When I left Letaba Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park in 1995 on my first ever night drive, I was expecting a drive on bush tracks normally inaccessible to tourists. I was quite surprised, shocked actually, when a petite lone woman climbed into the cabin of the truck. She was to be our driver and our guide. Nor did we deviate from the main tracks. But the things she told us that night about the bush left a lasting impression on me. Among other things, she related to us why zebras, blue wildebeest and impalas graze together; how elephants were stopped from overturning windmills by a slab of cement with sharpened stones…I was hanging on her every word. The seed had been sown: I wanted to know more, a lot more. Ever since, I have acquired every possible source which crossed my path. I even imported books, but was always looking for more.

Since 2004 I have been supplying shops in the Kruger National Park with a range of items which I designed and manufactured myself. This brought me in contact with the shop owners, especially Mariëtte Strydom (Crocodile Bridge) and Japie Beukes (Afsaal Picnic Spot). Whenever I visited them, I always enquired whether there was a need for any product in particular; both replied there was quite a demand for a book written in a question-answer format. I never considered myself worthy of undertaking such a project. Yet they encouraged and supported me, as later did Riël and Susan du Toit, who always shared the most engaging titbits about animals.

My path also crossed that of Phindile Makhuvele. She was a night drive guide in the Lower Sabie Rest Camp. We became good friends and supported each other especially in prayer. Later on she became the Satara section ranger. Phindi encouraged me a lot in writing the book, and it was especially her faith which inspired me.

This book must be an easy read – people on holiday aren’t looking for complex or tedious reading matter. It must encourage them to observe more closely and to understand better. So many people drive through a game reserve in search of animals to tick off their list, but how many take notice of the continuous interaction which for instance exists between members of a troop of baboons or those of a herd of zebras and what it betrays about hierarchy?

The first two Afrikaans books (published in 2010 and 2012) were out of print very quickly and the demand for the English version grew. The book which I actually wrote for myself shifted into a training field, and I realized that expanding and improving the English book was my duty.

With the first English edition (published in 2016) out of print, I hope and trust that this second edition will not only enlighten readers about our beautiful animal creation but also encourage them to do what they can to preserve this incredible gift and heritage that is ours.

The third Afrikaans edition was published in 2018 and a second English edition in 2020. Both are still available.