Cry of the Kalahari

I was 30 years old - more than 30 years ago - with a high-flying career in the Information Technology industry when I first read this memorable non-fiction book about two young university students who went to study lions in the most remote parts of Botswana, Africa, with nothing much more than a backpack.

I remember chills running down my spine as I read of them sleeping under the stars just metres from wild lions, who had probably never seen a human being before. It was far from an easy life, but more than anything I wanted to know first-hand… show more.

If you are longing for an African safari, this book is for you. The Owens’ are a young couple conducting their graduate research in the deserts of Botswana. In reading, you are in the field with them, waking to the roars of lions, drifting to sleep as hyenas yowl, and experiencing the daily grind, danger, and thrill of field research. I love this book because it is so real. It allows me to see the animals the Owens study—mostly lions and hyenas—through their eyes and in so doing not only appreciate their wonderful biology but also learn what… show more.

This warm and gentle memoir takes us back to a time before tourists discovered Africa’s wild spaces, and the Owens’ evocation of the Kalahari’s wildlife and golden grasslands remains a classic. So much happened to the Owens after they were here – Delia Owens has, for example, found fame and fortune with her novel When the Crawdads Sing – but this love letter to one of my favourite African landscapes is a beautiful thing in its own right.