Welcome to my stop on
the Kalahari Safari! If you’re new to the Safari, check in at Base Camp to
learn what it’s about and how you can win!
From the Author:
Sarah Carmichael
Sarah Carmichael is the main character and
narrator of Kalahari. She’s grown up
all over the world, in one remote camp after another, with her zoologist
parents. As a result, she’s fluent in several languages, knows a ton about
animals, and is more at home in the jungle or desert than in a city. So when
her father agrees to host five city kids for an educational safari, Sarah is
not a fan of the idea. She’s always been more comfortable around creatures with
four legs than ones with two—especially ones her own age. Still reeling from
the recent death of her mother, the last thing Sarah feels up for is trying to
fit in with new faces from a completely different world than her own.
But that becomes the least of her troubles after her dad
goes missing and Sarah must not only work with Sam, Kase, Miranda, Joey, and
Avani—but keep them alive.
Sarah’s character was inspired by two well-known “nature
girls”: Tippi Degre and Bindi Irwin. Tippi Degre was the daughter of wildlife
photographers who spent her childhood in the Kalahari, where she learned from
the San Bushmen, ran wild through the desert, and befriended a host of animals.
Photos of her unusual upbringing depict a carefree child who seems happiest
when perched on an elephant or cuddling a meerkat. In her own words in My Book of Africa, Tippi describes her
connection to animals and her love for the Kalahari. Bindi Irwin is the
daughter of the late Steve Irwin, the renowned TV personality “The Crocodile
Hunter.” After her father’s tragic death, Bindi has carried on his legacy and
passion for educating the world about animals and nature.
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| Tippi Degre |
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| Bindi and Steve Irwin |
Sam's Number:
Complete the
challenges below (the more you complete the higher your chances of winning a
big prize!) and then head
back to Base Camp and on to the next challenge!
Thanks so much for visiting my stop on the blog tour. If you haven't, you can check out my review for Kalahari, and be sure to pick up a copy tomorrow. Thanks again for dropping by.
Your blog is so awesome! I have nominated you for the Versatile Award!
ReplyDeleteThe Rules: http://diariesofabooklover.blogspot.com/2015/02/versatile-blogger-award.html
Awe! Thank you so much! I will get to it as soon as I can! :)
DeleteI don't think I could appreciate the animals and wilderness the same way that I can now, had I grown up like Sarah. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to, but I realistically don't think that way of being raised would have worked for me..
ReplyDeleteAnd there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I know it's not for everyone, and I have no clue where I'd be because I'm not a person who grew up like that. Had I, I'm sure I'd like them for a lot more than their looks.
DeleteI probably would have loved it when I was a child, being surrounded by animals and the wilderness, but now I'm afraid I just couldn't hack it, haha :)
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I feel! If I was raised like that, I'd love it. I know I'd be pretty timid if I ever went on a safari, but I still want to.
DeleteI think I would have loved it. Being a city girl , I never really get to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of nature. I love camping and hiking and such, and I only wish I could have done more of that when I was little. I think being raised like Sarah would have definitely made me appreciate things more, and not take things for granted. I think the best part would be seeing the stars at night, something that is very difficult to enjoy in the big city.
ReplyDeleteI'm a city girl too, and sometimes I just want to get out in the open and explore. I totally understand where you are coming from.
DeleteYes! The stars! When I go camping, I'll sit outside for hours and hours just so I can look up at the skies.
I don't really think the Kalahari would be for me. Mostly because I'm a natural redhead, which means my skin burns quicker than you can say the word "Hot". I'm a bit jumpy around animals because my mom is allergic to everything with hairs and therefore, growing up, I never had any pets. I'm learning to like them by becoming buddies with the cat of the people I babysit, but unfortunately for me that is where it ends xD
ReplyDeleteOMG! I am a natural blonde, so I also burn really quickly. I didn't burn as much when I was younger, but I spent a lot of time in the sun then. I guess now that I don't, I just don't have that tendency to repel the sun. :(
DeleteAwe. I understand being jumpy. Even though I had a Labrador retriever (Sam) my whole life, I was really scared when my dad wanted to adopt another dog after Sam's death in 2007. I eventually got used to the new dog, but I am very jumpy around big dogs.
Oh, I would absolutely love it!!!! I completely adore animals and would love to live so close to them in the jungle, desert or bushes!!! I live in a small town in South Africa called Kathu which is actually part of the Kalahari Basin, so I do live in the Kalahari already, I just don't live that deep in and I'm not constantly surrounded by the wild and wild animals! Pet's, we've got loads of them, but the wild animals aren't really in the part where I live because we are surrounded by a bunch of towns and mines. I am somewhat of an introvert so I don't really get along with people that well, which is one of the reasons I love reading and animals so much. So being all by myself just surrounded by animals sounds perfect! :) The film Mighty Joe Young with Charlize Theron is one of my all time favorite films, I watched it for like the 50th time a few nights ago, and I would just LOVE to live like Jill in the jungle, and to be so close the the Gorilla's and other wild animals! I think to live like that and be close to the animals and nature would be one of the most amazing things ever!!!! To live in the wild is to be free. :D - Anita Joubert
ReplyDeleteOMG! I am so glad that you commented on this because I've never known anyone who has lived anywhere besides cities, suburbs, or on a farm. Have you ever traveled further into the Kalahari to see any of the animals?
DeleteI would love to stay in the jungle for an extended amount of time. I don't know if I'd necessarily want to live there, but a month or two wouldn't be bad for me.
I unfortunately haven't traveled that far into the Kalahari. And the only places I have seen animals like Lions, Elephants, Gorillas, Tigers, Giraffe, Crocodiles, Rhinos and those types of wild animals have been in zoo's. In the part I live we are a bunch of small town, though none of the towns are close together. The nearest towns are like 30km, 50km, 80km away and so on, and between the towns it's like open road, surrounded by bushes. So the only wild animals we see here is when we drive to another town, then there is a strong possibility to see lots of different kind of Antelopes and monkeys, and sometimes you have to be really careful because they love to run into the road! Hyraxes and Meerkats are all very common around here, the meerkats are even common in town and lots of people here have meerkats as pets. Then of course this place is crawling with snakes! Snakes that are common here are the puff adder, brown house snake, boomslang and the occasional cobra (they like to live deeper into the Kalahari) and the occasional rattlesnake. Then the spiders that are super common here are the Red Romans, Tarantula, Sac spider, Brown Recluse spider, those huge and super fast rain spiders and the good 'ol daddy long legs! There are lots of other bugs too, like the Rhino Beetle, massive ants and don't forget the scorpions! And lots and lots and lots of tick, the grey ones, the brown ones, the red ones, all of them! I swear there are more ticks here than people! Hehehe! I was born here, and I simply love it here, I lived in Cape Town for 6years, I’ve been back here for almost 2, and I can honestly say the only things I miss from the city are the bookstores (we have none, it sucks BIG TIME! Closest is 300km away!) and the cinemas! I CRAVE bookstores and cinemas SO bad!!! And the weather here is insane! We can easily get up to 115degrees here, though the average is around 95-100degrees. It is currently just before 1am and it is 76degrees and the thunder and lightning is going insane outside, though we have yet to see the rain! It is normal here for the weather to be completely normal and hot and sunny all day, and then suddenly within a few minutes you can have thunderstorm and lots of hail the size of golf balls! Here you don’t really work according to the weather charts, here the best thing to do is to watch the sky and smell the air. The weather charts will tell you the week is going to be sunny but we can just look at the clouds and feel the air and we can tell there will be a storm in a few days. Not everybody here can read the sky so easily, but people that have lived here long can guess the coming weather pretty accurately! But just because there is a thunderstorm doesn’t mean it’s going to last! Trust me, sometimes it can be sunny one moment, thunderstorms and heavy rain for about an hour or less and then next moment the sun will be shining again! I love it here, and I love the weather here! And I would love to stay in the jungle or somewhere up high in the mountains, but I think I will always find my way back here somehow. This is home. :D
DeleteHey, any chance to see an antelope or a monkey is pretty cool to me. I've only seen monkeys at the zoo, so I would love to see one in the wild!
DeleteOMG. My friend's dad got bit by a brown recluse a few years ago. His arm swelled up really bad. I'm not afraid of spiders, but I don't really like when I see them in my house or anything.
Thunder and lightning is my favorite! I can't wait until winter breaks so I can finally hear a thunderstorm roll through.
I think it's awesome that you can predict the weather like that. Those are some mad skills, and I would love to be able to do that. :)
It really is fun when you're driving and you see some of the animals! And the view is beautiful, even if it is just bushes, trees, red sand and some dry grass (it's very dry out here so the grass is usually almost always dead through those areas) but I still find the view breathtaking! :)
DeleteI've been bitten by a spider twice that I know of, though I don't know what type of spider and neither does the doctors. One time I was bitten right below my knee, and it swelled up so bad it literally looked like I had a second knee. And the other time I was bitten in my thigh, and it looked like half a tennis ball was stuck under my skin. But I am also allergic to all insect bites, so even just a mosquito bite can take weeks to heal, and if the bite was really bad there will be this very light blue-purple-ish mark left for easily 2-3weeks after the bite is healed.
I've never been the biggest fan of winter, I prefer summer. But as you can imagine it gets super cold here during the winter, even though we never have snow here. I've never been near snow in my life. I'm still wishing for a white Christmas, but I'm definitely not going to get that here! Hehehe! :)
I think it's pretty awesome too, though some people just think it's weird! :)
I can only imagine how pretty it is. Well... there are pictures, but it's not the same. I hope to be able to go on a safari one day. It's on my bucket list.
DeleteI've been bitten by a few spiders in my lifetime, but most of them were minor bites and never really bothered me. I can't even imagine having anything swell to that size. It would probably freak me out to look at it.
I like summer, but I also like winter. It's pretty rare for me to get a white Christmas because it doesn't really snow much in December, and Christmas is always four days after the official start. We've had a lot of rainy Christmases, but I can only remember one or two white Christmases.
You're right, the picture are beautiful but they are not the same. They don't do the real thing justice. :)
DeleteI was between 6-9 years old with both bites, so for me of course it looked super awesome. LoL! But now I would probably find it weird!
A winter and snowy place I would love to visit is the Kakslauttanen Igloo Village. It is SO beautiful there! I think it would make a perfect romantic Christmas getaway! (And by romantic I mean just me and my books!) :) Hehehe! :)
Oh no! Getting bit young is so confusing, but luckily, it's harder to remember when you're older.
DeleteI've never heard of Kakslauttanen Igloo Village, but just the name makes me want to visit! :)
I thought it was the coolest thing! I was showing it to everyone and saying "Look, I'm growing a second knee!", so luckily it didn't gross me out. But it grossed everyone else out... Hehehe! :)
DeleteYou should definitely Google it! It's gorgeous, you'll love it! :)
OMG. You sound like me! I was always showing off my bumps and bruises to people when I was little.
DeleteI looked up the resort! It is so beautiful, and I will have to go there if I ever win the lottery. :)
:) I was always covered in scratches and bruises when I was little! I loved climbing trees, sitting on the roof, climbing over the fence to go play in the overgrown trees behind our house and crazy stuff like that! My brothers and sister always teased me that I wasn't a human child, but that my parents picked up a monkey on the side of the road and then shaved and dressed her! :)
DeleteOh boy! That is funny!
DeleteI wasn't wild or anything, but I was clumsy. I was falling or tripping over things all the time. I even fell off stage during ballet.
I've luckily never really been clumsy like that. I only got hurt from being wild. My most serious injury in my life so far has been when I was around 5-6. My sister, a friend and I were playing in my parents room, I would run across the bed and then jump off the bed and our friend (she was much older) would catch me, and we would do it over and over. Then as I started to run across the bed again, my sister shouted from behind me "Don't look behind you! There's a lion!", so of course the first thing I did was look behind me, but I also kept running, then instead of jumping I fell straight onto my face, split open my bottom lip right in the center on that slight dent everyone has, and I had to get 3 stitches. To this day it is the only time I've gotten seriously hurt, or gotten stitches, and it is the only scar I have. But since it is in the dent part of the lip, unless you know exactly what you're looking for, you're not going to see it! :)
DeleteOh no! That must have sucked so bad! :( With our school concert when I was in third Grade, I was standing right at the front of the stage during our class performance, and for 3 nights in a row I was so scared during the performance that I would trip or take a wrong step and fall off the stage! It was nerve-wrecking for me, so I can only imagine how it felt to fall off!
OMG. Stitches in your lip? That would be so painful!
DeleteIt was pretty funny to fall off stage but totally embarrassing. At least it was only during rehearsal, but still. lol
yes I like but I am not bold enough
ReplyDeleteMe either. That's why I'd probably only stay for a little while.
DeleteI did grow up around animals, but not quite like Sarah or Bindi. I had cats, dogs, rabbits, and birds as a child, and I loved every minute of it! I work at a vet clinic right now and I've always loved animals!
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of cats and dogs too. We also had some birds, turtles, and tons of fish. My neighbors all said that we had our own little zoo. lol
DeleteI would love to grow up around a variety of animals, I had a dog and cats when I was younger, but I love all animals.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I would have loved the chance, but I'm okay with possibly traveling to spend a little bit of time in the wild.
DeleteI would have enjoyed it! I love animals and adventure!
ReplyDeleteSame here, although I would definitely be a little afraid of going in as an adult.
DeleteI would have loved it. I love animals.
ReplyDeleteAnimals are the greatest. I just love how beautiful and powerful some of them are.
DeleteYes! I would've loved to live life of Sarah! Filled with terrifyingly wonderful adventure!
ReplyDeleteRight? I think it would have been wonderful to grow up in that environment. :)
DeleteI really do think that a life like that, in the wilderness and surrounded by animals, sounds amazing but I honestly don't think I'd be able to live like that in reality. I don't think I have what it takes ^^
ReplyDeleteThat's what I think, especially now that I'm older. It would have been magical to grow up that way, but because I didn't, I would be afraid of it.
DeleteOh my gosh, a childhood surrounded by wild animals would be like Tarzan or Mowgli and SO FREAKING COOL. Aside from writing, I'd love to do zoology too and work with animals. THEY ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST.
ReplyDeleteRight? I used to watch all the Steve Irwin shows when I was younger, and I was so jealous of Bindi because she got to live like that. I was convinced that I would study wild animals one day, but that passed.
DeleteNo, I would hate to grow up in the wilderness. I can't stand the heat or bugs.
ReplyDeleteI understand that. I'm not the biggest fan of bugs, but I think it would definitely be a cool experience.
DeleteNope, I like my comforts. Although I wouldn't mind visiting :-)
ReplyDeleteI understand completely. I've become so used to everything I have that I probably wouldn't be able to live like that now.
DeleteI would not have liked it one bit! I am an inside girl through and through!
ReplyDeleteI completely understand. It's not a life for everyone.
DeleteI would have loved to grow up around animals like this. Seems like a simpler, more active and healthy life. I mean, I love the city, but being in such a colorful, interesting place with less pollutants would be amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of the amenities that I have because of city living, but living in wild environments does seem like it would be a lot healthier. Plus how cool would it be to wake up every morning and just admire the surroundings?
DeleteI would like to grown up as Sarah because I would have love to spend more time with animals, and know many different languages. I would probably always have a long sleeve on, so that I wouldn't burn though. :)
ReplyDeleteI would probably always have long sleeves on too. Or at least carry sunscreen everywhere. I need SPF 50 so I don't burn. But the animals would be worth any kind of sunburn.
DeleteI would love to have grown up like Tippi, at home with lots of African wildlife as I love animals and she looks so happy and free in all her photos. I did have the next best thing though- I grew up on a vegetarian 'farm', with pet goats, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, barn owls, ferrets, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish and more!
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think it would have been a blast and made for such a happy childhood. You grew up on a farm? That is the next best thing! I don't know if I'd like all the work of living on a farm, but I love seeing all the animals.
DeleteI would probably say no. Mostly because I like my lifes little luxuries. Of course if I grew up that way I wouldn't know anything different.
ReplyDeleteThat is how I feel. I would have loved it if it was the only thing that I knew, but I've grown used to everything I have. Plus, I think I like my memory foam mattress a bit too much to live in the wild permanently.
DeleteI absolutely would have loved to have grown up among the animals and the wild. Of course, I think certain aspects would be lonely too, but I think I'd have such a stronger appreciation for it all than I do now already since I would be able to see it all up close and personal.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree on the issue of feeling alone, unless you're with a huge group of people, but I guess that rarely happens.
DeleteThanks for dropping by! :)
I think growing up in such an environment would be so cool. Very different, yes, but you're given such an appreciation for the beauty of the world!
ReplyDeleteExactly! It would be extremely different, but just living among the animals would be so awesome. Like how many people can say that they grew up in the wild?
DeleteI would love it! It'd be different, but I think more people would have an appreciation for nature if they grew up in it. I also just love the sights and sounds and the peace!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Growing up in nature probably would have made me more well-rounded, instead of just the yearly school field trip to the zoo. The peace and quiet would be nice too. :)
DeleteNo way. Total city mouse. I would love to visit but not live there forever.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand. I probably wouldn't live there now, but as a kid, I would have loved it.
DeleteUm actually yes, I grew up in the city but spent a lot of my weekends in the country as a child and I loved it!
ReplyDeleteI went to school in the country, but never got the full experience. I still think it would be fun to do an extended stay anywhere in the wild. :)
DeleteIt's hard to pick one or the other but after careful consideration I have to say that I would love to grow up in a similar environment as those girls. I mean just imagine being able to see all the stars at night, to be able to study animals in their natural habitat, to be able to experience the wild world firsthand from the moment you're born. It's like living in a zoo only there aren't any cages.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I felt when I really thought about it - that it was a hard choice. I know that if I could do it all over again, I'd hope for a childhood in the wild. But now that I'm grown, I'm fine with the fact that I grew up in the suburbs.
DeleteYes! I've always envied Bindi cuz I thought her life was so cool! And when I was little I watched the Wild Thornberrys and just wished I could be in their family. I'm real outdoorsy so I think I could make it :)
ReplyDeleteYes! I loved Bindi! I actually just bought The Wild Thornberry's movie not too long ago. I wanted to be like Eliza, but I'm sad to say that I'm more like Deb.
Delete