I grew up in the high plains mining towns of Montana and Wyoming but I couldn’t wait to get out and see the world. Peace Corps was my ticket. A teaching post in Chad, Africa, was open, but civil war and famine loomed, so I chose Afghanistan. After my two-year contract in Kabul, I continued traveling but my fascination with Africa never waned. A job teaching college English allowed me summers to continue traveling. However, I never did get to Africa, so when Carolyn suggested we write about Namibia, I agreed. Someday, I hope to visit before the magnificent black rhino has been wiped off the face of the planet.
I wrote...
Rhino Dreams
By
Carolyn Waggoner,
Kathryn Williams
What is my book about?
Clare Rainbow-Dashell has taken a hiatus from her career as an acclaimed wildlife photographer and returned to pursue her academic dreams when a disastrous affair with a professor catapults her to another continent: Africa.
Set against the formidable backdrop of the Namib Desert, Rhino Dreams dramatizes the crisis of endangered species preservation and the horrors of poaching, interweaving this very real ecological darkness with the internal and external battles of three characters driven by fierce passions and divided notions of duty and desire. It is a sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant ride—and, in the end, a testimony to how tenuous and precious both life and love can be.
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The Books I Picked & Why
Out of Africa
By
Isak Dinesen
Why this book?
Karen Blixen was Danish aristocracy, rich and comfortable. But she sought the adventure only Africa could offer. Like our heroine, Blixen finds Africa and love much more complicated and much harsher than she expected. And like our heroine, she perseveres and overcomes daunting obstacles, both geographic and romantic. I love Dinesen’s description of Africa, its inhabitants, its climate, and especially its animals. Her will to make a life without much help from anyone is a testimony to the kind of woman who can survive.
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Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
By
Alexandra Fuller
Why this book?
In this wonderful memoir, it’s Fuller’s crazy mother who dominates the story. With her husband and two daughters, Fuller’s often maniacal mother forges a life farming in Rhodesia, beating the bush for stray cattle, fighting the brutal climate, cobbling together enough food, money, and beer to survive. Through Fuller’s child-eyes, we look at her white, colonist family, at the Rhodesians who don’t welcome them, and at the struggle to endure and overcome. It’s a story that finds humor and humanity in spite of the family being forced from their farm to end up tenant farmers.
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West with the Night: A Memoir
By
Beryl Markham
Why this book?
Beryl Markham wrote this memoir in 1942. National Geographic listed it in “The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time.” Markham was a remarkable woman—not just for her time, but for any time. Growing up in Kenya on her father’s horse racing farm, she did not have to struggle as did Fuller’s family. She rejected the traditional role of women and became a horse trainer, then an aviator, eventually becoming the first person—not just the first woman—to fly from Europe to New York. This east-to-west flight was a feat no pilot had yet achieved. What I appreciated about this story, as with the rest, was the grit and determination Markham displayed. Refusing to settle for the easy life, she flung herself at every challenge. An interesting side note is that Blixen and Markham were friends. When Blixen left Africa, Markham befriended Denys (played by Robert Redford in the film) and he died flying over her farm.
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The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood
By
Elspeth Huxley
Why this book?
Huxley’s parents go to Kenya to start a coffee plantation. And like Blixen and her husband, they know nothing about Africa or growing coffee and must depend on Africans to teach them. Huxley writes a delightful account of her life and the struggles they endure. Her portrayal of the people who work on the family’s plantation is brilliant as is the description of the environment and animals. Huxley also writes from the unsentimental eyes of a child.
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I Dreamed of Africa
By
Kuki Gallmann
Why this book?
Kuki Gallman, an Italian socialite, is another wealthy woman who sought adventure in Kenya. And another woman, with her husband, who set out to start a ranch in an inhospitable land. When her husband and son are killed in separate accidents, Gallman turns the ranch into a conservation park, using her money to bring attention to the plight of the local wildlife. And, as is true in Namibia, she enlisted the help of local tribal leaders to save both the endangered wildlife and native culture. In 2010, she founded Prayers for the Earth and in 2011, she and her daughter donated 300 acres for a project called “Land of Hope.” Gallman could so easily have returned to an easy life in Italy but instead challenged herself and those around her.
