At the time, he symbolized the personification of an african explorer. .
Livingstone was born near Glasgow in March 1813. His family was poor, but even if David also had to work for the food, he learned latin, greek and mathematics at an evening school. Later, he got permission to study medicine and theology at the university of Glasgow. His simple and firm christian beliefs formed the basis of his character. He had a goal; he wanted to become both a doctor and a missionary. After finishing his studies in Glasgow, he went to London Missionary Society, where he got ordained. .
28 years old, he took his first step on Afican earth in Cape Town. Soon, he came to the mission station Kuruman in Botswana. He continued north by the Kalahari desert and preached the gospel for his first time in Africa. He preached for a tribe which recently had killed four Europeans. This caused no trouble for David as he had been isolated from European communication for about six months, and had learned everything about the botswanien way of living, their language and laws. He was also one of the few explorers who did not treat the natives like dogs. .
In 1843 Livingstone established his mission station in Mabotsa, north of Kuruman. A terrible thing happened in Mabotsa; Livingstone got attacked by a lion which almost killed him. He could later thank his companion for saving his life. But his left arm got hurt, and it would never be the same. He went back to Kuruman to get some rest, and fell in love with Mary Moffat. They marry, have kids and move to Kolobeng by the east side of the Kalahari desert. After some years Livingstone wanted to og further into Africa. He wanted to cross the desert and find the Ngami-lake and the makololo-tribe who lived near by it. He hoped to find a good place where he could build a church, a house and a school, and bring the family there. That way, Livingstones ambitions as a missionary, leads him to become an explorer.
