Kaus, meerkat of the Kalahari (Book 1 – The journey begins)

Kaus of the Kalahari is a series of books relating the story of an African meerkat ("Suricata Suricatta") princess that lives in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, Africa. As a slender young meerkat, her mother dies in an altercation with cobras. The lot falls on her to lead her gang to their new home. To fulfil the elder prophesies she takes her clan and embarks on an incredible thousand mile journey to the Northern Kalahari desert. Although she is young and inexperienced she takes the dominant female role and develops her own skills and character as the journey unfolds. They trek through diverse wildlife areas and places of great natural beauty. They travel through different seasons of rain, drought, hunger and plenty. Their journey is packed with danger, adventure, mysteries and discoveries as they interact many wild animals that live in the arid Kalahari desert. The series provides intimate insights into the daily lives and moods of these endearing little creatures, their forage and play, !Kaus's struggle to remain the dominant female, and their turf wars with rival clans. The meerkats' story takes place in the fascinating African Kalahari desert, and accurately depicts to the reader the seasons, amazing landscapes and wonderful wildlife areas such as the Kgalagadi Pans, the wonderful Okavango Delta (a world heritage site), the Chobe river and many other fascinating places. Included in the book are beautiful illustrations and images of the author's oil paintings of Bushment in the Kalahari.