Swahili For The Broken-Hearted
Cape Town to Cairo by any means possible
Running away to Africa wasn’t meant to be this much fun!
A week after breaking up with the GND (my travelling companion through Central America) I headed off to Africa to lose myself for a while.
In the grand tradition of 19th-century scoundrels, explorers and romantics, Africa strikes me as the ideal place to find solitude and anonymity in the face of a personal crisis.
It didn’t quite work out that way, of course.
As I travelled from the southernmost city in Africa to the Pyramids of Egypt, I fell in with a motley cast of characters and had a myriad misadventures: including narrowly escaping a riot by hiding in a coffin shop in Addis Ababa, ‘starring’ as an extra in a WW2 epic in Nairobi and dodging 20,000 single woman trying to catch the eye of the king of Swaziland during the annual Reed Dance.
Oh, and then there was the time when I was kicked out of Robert Mugabe’s birthday bash at gunpoint…
So much for the recuperative powers of a Masai Mara sunset.
“Relayed with his dryer-than-the-Sahara wit, Moore captures the spirit of contemporary Africa. Brilliant!”
Good Book Guide
Start your journey now
Here’s some good news. Swahili For the Broken-Hearted is available to download as an eBook right now. With just a couple of clicks you could be on your way from Cape Town to Cairo. Pole pole!
Photos from the trip
Please forgive the poor quality of the images in this gallery. The originals are in a storage unit in Australia, so I’ve had to use images from when the web was slow and high resolution was a curse rather than a blessing. I plan to visit my storage unit some time this year. When I do, rest assured, the image quality will improve dramatically.
Eugene Van Schalkwyk
4 years agoHi Peter,
My name is Eugene. I’m from South Africa. I think your way of writing is awesome.
I never was never really into reading and one day I picked up The Wrong Way Home, great book. Then I got myself a copy of The Full Montezuma and Vroom With A View.
I week ago I ordered Swahili For The Broken-Hearted. Just finished it. I think they all great, just one problem. I think you under judged South Africa. You weren’t even in most of the city or you just past by. I stay in Nelspruit. There is lots of site viewing to see outside Nelspruit, I stay on a farm deep in the bushes with mountains surrounding me.
But keep up the books, can’t wait to get a copy of Vroom By The Sea.
Peter Moore
4 years agoHi Eugene,
Thanks for your comment. I was really pleased to hear that my books got you back into reading.
Re: South Africa. That’s a very valid point. I was just passing through. And my opinions were very much influenced by the people I met and the places I went. I hope you didn’t get the impression that I didn’t like South Africa. In many ways it reminded of Australia. And your place near Nelspruit sounds like paradise.
When I passed through, which is a while ago now, there was some underlying tensions bubbling away. And then when I went into Zimbabwe, with all its problems, it struck me that that was what could happen to South Africa too.
It hasn’t, thankfully. And from what I can see from afar, even some of the rougher parts of Jo’burg have been transformed. I’ll just have to get back out there and check it out for myself. I’ve always wanted to do a big trip down the west coast of Africa, finishing in Cape Town. Maybe I should swing by and check out the delights of Nelspruit when I do!
Anyway, thanks again for your comment.
Cheers
Peter
J Mdumulla
4 years agoHi Peter,
Just finished reading your book Swahili For The Broken Hearted.
I feel like I have travelled with you. I can sense the dust, smells, you paint such vivid pictures.
I wish you wrote a bit more about Tanzania. It seemed you just passed through it but didn’t take much note like the other countries.
I am hooked though, so I must get all the other books.
Any reason you chose the wise Swahili headings?
Nadja Cyr
4 years agoDo you have a picture of the toilet on the overnight train in Egypt? I remember seeing it somewhere.
Peter Moore
4 years agoHi Nadja,
You’re right. I did. When I upgraded the site I left it out. But seeing as you asked nicely, here it is:
Enjoy!
Mark Dabbs - Walsall's Running Ambassador
3 years agoDear Peter
At the start of chapter 10 – Nkhata Bay, Malawi – second paragraph you have put the wrong name of President Banda – it is Hastings Kamuzu Banda, not Zazuma you have the wrong middle name. Sorry.
Peter Moore
3 years agoHey Mark,
Don’t be sorry! Your correction is very much appreciated and probably something my editor should have picked up!
I’m in control of the eBook version, so I’ll make that correction right now. I’ll also forward your message to my publishers. Hopefully they can correct it for the next reprint.
Cheers!
Alexa
7 months agoFunny how broken hearts could gear us to greatness!I loved this read…
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P. S the town in Kenya is Isiolo not Isiola.