Dead Men Don’t Leave Tips: Adventures X Africa

Brandon Wilson
Pilgrim’s Tales, Inc. (2005)
ISBN 0977053644
Reviewed by Marcelline Burns for Reader Views (3/06)

The writer and his wife undertook a trip overland from Ceuta in northern Africa to Capetown. As experienced travelers, they were capable of dealing with the challenges of an unusual journey. They did encounter many difficulties, as well as some magical moments, and readers will rejoice with them in their ultimate achievement of their goal.

The adventure is a strong premise for a travel book, reminiscent in promise of Paul Theroux’s “Dark Star Safari,” also an account of an overland trip. Mr. Wilson has an unusual experience to share. Unfortunately, the telling of it falls painfully short of this reader’s expectation. Related with spare, tight narrative, the story almost certainly would have been compelling. Instead, the author has diluted its impact with excessive descriptors that become tiresome. The narrative is not well served by an astonishing abundance of adjectives and flowery phrases. Less would have been so much more!

The couple seems to have compounded an initial lack of planning with poor choices as they traveled. Or … perhaps the author elected to emphasize negative aspects of their journey. Could he have believed that a straightforward, positive account would lack dramatic impact?

One wonders …why did they acquiesce to their companions’ poor choices concerning food and camping sites? Was the heat and the deluges and the delays as awful as described? Why did they agree to travel in a miserably uncomfortable vehicle with incompatible companions and guides, and why did they choose a route that is reported as having often been unrewarding. Was it all really that bad? The description of Tanzania (e.g., “frenzied wildebeest”, heat, red dust) is entirely at odds with my own experiences in that country of friendly people and wonderful wild animals.

The book’s black and white photographs are remarkable in their failure to reproduce the character and beauty of the people, animals, and landscape of Africa. Fewer but better quality photographs would have been a better choice. The single map is inadequate for the reader who wants to track the progress of the trip. The names of companions (e.g., Pooky, Dropsy, The Perfect Couple, Zippy, Trotsky), the attempts to reproduce less-than-perfect English (“Ya jest canna. It’s na’ policy,” she whined. “Ya hafta doo it a’ home.”), as well as unkind descriptions of individuals encountered along the way … serve no good purpose and border on being disrespectful of others.

Approached with anticipation, this book disappointed. Sadly, it falls far short of what it might have been.

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