Dark Star Safari

Jessica inspired me the other day when she opened Pandora's box and wrote a book review on Lost on Planet China. The thing is, Jessica and I read a ton of travel-related books. In the last month, I've gobbled up two travel books, and two pseudo-travel books (micro-finance related... my new obsession). Anyhow, I thought I'd follow suit and record my thoughts on a book I just finished, Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town by Paul Theroux.

Theroux is a well-known American travel writer and novelist who has published many notable books including The Great Railway Bazaar, Riding the Iron Rooster and The Old Patagonian Express among others. He is a fascinating writer, one of the many items I will explain later.

Dark Start Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town, as the second part of the title suggests, is Theroux's account of his voyage from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa. An undertaking of this much geography is impressive, made more so by the fact that Theroux did so alone, and entirely overland. For those of you not familiar, the term overland is the traveler's way of saying entirely by bus, car or train (non-air); a popular form of travel in Europe, but hardly ever in Africa (as it is borderline suicidal - a point made evidently clear throughout the novel). Theroux offers a unique perspective on this trip, as in addition to being a traveler, Theroux was both a Peace Corps volunteer and professor in various parts of the continent in the 1960's. His perspective on the landscape and cultures of the countries he visits is refreshingly accompanied by a historical perspective dating back 40 years on the progress (or frankly, lack there of) in Africa.

Theroux's Safari is chalked full of the standard musings one would expect on such a journey: sites, sounds, people, near misses, food, adventure, history, poverty, deplorable conditions and politics. The story is a fantastic read on these accounts alone. However I was really impressed with this novel for its candid view of Africa; the miserable state of it's social/political/economic legacy, and a fascinating look at Theroux's opinion of the "charity" and "aid" that's been dumped into the continent over the last 40 years. This insight was particularly fascinating to me. The over-arching theme of course, and one I agree with entirely, is how on earth has so much money (a number well into the trillions of dollars) been dumped into Africa only to see nearly every major category of distress get WORSE over the years? How is this an acceptable situation? How has Africa become, in many opinions, the case study for why present-day "charity" is totally a broken system? Have people gone there with good intentions? Lives been changed? Sure, but study the facts: 10's of trillions gone, conditions worse. It's almost unbelievable. It's a Hollywood script: Corruption abound, bogus charity, money never reaching its source, kickbacks, despots and tyrants, "charity" workers in Land Rovers, and as bad as it sounds, the World Bank.

In addition to Theroux's candor, he writes with a certain poetic feel that is somehow reminiscent of a younger Henry David Thoreau. While Thoreau was magical at describing the complexities of nature and its relation to the human condition, Dark Star Safari's Theroux seems to tap into the complexities of Africa and its relation to not only humanity, but charity and strife. I mention this as there is, in my opinion, a void in contemporary travel writing of "good" writing. It seems that 75% of travel books published are your neighbors next store who have gone somewhere foreign and captured their accounts. Few classically trained (award winning) novelists exist in the travel writing market.

My only complaint with this novel is that Mr. Theroux frequently takes a "better than thou" approach to his critique and observation (often judgement) of both Africans, fellow travelers, and those there to "help". While he did teach in the continent, has some contacts there, and is in his elder years, he should not be so quick to assume his superiority. After all, he too, at the end of the day is just a traveler as well. Overall however, this is a fascinating read, and one I'd highly recommend to anyone wishing to be further educated on the continent, its politics, and history.