Skeletons in the long grass, live bullets in the garden and drunken soldiers roaming the town - this was the writer's first introduction to life in Africa. Swimming With Swallows is the perfect book for the armchair traveller.It is often funny, sometimes sad but always informative and entertaining. With her vivid descriptions the writer has captured the beauty and horror of Africa and has enabled the reader not only to see, but to taste and smell the reality of life in the cities and on the vast plains. This delightful book recalls her early days in West Africa with a young family - their magical and sometimes frightening adventures. She shares with us her involvement in a local marriage and funeral, her confrontation with a mad man in her home and the discovery of a murdered body in the town. Having returned to England the writer continued to travel, like the swallow, between Africa and Europe for the next twenty-five years. She explored the continent's deserts, its mountains and lakes before finally settling in SW France. She includes recipes collected on her travels, leaving us with a true flavour and taste of her fascinating life.