Saturday, October 6

Dark Star Safari


Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape TownDark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town by Paul Theroux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A marvellous read and moving read.  Theroux, having lived in many of the countries along the east coast of Africa, returns to them to find many of them worse of economically, socially and developmentally than they were in the 1960's.  His message appears to be that the aid dollars given to African nations may be helping in little ways here and there, but these efforts are not helping with the overall improvement of the human and economic conditions in many of the countries he visited.  While help from other nations is important, Theroux repeatedly stresses that African countries must help themselves deal with their own troubles and difficulties.  I have only ever been to one African country so I am not familiar with the complexities of many of the issues.  This book shed some light on these issues, and I will watch and learn more about these nations and their work to become more stable environments for their people.


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2 comments:

  1. Which is the one African country that you have been in Tonia? At least you have been farther than the south of France. Right now I am on the same parallel as Calgary only a little to the East.

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  2. Egypt is the country, which I believe is in your itinerary on this cruise. By the way, you asked me about money in Egypt. You can use American dollars all over the place and get local currency out of the bank machines (as long as you a usable bank card). Have a great time and keep us posted on your travels! Hugs to both you and dad!

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