James Hendry’s latest novel after six years’‘full-time in the bush’
Q: What inspired ‘Return To The Wild’? Was this book always in the pipeline following on from your first two novels?
JH: I was hoping to do a third novel in the series but had nothing specific planned. It was great to have another six years in the bush full-time to inspire me and keep the ideas fresh.
It was also great to have a publisher so keen to work on a third novel in the series with me — that is a real blessing!
When did you begin writing ‘Return to The Wild’ and how long did it take you?
I started in about March 2021 if memory serves and wrote about half up until December
Following on from his best-selling ‘A Year in the Wild’ and ‘Back to the Bush’, safari guide, wildlife TV presenter, musician, writer and speaker, Hendry returns to the setting of Sasekile Private Game Reserve for another behind-the-scenes tale following the Macnaughton brothers, Angus and Hugh. Chatting to Madeleine Chaput, he shares more about his new offering ‘Return to The Wild’ and his own experiences as a safari guide.
2021. Then I finished the last half in the first three months or so of 2022.
Does it get easier the more you write? And had you already mapped out this story once finishing off ‘Back to the Bush’? No, this story was mapped in 2021 before I started writing [and remapped constantly over the course of the writing!]. It gets easier to write the more you write in the same way that it gets easier to play the guitar the more you play — it is all about practise really. The creative ebbs and flows don’t change though — sometimes it is easy and sometimes it’s really hard [as far as writing goes — not relative to other actual hardships].
Out of all the characters in the story, is there a character you identify with the most and if so, who and why?
Angus is me at my most cynical, sarcastic and unfiltered.
What do you hope readers take away from ‘Return To The Wild’?
I hope firstly that they laugh — there is no greater compliment for me.
Secondly, I hope they are transported into the African wild and I hope, in some way, this will make them more likely to travel to wild places and become more aware of nature.
Is there another novel in the pipeline that follows on from ‘Return To The Wild’ or is this where Angus’s story ends? We will have to see how this one sells! I’d like to do another one, perhaps set in Kenya.
What is the stupidest question you have ever been asked while in your job as game guide/ranger?
I am not sure you have enough space for this one. There have been too many: Do you still get woolly mammoths around here? If it’s October in the States, what month is it here? Do you still present on ‘Safari Live’ or are there other related programmes in the pipeline? Not currently, there are various things in the pipeline but nothing concrete yet. I hope to be back on screen sometime in the not too distant future.
Is the Maasai Mara as awesome as everyone makes out. Why would you say this is the case?
Yes, it is — for me anyway. The space, the diversity, the abundance, the smell, the views, the Mara River — it’s all utterly magical.
Do the crowds at Maasai Mara impede game viewing? They don’t appear to have the same restrictions on the number of vehicles that can gather around game that you see in private game reserves in SA.
It depends where in the Mara you go and what time of year. If you go during the migration season to the National Reserve and try to view crossings, then yes it is not great.
If you go to the private conservancies, you don’t have the same problem. If you go outside of migration season, you don’t have the same overcrowding issues. Remember also that the area is vast, if you want to escape other tourists, that’s not hard at all.
There are also places in SA where you can have tremendously overcrowded sightings — Kruger for example on a main road with wild dogs.
What is your favourite game reserve in the Eastern Cape? Do you have Eastern Cape connections?
I don’t have much experience of Eastern Cape game reserves but I think the EC is a massively underrated safari destination. Kariega, Sibuya and Kwandwe are gorgeous areas with great diversity, beautiful views and lots of wildlife. My folks live in the sleepy town of Kenton-on-sea — so yes, I do have some connections there!
And what is your favourite game reserve in SA?
I’m not sure I have one — there are so many that have special memories for me. Ngala and Londolozi are probably my favourites.
What is your favourite African destination?
At the moment, the Masai Mara in Kenya, the Northern
KZN Drakensberg and the Eastern Cape Albany Coast. What is your most memorable wildlife encounter?
Eish — there are too many to mention I think. One morning I was on a walk with a cameraman and a tracker and we came across a young female leopard (she was about 10 months old). We stopped and watched her for a while, expecting her to walk away. Instead, as we sat on the ground, she came towards us and climbed a tree 20m away. There she sat and observed us for about 10 minutes before climbing down and sauntering off. It was a moment of profound connection with the wilderness.