The year is 1986. The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 30 seconds after lift-off. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor explodes in the USSR causing the worst nuclear accident in the world. Civil conflicts are taking place around the world. And I just finished reading “The Gruesome Killing of Africa’s Wildlife” in The UNESCO Courier (a publication of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). The destruction of the animals’ natural habitats is described in tragic detail. “The problem is balancing human needs with animal needs.” The animals are losing.

We’ll get the girls before he leaves, I decided. A few weeks later, the five of us were on the plane to South Africa. (All five: my husband, our daughter on college summer break, our daughter on high school summer break, my sister and I) South Africa was chosen because animal habitats were still largely protected by the great game reserves and Kruger National Park. Once we got to Johannesburg, I was eager to get off the plane. This was my second trip to a continent that I loved. As soon as I took my first breath off the plane, I knew I was in this special place called Africa. Nowhere on Earth does it smell the same. When I inhaled the scent of humans, animals, and life itself, I reaffirmed my belief that this is where it all began.

We rented a van to drive to the Mala Mala Kirkmans Kamp reserve in the eastern Transvaal of South Africa. Mala Mala shares a common 26-mile border with the Kruger National Park, making the reserve the ideal place to see rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, and buffalo. Waking up the next morning in our complete thatched-roof bungalows, we begin our photographic safari conducted in an open 4-wheel drive Land Rover. From a temporary confrontation with a herd of elephants to a nightfall observation of a pride of lions, our safari exceeded expectations. Even the meals eaten in the open top with a closed boma with side canes were suburban, especially the mauve pudding that James Michener mentioned so often in “The Covenant.” Before we left, I reminded myself, ask for the recipe.

It turned out that it wasn’t until we got home that I realized I had forgotten to ask. I wrote to our guide to submit the recipe. Several weeks went by with no response. “The Pact” came to mind. Surely James Michener wouldn’t leave South Africa without the recipe, so I wrote to him.

“I’m sorry I don’t have the recipe for mallow pudding,” he replied. “I hope you find it.”

It is always the darkest just before sunrise. The next day a letter arrived from our guide. The year 1986 seemed a little brighter. I shared the recipe with James Michener.

Kirkmans Kamp Malva Pudding

1 cup of sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon of jam (choose your favorite)

1 cup of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup of milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the egg and sugar together. Beat in jam. Add melted butter, lemon juice, and milk. Defeat. Swap the dry ingredients together. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Beat 2 minutes. To place in a baking dish. Cover and bake 1 hour. Remove from the oven and pour the syrup underneath over the pudding as soon as it is removed from the oven.

Syrup

1 cup of cream

½ cup of butter

1 cup of sugar

½ cup of water

Mix in a saucepan. Boil it. Boil 3 minutes.