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How I discovered this book: got to know the author via Twitter, so took a look at her books, and chose this one.
Genre: Travel memoir, Kenya
A lovely book about the author's two week safari in Kenya. There is so much fascinating and beautifully written detail about the wildlife and the people she met, but it's more than that; Susie Kelly's love for the country, where she lived when she was a child, shines through. I felt it was her spiritual home.
She highlights the problems of the area, with particular mention of the Samburu tribe and their desperation to gain financial help from 'rich' Western tourists; this is quite heartrending, though in other ways not so, because she notes how many of the people seem content, and smile a lot, despite having what we would perceive as so little. She also talks about the injustices towards the people to whom the land belonged, during Colonial days - as a child, of course, she did not see all this.
The book was delightfully 'real', too - Ms Kelly bemoans, for instance, the fact that she forgot to pack a bra, which causes her some discomfort and potential embarrassment throughout the trip. Other aspects I liked: each chapter is headed by an example of the Swahili language. There are beautiful sepia tinted photos of her guides throughout, and at the end you can look at a slideshow of all the pictures she took while she was there - this is really worth looking at. At the end, too, she gives links to some of the places she visited that exist only because of donations.
It's a lovely book - I definitely recommend.
If I could such soak up the 'age' of the African continent and the knowledge of the land, I think I'd go straight away.
ReplyDeleteOh, me too, Rosie. It's a part of the world I'd love to spend time in. We need at least two lives!
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