Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape TownThe legendary travel writer's thrilling and dangerous account of his journey across Africa A rattletrap bus, dugout canoe, cattle truck, armed convoy, ferry, and train. In the course of his epic and enlightening journey--an overland trek from Cairo to Cape Town--wittily observant and endearingly irascible Paul Theroux endures danger, delay, and dismaying circumstances. Gauging the state of affairs, he talks to Africans, aid workers, missionaries, and tourists. What results is an insightful meditation on the history, politics, and beauty of Africa and its people. Theroux returns to the continent he knew as a young man, asking a hard question: After forty years of independence, foreign aid, and political turmoil, what has become of Africa?
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Contents
Lighting Out | 1 |
The Mother of the World | 6 |
Up and Down the Nile | 29 |
The Dervishes of Omdurman | 54 |
The Osama Road to Nubia | 69 |
The Djibouti Line to Harar | 91 |
The Longest Road in Africa | 118 |
Figawi Safari on the Bandit Road | 149 |
Through the Outposts of the Plateau | 278 |
The Back Road to Soche Hill School | 304 |
River Safari to the Coast | 329 |
Invading Drummonds Farm | 349 |
The Bush Border Bus to South Africa | 371 |
The Hominids of Johannesburg | 379 |
The Wild Things at Mala Mala | 404 |
Faith Hope and Charity on the Limpopo Line | 418 |
Rift Valley Days | 173 |
Old Friends in Bat Valley | 195 |
The MV Umoja Across Lake Victoria | 225 |
The Bush Train to Dar es Salaam | 240 |
The Kilimanjaro Express to Mbeya | 261 |
The TransKaroo Express to Cape Town | 437 |
Blue Train Blues | 468 |
Postscript | 473 |
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Addis African animals Arabic asked border boys bush Cairo called Cape Town clothes dark desert Dire Dawa Drummond Egypt Egyptian elephants empty Ethiopian face farm farmers ferry friends hand Harar head hills huts hyenas Indian Johannesburg Kampala Karonga Karsten Kenya Khartoum killed knew Lake Lake Victoria land laughed leave Lilongwe lived looked lovely Mahfouz maize Malawi Maputo Marsabit Mozambique muzungu Mwanza Nadine Nairobi night Nile Nubian political prison railway rain Ramadan river road safari seemed shifta shops smiled soldiers someone South Africa station stay stopped story street Sudan Sudanese Swahili Tadelle talk Tanzania taxi temple things thought told took tourists train trees trip truck Uganda village visa walked walls woman women Zambezi Zambia Zimbabwe