Colm Reid is an enthusiastic wannabe journalist working for the Irish Telegraph with dreams of being sent to dangerous locations like his hero Aileen O’Connor. A born and bred Irish man who has never left the island but yearns for that one story that will change his life. We first find Colm trudging through a museum where he is attempting to make an interesting story from what looks like an old brown rock with a tiny cut along the surface. However, the story turns out to be about a long-extinct brown bear that lived on the emerald isle thousands of years ago, and he manages to spin a romantic tale about the losses we ignorant humans have inflicted upon our precious world. Antony Dunford skilfully used the brown bear to get us into the story and it is a recurring theme throughout.
Colm has a fantastic home life and a wife he adores, but the next story is all he can think about. His editor wants one last front-page scoop and asks Aileen to go on a wild goose chase to Africa ( this is why I picked the book as it was about Africa and as soon as I see that I am in.) But Aileen has other ideas and so the next on the list is the guy who has never been anywhere in his life.
Colm finds himself thrust into a world he does not understand. One minute he is arguing with his co-worker about which day of the week he gets the desk, and the next he is arriving in the Congo on a wild goose chase for a long-lost white rhino that has not been seen in years. Antony Dunford, the author, does a great job of showing how Colm is feeling and what is going through his head as he drops into a totally foreign environment.
I was enthralled by Born the Same from the moment I started it and read it in three sessions, only because 3 am arrived and I had to get up in the morning, or it would have been two sessions! Antony Dunford is a great writer keeping the reader entertained from page one to the end. The story has some great characters that come alive on the page, they are real with real emotions and motives.
Colm has to get used to jungle life quickly, he meets an over-enthusiastic Norwegian from Kenya and his strange sister who is desperate to see this famed white rhino. Colm finds the weather, the country, and the people all incredibly alien.
He suddenly finds that there is more than one story to be told. The rangers at the station protecting their beloved animals from the poachers, their devotion to the protection of the park when no one else seems to care or even know the park exists.
Suddenly, Colm gets thrown into a whirlwind adventure; he is captured by local poachers/rebels and has to head off into the jungle. His life is now worthless and in the hands of lunatics with guns. Colm knows nothing about this world or how he will survive. He hunkers down and tries to concentrate on the stories around him and how to make the best of his situation.
Born the Same takes us on an emotionally charged ride through the depths of the Congo jungle. Colm faces death on more than one occasion, and he is saved by a person he would never have dreamed would be there to help him in his hour of need.
Born the Same is a great book, the sequel is already on my list of books to read. I never give five stars in a review, as they are saved for the Hemmingway’s and Tolstoy, but on this occasion, I was tempted.
My advice would be to grab a copy of Born the Same find a comfy quiet seat then settle in for a great read.
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Below are some more useful links about Safaris in Africa- Enjoy!
Mark Dawson | The Vault
James A. Ross | Hunting Teddy Roosevelt
Wayne Stinnett, John Cunnigham, Nick Sullivan, Nicholas Harvey| Graceless
Through the Leopard’s Gaze | Njambi McGarth
The Sahara Legacy | Ernest Dempsey
Stephen King | A Memoir of the Craft
Petter Rimmer- Echoes From the Past
Track Down Africa | Scott Conrad
