As soon as I arrived in Botswana I knew I had to write about the place. The colours, the smells, the sounds of the wildlife, the warmth of the people – it was magical.
My family and I had decided to visit the country to go on a safari. While we were there we all wrote diaries and scribbled in sketch pads so that we would have a record of the wonderful experiences we shared. My diary developed into a list of ideas for the book that you have just read! I had already written Monkey Business, which was about how Felix and Flo wanted to have their own zoo and how they got into trouble when they went to visit a safari park in the UK.
While I was in Botswana I could not stop thinking about what Felix would think if he was there with me. I could just see his eyes growing wide at the sight of lion cubs cuddling up to their mum, or at seeing warthogs rooting around in the red earth for things to eat – and, of course, I knew Felix would LOVE the monkeys!
So Monkey Madness is based on the amazing holiday I had in Botswana, and many of the things I have written about really did happen to us: we did see lion cubs up very close, monkeys did steal a can of Coke one day (they did not like the taste and threw it back at us!) and we did camp out and visit a village too.
But best of all we met a kind, warm-hearted man called Bibi, who was our guide. He knew everything there was to know about all the animals, birds and plants, and he told us the most jaw-dropping stories about his life in Africa. He told us about how he canoed to school and had to make a heartbreaking decision about his puppy in order to save his own life.
He also told us about the baobab tree and about how one day his mum found a snake in her car while she was driving. And so this book is dedicated to the real Bibi, who gave us the holiday of a lifetime and taught us things we will never forget. (Just in case you are wondering, he does have a daughter, but she is much younger than Mo – and much, MUCH better behaved!)
Thank you for reading
Love, Anna xxx