Monkeys in my Garden

(Unbelievable but true stories of my life in Mozambique)

It’s hard to believe Mozambique is a country which rarely has stories written about it, when truly extraordinary things happen to the people who live there. Valerie Pixley is one of these people, and she believes that the life experiences she went through were too incredible to keep to herself. Monkeys in My Garden is a true-life adventure story of Valerie and her husband O’D’s life in the Nhamacoa Forest. From an idyllic life in the Algarve that was destroyed by an enormous fire, to a ruin of a house in Mozambique with grass for a roof and no doors or glass in the windows, this is a wild mix of hilarious and hair-raising experiences that involved witchcraft, corruption and even a life-saving miracle. Colourful characters wander in and out of Valerie’s story, including a dangerous spitting cobra and seven armed bandits who attacked her home and stole many of her possessions, including the manuscript for this book – which would have been lost had she not already emailed a copy to her brother in London. Monkeys in My Garden provides a unique insight into life in Mozambique. Valerie’s remarkable experiences reflect the situations that many people living in Mozambique and Southern Africa have often found themselves in.