Crossing the Andes into Chile

A collection of saddles and bridles outside my tent

The day dawned when we woke on the Argentinian side of the Andes mountain range knowing that we would soon cross the border into Chile.

After breakfast cooked on the fire,

 We saddled up our horses.

The morning was spent riding higher and higher as we made our way towards a certain, iconic volcano.

We finally crossed a river into a National Park that straddles the border with Chile.

Sadly our Argentine horses were not permitted to cross into Chile due to veterinary controls. We ended up having to walk through passport control, out saddlebags flung over our shoulders.

To our surprise the most wonderful lunch was awaiting us, together with glasses of Chilean champagne.

Small, but beautifully presented horses were tethered up under the bushes.

I was given a Palamino.

We rode off, descending from the Andes watershed into valleys which seemed to be surprisingly Alpine in appearance.

My little pony proved quite a handful, but a sparky and amusing ride.

Sophie Neville having ridden across the Andes into Chile

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Riding in Argentina

I flew to Argentina to ride across the Andes.

The first job was to find the right horse and the right saddle. 

  

To try these out, we rode across the hills and spent a morning bringing in cattle. 

This was good fun in itself. The Estancia was beautiful.

Having rounded them up, we brought them down the valley.

Once in the kraals they were checked over and inoculated.

Whilst the horses were unsaddled,

we had local beer with our lunch - beef cooked under the trees on an open fire.

The meat was from the farm and very special, cooked on long pieces of iron.

Whilst some of the horses were released on the hillside to rest and graze,

We kept in those that would take us on the long trek, which would begin the next day.

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A reader writes ~

A reader wrote today saying ~

Your 'Swallows and Amazons' life in Africa does sound wonderful. What I don't sense in the book is that you were ever worried about your future security even in the short term. Was it not something you thought of or does it just not show?  Or have you mastered being fully reliant on God?

Dear Chris,

I suppose my sense of security at the time was pretty much the same as the Swallows'. We were quite careful about our equipment and stores, but once organised we just went forth, enjoying the adventure of it all. As my letters suggest, I had the security of my friends and my family at home but had to trust God every step of the way. 

Sometimes, when things kept going wrong, I had no option but to up the trust and plough on regardless. Perhaps this is something I learnt off the South Africans. Whilst putting 'Ride the Wings of Morning' together made detailed plans for a trip only to have my (fully equipped) 4WD vehicle stolen in Johannesburg on the first night. Charles Baber advised me to 'always stick to the plan', so I hired a car and kept driving. It was rather a relief to only travel with my overnight bag, although I was jolly cross about the theft.

I did have good travel insurance but didn't get the chance to put much into my pension during the years spent in southern Africa. I'm trying to be sensible about that now, which is a bit dull. Perhaps I should have been more adventurous!

Yours,

Sophie

Reviews of 'Ride the Wings of Morning' on Goodreads

A collection of letters written between the author and her family during the time she spent convalescing and working in South Africa, this lovely volume also contains artwork completed during the years she was there. I enjoyed this book very much and would love to meet the author. 

A wonderfully refreshing book, innocent, appealing, very funny, insightful . . . a must read if you like witty, human life stories. Richard Pilbrow

Loved this book as it reminded me so much of my childhood in rural Zululand, South Africa, in the 1990s. Loved Sophie's adventures, and African experiences.

Thank you, Sophie, for sharing your experiences with us! 

Elephant-back Safaris in the Okavango Delta

In 1994 I flew to Maun in Botswana to set up a documentary for the BBC Natural History Unit on the Elephant-back Safaris, which Randall J Moore had recently started to run in the Okavango Delta.

Randall introduced me to his lead elephant, a mature male called Abu, who was highly trained and responsive. An Africa elephant, Abu had been born the Kruger National Park. After the adults in his herd were culled, he had captured as a calf and shipped to a safari park in America. Randall found him in a bad way, living in a barn in an area too cold for his well-being.

Abu was brought back to Africa with two other trained elephants called Cathy and Benny. After looking for a  home first in Kenya and then Knysna in the Cape, Randall brought them to Botswana in 1990. They were joined by Bibi, a trained African elephant from a zoo in Ceylon, and a number of juveniles who helped to make up a small, captive herd.

The documentary, Dawn to Dusk on Safari, presented by the naturalist and wildlife artist Jonathan Scott, was first shown on BBC 1. We'd often see it repeated on television in South Africa.

Abu has sadly died but Cathy and the herd still thrive. You can read more about them on the website for Abu's Camp.

Otters and more otters ~

One of the most notable things about our otters is that their sense of touch is of primary importance. It may be that they are adapted to feeling whilst looking around for signs of danger but I am always struck by the fact that they will feel without looking. On the whole primates, including human beings, look at what they are touching. But otters are otters and have a different way of life. This is a line drawing I executed of our Asian short-clawed otter Bee.  I knew her for over twelve years. She was a beautiful creature who brought joy to many.

This line drawing of Jims, Bee's companion, was drawn from a photograph taken whilst he was swimming under water, his back legs tucked underneath him. I'm not too keen on drawing from photographs but needs must. He was very much a boy with an ever inquisitive personality and in this instance was in his element.

The BBC Natural History Unit made a wonderful drama documentary with our otters, entitled 'The Day in the Life of the Otter' which was repeated many times.  Hannah Gordon starred in the feature taking Bee's voice, Denis Lawson played Jims. The aim of the piece was to try and express animals' motivation and thought patterns without becoming anthropomorphic. However when Spike Milligan arrived to play the voice of our dog Jake these good intentions dissolved and laughter took over. My mother was given the small part of a furious hen, one of our ex-battery hens, who in the drama had her eggs stolen by the two otters. They were rather fond of cracking open and eating any eggs they could find. In real life this involved raiding our kitchen. They were cautious and a bit frightened of the hens, natural behaviour which is quite funny to watch with or without Spike Milligan. I have written about this and other stories in Funnily Enough.

The highlight of the film is a sequence in which the male and female otters meet in the water. This was beautifully shot, in slow motion. I could only draw their companionship, capturing the fact they even when together they hunt for food by touch whilst keeping an eye out for danger of any kind. One would not imagine that they have many preditors in Britian. It was only when I was keeping an eye on a pair of very young otters that we were hand-rearing that I realised they really were cautious about birds - not hens but birds of prey. No doubt eagles and owls, buzzards and kites will be a threat to young otters. This must be why they look up whilst turning stones under water.

Our otters are rather frightened of deep water - where in the wild preditors do lurk. European otters will not swim under a road bridge. They like to get out and walk along the bank. If they can't do this they will cross the road, which has lead to numerous casualties, usually young male otters looking for new territory. We have been supporting projects to build ledges under road bridges for otters to use, so that needless fatalities can be avoided.

All sketches on the blog are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

'Ride the Wings of Morning' now out in paperback and hardcover

Paperback - £9.99 on Lulu.com - http://www.lulu.com/shop/sophie-neville/ride-the-wings-of-morning/paperback/product-20214589.html

How I came to write 'Ride the Wings of Morning'

If I ride the wings of the morning,

if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

even there your hand will guide me,

and your strength will support me.

Psalm 139 v 9&10 NL

The idea for the format of 'Ride the Wings of Morning' came to me after things went wrong. I'd been invited to take part in a wildlife census in Damaraland by Blythe Loutit, Director of Save the Rhino Trust. My car was so elderly that it took me about five days to drive the 1,200kms from Maun to Palmwag in the red stony desert where she had a base camp. I arrived, full of excitment expecting to find a large party of scientists and conservationists. One lone game scout was sitting by a small fire. He gave me a message that the census had been cancelled. Blythe had not been able to reach me before I left Maun. She apologised, suggesting I stayed on at Palmwag until she and her husband were able to join me.

Apart from an open thatched shelter and a stone fireplace the camp consisted of two palm trees and the reed hut painted above. It was about twelve food square and newly constructed with three bamboo-framed beds arranged around the sides. Bamboo coffee tables had been placed in the two corners. Although not exactly secure it was surprisingly comfortable and proved idyllic. I spent my days sketching and painting the desert around me. It was a time of enforced meditation. In the heat of midday I had time to think, pray and make plans for the future, sorting out what I really wanted to do.

    

Whilst I'd been living in southern Africa I'd been too busy to keep a conventional diary. Instead I kept copies of my letters home. We had no computers, no photocopiers but I'd been able to buy duplicate books made up of thin paper suitable for sending airmail. The top sheet would be sent home whilst a blue carbon-copy was kept in the book, which I stored in a cardboard box under my bed.

One of the highlights of life spent in the Africa bush was receiving letters back from England - from my family and friends. My sisters Perry and Tamzin wrote such amusing accounts, from the safe haven of their everyday domestic lives, that I'd read them aloud, cherishing stories about their children and other responsibilities. Since their daily routines with pets and babies contrasted with the roaming life in the wilderness that I'd chosen, I thought it might be possible to put our correspondence together one day, constructing a travelogue of sorts. Initially I used the title 'Can you Imagine?' as we kept asking this question in our letters. I had no idea at the time that my sisters would face more worries and dangers than I.

Somehow the cardboard boxes full of duplicate books, letters and postcards survived. The editing process proved far more complex and complicated than ever envisaged but I managed to adapt our letters into something of a story - a story of longing for love. I only added the illustrations to fill in the gaps left after starting each letter at the top of a page. I needed more than I'd ever imagined. And then I changed the title.

A review by Peter Bell ~

Ride the Wings of Morning (lovely title) is a terrific sequel to Sophie's marvellous Funnily Enough; further following her life of extraordinary exploits and adventures, now in southern Africa. Some horrific, most delightful, but all fascinating and very amusingly told by way of correspondence to and from her more conventional sisters. Her parents and many friends from Africa also feature as do a veritable profusion of Sophie's joyful and individual style of sketches, drawings and paintings that have become even more assured as time progressed. Many are brilliant! (Especially her splendid cartoons!)

Sophie has a wonderful knack of inclusion of her readers in all her writing. She is very observant, particularly of the absurd, the ridiculous and comic juxtapositions as well as the mundane and it shows in the great warmth, engaging honesty and infectious humour in her writing. The reader is privileged that she shares this somewhat maverick part of her life in which she gives so much of herself. Again! I was ever more captivated by this book but in a slightly different way to Funnily Enough. A truly fascinating read from much obviously painstaking work.

Only a full read of this marvellous 542-page book can do it the justice it deserves that no review of mine can hope to achieve. Unplug the phone, shut out the English 'summer' and indulge yourself with Sophie in the warmth of her true life in a world so far apart from your own! She is a uniquely talented and individual person and this extraordinary work is to be deeply savoured and enjoyed. Tops on any scale of hugs and highly recommended by me as one of many here. The printed editions are to keep for ever.
Thank you so much, Sophie. Thanks also to Perry, Tamzin, and 'Mum and Dad'. I really look forward with great enthusiasm to the promised next instalment. Quite lovely!

Peter Bell on Ride the Wings of Morning

Reviews and comments ~

What Sophie did next ~

Following her illness with ME/CFS, Sophie Neville travelled to South Africa to stay with a friend, and the different climate led to her rapid recovery. This book is the account of what she got up to over the following few years. Quite a startling mixture - horse safaris, travelling, painting, holiday management and media work in South Africa as it made the transition from Apartheid to full democracy.

It is presented in the form of letters (mostly) between her and her sisters, so the book uncovers the warmth of the relationships within the family, and is written with immediacy and freshness. Much other ground is also covered - the wildlife, plenty about horses and misbehaving cars, lively descriptions of the ex-pat and local workers and tourists, a vivid sense of the locations that Neville is writing about. The book also includes as illustrations many of the pictures she drew. In the meantime, the way in which the lives of Tamzin and Perry unfold in Europe is another story.

As with Funnily Enough, this was a book I really hadn't expected to be engaged by - but I was. Thoroughly recommended. P. M. Fernandez

'This is gorgeous work Sophie, you have a real gift for drawing people into your wonderful adventure in a real and intimate way. I feel almost as if I had been there with you. Great work! ‘ Skye Wieland, Queensland, Australia

‘I am reading your book now on Kindle about your time in Africa and I love it! What a sense of humor you and your family have!’ Allen Hunt

‘I love how you’ve captured your journey with sketches and watercolour paintings.’

'I am  loving your book. Your mother sounds like a riot! Love the mama donkey work!’ Kate Coleridge, writing from Cape Town.

Comments on Facebook and via e-mail

'Have just started "Ride the Wings of Morning" & really enjoying it!' Penelope Bossom

'I was reading the first chapters of the Kindle to my daughter last night before she went to bed. She laughed so much, and loved the pictures in colour. Hopefully it'll encourage her to continue reading in the paperback.' Lisa Scullard

' It's lovely, so tempting to put all else aside and get lost in your descriptions. It must have been such a joy to put the book together. Such rich memories, and I love your way of seeing things and the words you use. You are a truly gifted writer and illustrator and I rejoice with you. I think my girls will get more out of this one, especially since it's letters between sisters.' Wendy Chandler, South Africa

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I LOVED this book! Even more than 'Funnily Enough', which I also loved! Your family is a hoot, and your letters tell so much about your life. What fun that you found a place that allows to be well, and that you have met such wonderful people in the process :-)  ... Thank-you, Sophie & Amazon! I am so excited to have another of your books on my Kindle.  :-)" Elizabeth Rondthaler Jolley, USA

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'...extraordinary, unique, inspiring, real -  I don't know how else to describe what I have just read' Annie Ogilvy, South Africa

'I couldn't resist looking at Wings of Morning this afternoon.  I love the way you write to your sisters and the close and easy style you all use with one another.   It's all very readable, funny and sweet.' Lucy Woodd, Scotland

'What a beautiful title.' Chronic Fatigue Support

'Love Sophie's book...' Jane van der Westhuizen, Perth, Australia

'Have enjoyed both books and look forward to more... keep writing.'  Jane Edgar

 "I had a hard time setting your book down--such a good read! And I was really disappointed when it ended :-)"

'I'm also enjoying "Wings" - too much - I'm failing to get my next OU essay done ...' Paul Fernandez  '...lovely book. My wife is making her way through "Funnily Enough" at the moment and I've little doubt will move on to "Wings". We also have some ex-pat readerly South Africans in the church, to whom I've recommended the books ....'

'....your book works so well at the moment because the format you've chosen simply takes life as it comes.' Paul Fernandez, again

'Will try Amazon. I must have this book!!' Topsy Eschenburg

 'By hook or by crook we will find a copy.'  Douglas A Groves

In the African tradition, Jenny Nash has written about Ride the Wings of Morning in her Blog ~ Shamwari Chaidzo