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 Southampton 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
one of my horses & 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, as I finished school.
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. And my father, who had moved
out to ZA in the late sixties, was
terminally ill in 1992 with 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...