In 1996, Scott Griffin left the comfortable routine of his life as a successful businessman to fly solo to Africa in his single-engine Cessna 180 to work for the Flying Doctors Service, an African organization that flies doctors and nurses to remote areas to administer medical assistance. My Heart is Africa is an engaging personal story of his two-year adventure but it is also the story of Africa -- its problems and people, its landscape and limitations, its culture and courage. Griffin's intrepid flying odyssey takes the reader on a journey across Africa and into the lives of the doctors, nurses, aid workers and eccentric characters that crossed his path along the way. All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to the AMREF Flying Doctors Service.
"Little did Kiwi woman Denise Carnihan know that what started as her son's school project on 'family origins' would result in visiting her newly discovered family in South Africa in 2009, and lead her and her family on a completely different life journey, culminating in building a fully functioning school in a poor region of Kenya in 2011. Inspired by her initial adventure, Denise decided to do a volunteer stint at an orphanage in Kenya and after witnessing the poverty and squalor first hand, she understood the enormous importance placed on education in this developing country. "Wouldn't it be cool if we could build a little school in a big slum for say 50 kids was the random comment she made to her husband, Chris when they both returned to Kenya the following year. Incredibly, this became the reality for Denise and Chris Carnihan from a small coastal town in New Zealand. They then literally "stumbled" head first into building and establishing their very own primary school - in a large slum, opening with not 50 children as planned ... but 117. Within 18 months the roll had grown to 380+ children and 12 staff. Denise, talks passionately about her love for Africa and her beautiful African journey. And she describes candidly the joys; the immense satisfaction and the overwhelming drive needed to persevere, together with the enormous challenges, battles, and frustrations in establishing a project in a slum of Kenya, where communication and culture operate in extremes"--http://www.isharemyheartwithafrica.com.
Banff Mountain Book Awards WINNER The spellbinding true story of retracing the extraordinary trek of Ewart "the Leopard" Grogan—the legendary British explorer who, in order to win the woman he loved, attempted to become the first person to cross Africa In 1898 the dashing British adventurer Ewart Grogan fell head-over-heels in love—but before he could marry, he needed the approval of his beloved's skeptical, aristocratic stepfather. Grogan, seeking to prove his worth and earn his love's hand, then set out on an epic quest to become the first man to cross the entire length of Africa, from Cape Town to Cairo, "a feat hitherto thought by many explorers to be impossible" (New York Times). A little more than a century later, American journalist Julian Smith also found himself madly in love with his girlfriend of seven years... but he was terrified by the prospect of marraige. Inspired by Grogan's story, which he discovered by chance, Smith decided to face his fears of commitment by retracing the explorer's amazing—but now forgotten—4,500-mile journey for love and glory through Africa. Crossing the Heart of Africa is the unforgettable account of these twin adventures, as Smith beautifully ineterweaves his own contemporary journey with Grogan's larger-than-life tale of cannibal attacks, charging elephants, deadly jungles, and romantic triumph. SOCIETY OF AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITERS WESTERN WRITING AWARDS WINNER: GOLD PRIZE (TRAVEL) BANFF MOUNTAIN BOOK COMPETITION WINNER: SPECIAL JURY MENTION AMERICAN SOCIETY OF JOURNALISTS AND AUTHORS AWARDS BEST-BOOK WINNER: MEMOIR
Dot Bekker was born and raised in Bulawayo in the south-west of Zimbabwe. After thirty-eight years away ¬- twenty of those in Europe - she decided to return to the country of her birth; however rather than hop on a plane, Dot chose to drive there: all by herself at the age of sixty, in a twenty-year-old 2WD Ford Transit van that she converted into her home. Dot spent eight and a half months covering 20,000km of some of the toughest overlanding routes in the world, through West and Central Africa. This is her story.Follow Dot's extraordinary 20,000km adventure in her first book, Going Home to Africa, where she describes the ups and downs she faced over the course of her grand expedition: the countries, the people, insane traffic, corrupt borders, marriage proposals, perilous potholes and good old Africa Roadside Assistance.Her fascinating journal also highlights the varied landscapes and cultural history of Africa that she discovered along the way, the strange, funny and sometimes terrifying situations that she encountered, and the numerous challenges that she and BlueBelle endured - all the while navigating her own personal internal journey.At the time of writing Dot still lives in and travels with BlueBelle whenever possible and can be seen out and about meeting people and making things happen in her beloved Zimbabwe. Since her return to Bulawayo, Dot has been tirelessly seeking ways to improve the future for rural communities in Zimbabwe. Her twenty years of business coaching experience is helping to enhance their traditional lifestyle with 21st Century technology in order to actively encourage sustainable development. Another of her passions is giving vulnerable and disadvantaged girls access to education, to which end she created the non-profit organisation, Kusasa. She very much believes that making progress in the gender equality/equity agenda through education is vital for her country.She is also already working on the sequel to Going Home in Africa, which will detail the experience of returning to her homeland and the many joys and challenges she has faced since her return, it will be titled Being Home in Africa.Alongside all this, she has also decided to encourage more women to visit Africa and will be running small women-only group tours from 2022 in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. Watch her Facebook page for details of Going Home to Africa Tours.To find out about Dot's journey as it continues, look at @goinghometoafrica on Facebook and Instagram or on the website www.goinghometoafrica.com for blogs and updates. To find out about the girls' education fund, look at @kusasa.africa on Facebook and Instagram or on the website www.kusasa.africa.
With magical illustrations from Joan Rankin, and poetry from masterful storyteller, Wendy Hartmann, The African Orchestra lyrically captures the magic of the African sounds of nature. From the clicking of crickets to the crackle of the fire, follow the journey that celebrates these sounds, in the rhythm and music of Africa.
"Little did Kiwi woman Denise Carnihan know that what started as her son's school project on 'family origins' would result in visiting her newly discovered family in South Africa in 2009, and lead her and her family on a completely different life journey, culminating in building a fully functioning school in a poor region of Kenya in 2011. Inspired by her initial adventure, Denise decided to do a volunteer stint at an orphanage in Kenya and after witnessing the poverty and squalor first hand, she understood the enormous importance placed on education in this developing country. "Wouldn't it be cool if we could build a little school in a big slum for say 50 kids was the random comment she made to her husband, Chris when they both returned to Kenya the following year. Incredibly, this became the reality for Denise and Chris Carnihan from a small coastal town in New Zealand. They then literally "stumbled" head first into building and establishing their very own primary school - in a large slum, opening with not 50 children as planned ... but 117. Within 18 months the roll had grown to 380+ children and 12 staff. Denise, talks passionately about her love for Africa and her beautiful African journey. And she describes candidly the joys; the immense satisfaction and the overwhelming drive needed to persevere, together with the enormous challenges, battles, and frustrations in establishing a project in a slum of Kenya, where communication and culture operate in extremes"--http://www.isharemyheartwithafrica.com.
This creative collection brings together Africa poems by South African poet and writer, Wayne Visser, including the ever popular "I Am An African", as well as old favourites like "Women of Africa", "I Know A Place in Africa", "Prayer for Africa" and "African Dream". The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like "Africa Untamed" and "Land of the Sun".
“A page-turner. The portrait of Africa that emerges is disturbing, tender, and harsh. . . . A tremendous read. I couldn’t put it down.” —Abraham Verghese, New York Times–bestselling author of The Covenant of Water A seasoned war correspondent, Jeffrey Gettleman has covered every major conflict over the past twenty years, from Afghanistan to Iraq to the Congo. For the past decade, he has served as the East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times, fulfilling a teenage dream. At nineteen, Gettleman fell in love, twice. On a do-it-yourself community service trip in college, he went to East Africa—a terrifying, exciting, dreamlike part of the world in the throes of change that imprinted itself on his imagination and on his heart. But around that same time he also fell in love with a fellow Cornell student—the brightest, classiest, most principled woman he’d ever met. To say they were opposites was an understatement. She became a criminal lawyer in America; he hungered to return to Africa. For the next decade he would be torn between these two abiding passions. A sensually rendered coming-of-age story, Love, Africa is a tale of passion, violence, far-flung adventure, tortuous long-distance relationships, screwing up, forgiveness, parenthood, and happiness that explores the power of finding yourself in the most unexpected of places. “Aptly displays why [Gettleman's] a Pulitzer Prize winner and a New York Times bureau chief . . . there's a thrilling immediacy and attention to detail in Gettleman's writing that puts the reader right beside him. . . . An absolute must-read.” —Booklist, starred review “Love, Africa offers a key to understanding humankind’s past and future and a key to understanding our hearts.” —Sheryl Sandberg
What does it take to know oneself? To fully realize one's life dream? For some it may take a lifetime, and for others, the chance may never come. There are those who dream and have the courage to take the first steps past the threshold of familiarity. Their stories, like mine, are etched on the avenues we dare to traverse. The Cape to Cairo road is where I, a black female soul-searcher, faced my greatest trial in confronting my fear of losing my mother to cancer, trying to keep old love alive, and make my childhood dream come true.
Explore Africa's Spices, Tastes and Time-Honored Traditions In Flavors of Africa, Evi Aki shares the traditional Nigerian dishes she grew up enjoying, as well as typical eats from all across the continent. She introduces customary recipes from each of Africa’s different regions, including meals from Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, Angola and more, all of which she collected with the help of relatives and family friends. Sample tried-and-true staples that have survived generations, like Nigerian Red Stew, Jollof Rice, Moroccan Spiced Lamb and Eritrean Red Lentils with Berbere Spice Mix. Enjoy Evi’s unique spin on classics like West African Egusi Soup and Ewa Oloyin (a vegetarian bean dish), in addition to her lighter and healthier take on traditional African street foods like Zanzibar Pizza. Whether you’re a foodie, a spicy food aficionado or simply looking for a colorful new cuisine to try, Flavors of Africa is an excellent map for your culinary journey.
