I‘ve always wondered whether I would have let my daughters so close to those huge “babies”. Jill with Samson, the (baby) elephant and pickle, the mongoose.
Little sister (never too keen on elephants), my mother and yours truly. Not only was there no barrier between the book and Life, we lived inside the book:Ĭonakry, West Africa, c.1960-61. When I closed “The jungle book”, I could be chased by a monkey in the garden, or sidestep to avoid a snake, or go swim in the sea with dolphins at a distance. There was no barrier between fiction and reality. (Sheldrick’s daughter)Īs I looked over the photos in that old book to compose this post, I realized once more how “peculiar” the life of Wazungu watoto (white kids) in Africa was.
#Mama tembo sea point full#
Soon the Sheldrick’s house in Tsavo was full of animals inside and out.īaby Rufus climbing the stairs of the verandah. Think Gerald Durrell (My family and other animals) or Gavin Maxwell and otters in Ring of bright waters. The English, as a people, have a unique relationship with animals. Not only did the Sheldricks save elephants, they also kept rhinos, mongoose, birds, warthogs. Cow milk doesn’t quite cut it.ĭaphne Sheldrick at the watering point in Tsavo. Just as Joy Adamson (Born free) invented the right formula for lion cubs. While David fought the poachers with his armed to the teeth park wardens, Daphne “collected” the orphans, baby elephants, baby rhinos, what have you.ĭaphne Sheldrick is credited with inventing the correct milk formula to effectively feed baby elephants and rhinos. I find it fair to say that the Shedricks – along with a handful of others – invented wildlife preservation. David Sheldrick, born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1919 (Servants of the Empire, old chap) was Chief warden of Tsavo national park, one of the largest parks in Kenya. She married David Sheldrick in the mid fifties. One of many “wazungu” (white people) born and bred in Kenya. Samson drinking from the tap he had openedĭaphne Sheldrick was born in Kenya in 1934. “Nos amis dans la brousse” (Our friends in the bush) was translated from Daphne Sheldrick’s “The orphans of Tsavo”. In the summer before we moved I bought the book above to learn about our future new home. A relief, weather-wise and in many other aspects. Don’t remind me!) we were transferred from Holland back to Africa, more precisely Kenya. In 1967, (I know, fifty years ago and change. She founded the “Orphanage” near Nairobi where orphaned elephants (due to poaching) are raised, cared for and many later returned to the bush. She was the “mother of elephants” (Tembo mama in Swahili). Daphne Sheldrick, DBE, just left us at the age of 83.
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