An Affair with Africa, C

A self-declared reluctant writer and amateur scientist, Kistner sets out to record her hair-raising experiences in Africa between 1960 and 1973 as the wife and assistant of entomologist David Kistner. She dwells too much on hours spent over anthills--her husband eventually uncovers more than 500 new species of beetles--but the wealth of this narrative is its many fascinating anecdotes in a land where danger is a constant companion. In 1960, the couple is airlifted out of the Belgian Congo as that country descends into chaos. They watch unrest develop in Angola and make a hasty exit from a restaurant in Uganda where an entourage led by future leader Idi Amin--then a military general--creates an intimidating scene. Kistner is swarmed by ants, stalked by a poisonous mamba and held at gunpoint by drunken soldiers. Most valuable, however, are her descriptions of European and African characters at the twilight of the continent's colonial era. The couple meets with prominent researchers of their day--Louis Leakey among them--but also with a European crocodile poacher who keeps peace with various tribes in his hunting grounds by marrying their women and fathering dozens of children in scattered villages. Kistner's storytelling lacks pizzazz and authority--Redmond O'Hanlon or Lyall Watson, for instance, describe science and travel in Africa with more entertaining results--but her astounding encounters with a world now receded into history make this an involving personal memoir. Photos. (July)