Waking up to roaring lions near her doorless dung hut; encountering elephants while walking with other women to fetch water from a distant spring; realising that older Himba people saw themselves as part of nature, not as separated from it nor at its apex … These were just some of the experiences that would change the way Margaret Jacobsohn thought about wildlife conservation – and our modern deficiency in ecological intelligence. So, the Capetonian journalist and environmental writer turned researcher became a Namibian and helped pioneer an African way of doing conservation and tourism.

Famed for its spectacular landscapes and gloriously unclad geology, Namibia is a country that wears its skeleton on the outside, the author says.

Similarly, her story is as gritty and real as Namib sand. The conflicts and mishaps, the triumphs and breakthroughs – what it takes to break paradigms and do decades of community based conservation in remote and inaccessible places, earning some of the top international environmental awards along the way.

A book that will make you think.