afya means "Mr. Health". This probably sounds like an odd name for a bird known for living with the trash, but the idea is that it eats all the trash and therefore is cleaning up the area and reducing disease for the people.


Beware though, it may happen that you are walking along and get hit from above by a projectile that goes "splat" on your head/shoulder/bag/arm.* Upon looking up you may see that there are several marabou storks flying high above. I guess it is to be expected that that "splat" would be proportional to their body size.

*not a hypothetical situation in my case.


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