Love, Life, and Elephants, An African Love Story

 Now, I’ve really gone off our usual path of thrillers and murder mysteries. Although there are lots of deaths in this story, that is hardly the main theme of the book, but I’ll briefly mention some of those untimely deaths in this review. Over the course of my life, I’ve really read few love stories, but this is one of those, a love story about East Africa, especially Kenya. The book is also the man that the author loved, David Seldrick, and the wild animals, she and David loved. Love, Life, and Elephants, An African Love Story by Dame Daphne Seldrick is also her autobiography. She migrated from South Africa to Kenya, particularly the spectacular Tsavo National Park which she and David Seldrick established. Her husband essentially worked as a game warden who also worked to control the poachers who were decimating the African animals, mostly the elephants and rhinos. 

She raised two children in the game park and David was beloved by many including the Masai and Kikuyu, as well as the many dignitaries and travelers who learned of the Seldrick’s conservation efforts. The book is also a story of the history of Kenya from the development of the railroad to Uganda at the turn of the 20^th century. It was the process of building the railroad that hundreds of works were caught and eaten by lions. When one unusually successful maneater were finally hunted and killed, it measured 9 ½ feet in length. As the park was developed for tourism, it was also being raided for the rhino horns and elephant tusks. The slaughter of those animals severely impacted the size of the herds of the animals, and the Seldricks worked to create an orphanage to help save those babies that were left behind. They created an orphanage in Nairobi which is now a thriving operation, and I plan to visit it in the very near future.

 

I must confess that since my first visit to Africa at the age of 21, I too have had a love for East Africa. My visit to Tanzania and the Ngorongoro Crater coincided with the moment that I declared my intention to go to medical school. The travel and that decision were linked, and now I get to go back again. Although an unusual book by the standard of this book blog, I am pretty sure you’ll love this story.