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Don't Shake the Mango Tree: Tales of a Scottish Maasai

door Graeme Forbes-Smith

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542,952,726 (4.38)1
At age fifty, Graeme and Candy have a mid-life crisis! Abandon their comfortable Edinburgh life and move to Tanzania where they rent a cottage on a deserted beach near an old friend who tragically dies and they have to bury. Out of the blue they accept a job to manage a luxury safari lodge in the middle of the wild African bush. Surrounded by witch doctors and an array of eccentric and exotic friends they set out on a new career while surviving bouts of malaria, scorpion stings and encounters with lions. As the years pass, their life becomes an exciting rollercoaster of emotions and madcap adventures as they are submerged into the local culture and gradually become respected members of the Maasai community. Floating on the surface like swans, they paddle furiously below water as they cater to their international guests' every whim. Life is not dull. Each tale is told with a touching blend of humour, tragedy, gratitude and joy. Graeme and Candy fell in love with Africa. Reading this book, it is impossible not to do the same.… (meer)
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Toon 4 van 4
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
A humorous account of a Scottish couple who decide to leave Scotland and take up residence in South Africa managing a Safari Lodge. The joys and sorrows they encounter in the day to day living make for extremely fine reading and their efforts to ‘better’ the lives of the native population reflect on the trait around the world that native inhabitants have a need to be ‘educated’ whether they want it or not.
Overall, an enjoyable read for all ages. ( )
  Dadonator1 | Jan 17, 2023 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
I've been to Africa only twice, many years ago, for rather short periods of work: a month in Somalia, near Mogadishu, and just over a month in Ethiopia, near the border with Sudan.

The experiences closest to those described in Graeme Forbes-Smith's book were lived in Somalia: the relationship with the people (we had a group of workers with whom they interacted every day), the villages (every day we went to Afgoj where we bought some food at the market; in any case, even Mogadishu is after all a village, only very large), the territory (occasionally we explored nearby places: the white beaches of the Indian Ocean, the red coastal dunes, the strips of savannah close to the where we worked where warthogs ran and camels grazed).

In those short stays I obviously had no perception of the trafficking and speculation in which those territories were involved, trafficking that led to the death of people - such as Ilaria Alpi - who tried to bring out the truth.

Graeme Forbes-Smith's book does not have this goal, it is not a book of inquiry. It tells, in a style reminiscent of Hemingway (it is no coincidence that it is mentioned a few times), the story of a Scottish couple who leave Europe behind and try a new life in East Africa.

The two protagonists manage a lodge owned by a financial company in the Tanzanian savannah: a river populated by hippos flows in front of the houses; in the nearby savannah it is easy to meet lions, gazelles, giraffes, hyenas, elephants; the Indian Ocean is not far away; on the horizon the silhouette of Kilimanjaro stands out. Most of the episodes narrated in the book take place around the lodge or in nearby villages and present an Africa very distant from our western world: other rhythms, other habits, another way of considering life and the territory.

Everything seems to be in balance but the story takes a turn when the lodge is about to be closed following the spread of the corona-virus and the resulting restrictions. The author, evidently referring to the shareholders, writes: "No one gets rich by being nice". This sentence comes suddenly, like an unexpected low blow, and apparently denies the profound value of the story told in the various previous episodes and takes us back to the Western way of relating to the world, a way that transforms everything into money.

But this sentence has exactly the opposite effect: it highlights the richness represented by the multiplicity of relationships that are established between people who are part of a community, who live in a place they consider their home and who decide together how to manage their future.

The book ends shortly after as if to show us that from now on we must be the ones to build a credible story, a story that involves us, involves our community and our common home, a story that does not penalize anyone but enriches everyone. a story that is our future. ( )
  claudio.marchisio | Dec 15, 2022 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this work as an Early Reviewer. No compensation was received other than the chance to read this book.

This is a memoir about a Scotsman who takes over the management of a safari lodge in Tanzania with his wife. I... really wanted to like this book more than I did. I really did. The only chapter I enjoyed wholeheartedly was the one written from Candy's perspective. The tales, while amusing enough, tended to be tinged with a feeling that while he appreciated the locals that he lives among, Graeme still sees himself as some benevolent force, saving people through fortuitous circumstances. I have read too many travel memoirs that handle this point of view in a better manner than this work did. The book itself is fairly well-written, and I can see it appealing to readers. It just didn't appeal to me.

Recommended for: Those who enjoy travel memoirs and those who enjoy reading about activities on the African continent. ( )
  TooLittleReading | Nov 6, 2022 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
This was a delightful, well-written book by a middle-aged Scotsman about his experience running a safari lodge in Tanzania. His adventure involves a cast of zany characters and some close encounters with wildlife, as he learns to adapt to the local culture. Despite the corruption and poor infrastructure that he describes, his contagious affection for Africa and its people shines through. Besides being funny, the book was also touching, covering both the highs and lows of life, and I enjoyed it immensely. I won a free copy of this book (thanks to the author & publisher!) and am voluntarily providing an honest review. ( )
  AnnieKMD | Nov 6, 2022 |
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At age fifty, Graeme and Candy have a mid-life crisis! Abandon their comfortable Edinburgh life and move to Tanzania where they rent a cottage on a deserted beach near an old friend who tragically dies and they have to bury. Out of the blue they accept a job to manage a luxury safari lodge in the middle of the wild African bush. Surrounded by witch doctors and an array of eccentric and exotic friends they set out on a new career while surviving bouts of malaria, scorpion stings and encounters with lions. As the years pass, their life becomes an exciting rollercoaster of emotions and madcap adventures as they are submerged into the local culture and gradually become respected members of the Maasai community. Floating on the surface like swans, they paddle furiously below water as they cater to their international guests' every whim. Life is not dull. Each tale is told with a touching blend of humour, tragedy, gratitude and joy. Graeme and Candy fell in love with Africa. Reading this book, it is impossible not to do the same.

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Graeme Forbes-Smith's boek Don't Shake the Mango Tree: Tales of a Scottish Maasai was beschikbaar via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

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