On Dark Star Safari

[Jrock]

I had the opportunity to buy this book at the Jo'burg Intl Airport last August, when I was travelling out of Nigeria for the second time. This time I was off to Zimbabwe...

I found the book terrific, as I am myself a travel-loving Verne fan. On the chapter in which Theroux expressed his confusion at how the white woman could forgive and even provide jobs for her child's black killers only goes to show how Christ's love surpasses all human understanding.

On the whole, it was a great, candid book. However, I wonder if Paul has ever been to West Africa. His journeys only took him through mostly East and Southern Africa, so in reality, he went thru Africa, but not round it. His comments on African govt, development, poverty, etc , were particularly incisive, but they can't be said to be all-encompassing. Southern Africa's history and experiences are totally different from the West African story, and from my sojourn in Zimbabwe, bitterness still exists in many quarters.

I have recently been reading Woodruff's "Concise History of the Modern World", and I love it. To all African's, and especially Southern Africans in general, I would say blaming the West for all our woes is pure self-deception. [One magazine, "New African", is infamous in this regard.] Our destiny is in our hands and we have the chance to make Africa into what we want it to be.