First impressions: Love, Life, and Elephants by Dame Daphne Sheldrick
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
Recently, I started to dig into Love, Life, and Elephants by Dame Daphne Sheldrick and so far, I have really enjoyed reading it. The book is an autobiography of Daphne's life which is great because if you've been a follower of this blog for a long time, you will already know that I love true stories. I haven't got as far into the book yet because it is quite long, but of what I've already read so far, it sounds super interesting.
If you don't know who Dame Daphne Sheldrick is, she is a wildlife conservationist, who founded the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. She had a dear love for animals and had helped rehabilitate orphaned baby elephants for over thirty years. Although she sadly died at the age of 83, Daphne had left an incredible legacy behind which she so diligently writes about in her book. Of what I've read so far, Daphne has just explained her family heritage and what it was like growing up in Kenya. I found it interesting that Daphne was in fact British and was born in Kenya. The journey that her parents had to make from Britain to Africa, I could see was certainly treacherous but what a great place it was for Daphne and her siblings to grow up in. I'm kind of jealous that Daphne was able to interact with such diverse animals and make friends with a kind baby bushbuck, who she named Bushy! (I wish I could have made friends with a baby bushbuck 😂😂). I also found it fascinating that Daphne ate fried locusts during the dry season! She describes how although the swarms of locusts were a true pest to the farmers, the locusts were also considered somewhat of a delicacy to the people.
Right now I'm in the process of reading the part where the Second World War is commencing and Daphne is forced to grow up a bit more. I can tell from the way she is writing, that her parents and her grandparents are all a bit on edge, uncertain what the future may bring. I'm also shocked to hear about the way students were treated in schools at the time and I think that's where Daphne loses some of her child-like innocence. Nevertheless, I aim to continue reading this book because I think I'm just getting into the crux of Daphne's story. Clearly there's a lot more for me to read and I'm looking forward to continuing her book.
Have you read Dame Daphne Sheldrick's story? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
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See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
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