Thabai

Thabai is the Kenyan village that is the central setting of the novel.

Kihika's Bible

Kihika is a religious man who carries a Bible at all times , although he leaves it behind on the day he is captured. In his Bible, Kihika has underlined many passages in red and black.

Githima

Githima is an area where a British forestry research station has been set up in the Kenyan forest. A train runs through Githima, and each year, someone is killed by the train.

Rira

Rira is the concentration camp where Mugo starts a hunger strike, when he refuses to confess to taking an oath that he never took. The hunger strike spells the end of John Thompson's career.

Prospero in Africa

Prospero in Africa is the title of Thompson's planned treatise about the good that the British Empire can do by spreading British culture to Africa.

The Iron Snake