Do Not Take this Road to El-Karama (eBook)

An often humorous, generally cheerful, occasionally exasperated account of a trek through eight African countries, all with British or South African colonial pasts. At the same time it is a journey through the characters of those countries, comparing them with one another, assessing their relative strengths and weaknesses, their Britishness and their Africanness, and looking at their post-independence histories through the sceptical and cynical yet fresh eye of someone born at the time that many of them achieved independence. The book is a blend of discovery and discomfort, hope and happiness, establishing finally that even if everybody in those countries holds a view on most things and none of them knows what it means to be South African (or, in many cases, that it is possible to drive to Johannesburg) a South African is, all in all, a good thing to be.

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Tired of tragic stories, Chris Harvie sets out to see thepositive side of the 'Dark Continent' and to enjoy its life andlaughter. Do Not Take This Road to El-Karama is the entertainingaccount of an epic road trip that takes him from hishome outside the Kruger National Park to the banks of theNile in Uganda - and back again.In his haphazard and somewhat eccentric travels, Harvieencounters missionaries and mechanics, locals and ex-pats,rascals and rogues. Delving into his own mixed British andSouth African identity, he tries to fathom - in his trademarkwitty and sardonic style - the post-independence nationalcharacter of the southern, central, and east African countriesthrough which he and his companions pass.Delightfully opinionated, brimming with interesting facts,questionable comment and dubious speculations, this bookis essential reading for anyone with more than a passinginterest in Africa, travel, history and people; in a good read;or simply in being alive.