Safartu: Travels with my Children by Francoise Hivernel – A fascinating memoir.
A long, long time ago, Francoise had promised her children that she would write for them some of their adventures. As with most promises, that one took a long time to materialise. However imperfect her writing is, the fullness of the joy in it isn’t.
The first 2 chapters tell of the birth in 1976 and then again in 1979 of her two sons Christophe and Gregoire and their early life through Kenya, France, Zambia, Italy, and Holland. The third chapter, almost 10 years later, is about a holiday, with her children and friends in Jordan. The fourth chapter is about passing the power, when aged sixty three, to her eldest son during the ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Reviews for Safartu: Travels with my Children
“Really well done! It held my interest all the way through. Highly recommended.” – Miss H. – Five star review on Amazon
“This is a lyrical book in the form of a long letter to the author’s two sons who spent much of their childhood as nomads, taken all over Africa as well as Jordan, France, Italy and Holland too on their parents’ research trips. Françoise Hivernel was doing field research in Kenya for her PhD in archaeology when she suspected she might be pregnant and the book opens with the tale of attending hospital with a urine sample (to confirm the pregnancy) contained in a Tusker Beer bottle.
This lovely atmospheric book takes us on the family’s adventure while letting the reader see the wonders of the places they visited. The book is peppered with anecdotes that made me smile, for example “You and Chris rushed back nearly in tears saying that you’d seen rabbits hanging from the trees and could I rescue them. A closer look showed that these … were fruit bats.”
The last section describes a return to Africa with a visit to Serengeti and an attempt on Kilimanjaro. Françoise is trilingual and not only trained in archaeology but also in psychotherapy and as would be expected from such a well-informed writer, her observations are wise, humane and insightful.
This is a much recommended, beautifully-written biography that is sure to set readers pondering and wanderlusting.” – Jane Wilson Howarth – Five star review on Amazon