Books:

THE MAMA TEMBO TOUR: TANZANIA

In 2000, Leslie and her husband were transferred from Singapore to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Leslie knew exactly how she would use three years in East Africa. In the 18-year-old jalopy christened Mama Tembo—or Mother Elephant in Kiswahili—she undertook a time-honoured East African tradition—she went on safari, clocking up thousands of dusty kilometres around the country in all, and often ending up where, if she got stuck or broke down, vultures were more likely to come along before another vehicle. 

In time, the names of the old vehicle and owner merged and Leslie began to hear “Welcome again, Mama Tembo.” “Mama Tembo, your tent is ready.” And from the staff of a government lodge in a national park: “Mama Tembo, will you eat early tonight because we have Italian guests and they eat everything.” Her nickname paid Leslie a great compliment, but it also inferred a burden of responsibility, for the matriarch of the elephant herd is vital to its protection and welfare. Anxiously awaiting “Mama Tembo’s” returns to Dar es Salaam was an inherited Tanzanian family---housekeeper Mummy, gardener Francis, and security guard Ben, and their wives, children, and relatives. They taught her about Tanzania without her needing to leave home.

The Mama Tembo Tour: Tanzania is a memoir, travelogue, history, cultural study, and social commentary. It is a culmination of the maturing decades of travel and overseas life which preceded it for its author, experience that has resulted in a comfort with worlds other than her own and a deep appreciation for what they teach her. Tanzania provided her the richest education yet.

The Mama Tembo Tour is currently making the rounds of publishers.