Journey into the heart of Botswana's Okavango Delta on an ambitious project to reestablish black and white rhino populations in one of Africa's vast and untamed wilderness areas. This is the story of the rhinos and other wildlife on a remote island within the swamps of the Kalahari Desert. It is also a story about a great country, people and culture; and a crucial chapter in their conservation history. A collection of diary entries, field notes, emails and photographs have been woven together to create a book that captures the events as they unfolded, in a light-hearted manner, blending adrenaline-fueled anticipation and humour with the harsh realities of frontline conservation work. Rhino Diaries has been my greatest project of the past decade, both in the field and in writing; sharing it has been my calling.
"It takes a special combination of traits in any person to forsake the basic comforts of life in town or a lodge for a small, stuffy tent surrounded by hyenas and lions, and living on simple victuals while performing hard manual labour, yet showing patience and empathy when working with these extremely precious animals. I watched Nic become inculcated with the ability to become part of the wild world. This deep respect and understanding, which incorporates the small but important habits of the various rhino personalities, the smells of wild sage and the mustiness of the Okavango dust, the sounds of a distant lion's roar or the rasping call of the early morning spurfowl, and the respect for how it all comes together, is noticeable in Rhino Dairies: Journey into the Okavango. Nic's diary-type narrative of his time working on the Botswana Rhino Project has really brought it all to life." – Map Ives, conservationist.