The elephant in the room… er… kitchen

Writer Elaine Davie

Clearly, elephants are front of mind for a large number of Overstrand residents at the moment. The Onrus Dutch Reformed Church Hall was bursting at the seams last Thursday evening (in fact people were turned away at the door when even standing room was no longer available), when Françoise Malby Anthony presented the remarkable story of the Thula Thula Game Reserve in Zululand which she and her late husband, Lawrence Anthony started 20 years ago.

Françoise Malby Anthony, Executive Director of the Thula Thula Private Game Reserve and widow of the ‘Elephant Whisperer’, Lawrence Anthony. PHOTO: www.courrierinternational.com

Through his bestselling books, Babylon’s Ark, The Elephant Whisperer and The Last Rhinos, many readers will be familiar with the tale of the conservationist’s commitment to wildlife protection and especially the very personal relationship he established with the seven rescue elephants which came to live at Thula Thula in 1999. The story of how they walked to the Lodge in procession to pay their respects after Lawrence died suddenly in Johannesburg in March 2012 and how they return every year on the anniversary of his death has been re-told many times.

In her recently-published book, An Elephant in my Kitchen, subtitled ‘What the herd taught me about love, courage and survival’, Françoise picks up the tale of Thula Thula since Lawrence’s passing. “It didn’t ever occur to me to return to France, my homeland,” she says. “Instead I came face to face with the depth of my attachment to this country and particularly, of course, to Thula Thula. Lawrence was an idealist, a visionary, and I was determined to fulfil his dream for this place.”

She quickly realised, however, that she had three immediate challenges to overcome: She knew absolutely nothing about conservation – that was Lawrence’s preserve, while she took care of the hospitality side of the project – she was a foreigner and a woman. The book describes her successes and failures of the past seven years, the disappointments and the heartbreak, as well as the triumphs and the joy. And always the elephants were there.

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