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.