I would imagine that anyone who has any leanings at all towards nature conservation in southern Africa would know the name of Clive Walker, the archetypal, quintessential conservationist and game ranger. But maybe not all have heard of his lifelong right-hand person, his wife, Conita.
This book is by Conita and specifically her extraordinary experiences saving and raising a black rhino calf called Bwana and other wildlife orphans. It is the story of a determined woman and a demanding rhino, the rhino in her garden – that’s the title – A Rhino in my Garden.
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It is more than just Conita’s story, however, and that of Bwana and the Lapalala Wilderness Reserve up in the Waterberg mountains in Limpopo province. It is almost a record of the conservation movement in South Africa over the past 45 years or so, featuring many of the individuals and groups that have played a part in that movement.
She uses flashbacks to put things in a particular context, for example, to bomb shelters deep under wartime Berlin (elsewhere, I was born during the blitz, when London and other English cities were being pulverized by the Luftwaffe) and her escape as a very young refugee before the advancing Russian army.
But apart from all that, the book is almost a manual on the successful rearing of wildlife orphans and in Conita’s case, not just rhino. It is unlikely that most people who read this book are ever going to have to hand-rear a black rhino or something of that sort, but it is still fascinating to know just how it is done and Conita’s experience in this field is pretty much ground-breaking work.
She also touches on many of the issues facing environmental and wildlife conservation, including war and its devastating impacts, climate change and natural disasters, land claims and quite naturally, poaching – particularly of rhinos.
In many ways, this book is a personal journey for me. I first met and interviewed Clive some 30 years ago and since then I, and very often my wife, have shared with the Walkers many of the anecdotes and chapters, not to mention the human characters and the animal ones, in this book. Again, may I remind you that Christmas is just around the corner and that here is an ideal gift (and be sure to read it yourself before you pass it on).
And finally, if you’ve ever wondered about the glorious tan that President Donald Trump sports at times, I think I’ve found the answer. It’s a British product called Fudge Salt Spray which, when applied, makes you look as though you have spent the day on the beach. It costs £10 (about R180), but that must mean several instant tans (I don’t know where the fudge comes in).* PS: with the sort of weather we’ve been having just lately this might be the only tan you’re likely to get.
And now that book: A Rhino in my Garden: Love, Life and the African Bush, Conita Walker with Sally Smith, Jacana, Johannesburg, 2017.
* The British magazine Hello!
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