Some days I feel like I’m leading a double life.  One second a conservationist in the wild, the next one a mother wiping noses.  One weekend in Bangkok’s crazy markets surrounded by ivory jewellery, the next one headed for Africa where elephants and rhinos are on the receiving end of the poachers…   (more…)

I’m very excited to be coming back to Sydney for a week in early August for the launch of my third book, “Planet Elephant” – a story of family, love and the global wildlife trade.  It seemed like a good opportunity to throw a bit of a shin-dig for fellow Africa-lovers as well as raise some funds for the causes that are close to my heart, and key to the message of this next book – stopping the poaching of rhinos and elephants in Africa.

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I’d been travelling to southern Africa for twenty years before I finally set foot in East Africa, taking my first foray into Kenya a few weeks ago.  And wow, was it worth the wait!

Cokes’ hartebeests

April is the wet season in Kenya, and so apparently not the ideal time to go, but let me tell you those vast open plains are right out of a Hollywood scene from ‘Out of Africa’ no matter what time of year you go, and the fact that they were covered in an ocean of knee-high grass didn’t mean we missed out wildlife-wise.  It was simply magical. (more…)

In all my years of running around Africa, I haven’t yet made it to Kenya, the country that so many people associate Africa with (think Karen Blixen and “Out of Africa”)…  I’m very excited to say that the time has finally come! (more…)

Elephant and calf in Khaudum NP, Namibia (T. Matson)

If you’re my facebook friend, there’s a very good chance you’re sick to death about me rambling on about elephants and ivory and asking you to sign yet another petition around CITES, the meeting of countries this week in Bangkok, Thailand.  If you’re not, then this post is for you.   (more…)

Apologies for the long silence on the blog front.  Last week I delivered the second draft of my upcoming book on elephants and rhinos in Africa and Asia to my editor at Pan Macmillan and I’m just re-emerging to join the human race.  The book will be on shelves in Australia in August.   (more…)

I love a family adventure…. I mean, let’s be honest, travelling with a rambunctious toddler in the far flung parts of the planet is not quite the same as when you’re travelling on your own.  You can’t take the same risks and there are things like killer ants and venomous snakes to factor in.  But there’s a lot you can do in the wild, as our intrepid son Solo taught us recently in Borneo. (more…)

Female white rhino, Save Valley Conservancy

A couple of months ago while in the Save Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe I was fortunate to spend some time with the conservancy’s new anti-poaching team, led by husband and wife team, Bryce and Lara Clemence, who started on the job in April.  I have to admit, I was curious to know about how they planned to get on top of the rhino poaching in this part of the world.   (more…)

I’m making videos.  With my book deadline looming next month, I’m writing too, but the thing about making movies once you’ve got some of the right gear is that it’s really addictive.  Even worse than Facebook!  The last couple of years in my travels with wildlife I’ve been filming in high definition on my Canon SLR 600D.  Now with a refurbished Mac Air that comes with iMovie thanks to my lovely hubby I could waste untold hours of my days creating stories from all these trips – it’s just so much fun!  The trick is to keep them short – under two minutes is my goal – so that people with short attention spans (which is most people these days) will actually watch them.  Over the coming months/years I’m going to be producing what I call The Tam Tales – lots of short videos about wildlife and other cool stuff I spot on my travels.  Here’s the first one, based on the Humani School project in Zimbabwe.  Click here to watch it.

Some things in life just make you feel good.  Like the smell of rain on dry soil after a long, hot dry season.  Like watching a herd of elephants running to a river and hurling themselves into it with complete abandon and joy at sunset.  Like laughing, barefoot kids in Africa.  (more…)