In mijn eerste Afrikaanse nacht in Samburu wachtte een olifant mij op bij mijn tent. Een onvergetelijk ontmoeting. Nadat ik van de schrik bekomen was, heb ik vanaf de veranda naar dit ongelofelijk grote en indrukwekkende beest zitten kijken in de donkere nacht. De wereld werd even heel erg klein en stil op het geluid van het eten en lostrekken van stengels en bladeren na. Krachtig, zorgzaam,...
Olifanten zijn al meer als 133 jaar het iconische element in het circus, al komt het publiek daar steeds meer tegen in opstand. Wellicht is het aan de tijd om deze gedateerde samenwerking, die voor de olifant in 1860 begon te beëindigen? Toen der tijd dreven James Anthony Bailey en James E. Cooper een circus. Hun grootste troef was een baby olifant genaamd "Columbia". Hun advertentietekst...
Visiting the Crown Jewels in London an elephant on the grounds surprised us. As it turned out in 2011 an exhibition of the wire sculptures of Kendra Haste brought the "Royal Beasts" back into the Lion Tower. We loved the sight of the wire animals which give the London Royal palace an exotic feel in an, at first thought, unusual place. We learned that historically it was quite common for rulers...
Since working on Tata&Squack - Mission Elephant, a children's book about elephants, I see them everywhere. Last summer when I visited Rome, I ran into an adorable elephant carrying an obelisk on his back. The gentle giant is called Procino, was created by baroque era sculptor Bernini in 1667 and is one of the most curious monuments of Rome. It is the shortest of the eleven Egyptian obelisks you...
Currently our whole life seems to evolve around elephants. In the course of my research for our new book, I am reading a beautiful book by Daphne Sheldrick, An African Lovestory, about Love, Life and Elephants. She was born and raised in Kenya. There she married two men who ran nature reserves, Bill Woodley and David Sheldrick and has a daughter with each of them. David, the well-known Tsavo...
At the end of September I will be joining the Dekkers to the Samburu National Park in Kenya Africa, where we will research a new adventure of Tata&Squack. I will at last meet the plant, animal and bird life of a part of Africa which is especially known for it's elephant population. The Samburu elephants have been researched by Ian Douglas-Hamilton and his team of "Save the Elephants" for a long...
A new year is laying ahead with life to challenge us and to make a difference. One of our challenges is to bring The Big Journey of Tata&Squack, the Great Migration of the Wildebeest under the attention of children. As did an adventurous Zoo director sixty years ago. He took his son, Michael Grzimek, on animal collecting trips to Africa. Young Michael produced a film about one of his father's...
