The Africa Diaries: An Illustrated Memoir of Life in the Bush
Famed cinematographers Dereck and Beverly Joubert have spent more than 20 years in Botswana studying wildlife and making award-winning films(Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas). In this new memoir, Dereck gives the reader an intimate look at what it takes to spend months in the field. After managing game lodges in South Africa for a few years, in 1981 the couple was given a chance to join a study of lions in Botswana, and they have never looked back. The text is interspersed with excerpts from their field journals, lending an air of immediacy to the remembrances, such as this observation about what to do when an overly heavy research vehicle keeps bogging down: "Today I cut the doors and roof off this truck with a cutting torch." The text is filled with the hardships and beauty of living in the bush; with the wonder of witnessing the birth of a baby elephant and the horror of the poaching of black rhinos; and with the insights into animal behavior that come from years of observation. This beautifully illustrated book is as close as most of us will ever get to living in the African wilds.Nancy BentCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved