THE DERELICT HOUSE

Elephants in my Garden

by Lesley Cripps Thomson

Told in the style of a diary, this tells of the daily difficulties and frustrations of running a lodge with only the barest essentials as nature, in the form of the Luangwa River in Zambia, was claiming back the land on which this old lodge had been built.

The Derelict House also tells of developing a relationship with the staff who, in true African fashion, do not like to be told what to do by a woman. It tells of their lives, of friendships, neighbours and eccentric guests. An unsophisticated tale, told with humour and compassion, it is in her descriptions of the bush and the wild animals that frequent the lodge and its surrounds that evoke a longing to be there, on the banks of a mighty river in one of Africa’s richest wilderness area

Published by Just Done Productions-Publishing ISBN 9781920169909

Letters

Dear Africa Talks,
Thank you for noticing that a cosy read of something printed is more pleasant. Please advise how to go about receiving a copy of Africa Talks in future.

Thank you and best regards,
Brigitte Cross
Cross Country Air Safaris

Hello Lesley,

Disturbed to hear that you are resorting to the printed matter. This does appear on the surface to be a strange move by a conservation focused entity? With all that is known to effect the environment (use of natural trees, heavy reliance on natural water, printing ink poison, cost of delivery – carbon footprint – wastage etc) I would have thought that the email application would be the right way to go.

You will have a good reason to publish this newspaper Lesley, I would love to hear of it.
Colin, Centre Stage Travel

Dear Colin,
Thanks for your letter – we are printing as well as being on the Internet so to reach the many thousands of readers who do not have access to computers and do not want to read lengthy matter on a screen. AFRICA TALKS is a free distribution publication as we feel very strongly that conservation and environmental matters are not just for those who can afford it.

Have you considered the environmental degradation caused by mining coal, road and rail transport of the coal, massive power stations, damming of rivers etc., all to produce electricity for those who can afford computers?
Editor.