out of africa

I was born in Kitwe, then Northern
Rhodesia, where my father had a
Ridgeback called NIP. We left before
Zambian independence, staying in the
UK for a while. My parents split up &
my mother took me out to South Africa,
where my brother was born. We settled
in Zululand as my mother took the
position of Matron at Luwamba Mission
Hospital. I had the adventure of
growing up in the African bush, where
snakes & small game were part of
everyday life! On 8 Dec 1975, my
brother was killed on a mountain road,
when he was thrown through the
windscreen of a speeding car.
(Seatbelts became compulsory in SA in
1976 after Charles' death.)

Eventually I was allowed to have
horses. In 1979 we moved from
Zululand to the South Coast. I kept my
mare & stabled her in Hillcrest. There
I met Hugh, who had a Ridgeback-X
called LINUS. He was such an
impressive dog; I knew that Dad's
Ridgeback had been essential to daily
life in the Rhodesian bush from all that
he had told me. I bought my first RR in
December 1981. SHANDY was
mismarked but grew into a perfect pet
& taught me so much about the breed; I
knew then that I would always have
Rhodesian Ridgebacks...

I bought my 2nd Ridgeback 10 years later,

while in ZA, trying to deal with my first
marriage & my father's terminal illness in
1992 ( lung cancer).

I began showing WHISKY there and gained
a few awards with him, including a Res. CC.
I imported Whisky in the spring of 1993,
but he hated the 6 months in quarantine as
much as Shandy had in 1990 when I first
returned to the UK newly married...