Macondo, the town in A Hundred Years of Solitude, existed for quite some years before it was ‘discovered’ by ghosts. It simply didn’t figure on the spectral map, because no one had died yet. In Marquez’s magical realist universe ghosts are not necessarily a bad thing: when Macondo finally ‘received’ its first ghosts it was the final step on the way to taking its place as a fully fledged town- a coming of age and maturity- the entry into a more comprehensive reality.
Djenne Djenno has not yet had any birds- the trees have been too small. But suddenly yesterday towards dusk I became aware of birdsong, and closer inspection revealed a whole gang of little birds in my flamboyant tree. I am not sure they are building nests quite yet, they may just be hanging out doing choral practice. But soon, soon there will be birds nests too, and then I think Hotel Djenne Djenno will have finally grown up and taken its fully fledged place in Reality.