Told by Laurens van der Post
For several days and nights writer Laurens van der Post and his granddaughter Emma walked through the bush and slept under the stars in the midst of an African wilderness. Accompany them were Ian Player, an almost legendary ranger, and a guide and keeper of Zulu history, Magqubu Ntombela. At night around their fire they heard the haunting cry of baboons bunted by lions and leopards. By day they were able to approach, as only a small party can to within 30 yards of a rhino family and a herd of dangerous African buffalo.
What is the impact of Africa on someone seeing and experiencing it for the first time? What is it like to be on watch alone beside a fire in a true wilderness? Above all, does this kind of simple king point the way to a closer and deeper understanding of why we need wild animals even more than they need us for their survival?
BBC Bristol