What is it really like working in a safari lodge in a truly remote area in Africa?

No, it is not all gin and tonics in the shade watching elephants drinking in the waterhole in front of you, nor is it guaranteed sightings of leopards, watching lion kills and fine candle-lit dining.

Going back to the early days of establishing safari camps in Botswana’s vast and incredibly beautiful Okavango Delta, Ben Forbes, in this book Shambolic tells it as it really was. Hard work, often dangerous, having to be a builder, carpenter, plumber, electrician, caterer and medic and still remain a charming storytelling soul of the party around the camp fire at night.

Of course fishing for the elusive tiger fish did compensate, but snakes under the bed?

Laugh at the local guide who took the bolts off that were holding the engine onto his boat so he could use them to fix his sister’s door, but lost the engine in the croc infested muddy water.

Jackson the ‘Airport Manager’ whose job it was to make sure there were no animals nor children on the sandy runway, when you could wake him from his sleep in the wheelbarrow; the tourist who wore layers of leopard print causing Ben to hope poachers would not mistake her for a target; and then being made captain of the fragile Kubu Queen houseboat – all just small parts of Ben’s life over a period of time.

The deep love of Africa Ben has, his empathy for colleagues, his sense of adventure, patience with bureaucracy and how to drive a really unhinged Land Rover, bring the reader into his world as it was – we loved it!