Warmth in this wonderful land!

Wow! We cannot even begin telling you about our amazing trip to the States without first commenting on the fantastic warmth and hospitality that we experienced, not only from our wonderful hosts, but also from all the Americans with whom we came into contact. We were bowled over by their interest in our lives, our business and in us - and, most especially, in what John had to say. Which was plenty! From Washington to New York, he shared his incredible passion for Africa and her wildlife, beauty and people, alongside his hopes and dreams for Zimbabwe, our beloved home country.

Great Reconnections, Wonderful Reactions

A highlight of our trip – and there were many – was reconnecting with old safari friends from the wilds of Africa “in the wilds of the USA”! For Nicci, this was the first time to meet many previously email names – and now real live, lovely people! We all enjoyed reminiscing, musing over memories of shared African journeys – “Remember standing on top of that anthill with John? Remember when we saw the wild dogs in their den?” and so on!

It was wonderful to meet new people, too; through Washington DC, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Nashville, Chicago, Winston Salem, Omaha, Louisville, Miami and New York, we must have met more than 350 new faces. At each location, our hosts had gone to incredible lengths, not only to make us very welcome, but you provided delicious food and drinks, wonderful snacks and canapés, and had created beautiful, sometimes African-inspired, settings for John’s talks. Who would have believed one of our venues was the mammal section of Chicago’s Field Museum - with the man-eaters of Tsavo watching over the proceedings.



John’s talks received such interest; we were very touched by the response. Everyone appreciated the effort we’d gone to, and they enjoyed the many different photographs in our presentation as much as John’s talks! (The hardest part before we set off on our trip was selecting the photographs… John’s vast library left us spoilt for choice, but we hope we managed to convey the best of what East and Southern Africa has to offer!)

Urban Jungle



Other unforgettable highlights of our trip include Vladimir’s Crab Salad in Washington; lunch with our special friends, Russell and Aileen Train in Washington DC; being dwarfed by 3000 year old redwoods in Muir Woods, California; being shown holotypes of the African Pitta (John still hasn’t found one in the African bush) and a new species of monkey, the Kipunji, in Chicago’s Field Museum; an urban safari in Chicago where John had a chat to the leopard in the Lincoln Park Zoo; kicking our heels to country and western music at Nashville’s famous Bluebird Cafe and the next night at the Grand Ole Opry; handling snakes and aardvarks behind the scenes at the Henry Dorley Zoo in Omaha; Borsheims, the most magnificent jewelers; a traditional and very beautiful American Thanksgiving dinner; the Mackenzie music recital in Lake Forest; wing shooting in Kentucky; Miami Beach in Jos’ convertible; the 5th Avenue Apple Store open at midnight; seeing the Lion King and Times Square; New York dressed for Christmas and looking beautiful; owning a fabulous Beatrice von Tresckow piece of couture…



We are home now, basking in the sunshine and warmth of Zimbabwe and are looking forward greatly to our daughter, Sarah’s wedding to her love, Milo Harrup in late December. The whole family will be together and we know it will be a joyous, happy time.

We hope that, wherever this holiday season finds you, you are also warm and safe, surrounded by people you love and in high spirits! Until next year,