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Cleopatra's Journey

by Iain Macdonald

259 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-0850; ISBN 1-4251-2566-2; US$21.50, C$24.72, EUR16.76, £11.11

Amanda Stockdale is an ecologist studying elephants in a remote part of Africa. Cleopatra is her favourite and the matriarch of her study group whose life she holds in her hand.

About the Book

Cleopatra is an elephant and matriarch. The journey is her endeavour to keep her precious family alive against enormous odds.

All the events contained in this book take place between 1966 and 1994, a tumultuous period for the region. The most tragic event was the demise of the rhino due to commercial poaching. The same people who killed the rhino went on to decimate the elephant.

Cleopatra's story of survival weaves in and out of these events. The main characters are based on real people. Amanda Stockdale is an ecologist collecting data for a report which will decide the fate of thousands of elephant, in particular Cleopatra her favourite. Mwenda Mbao is a traditional hunter turned poacher who cannot reconcile his strong traditional beliefs with the demands of commercial poaching. Ben Phiri is his stepson who has no such qualms. Johnnie Pascoe is Amanda's friend and protector. He is a professional hunter who dislikes hunting.

When Amanda presents her report detailing the damage the elephant are causing to the riverine vegetation she never believes she will see ever Cleopatra alive again. The cull that follows her report will destroy her study group and thousands of other elephant. She is faced with a terrible dilemma. How does Cleopatra anticipate the crisis and lead her family to safety? How does Amanda make it back to her camp one night when her attempt to reach the culling camp fails? Much later when Amanda is living in another country Cleopatra arrives unexpectedly. What is it that brings these two old friends together?

Cleopatra's nine hundred mile journey leads her from Zambia to Malawi, then to Zimbabwe, and finally to the Chobe National Park, Botswana.

For more information about safaris in this area check out these websites:
www.JohnStevensSafaris.com and www.robinpopesafaris.net

Reviews

"It has been a long time since I was able to plunge into a book and immerse myself in it so completely, but I truly could not put Cleopatra's Journey down. For me, the elephant has always embodied the age-old wisdom of Africa and Iain brings this vividly to life in a way no other book has yet done. It made me smile, it made me weep, it made me want to stand up and cheer, it made me mourn for what man has lost in Africa, and it gave me hope that the noble African elephant will always have a place in this world and in our lives. Read and enjoy it as much as I did, then make sure that every one of your friends and family reads it too. It is a book no-one will forget."

Margie Gibson
Harare, Zimbabwe

"Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Iain McDonald can read an elephant's mind exactly the way I have always wished I could."

Pauline Ward
Harare, Zimbabwe

About the Author

Iain Macdonald was born in Zambia. His father, a keen hunter, was a surgeon in the country from 1930 to 1960. Iain's first safari with his parents at the age of four was to Barotseland on the Zambezi River. It took three days to reach the camp.

He completed his schooling in what was then Southern Rhodesia and qualified as a teacher at Natal University. He trained as a safari guide under Norman Carr at Chibembe Lodge during brief visits during the school holidays when he was teaching at St Andrew's Secondary School in Malawi. Later he worked as Safari Manager for Chibembe where he recruited and trained safari guides for walking and driving safaris. These walking safaris in the South Luangwa National Park were unique and very popular. They involved walking from one grass-hutted camp to another spending a night in each.

He set up his own walking safari operation in the remote and un-tested North Laungwa National Park which was then under the supervision of Mark and Delia Owens and funded by the Frankfurt Zoological Society. His camp was on an island in the Luangwa River and his portered walking safaris went up onto the Mwaleshi River. It was during this period that he employed an ex-poacher and learned something of their beliefs and their methods.

In Tanzania he has worked as Safari Manager in the Selous Game Park, and Camp Manager for a small mobile camp bordering the Serengeti National Park.

He started writing Cleopatra's Journey in 1999. His aim at first was to write a story that revealed the ancient elephant trails which criss-cross much of Africa. With his experiences in both the North and South Luangwa National Parks he incorporated the original idea into a novel based on prominent characters that he worked with or had heard about while working in the safari business.

He now divides his time between painting and writing.

Visit the authors website: www.iainmacdonald-art.com.