08/12/2007 16:40 - (SA)
Book review: Around Africa on My Bicycle
Lucas Ledwaba
AROUND AFRICA ON MY BICYCLE (JONATHAN BALL)
AUTHOR: RIAAN MANSER
There is no worse feeling for a read-a-holic than reaching the last paragraph of the last page of a particularly good book, such as Riaan Manser’s Around Africa on My Bicycle. Somehow you wish to turn back the clock to when you started reading the book. But time being the irreversible master that it is, you have no choice but to finish off reading what’s left of the book.
I guess what adds to the feeling of despair is the knowledge that even if you re-read the book, the sensation and suspense would be nothing like when the book’s pages lost their literary virginity to you. So, the only thing left to do in such a case is to finish it and move onto yet another good book. But with a book like this, it’s just not that easy to move on.
The memories stick to you like the tropical forest mud and desert dust that stuck to the author during his amazing, superhuman effort of cycling 36 500 kilometres through 34 different coastal countries of Africa. The story of a feat most of us wannabe adventurers can only dream of, told in the simplest, yet detailed, and most colourful way can only mean hours of reading pleasure even in the most unbelievable places – like a long, almost unmoving queue at the post office.
Manser left Cape Town and headed for the desolation of the Namib desert to start his epic journey sometime in 2004. By the time he returned to his land of birth 808 days later, he had used up about 120 tyres, 90 tubes, crossed 35 borders and experienced things many of us would never experience in our lifetime – the kindness of strangers in far away lands, the spirit of human triumph over the odds, diverse cultures, languages and the numerous, breathtaking and somewhat arid landscapes of Africa.
Manser’s story is not only a lesson in perseverance, guts and adventure, but also a lesson in how fear of the unknown limits us and stops us from reaching out to others and understanding their ways of life. For example, the chapter in which Manser tackles the merciless Sahara desert and the punishing mountains of Algeria, one learns how the West’s potrayal of Muslims has instilled fear in our hearts. Such fear that we often associate any bearded man and a burkha with terror. Manser was also expecting hostility from the people of Algeria, but, of course, what he got instead was lots of kindness and cakes.
Around Africa on My Bicycle is an eye-opener about the continent of our birth, and one can only be filled with admiration for Manser who not only risked his life, like when he ended up in the hands of stoned rebels in Liberia, but also went out into the different countries with an open mind to bring us a story of how the people north of our borders live out their lives.
This is a book every South African who fancies himself a traveller and a lover of the continent should take the time to read. It’s a study in all things a traveller and adventurer requires – patience, guts, diplomacy, respect for his fellow man, different cultures and a penchant for languages. Also, I found it to be a great source of inspiration in tackling the little hiccups we face daily.
It’s simply 705 pages worth each and every drop of ink and every word’s an eye-opener.
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