Heart of Africa (eBook)

What were Livingstone and his fellow Europeans after? The author who gave us Dark Continent my Black Arse travels to the heart of Africa to see for himself. Sihle Khumalo travels into Africa by public transport, and this time to its continental core where the Great Lakes are. Ever the wandering stooge, he recounts with his signature wit and charm the sometimes impossible travails in getting from one point to another, even if the two are not remote at all. However, a much matured storyteller emerges from the pages, making the reading of this book an even more rewarding experience. Khumalo is securing his claim to becoming the premier African exploring the continent, its people and its history through travel and writing.

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<p>150 years separate two explorers of Africa: the Englishman<br>John Hanning Speke and South African Sihle Khumalo. Speke<br>set out to "e;discover"e; the source of the Nile, and Khumalo to<br>fi gure out what the hell Speke and men like him were after.<br>Khumalos 2008 journey to Central Africa was not without<br>its challenges. First he had to outperform his famous<br>earlier trip and book Dark Continent My Black Arse. Then he<br>elected to travel, as before, by public transport only. Which<br>in practice often meant more transit and less transport.<br>Giving himself a mere four weeks, and propelled by a<br>frank fascination with the Victorian explorers, Khumalo set<br>out on a six-pronged quest aiming, inter alia, to ferry across<br>Lake Tanganyika, stand on the equator in Uganda, bungee<br>jump at the source of the Nile, or see if any mountain gorillas<br>were forthcoming (none were).<br>But it was his emotive visit to the Memorial Centre at<br>Kigali, epicentre of the Rwandan genocide, that brought<br>home elemental questions: What is at the heart of Africa?<br>What makes me an African? Where lies my centre?<br>Heart of Africa is the unputdownable account of a journey<br>that seldom went as planned. Khumalos unfailing eye for<br>the good, the bad and the amusing in Africa, his refreshing<br>candour and his sheer cheek, make this book every bit as<br>delightful as its forerunner.</p>