ArtSpoken & Reviews
Afrika, Dispatches from the Outside EdgeMoira de Swardt12/14/2009 08:44:04 
Moira de Swardt: Armchair travellers can undertake an epic journey around Africa which saved and improved lives along with Kingsley Holgate. Every so often I'd turn on the radio (Classic FM) and find "Dispatches from Kingsley Holgate" as he was making his way around the rim of Africa. These brought me great delight for several reasons. One is that Kingsley Holgate is an interesting person who tells his adventure story well. Secondly, the mission of mercy by a South African team is heartwarming. But the main reason I enjoyed his dispatches so much is because they reminded me of a time when I was at school and my father listened nightly to the news of the yachts taking part in the very first around the world yacht race (I Googled this and discovered that this was in 1968). My father, armed with an atlas (and a globe), followed the adventure closely. My routine is not as fixed as it was back in 1968 and I missed many a report, so I was delighted to have an opportunity to follow the adventures of Kingsley Holgate closely, if retrospectively. One doesn't even need an atlas or globe. Holgate has done all the work for the reader. Each one of the 33 countries is written up in turn, illustrated on the map and by a selection of photographs. The narrative is vivid enough to make one believe one is there, half envious at their opportunities to see such wonderful things and have such wonderful experiences, and more than half relieved that it is someone else going through the horrible tribulations and frustrations with petty and corrupt officials and inhospitable terrain. Holgate and his Landrovers set off with a calabash of sea water from Cape Point, travelled up the west coast of Africa, across the top, down the east coast and back to the Western Cape where they started out. The original plan was that this journey would take a year. It overshot the mark somewhat (delays from the outset and by Malaria Day 27 April 2008 the team was only in Kenya) and finally ended at Cape Point 449 days after it began. Each country is counted. It earns black marks or not by the attitudes of its border officials and police. The simple drawings and technically superb photographs are amazing. The little notes on the country sometimes make me smile. I'm learning and sharing the experience vicariously. I sometimes wish there was more depth, but then I realise we have a long way to go and only a short time to do it. The story is gripping and human. One will meet Mashozi, wife, friend and fellow adventurer of "The Beard". One will meet the team, both the core team and those who fly in and out for specific legs of the journey, and share the worry over a colleague and son (Ross) with malaria. The reader will share the joy of seeing a grandchild (Tristan) for the holidays and experience the loneliness of being in love with someone far away. One will acknowledge the need to care for one another and smile at the pleasures of finding fellow South Africans in foreign places. One will empathise with the frustrations of red tape (think of a six hour border crossing into Morocco). And the reader will marvel at the awe of seeing some of Africa's most magnificent sights. I don't want to retell the story - The Beard does it better - but I do want to point out that this is a most enjoyable read, one which held me spellbound from start to finish. Title: Afrika, Dispatches from the Outside Edge Author: Kingsley Holgate Publisher: Struik Travel and Heritage Date: 2009 ISBN: 978-1-77007-504-7 Recommended Selling Price: R279 Moira de Swardt Freelance Journalist moirads@wol.co.za 011 482 7320 082 553 2457 |
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