Product Description

'I looked behind me. The road was empty, except for tracks that now appeared blindingly obvious to me - lions, one sole human fool walking amongst them, and in the other direction desperate scampering hoof marks, drawn long in the sand as a warthog ran for its life'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7966 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-29
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
He writes beautifully and viscerally about the rhythm of bush life... as a reader you can't help but get caught up in the author's infectious enthusiasm for Africa's beauty and its beasts. On turning the last page, booking the first plane out to Botswana was most tempting. --TNT Magazine

Allison's writing is high on colour and is packed with engaging accounts of the sort of things that are just another day at the office for the average safari guide. If you love the thrill of safaris this book is for you. It is full of hair-raising stories of escape and adventure in the bush. Having worked for more than twenty years in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique, the stars of Allison's show are hungry lions and territorial hippos. There are some white-knuckle tales of dodging landmines too... --Sunday Telegraph

Allison's writing is high on colour and is packed with engaging accounts of the sort of things that are just another day at the office for the average safari guide. If you love the thrill of safaris this book is for you. It is full of hair-raising stories of escape and adventure in the bush. Having worked for more than twenty years in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique, the stars of Allison s show are hungry lions and territorial hippos. There are some white-knuckle tales of dodging landmines too... --Daily Telegraph

This is a wry and immensely colourful account of a young man's adventures as a safari leader in Botswana. Scared of heights, unfamiliar with the gym and terrified of an innocuous little tree-frog, high school drop-out Peter's rapport with the job is not immediately obvious ... A hugely eloquent writer in spite of severe mid-safari injuries to the head, he masterfully paces suspense. You'll never look at an innocent safari tour the same way again. Hapless and shamelessly self-deprecating, he possesses the asset of a perfect story teller the ability to poke fun at himself. Witty, exciting and ultimately unmissable. --Real Travel

About the Author
Peter Allison is originally from Sydney, Australia. His safaris have been featured in National Geographic, Conde Nast Traveler, and on television programs such as Jack Hanna s Animal Adventures . He travels frequently to speaking appearances, and divides his time between Botswana, Sydney and San Francisco. www.peterallison.com

Customer Reviews

Authentic flavour and variety, but lacks bite.
I had great hopes for this book, and it is packed full of juicy anecdotes, some funny, some touching, and some making one doubt the sanity and humanity of those in authority.

But, while Peter Allison obviously experienced all his stories, and the descriptions are resonant with my own memories of fifteen years in or near the bush, somehow the book comes across as being too much about him and his frailties, and not enough about the majesty and mystery and intensity that is Africa.

If one reads the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith, one can almost feel the heat, taste the dust and hear the characters talking over the background thrum of the insects; you are there. But not quite so with our safari guide, and I still can't put my finger on what is missing. The flavour is genuine enough, and most people who have never been to Africa will be very happy to read this book, however, like an insipid curry, the bite is missing.

Who am I to criticise? I grew up in Central Africa, close to the bush. We lived with the mosquitoes, flies, and spiders of all sizes, snakes, warthogs, jackals, hyenas, and the occasional antelope and their predators; and the maximum-noise walk (to frighten them away) in the dark down the garden path to the PK to answer a call of nature was fraught with danger in the mind of this child. One always knew when a neighbour fulfilled a similar summons, the stamping walk and the clatter and slam of toilet seats and lids vigorously knocking loose undesirable extras was unmistakeable.

Yes, this is a good book, and it brought back lots of memories, but I think it could have been so much better, hence only four stars.

For a much more authentic flavour of African wildlife with full bite and then some, although admittedly very dated, and these days possibly not quite politically correct, may I suggest you try reading Jock of the Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, preferably a version with the superb original illustrations.

A Walk Where the Wild Things Are
Working in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, Allison's career as a safari guide has left him with a wealth of stories to share. From his appalling driving, to his penchant for landing himself in close (and frequently very dangerous) encounters with Africa's wildlife - elephants, hippos, lions, leopards, cheetahs and sharks, to name but a few. His writing is engaging, often very funny and always filled with his love for the continent and its spectacular animals.

His willingness to reveal his own faults and mistakes adds real charm to his adventures, while mentions of poachers, man's interference and nature's harsh realities keep this book from becoming just an amusing collection of anecdotes.

True, the guy's clearly crazy, but he does tell a good tale.

A good read
I really enjoyed this book. It gives the reader a totally different view of the animals of Africa. There is very little about the tourists the author was paid to drive around the African bush but a lot about the animals. He is pursued by elephants, held hostage by lions and leopards and has difficulty noticing them in the bush when he is trying to point them out to tourists. In one frightening incident he sees some oranges on a roadside tree and rushes to pick some - realising when he has got several paces that the reason they have not already been picked is because the trees are in the middle of a minefield.

I loved the character of some of the animals he describes - the lion who chases his own tail and tries - unsuccessfully - to climb palm trees; the leopard who visits him in his hut and finds it not up to her standards; the elephant who takes exception to him getting too close. Some of the incidents are hair raising but the author's love of, and interest in the animals shines through. The book is a good substitute for going on safari yourself - and much cheaper.