Off the Rails

With a Land Rover, George Stonier and wife Pat decide to head off travelling - London to Cape Town is their goal. Stonier would write some articles (as well as this book) and Pat would photograph wildlife and this would adequately finance their travel.

They start off well enough, driving through France, then onto a ferry through the Mediterranean to arrive in Eqypt. But on reaching Cairo, George is laid low with illness. Admitted to hospital, the diagnosis is “...infection to both lungs. Pneumonia, pleurisy, hepatitus, and jaundice!”... so that should be quickly fixed! This really sets the journey back - 3 weeks in hospital and several weeks immobile recovery in Cairo, while Pat makes the most of her time. George wasn't up to driving again - I am unsure he drove again before the end of the book, but Pat was a quick learner.

Eventually they set off again, through the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. This was followed by a side trip to Basutoland (now Lesotho) and Swasiland.

They spent much time in national parks, stalking wildlife for photography, lots of camping (although with Georges health they spend more time in hotels and as guests in houses), and covered many miles driving. It was probably an interesting time to visit, 1965, as a few of the places visited were experiencing new freedoms - Rhodesia has recently changed to Zambia and Zimbabwe, Batsutoland was about to change to Lesotho, and Tanganyika to Tanzania.

We didn't get much grit from the story - it was fairly vanilla in the telling, with no real excitement. There were some gentle jokes, but overall it was more about the animals they temporarily adopted (hedgehog, a dog, various birds, a mouse) most of which met untimely ends!

Hard to recommend this one, a mild start to the 2025 reading year!
3 stars.