The Wilderness Family: At Home With Africa's Wildlife

Everyone warned Kobie Kruger that being the wife of a game warden at a remote ranger station in South Africa's largest national park would be difficult. The heat would be challenging, malaria would be a constant danger, her husband, Kobus, would have to be away for long stretches of time, there were no schools or nearby doctors for their three daughters, and of course, the place teemed with wild animals. Yet for Kobie and her family, the 17 years in South Africa's Kruger National Park were the most magical --and occasionally most hair-raising --of their lives. When the Kruger family first arrived at the ranger station, Kobie felt she had found heaven on earth. Sunshine glowed in the lush garden where fruitbats hung in the sausage trees; hippos basked in the glittering waters of the Letaba River; storks and herons perched along the shore. That same night, she awoke to find a python slithering silently across her bedroom floor. It was the perfect introduction to the wonders and terrors that awaited her. As the Krugers settled in, they became accustomed to living in the midst of ravishing splendour and daily surprises. A honey badger they nursed back to health rampaged playfully through the house. Sneaky hyenas stole blankets and cookware. Ordinarily placid elephants grew foul-tempered and violent in the summer heat. And one terrible day, the shadow of tragedy fell across the family when a lion attacked Kobus in the bush and nearly killed him. But nothing prepared the Krugers for the adventure of raising an orphaned prince. The lion cub was only a few days old and on the verge of death when they found him alone in the wilds. But Leo, as the girls promptly named the cub, survived on loads of love and bottles of fat-enriched milk, and was soon a rambunctious member of the family. Writing with deep affection and luminous prose, Kobie Kruger captures the mystery of untamed Africa -- its fathomless skies, soulful landscapes, and most of all, its astonishing array of animals. By turns funny and heartbreaking, engaging and alarming, "The Wilderness Family" is an unforgettable memoir of a woman, her family, and the amazing game park they called home for 17 incredible years.