The Elusive Baboon: A Ugandan Odyssey

by Jennifer Jolly

Overview

Newly-independent Uganda seems like the perfect place for a primatologist to conduct ground-breaking fieldwork on wild baboons. But to his wife, trying to mother a young daughter while approaching the birth of her second child in the midst of elephants, wild buffalo and hippos, surely the relative safety of England or the U.S. is preferable. When Uganda erupts into civil war and her child is born in a hospital under siege, Jennifer Jolly must learn to balance her support for her husband against her desire for her family’s safety, a safety that’s tested again under the murderous reign of Idi Amin. “The Elusive Baboon: A Ugandan Odyssey” tells the gripping tale of a British woman’s life in Africa as she navigates wildlife, war and raising a family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781946989017
Publisher:	Full Court Press
Publication date:	07/26/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	465
File size:	1 MB

Editorial 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

From the Publisher