Safari : The Hunt Begins

Safari is the fourth novel by Australian author, Tony Park. Fletcher Reynolds is a white Zimbabwean who owns Isilwane Lodge, near the Hwange Game Reserve, and runs a game safari business. Despite the political situation in that country, the safaris are popular with overseas tourists, but poaching is a major problem, so he employs ex-SAS mercenary, Shane Castle as his head of security. For Zimbabwe-born, Australian-raised Castle, this comes at a good time as his actions in Iraq have put his future in doubt. For Canadian-born zoologist, Michelle Parker, her future as a researcher of African wild dogs is also in doubt when her funding is withdrawn. But Fletcher has had his eye on Michelle for a while, and with a windfall in safari income, offers her a position in his newly created Isilwane Wildlife Conservation Foundation. Michelle is, however, a woman of principles and hesitant to accept funding from a man who fairly obviously would like more than just friendship. Shane’s anti-poaching team notches up some successes, and one of Fletcher’s benefactors wants to expand operations to a concession near the Viruga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the mountains that form the home of endangered gorillas. But what, exactly, are these foreign hunters so eager to bag? In this novel, Park explores several topical issues: poaching and wildlife conservation; game hunting; the toll of AIDS/HIV in Africa; political unrest, corruption and poverty; and environmental damage. Park gives the reader complex characters who are often not what they first appear. His plot is original with a few twists and a dramatic climax (or two), and he deftly demonstrates how the lure of money can undermine principles and how disease and desperation can shift loyalties. Park’s own Army background, his extensive research and his first-hand knowledge of Africa are evident in every line of text and his love of the African landscape and many of her people is very obvious. This is, once again, a real page-turner.