The moment I got my copy of Lannice’s new foodie book, ‘ Tortoises & Tumbleweeds – A Journey Through an African Kitchen’ I flicked through it for ideas of what to cook that night.
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Tortoises & Tumbleweeds cookbook by Lannice Synman
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Safari Tart’s books
It’s not easy to become a safari tart. It takes a lot of dedication to the pleasure principle. In my case, I have spent considerable time and energy in taking as much pleasure as possible out of visiting about 180 safari lodges.
I believe that anything is possible. You just have to be open to allowing the seemingly impossible to enter your life. Who’d have thought that I, a nobody in particular from the suburbs of London, would meet Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu?
Who’d have thought that I, an untrained journalist, would write six books.
Who’d have thought that I would have an international best selling novel? OK, so I haven’t written that one yet, but see what I have written…..
Safari Clothes are in fashion
Luckily for me, it seems my clothes are in fashion for a change, and if the style gurus say safari outfits are in, then I’m not about to disagree?
That long leggy thing in the photo is not me, it’s a pic from the UK Financial Times - known to be the forecaster of all fashion, not! - nor is it the Yves St Laurent that we know today, unless we are in a time warp. It’s a 60’s original, showing that what comes around goes around, and if you were wise enough to keep your clothes for the past 40 years, you’d be back in fashion now.
Less lengthy in the inner thigh measurement, but coming close in the large sunglasses department, this is the ‘me’ safari look. I call it my ‘coy’ look. I tend to rely on my hat to place me firmly in safari style and I challenge you to find a picture of me on this blog without my hat - go on , see if you can (except those where I meet the two great men of Africa and the World; Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu (see http://www.safaritart.com/?p=503). There is just one! Tell me where it is and you will get a special mention here.
The reason I mention safari fashion garb is because my coffee table book of last year, ‘Exclusive Safari Lodges of South Africa’, has been chosen to appear in the shop windows of no less than two great London fashion stores; Paul Smith and who was it now…the name esacpes me for the moment (just shows how I have fallen from fashion since my London days).
The book is photographed and published by Gerald Hoberman, and since he was the boss and I the mere writer, his name appears on the cover and mine does not. It is a stunning book full of wildlife pics and a short description of 73 different safari lodges.
This was no easy task as most safari lodges have thatched roofs, wooden decks, plunge pools and African decor. How then was I to distinguish between each one and make it sound different? It was a challenge, but I did it by finding something unique about each place. This might have been their position, their decor, their ethos on the environment, the local community or how they look after their staff.
And if you are wondering if I actually visited them all, the answer is almost. All but the CC Africa lodges, of which six are featured in this book, because they declined to host me. Their reasoning being that they had already hosted the photographer, Gerald Hoberman, and one of us was enough. This is unfortunatly typical of CC Africa’s attitude to freelance journalists in South Africa and since there are so many safari lodges who are generous enough to welcome me and other freelancers, I say “bah humbug” to CCA.
Take a look at this fabulous 365 page coffee table book ‘Exculsive Safari Lodges of South Africa’ by yours truely and Gerald Hoberman on the Hoberman website: http://www.hobermancollection.com/Books/1477/ExclusiveSafariLodgesofSouthAfrica.aspx
