
Now you say – Content, Passion, Presentation ... I’d add here Humans, Spirituality, Planet Earth – how do they connect ... come on Hilary explain ... and so I will ...
Film Poster: Directed by Dereck Joubert; Narrated by Jeremy Irons; Released Palm Springs Film Festival – showing in the USA (NYC, LA & Washington DC) – I hope they bring it across to England and the rest of the world. I’ll ask the Eastbourne Film Society to have a showing.
Who has not been to Southern Africa, who has been and who is alive – these posts and the videos are for you .... for any number of reasons ...
Ever heard of Brain Pickings? It has some staggeringly interesting information .. and I love it. This particular post surpassed that ... because it’s about a part of Africa that I’ve been fortunate to visit five times ... and would dearly go again tomorrow - the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Map of Botswana - the Delta in the north west; the Zambezi in the north east; while the Limpopo forms the Botswana border with Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Brain Pickings is about curating interestingness — picking culture’s collective brain for tidbits of stuff that inspires, revolutionizes, or simply makes us think. It’s about innovation and authenticity and all those other things that have become fluff phrases but don’t have to be – and is Maria Popova’s brain child.
In this post Maria has highlighted something that’s essential knowledge to us as humans in the life of planet earth. The photos she shares from the Jouberts’ life and the short YouTube video gives you a taster of the critical elements that the Jouberts cover in their TED video.
The TED introduction: National Geographical photographers Beverly and Dereck Joubert live in the bush, filming and photographing lions and leopards in their natural habitat. With stunning footage (some never before seen), they discuss their personal relationships with these majestic animals — and their quest to save the big cats from human threats.

“Bittersweet and poignant, The Last Lions is a stride-stopping story of urgency and hope, reminding us of our duty to honour and protect these powerful yet surprisingly fragile beings of poetic pride and mythic magnificence.”
Okavango Delta: Has thorny acacia savannah, the terrain also includes winding waterways with banks of reeds, palm-covered islands, thick forest and lush, lily-covered lagoons where hippos bathe and sport.
So how can I justify the words in my title and opening paragraphs .. easy really – read the post, watch the two videos – you’ll be hooked as I was ... these ancient dramas of nature play themselves out to the eternal dance of Africa ...

You will see content, Kings, presentation, sparkle, emotive language describing our spirituality and the passion of the Jouberts.
Enjoy ... it is riveting .. and if you’re better than me at spreading the word of the film – please, please do so ... if it is to be – it is up to us.
Let me know!!
Credits: (1) Maria Popova of Brain Pickings for the inspiration for this post;
And (2) the Jouberts for their incredible dedication to the African bush, one of our last wildernesses on earth.
BrainPickings.org - the post:
www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/02/22/the-last-lions/
TED Video: Life Lessons from the Big Cats by Beverly and Dereck Joubert
blog.ted.com/2010/12/20/life-lessons-from-big-cats-by-beverly-dereck-oubert-on-ted-com
This is the Amazon non-affiliate link for the book The Last Lions
Dear Mr Postman – life is interesting isn’t it! My mother had a good day and we talked about an interesting funeral I’d been too – a man who described himself as a ‘controversialist’; then I mentioned Kestrel is opening a Dementia Unit on the lower floor and I had a book with some case studies.
Immediately she said – that’s important - and would I read some of it to her! I duly did .. she does amaze me – still interested in learning ... so many elderly give up .. as you’ll see shown so clearly in nature in the film (with a twist).
For my other Okavango posts - Please use the search box
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories