The Elusive Baboon : A Ugandan Odyssey - Jennifer Jolly

The Elusive Baboon

A Ugandan Odyssey

By: Jennifer Jolly

Paperback | 22 June 2017

At a Glance

Paperback


$29.59

or 4 interest-free payments of $7.40 with

Aims to ship in 7 to 10 business days

Jennifer Jolly was a naive young woman when she, her primatologist husband, and her small daughter traveled to newly independent Uganda. This book is about how she adapted to an expatriate lifestyle. It reveals the problems and pleasures of conducting ground-breaking fieldwork on wild baboons while camping out close (sometimes too close) to elephants, buffalo, and hippos. She encounters unfamiliar cultures, and the joy of exotic vegetation and spectacular scenery, while she faces a difficult pregnancy. When civil war erupts, she survives a complicated delivery in a hospital under siege. Returning to Uganda five years later, the family lives in a spectacularly situated but decaying rest house overlooking the Budongo Forest and witnesses the descent of the country into the murderous years of Idi Amin. Braving the unfamiliar, sometimes terrified of being shot, but never bored, she comes through with her sense of humor intact.

Industry Reviews

"The Elusive Baboon is a stellar memoir about Uganda in the mid-1960s, when the author, as well as the country, was in transition. Jolly paints a story of discovery, new beginnings, and overcoming adversity. Written with humor, insight, and honesty, the book is an enlightening read."
--John McCaffrey, author of The Book of Ash and Two Syllable Men

"Whether they remember Uganda in the 1960s or not, readers will resonate to Jennifer Jolly's charming memoir of life in a beautiful, exotic country in turbulent times. Writing with disarming frankness and an eye for the telling detail, she weaves together a fascinating portrait of a nation about to disintegrate, and of a new science--primatology--being born."
--Ian Tattersall, author of The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack
and Other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution

"With formidable wit and vivid powers of observation, Jennifer Jolly's style is a cross between Monty Python and Michael Palin. She writes about the perils of travel in up-country Uganda in the 1960s against a background of ever-increasing political unrest and a chronic shortage of money. Family life takes place in a tent in the wilds of nowhere. Pregnancy makes no difference. By day, her husband Cliff abandons her to go in search of baboons. By night, elephants and buffaloes come visiting. A must-read for those who love travel and adventure."
--Vernon Reynolds,
author of The Chimpanzees of the Budongo Forest:
Ecology, Behavior and Conservation

More in Travel & Holidays

Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia - Macquarie Dictionary

RRP $39.99

$27.80

30%
OFF
Japan : Lonely Planet Travel Guide : 18th Edition - Lonely Planet

RRP $39.99

$31.25

22%
OFF
Ocean Pools : 75 pools across Australia for saltwater swimmers - Chris Chen
Flour and Stone : Baked for Love, Life and Happiness - Nadine Ingram
Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia : 2nd Edition - Bill Arthur
Vietnam : Lonely Planet Travel Guide : 16th Edition - Lonely Planet Travel Guide
Galah : Stories of life outside the city - Annabelle Hickson

SIGNED COPY

RRP $69.99

$47.25

32%
OFF
Lonely Planet Dream Trips of the World : Lonely Planet - Lonely Planet
Great Britain Planning Map : Lonely Planet Country Map - Lonely Planet
Italy Planning Map : Lonely Planet Country Map - Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet The Travel Book : Lonely Planet - Lonely Planet

RRP $45.00

$32.75

27%
OFF
Swimming Sydney : A tale of 52 swims - Chris Baker

RRP $32.99

$31.35

The Message - Ta-Nehisi Coates

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$33.25

10%
OFF
Thailand : Lonely Planet Travel Guide : 19th Edition - Lonely Planet Travel Guide
Living Planet : The Web of Life on Earth - David Attenborough

RRP $34.99

$31.75

Lonely Planet The Tree Atlas : Lonely Planet - Lonely Planet

RRP $70.00

$41.75

40%
OFF
Slim Aarons : La Dolce Vita : Getty Images - Slim Aarons

RRP $140.00

$87.35

38%
OFF
New Zealand : Lonely Planet Travel Guide : 21st Edition - Lonely Planet Travel Guide
Lonely Planet Kids Mysterious World : Lonely Planet Kids - Lonely Planet Kids