Cathedral of the Wild

Starred review from December 2, 2013
Against one of the most picturesque locales in South Africa—the scenic Londolozi Game Reserve—Varty rethinks family traditions and changing social mores in this intense, insightful memoir that brings together several wise observations about the relationship between nature and humanity. The power of storytelling, Varty writes, is the blood tie that links his great-grandfather who started the reserve as a hunting ground over eight decades ago, and his father, Dave, who established the lush acreage into a nature preserve in 1973. This is more than a tame conservation story of lionesses, leopards, and elephants, but rather a transformative social awakening of Varty’s father and his confidante, Uncle John, of the racist apartheid policies following the bloody 1976 Soweto riots. Some of the most significant scenes in the book involve anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela who, following his lengthy prison stint, went to the reserve to rest and conduct terse phone talks with DeKlerk, the president of South Africa. Varty faces his own trials, overcoming a brutal crocodile assault that leaves him questioning his purpose, leading to a spiritual renewal that elevates this memoir above the usual wilderness narrative.

January 1, 2014
Scion of a South African wildlife preserve recounts somewhat canned yet poignant memories of growing up in the wild. Purchased in 1926 by Varty's great-grandfather as a hunting ground for lions, the vast tract of lowveld adjacent to Kruger National Park evolved into a sustainable wildlife preserve by the mid-1970s, under the care of the author's father, mother and uncle. Londolozi would "partner with the land" and work alongside the native Shangaan in order to bring back the great creatures, like leopards and elephants, that had abandoned the land due to cattle overgrazing and grass erosion. While Varty's father and uncle built a fledgling business offering eco-tracking tours and his mother ran the administrative office, the young author and his sister, Bronwyn, received a terrific and rather charming, if occasionally hair-raising, education in the bush, chaperoned by their Shangaan nanny. They learned to drive the Land Rover by age 8 and made friends with the dazzling menagerie living among them, including bushbucks, agama lizards, francolins, hyenas and baboons. Bored of ecotourism, Uncle John became a successful filmmaker, and the author often accompanied his revered uncle on shoots making wildlife documentaries, one of which became a wildly popular series for kids, Bush School, featuring his own mother as the teacher and star. A visit to Londolozi from Nelson Mandela in 1990 is a highlight, as was Varty's accompanying his uncle to film the migration of the wildebeest across the Serengeti, while some of the horrors included contracting malaria, getting held up in their Johannesburg home by knifepoint and being bitten by a crocodile. The final chapters chronicle the author's youthful, inchoate "seeking" in India and Arizona, until, by his late 20s, he recognized that Londolozi was home. He's no Isak Dinesen, but Varty writes for a stirring cause.

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December 1, 2013
Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa has been the Varty family home for four generations. Located just west of Kruger National Park, it is a world-famous private wildlife preserve that attracts international visitors and broadcast-media attention. Varty recounts how his family restored dry, overgrazed land abandoned by ranchers, establishing a healthy habitat for a wide range of wildlife, including elephants, lions, impalas, baboons, and crocodiles. This entertaining family saga is filled with distinctive characters, especially the author's uncle John Varty, an irrepressible filmmaker who has survived numerous life-threatening accidents and clashes with business partners and government officials. Like his uncle, the author has cheated death, having been cornered by a poisonous cobra, held by gun-bearing robbers, and attacked by a crocodile. Written by a relatively young man, this quick-reading memoir may be just the first of many lively African tales.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)