Dead Men Don't Leave Tips: Adventures X Africa - Softcover

Brandon Wilson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0977053644 ISBN 13: 9780977053643

Publisher: Pilgrim's Tales, Inc., 2005

Synopsis

What does it take to follow your dream? Quite a bit, if your dream involves crossing Africa. That's what one couple discovers when they set off on a seven-month overland journey from London to Cape Town.

As dedicated independent travelers, they'd already traveled around the world. But was a trans-African odyssey too much for even them? Who do you "cadeau?" How do you create tantalizing dishes from grubs? Or avoid having a spear tossed through your camera?

With trepidation, they join an English do-it-yourself overland safari. Flung into the midst of twenty odd companions, they're shocked to discover that many of them have never even camped before. And the "guides" know Africa as well as the dark side of the moon. After their dream turns into a nightmare, they eventually set off across Africa-alone.

DEAD MEN DON'T LEAVE TIPS is a captivating tale filled with a passion for travel, spontaneity and unbridled adventure. It is often funny, sometimes anguished, yet always real. Nothing is held back or glossed-over. Wilson takes you onto the crazed roads of Africa, through the everyday ups and downs, and into the lives and hearts of its people. He shows us once again that the real joy of travel is the thrill of getting there.

From the Lowell Thomas gold award-winning author of Over the Top & Back Again, Along the Templar Trail, and Yak Butter Blues.

Reviews: "Journeys of body and soul in every sense of the word... Interlaced with this honesty and detail are Wilson's beautiful prose, obvious passion for adventure and a deep inquisitiveness about other cultures, making this book a pleasure to read. Highly recommended." ~ Midwest Book Review

"A masterful crossroads of characters, exotic places, history and human drama in a rig that never stalls, and allows the devil to drive his own ill-behaved backyard..." ~ Richard Bangs, legendary adventurer, author of "Mystery of the Nile"

"Entertaining and a monument to those who would take on the challenge of land travel across one of the most dangerous, unhealthy continents in the world." ~ Heartland Reviews

"Honest, gritty and insightful...it makes the world's most exciting continent read just like that." ~ John Heminway, author of "No Man's Land: A Personal Journey into Africa"

"I was swept away by the drama and storytelling...Wilson is never a tourist. He travels heart-first with both feet solidly on the ground and his curiosity always in high gear. He is exactly the right person to be writing travel books for the rest of us." ~ Joseph W. Bean, Maui Weekly

"Travel writing at its most sublime, a paean to Africa in all her contradictory beauty, and a tribute to the resiliency of those who travel beyond boundaries not only in search of meaning, but also of understanding." ~ C.W. Gortner, author of The Secret Lion

"One of the most engaging travel books we have read." ~ RealTravelAdventures.com

"Powerful and gripping story...Fascinating, informative, humorous, poignant, surprising...a terrific read from first page to last-would make a popular addition to any personal or community library Travel section." ~ Midwest Book Review, Travel Shelf

"Aficionados of travel books will delight in "Dead Men Don't Leave Tips"...a hybrid of Paul Theroux and Tom Robbins, combining the raw frankness and keen observation of Theroux with the intelligent humor & playful language of Robbins...Readers who have a penchant for traveling will happily devour this book and be sorry it ended. I was!" ~ A. Buklarewicz, Reviewer, Amazon.com

About this title

From the Publisher:

DEAD MEN DON'T LEAVE TIPS: Adventures X Africa by Brandon Wilson is, at first glance, a story about a couple’s seven month, 10,000-mile, 17-country trans-African odyssey – overland across Africa from Morocco to Cape Town. After their organized overland safari turns into a nightmare, they set off across Africa alone.

More an adventure story than a scholastic treatise on Africa, this book takes readers across Africa as these "everyman" travelers photo-stalk mountain gorillas, breakdown in the Sahara for two weeks, hunt with Pygmies, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, explore the Serengeti, hop a "gun-run" through Mozambique's civil war, raft Zambezi rapids and arrive in South Africa as Soweto erupts into violence.

It is humorous, anguished and brutally real. Nothing is painted in the typical writer's wide brush extolling one beautiful sunset or another glorious setting. This book exposes the humor and frustration of crossing a land where the rules change daily. The reader experiences first-hand the ups and downs of independent travel in a land still little-known by Western audiences.

On the other hand, it also lends a human face to the continent that is vastly different from the one portrayed in the news or non-profit commercials.

From the award-winning author of YAK BUTTER BLUES: A Tibetan Trek of Faith.

From the Author:

This is not your typical African tale, as ours was far from your typical journey. It's one thing to travel on a high-end luxury safari where all your needs are filled and you can gasp with wonder at the beauty that is Africa. Ah, the bliss... This is the glossy travel magazine ideal. Then again, it's quite another when you find yourself with your brand-new wife on a do-it-yourself, Ship of Fools, overland trip from London to South Africa. This was our fate.Consequently, you'll find this book is a little different than my others. Admittedly, it's unsanitized for your protection. For better or worse, I tell-all and expose the gritty day-to-day conflict of traveling a continent with 20 too-close-for-comfort companions. (Patience is a virtue that still eludes me.)As soon as possible, my wife and I strike off on our own and dive headfirst into the Africa we'd always dreamed about. We climb Kili, dance with Pygmies, white-water raft down the Zambezi, shoot the gun-run across war-torn Mozambique and photo stalk mountain gorillas in what was then Zaire. It was something different every day--and we loved it--and were impressed by the ordinary African people we met along the way.Yes, it was one of our most difficult trips (hey, it was seven months long), but we were rewarded with great memories and tales as we explored this diverse continent. Hope you enjoy joining us.(Please note: This edition was re-edited in 2009 to correct a few place names and facts.)Table of Contents
Chapter I. Gale Force Getaway
Chapter II. Afffricaaaaa! (Morocco)
Chapter III. Survival In The Sahara (Algeria)
Chapter IV. The Cosmic Dance (Mali)
Chapter V. Voodoo Wakes, Python Snakes (Togo/Benin)
Chapter VI. Baboon Platoon (Nigeria/Cameroon)
Chapter VII. Ubangui Anguish (C. A. R.)
Chapter VIII. Jungle Trance, Pygmy Dance (Zaire (Congo))
Chapter IX. Gorilla Stalk, Volcano Walk (Zaire/Burundi)
Chapter X. Whirling Wildebeests (Tanzania)
Chapter XI. Land of the Masai (Kenya)
Chapter XII. Challenge of Kilimanjaro (The Climb)
Chapter XIII. Border Extortion (Tanzania)
Chapter XIV. Leave Your Pants at the Door (Malawi)
Chapter XV. Road of Pain, Legacy of Shame (Mozambique)
Chapter XVI. Zambezi, Sea of Torment (Zimbabwe)
Chapter XVII. Barking Dogs, Invisible Walls (South Africa)
Chapter XVIII. Assembling the Mosaic (Retrospective)

About this edition

• Publisher: Pilgrim's Tales, Inc.
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0977053644
• ISBN 13: 9780977053643
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 276
• Editor: Bob Rich