DIRT ROADS IN AFRICA 1975 Kenya Uganda Zaire (Congo) Overland Turkana Samburu
Item History & Price
DIRTROADS FOOTLOOSE IN AFRICA MARY COLEGILL & MACMILLAN
1975First edition.
This is the remarkable chronicle of a young Irish teacher who decided to abandon the conventional opportunities open to her at home and take the less predictable ones offered by Africa. She found herself part of the ' small and battered battalion' of young people from Europe, America, Australia and elsewhere who were also in search of adventure, storing up experience against the emptiness and misplaced prioritie...s of their own civilisations, some simply to learn and connect.Dirtroads is Mary Cole's account of her African years and it covers a scene that few tourists ever experience. Her story begins in Nairobi from where she set off with two companions to explore on foot the territories around Lake Rudolph, a mysterious area of searing desert and warring tribes. They survived, against all the odds. And why did she do it? ' To get the fat off my soul' she replies. Later she returned to northern Kenya to teach among the Samburu at Maralal. Living alone in a tiny one-room house outside the town she shared the landscape with zebra, buffalo, hyena and elephants and was gradually absorbed into village life. Yet she understood that no matter how long she stayed she would always be the intruder, the spearhead of a world of indifference. And she moved on.Her further travels took her through Uganda and on to Zaire; journeys rich with encounters made possible by her willingness to be involved and a state of mind purged of western conceptions of time and value. Otherwise to live as she did among the pygmies of the primitive Ituri forest would have been a less rewarding experience. This is an enchanting book which captures the flavour of the African overlander's lifestyle. And it is also a vivid testimony to the values and motives of a generation that insists on seeing the world extending beyond their own society and culture.22 x 14 cm. 246 pp + b/w photo plates.Very good + condition, dust jacket faded on the spine, hint of foxing to page edges, otherwise clean and tidy. The first 200 pages tell the story of the author's safari to Lake Turkana, and to Lamu Island. Part 3 (p. 137-97) is of special interest, since it provides a graphic description of the author's experiences in teaching at a secondary school in Maralal, and her remarkably sensitive account of the Samburu. Her picture of Kenya and Uganda at the beginning of the 1970s is unique: few would have survived with such good humour the hardships she endured. (Kenya; Collison)
Buyers in CANADA.Please note, I will only ship to Canada by a tracked service due to the policies of the Canadian Customs service which cause severe delays. Unfortunately this is more expensive than ordinary Air Mail, so if you are unwilling to pay please do not bid, sorry about this.
1975First edition.
This is the remarkable chronicle of a young Irish teacher who decided to abandon the conventional opportunities open to her at home and take the less predictable ones offered by Africa. She found herself part of the ' small and battered battalion' of young people from Europe, America, Australia and elsewhere who were also in search of adventure, storing up experience against the emptiness and misplaced prioritie...s of their own civilisations, some simply to learn and connect.Dirtroads is Mary Cole's account of her African years and it covers a scene that few tourists ever experience. Her story begins in Nairobi from where she set off with two companions to explore on foot the territories around Lake Rudolph, a mysterious area of searing desert and warring tribes. They survived, against all the odds. And why did she do it? ' To get the fat off my soul' she replies. Later she returned to northern Kenya to teach among the Samburu at Maralal. Living alone in a tiny one-room house outside the town she shared the landscape with zebra, buffalo, hyena and elephants and was gradually absorbed into village life. Yet she understood that no matter how long she stayed she would always be the intruder, the spearhead of a world of indifference. And she moved on.Her further travels took her through Uganda and on to Zaire; journeys rich with encounters made possible by her willingness to be involved and a state of mind purged of western conceptions of time and value. Otherwise to live as she did among the pygmies of the primitive Ituri forest would have been a less rewarding experience. This is an enchanting book which captures the flavour of the African overlander's lifestyle. And it is also a vivid testimony to the values and motives of a generation that insists on seeing the world extending beyond their own society and culture.22 x 14 cm. 246 pp + b/w photo plates.Very good + condition, dust jacket faded on the spine, hint of foxing to page edges, otherwise clean and tidy. The first 200 pages tell the story of the author's safari to Lake Turkana, and to Lamu Island. Part 3 (p. 137-97) is of special interest, since it provides a graphic description of the author's experiences in teaching at a secondary school in Maralal, and her remarkably sensitive account of the Samburu. Her picture of Kenya and Uganda at the beginning of the 1970s is unique: few would have survived with such good humour the hardships she endured. (Kenya; Collison)
Buyers in CANADA.Please note, I will only ship to Canada by a tracked service due to the policies of the Canadian Customs service which cause severe delays. Unfortunately this is more expensive than ordinary Air Mail, so if you are unwilling to pay please do not bid, sorry about this.
