Overview
A week after breaking up with the GND – my travelling companion in The Full Montezuma – I ran off to Africa to lose myself for a while.
Following the fabled Cape Town to Cairo route, I used public transport to go from the southern most city in Africa to the pyramids of Egypt.
Wild animals. Corrupt border guards. Political turmoil. Upset tummies. This book has got it all.
Favourite Photos
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe: This photo was taken on the old iron bridge that spans the Zambesi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
A hawker had set up his wares to sell to tourists taking photos of Victoria Falls. I thought these soapstone hippos looked like they were returning home after a long day doing whatever it is hippos do.
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The Wrong Way Home
London to Sydney overland. Regarded by many as my ‘classic.’ I must admit I have a soft spot for it too.
The Full Montezuma
Six months travelling through Central America with the GND, a girl I’d only just started going out with. Does it all end in tears?
Absolutely brilliant !!!! This is now my favourite book ever. My husband passed away 8 months ago tomorrow – I was thinking of ways to give my life meaning, so thought I’d sponsor a child. By luck I ended up with a child in Tanzania and decided to learn Swahili so I could visit one day. In my google searches to find a way I could learn Swahili, I came across this book – read it and loved it.
Just finished this book this morning – the last page was a lesson for me. Great work Peter – shall read all your other books.
Hey Felicity – I’m glad my book has helped you during this tough time. Good luck with learning Swahili. I’d pay good money to watch you try out some of the proverbs at the start of each chapter in Tanzania!
Hey Peter, thanks. The book really did help me laugh again (a lot).
What a great idea ! I’ll do that and will post footage of the blank looks on villagers’ faces due to my poor pronunciation. Mind you, my Swahili course promises “learn to speak like a native and blend in” so I guess they’ll hardly notice me……
Peter, Just finished reading Swahili for the Broken Hearted, which I came across quite by chance (lying on someone’s coffee table!). I lived for about twelve years in Zambia, Uganda, Rhodesia many years ago when m y husband was working, and have such happy , different , memories of it all. i was intrigued to read of your travels through parts that I knew well, and hear how they have changed – after all the wars and unrest in all the countries I lived in. Somehow, we always just seemed to leave one country before the trou bles took off seriously, and I feel I saw it all at the best of times., so I can remember it with good feelings. I laughed a lot at some of the antics and could empathise with it all. Thank you so much for such an enjoyable read. Made me now want to read more of your books. Whatever happened to us in Africa – both good and bad, I feel that one never quite gets it out of the system and it will always stay with me.
Regards Janet
March 2011
The funniest book I’ve ever read. Laughed and laughed. But also enjoyed how you described the tension you felt in various scary situations…and survived them. Picked it up by chance in a secondhand bookshop…so pleased I did. I’ve just ordered three more of your books. Can’t wait.
Wow! Thanks for that! Might have to start quoting the ‘Funniest book I’ve ever read’ bit on the cover.
Seriously, glad you enjoyed the book. Especially when you’d taken a punt on it in a second-hand bookstore. Hope my other can compete!
Forget it if you ever had any intentions of travelling anywhere in Africa.
Basically if its not done the European (Austrialian) way, then its wrong and outrageous.
Peter followed in Paul Theroux footsteps in his view of Africa. Yes the book is humourous, but c’mon give us a break.
One of the main reasons why we visit africa is to get away from the routine lifestyle of the developed world. Getting up the same time everyday to meet the same faces on your way to work. To pick up a frozen chicken from Tescos Express, To leave in your small world where you dont even bother to get to know your next door neighbour’s first name. To be sworn at by some 10 year old.
Africa on the other hand has something different to offer. Yes we have a big corruption problem. I will not even get into a debate about the resources the west is plundering from Africa, the main cause of corruption.
Africa offers sponteneous lifestyle. Everyday is different. You may find yourself running after a chicken for dinner. Just nip to the back garden to harvest some corn for today’s snack. Things dont come in packets. Life is not controlled the way it is in the west.
Africans are happy. That is probably why peter was always amused when his fellow passangers on the bus seemed oblivious to the delays and breakdowns. We have less stress and rarely throw ourselves on railtracks (if any).
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comment. I agree wholeheartedly with what you are saying about Africa and had hoped that that had come across in the book. Paul Theroux – if I remember rightly – seemed overwhelmingly negative about the place. My view at the end of the trip was that although the continent is blighted by corruption, poor infrastructure etc we in the west could learn a lot from the African attitude. I have never meet people so ready to laugh, despite the hardships.
Yes, I found humour in the breakdowns and delays. In the corruption and petty bureaucracy. But hopefully I balanced that by suggesting it didn’t really matter, that the joke was on me as an uptight foreigner. (The truck ride in Sudan, being the perfect example.) Well, that was what I was trying to do anyway.
The journey from Cape Town to Cairo was one of the most exhilarating, frustrating, liberating and just plain difficult trip I’ve ever done. But in the most blighted corners I experienced the most amazing hospitality. Like you said, that’s what makes Africa such a great place to travel.
Hi Peter, Just wanted to point out you say you played a German Soldier in your paragraph ‘Movie stardom, beckoning’ above, when actually you played a prisoner I believe. I’m reading this book again after a few years as I lent it to my 82 year old father and he loved it. I’m the police freemason by the way (actually not a cop or freemason) you sent a book to a few years ago in Bournemouth. I came to your talk in Camden. Anyway I’ve been living in Argentina for 5 years now and I’m waiting for you to write a South American adventure. Maybe starting in Buenos Aires and then a few beers in my new home city of Rosario. Of course being a married man you wouldn’t be interested Rosario has the most beautiful girls in the world and fantastic Mendoza wine for 2 quid a bottle. Currently 6.5 pesos to the pound to boot. Seriously if you ever fancied Argentina my Argentinean wife was a travel agent and could point you in all the right directions. We also have a language school that could help with your spanish. It hasn’t helped mine much. I absolutely love it here and would never return to live in the UK.
Anyway, keep up the good work and look me up if you ever make it over here.
Regards
John
Hey John – thanks for that. You’re right. I was a prisoner not a soldier. Subconsciously I must still be smarting over the decision made by the casting person! I’ll amend immediately.
Re: Argentina. Never been but it’s near the top of my ‘must go’ list. And my Spanish needs a lot of work. I’ll make sure to get in touch when I finally get over there.
Cheers!
Just wanted to say the book is the best thing that had ever happen to me… Not really but everyone should read it.
Yes, they should. And who knows? It may well be the best thing that has ever happened to them!
I absolutely love “Swahilli for the Broken Hearted”. As a Kenyan born, British citizen with a sister living in South Africa this book took me right back to the infuriating, beautiful and wonderful continent that I so love. Thank you so much Peter. But I have to say that I must give up reading your books, they just make me want to travel! !
I’ve loved all your books so far but swahilli for the broken hearted was perfect timing. After just coming out of a relationship and picking this book up as I arrived in Johannesburg, I can’t imagine a better book for me to have read at this time. Plus the travel advice was awesome! All I can say is thanks
Keep taking epic journeys and writing about them so I have something to read and laugh about on my own journeys!
Hi Peter,
We just wanted to let you know that this book has inspired us to do our own African trip! (albeit not with broken hearts…) We found the book hilariously exciting and interesting… especially the part about the goat on the bus roof!!!!! I think we both read it in about 2 days!
We are trying to go everywhere as far as Malawi that you’ve written about in 7 weeks – catching the Baz Bus, Jollyboys in Zambia, Horse trekking in Lesotho, the Ilala in Malawi…
If we hadnt read your book (which we almost didnt as it was a recommendation from Roz’s mum and dad… they dont always give the best recommendations about books on Africa) we may have accidentally been going to Europe instead of the amazing African continent! (not really a bad thing either).
Anyway, we just wanted to say thankyou for all the laughs and for giving us inspiration!
Roz (20yo) and Tom (21yo)
Hi Peter,
I picked up Swahili in a bookshop a few months ago and really enjoyed it. I couldn’t believe how much kindness you experienced in amongst all that poverty.
I’ve always had a craving inside me to see other cultures and ways of life, but at the age of 29 I’ve still never summoned up the courage! But reading your books (after Swahili it was Vroom, Wrong Way Home and now onto Montezuma) I’ve realised that I shouldn’t be scared, I can do it! Although I think that for my first go, I won’t be travelling through any war zones! Maybe on the second trip.
Planning on doing Vietnam-Laos-Thailand at the end of the year and will definitely be leaving room for one of your books in my bag. I was really happy to see that you liked Laos so much, Luang Prabang is on my itinerary, so can’t wait for that. Keep writing… I’m going to run out of books soon!
Cheers,
Lisa
Worcestershire, UK