The Last Stop Safari Shop is a beautiful ode to Africa. It is set in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania in the late 1980's and 1990's.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's three young people, whose life experiences couldn't be more different, and each of whom carry deep emotional scars travel to Tanzania.
Interior designer, Marius, discovers that decorating luxury safari lodges in the heat and dust and sometimes torrential rains in remote Africa is very different from the luxury homes in Cape Town.
Astrid, a physiotherapist, has finally fulfilled her dream of flying to Africa, leaving behind her cold psychoanalyst parents in Switzerland. To her dismay, she discovers that not only do wild animals not line the streets, but to go on a safari is way beyond her budget.
Evelyn, a war widow, returns to Zimbabwe, after eight lonely years in England, to help her with her family's rhino conservation. She is unprepared for what unfolds as her senses return in the warmth of the African sun.
By digging deep and finding their inner resources, paths cross, and unlikely friendships are formed. Under the transformative power of the 'Africa-ness' of Africa, all three individuals begin to heal and embrace their lives.
Excerpt from the book
Evelyn walked towards the cluster of flame lilies, each one a cup of flickering scarlet, edged with trickling gold, growing up from the deep, rich, red African soil. She bent down and gently stretched her arms around them, just able to touch her fingers together, and breathed in deeply. The smell of green ... only here on this land.
