Country Living in Southern Africa

This is one of my favourite books. I am in love with hyenas and have always been obsessed with living in the African bush. This largely shapes my opinion of this book.

The synopsis:

Gus and Margie Mills did 12 years of research on the hyenas of the Kalahari. They moved there after university and conducted their studies, and life, from a small caravan. Gus unravels the beautiful mysterious brown hyenas and spotted hyenas with a captivating look into the behind-the-scenes of their research. Just as you start imagining yourself in a previous era as a researcher, Margie brings you back to earth. She gives us a look into the challenges of life in the Kalahari in the early 1970’s. With little access to communication with the outside world and limited supplies, the Mills family spent their young lives and started a family in the distant Kalahari.
Published in 2010.

The Authors:

Gus and Margie Mills have spent over 40 years researching the large carnivores of Africa. Gus also studied lion and cheetah, feeding ecology, and the relationships between larger carnivores and wild dog population ecology in Kruger National Park. After retiring in 2006, Gus and Margie Mills returned to the Kalahari once again, but this time to study Cheetahs.

Why I enjoyed this book:

I love the amount of scientific information that is shared in an easily readable and understandable manner. Even though you learn a lot in this book, it is personal too. You get to know the Mills and experience their life in the Kalahari with them. You learn about their feelings, emotions and plans they made to survive. You read what some of their challenges were and how they overcame them. You get invested in the hyena characters’ lives, and you can’t wait to hear what’s next and unravel their mysterious lives with the Mills.
You will enjoy this book if you love African wildlife and carnivores.
Be prepared, this book will make you fall in love, even if just slightly, with hyenas.

Who will not love this book:

When picking the books I love, I sometimes find it hard to imagine who won’t love this book. You won’t enjoy this if research and real-life accounts are not your reading material. If you have no interest in Hyenas, the Kalahari or people living in the bush, you will not enjoy this book.

This book was published by Jacana Media and is readily available online and offline. https://jacana.co.za/product/hyena-nights-kalahari-days/

If you and your family love reading and the South African bush, you will love the books I have published. Click on the link for all the titles available. Books/Boeke