Delia Owens in Africa: A Life in the Wild

by Mark Owens, Delia Owens

This exclusive edition collects three real-life adventures in one volume and is available only at Barnes & Noble.
Delia Owens, author of the best-selling Where the Crawdads Sing, began her career writing riveting real-life adventure and wildlife tales with her husband, Mark Owens. Collected in a single volume for the first time, these three odysseys show how the Owenses’ “ingenuity, courage, and accomplishment are beyond exaggeration.” (People)

Carrying little more than a change of clothes and a pair of binoculars, two young Americans, Delia and Mark Owens, caught a plane to Africa, bought a third-hand Land Rover, and drove deep into the Kalahari Desert. In this vast wilderness they met animals that had never seen humans before, and leopards, giraffes, and brown hyenas were regular visitors to their camp, all chronicled in Cry of the Kalahari. But the Kalahari is not Eden, and Mark and Delia were continually threatened by wildfires, drought, violent storms, and sometimes by the animals they studied and loved.

They set off on another African odyssey in search of a new wilderness in The Eye of the Elephant. They land in a remote valley of Zambia, where the hippos swam in the river just below their tents, lions stalked the bush, and elephants wandered into camp to eat marula fruits. The peace, though, was soon shattered with gunfire, and Delia and Mark were inexorably drawn into a high-stakes struggle to save the wildlife.

With Secrets of the Savanna, Delia and Mark tell the dramatic story of their last years in Africa, fighting to save elephants, villagers, and — in the end — themselves. The award-winning zoologists and pioneering conservationists describe their work in the remote and ruggedly beautiful Luangwa Valley, in northeastern Zambia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Nature

928 pages, Hardcover

First published May 19, 2020

About the author

When Mark Owens and his wife Delia first went to Africa in 1974, they bought a third-hand Land Rover, drove deep into the Kalahari Desert, and lived there for seven years. The Owens are the authors of Cry of the Kalahari, an international bestseller and winner of the John Burroughs Medal, The Eye of the Elephant, and Secrets of the Savanna. After more than thirty years in Africa, they returned to the United States to carry on their conservation work.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first two books in this volume many many years ago. While the third book is something of a recap I still was enthralled throughout.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is actually a compilation of three books: “Cry of the Kalahari”, “ The Eye of the Elephant” and “Secrets of the Savanna”, which makes it a doorstop of a book at 928 pages and 2.3 lbs. The first book is about Delia and Mark Owens years researching lions and brown hyenas in the Kalahari desert of Botswana. The second details their time in a National Park in Zambia where elephant poaching was rapidly wiping out the population of elephants and other large mammals of the region. The Owens initiated a successful anti-poaching program involving the local people (most of whom were previously involved in the poaching business). The third book consists of some isolated stories left over from the second book - or at least that is how it seems.
I enjoyed all three books. They are well written and engaging, sometimes funny, often hair-raisingly scary and always emphasizing the mess that humans make of the natural world. I lost count of the times I was sure that they were going to die, or at the very least be severely injured, but they always survived unhurt.
My favorite books when I was growing up were the “Born Free” trilogy of living with lions in Kenya, and the Owens’ books remind me of those. I found this to be ideal reading for these times of COVID - escapist yarns of the best kind.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I was reading the book(s), I referred to the experience as "going to Africa." This is such a well-written account I felt as if I were there with the Owens among the brown hyenas, lions, elephants, and other creatures. The Owens also offer some ideas for helping to solve problems that are still around today. How do societies learn to value nature and find ways to coexist? If poaching is to end, how do people earn a living that will better sustain them? Perhaps there are some answers for other situations in these books as well. Loved these books. (Yes, there is some repetition if you are reading all of them at once, but it is somewhat understandable since they were also sold individually.)

[Joan Kark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Cry of the Kalahari when it first came out and loved it. So, I have read all 3 books now and loved the final book, almost as much as their first book which fueled my long term desire to visit Africa which I did in 2019. The final book is a memoir of their childhoods along with memories of their work in Africa. I am pleased their work has continued to save the African wildlife even though they have not been there for the past two decades.

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every minute of all three volumes. She brought me to the plains of Africa with her, and she gave me relationships with brown hyenas, elephants, lions, and the birds at their site. I was disappointed when it finally came to a conclusion! Fantastic anthology of books.

[Jo Petkash · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is three books combined. Real life adventures of two young people from 1967. Boy what an adventure! It’s beautifully written diary and field notes from their study of African wild life. I loved it.

[Clivemichael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal reportage, excellent descriptions, fantastic experiences and truly inspiring efforts.

[Tanner Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delia is an amazing author. I read this after when crickets cry. There were some nights I felt like I was camping with them as the detail was so good. Delia writes nature very well and so does her husband, but she’s definitely better at it. Lol