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English couple Geoff and Vicky Fox have given their lives to Tanzania—to wild animal preservation and the country's fight against AIDS. Their story, told by Evelyn Voigt, describes young love, lush landscapes, safaris, sickness, danger, and determination. Geoff came to Tanzania to work for Brooke Bond Tea Company. When Vicky visited and married him, together they fell in love with Africa. Their children were born there, and there was never any real question that they would stay, even as other expatriates bolted in the turbulent independence struggles of the 1960s. They have run a charming hotel/wildlife safari service for many years and provide assistance to AIDS orphans and AIDS-affected families.
Written by a poet who is also graced with an engaging prose style, Flying Snakes and Green Turtles gives a realistic picture about what life in Africa was and is really like, with blinders off. The Foxes have seen it all, and through Voigt's craftsmanship we see it too. She begins with stories of colonial Tanzania and the foreigners who enjoyed that lifestyle, then highlights the tough years when the Foxes hung on despite the new nation's birth pangs, and up to the present when residents face problems of widespread game poaching and the effects of AIDS on the local populace. Those who read Voigt's account—friends, Africa-philes, and those wanting to assist the Foxes in their charitable endeavors—will gain a vivid and sometimes amusing insight into a long-gone way of life in colonial Tanzania, along with a frank view of the strengths and sorrows of that region today.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review