Life on the Edge, Tristan Voorspuy’s Fatal Love of Africa

24 October 2018

By Adrian Dangar (Temple 81)

Adrian has penned a biography on the life of his friend and former Stowe Parent, Tristan Voorspuy, which was released this autumn by Quiller Publishing.

Once described by the actress, Joanna Lumley, as ‘the man with no fear’, Tristan Voorspuy spent his whole life living up to the legend. Early stints in Northern Ireland and Germany with the Blues and Royals regiment were but a precursor to a life defined by his love of Africa, a life cut tragically short in 2017 on his beloved Sosian Ranch.

From his epic motorbike ride from Cairo to Cape Town, to extraordinary wildlife encounters and many death-defying light aircraft near misses, Life on the Edge paints a picture of a man determined to live life to the full. It is also the story of compassion, conservation and, ultimately, tragedy.

Having set up the acclaimed Offbeat Safaris in 1989, Tristan became a popular and charismatic safari guide, best known for providing his riding safari clients with thrilling big game encounters from the back of a horse. In the last two decades of his life, Voorspuy transformed the overgrazed and drought-blighted Sosian Ranch in Northern Kenya into a celebrated game reserve, acclaimed tourist destination and successful cattle ranch. True to form, it was whilst defending this property that an unarmed Tristan, on horseback, was gunned down and killed in a murder that sent shockwaves around the world.

A donation is being made by Quiller Publishing for every book sold to the Tristan Voorspuy Conservation Trust, which was established in his memory earlier this year. Signed copies of Life on the Edge are available from www.adriandangar.com