As I mentioned in my overview, "My Heart is Africa" is one of the best books I've read this year. Griffin's easily understood yet tastefully descriptive writing style, the fascinating characters, and the refreshingly unique story speed the reader through this book like a cheetah on the hunt. Although he did occasionally discuss the plight of the African people, he did not get fixated on the theme of extremely terrible things happening to incredibly nice people, which seems to be the only thing one hears about Africa now. Gone are the days when it was a land of beauty and power. It has now become a feel-good money pit for the purpose of feeding the West's guilty conscience. "My Heart is Africa," however, follows in the spirit of movies such as "Zulu" and "Out of Africa" in portraying the continents immense natural and cultural beauty.
Excerpts from other books providing details and background, historical, technical, or otherwise, contributed immensely to the novel. The words and phrases in local African languages, most often Swahili, also satisfies that feeling of "authenticity" that readers sometimes look for, as well as exposes you to a form of communication unlike anything we are familiar with.
Griffin's book does a splendid job of conveying to the reader his experiences in Africa, and what living there can actually be like. Top marks all around.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Travel Writing Blog #9 - Chapter 15 & Epilogue
Weighing in at a grand total of four pages, chapter fifteen is the shortest chapter in the book, but perhaps the most meaningful. In it, we follow Griffin from Dakar, to Tangiers, and a happy reunion with Krystyne. After perusing the cafés of the former "international zone" for a few days, and enjoying one last deep breath of Africa, they part once more as Scott for his second solo transatlantic flight. Throughout the book, you gain an understanding of the deep bonds of friendship that this couple has for each other. The fact that they could spend two enjoyable years in Africa together just proves how close they are, and the trip must also have strengthened theirs bonds.
Stopping over in Greenland after a thirteen hour flight from Iceland, Scott attends a Pentecostal Mass in the local Parish church. Although he has contemplated philosophical questions, perhaps with the occasional metaphysical tinge, this is the first time we see him partake in organized religion.
Arriving back in Toronto, he taxis his plane to the hangar, and walks over to the mechanics area. Sure enough, there's his old mechanic, Dave McDevitt, working on a plane - just Griffin way he left him two years earlier. This is perhaps the signal that Griffin must return to his old life now. Not necessarily pick up where he left off, or change his style of life again, but he must adapt back to something that has become a memory for him.
Scott Griffin's perspective on life was undoubtedly changed by his experiences with the Flying Doctors Service. But that refreshed and renewed him so he could continue his life in a more meaningful way in Toronto.
Stopping over in Greenland after a thirteen hour flight from Iceland, Scott attends a Pentecostal Mass in the local Parish church. Although he has contemplated philosophical questions, perhaps with the occasional metaphysical tinge, this is the first time we see him partake in organized religion.
Arriving back in Toronto, he taxis his plane to the hangar, and walks over to the mechanics area. Sure enough, there's his old mechanic, Dave McDevitt, working on a plane - just Griffin way he left him two years earlier. This is perhaps the signal that Griffin must return to his old life now. Not necessarily pick up where he left off, or change his style of life again, but he must adapt back to something that has become a memory for him.
Scott Griffin's perspective on life was undoubtedly changed by his experiences with the Flying Doctors Service. But that refreshed and renewed him so he could continue his life in a more meaningful way in Toronto.
Travel Writing Blog #8 - Chapters 13 & 14
After Scott and Krystyne Griffin happily dump their two flirty, narcissistic Norwegian passengers in Cape Town, South Africa, they continue on their flight up the Western side of the Continent. In chapter thirteen, entitled Blood and Diamonds, you are exposed to an Africa familiar to anyone paying attention to current events - the African diamond mine. Alexander Bay, a crucial De Beers location, is one port of call, where even the air-traffic authorities are employees of the diamond conglomerate.
In Windhoek, Namibia, they meet up with Serge Petillon once again, the French photographer with whom they acquainted themselves while stuck in Loiengalani after their South Island plane crash. Together, they travel North into the Namib Desert, Serge feverishly snapping photos all the way.
Throughout the first three quarters of these chapters, Griffin thinks more and more about going home, a thought that has continually been nagging him for two years, but is now coming closer to being a reality. Unfortunately, this also reminds the reader that the story must end at some point. He doesn't necessarily long to move back to their old life in Toronto, but he knows that he and Krystyne need to make a choice: stay in Nairobi permanently, or go home. One gets the sense that, had they been twenty years younger, and not had as much waiting for them at home, they would have stayed in Kenya. However, in the last part of chapter fourteen, Krystyne departs for Tangiers by commercial flight, where she will meet Scott in a number of days. Scott prepares to fly Charlie Foxtrot Whiskey Mike Juliet across the dangerous Central and Western regions of Africa, in order to complete his goal of circumnavigating the Dark Continent.
In Windhoek, Namibia, they meet up with Serge Petillon once again, the French photographer with whom they acquainted themselves while stuck in Loiengalani after their South Island plane crash. Together, they travel North into the Namib Desert, Serge feverishly snapping photos all the way.
Throughout the first three quarters of these chapters, Griffin thinks more and more about going home, a thought that has continually been nagging him for two years, but is now coming closer to being a reality. Unfortunately, this also reminds the reader that the story must end at some point. He doesn't necessarily long to move back to their old life in Toronto, but he knows that he and Krystyne need to make a choice: stay in Nairobi permanently, or go home. One gets the sense that, had they been twenty years younger, and not had as much waiting for them at home, they would have stayed in Kenya. However, in the last part of chapter fourteen, Krystyne departs for Tangiers by commercial flight, where she will meet Scott in a number of days. Scott prepares to fly Charlie Foxtrot Whiskey Mike Juliet across the dangerous Central and Western regions of Africa, in order to complete his goal of circumnavigating the Dark Continent.
Travel Writing Blog #7 - Chapters 11 & 12
As we work our way through the second half of the book, Griffin and Krystyne decide to fly CF-WMJ to South Africa, making another out-trip out of their journey to inspect newly erected AMREF buildings in S.A. Here, Griffin provides ample historical details on the locations they stop at along the coasts of Tanzania and Mozambique. He often refers to a book entitled "Africa" by one John Reader, and excerpts from that text provide context and details for the reader, perhaps in a more effective way than Griffin felt he could do it himself.
He also introduces two new characters, who serve as a counter-point to his new African lifestyle. The two Norwegian girls, Katrina and Elizabeth, who are daughters of a friend of a friend, still live that old "Toronto" lifestyle that the Griffins have abandoned. After making it through this much of the book, the reader has almost adopted that African lifestyle for themselves, and feels the same exasperation and annoyance at the girls sexy, provocative, "fashionable" behaviour. This is an incredibly effective tool as a writer, because it shows the reader just how much their mentality has changed after reading this far into the book.
We also meet a number of white South Africans, including some seventh-generation Scottish ones, who give us a view into a side of Africa entirely ignored by the rest of the world: that of the white African, descended from Europeans, but having no ties there, and living amongst the vicious in-fighting and racism of the blacks. Bill Brown is genuinely scared for the future of his family farm, and his relatives, as their future in Africa is uncertain.
He also introduces two new characters, who serve as a counter-point to his new African lifestyle. The two Norwegian girls, Katrina and Elizabeth, who are daughters of a friend of a friend, still live that old "Toronto" lifestyle that the Griffins have abandoned. After making it through this much of the book, the reader has almost adopted that African lifestyle for themselves, and feels the same exasperation and annoyance at the girls sexy, provocative, "fashionable" behaviour. This is an incredibly effective tool as a writer, because it shows the reader just how much their mentality has changed after reading this far into the book.
We also meet a number of white South Africans, including some seventh-generation Scottish ones, who give us a view into a side of Africa entirely ignored by the rest of the world: that of the white African, descended from Europeans, but having no ties there, and living amongst the vicious in-fighting and racism of the blacks. Bill Brown is genuinely scared for the future of his family farm, and his relatives, as their future in Africa is uncertain.
Travel Writing Blog #6 - Chapters 9 & 10
Chapter nine opens by introducing us to the most important character in the book. Or, perhaps more acurately, by developing the most important character in the book. He reveals to us the name he has given his plane, which is his main method of transport around the continent. Charlie Foxtrot Whiskey Mike Juliet, or CF-WMJ, was his name for his plane as well as the aircraft's code. Giving his plane a name personalizes it a little more for the reader, and makes another connection to the story for us.
Griffin also talks about his experience with some of the safaris he went on in Africa, and portrays for us the natural beauty of the African continent. "The desert after the rains was beautiful. A profusion of flowers of every conceivable colour and type - glorioso surperba, the desert lily, tribulus, and cleome in sherbet yellows, mauves, and whites - arose in splendid array from the desert sand overnight." This is one of the most profound experiences Griffin says he has during his stay in Africa, and his thoughts turn to his wife, Krystyne, his lifelong partner, who he compares to the polar stars.
The next chapter, however, relates the tale of Scott and Krystyne's stay in Tanzanian custody after landing illegally on the Tanzanian side of the Mara River, the border between Kenya and Tanzania. Once in the Serengeti Game Park, they are arrested and spend nearly two days in the custody of local police and game officials. This episode in their travels illuminates the readers to the extent of the corruption and inefficiences that exist in most African authorities. After landing a few hundred feet within the border, they are arrested and taken miles from their plane, to two different towns, in search of an official that is both present and able/willing to do his job. When that search fails, they are able to bribe their exasperated guard into letting them go free. Yet another escape under their belts.
Griffin also talks about his experience with some of the safaris he went on in Africa, and portrays for us the natural beauty of the African continent. "The desert after the rains was beautiful. A profusion of flowers of every conceivable colour and type - glorioso surperba, the desert lily, tribulus, and cleome in sherbet yellows, mauves, and whites - arose in splendid array from the desert sand overnight." This is one of the most profound experiences Griffin says he has during his stay in Africa, and his thoughts turn to his wife, Krystyne, his lifelong partner, who he compares to the polar stars.
The next chapter, however, relates the tale of Scott and Krystyne's stay in Tanzanian custody after landing illegally on the Tanzanian side of the Mara River, the border between Kenya and Tanzania. Once in the Serengeti Game Park, they are arrested and spend nearly two days in the custody of local police and game officials. This episode in their travels illuminates the readers to the extent of the corruption and inefficiences that exist in most African authorities. After landing a few hundred feet within the border, they are arrested and taken miles from their plane, to two different towns, in search of an official that is both present and able/willing to do his job. When that search fails, they are able to bribe their exasperated guard into letting them go free. Yet another escape under their belts.
Travel Writing Blog #5 - Chapters 7 & 8
Throughout his stay in Africa, Griffin displays an incredible knack for getting out of "African situations," or situations you could only get yourself into in Africa. Witness the presence of tribal tension in the last blog. But Griffin's incredible luck is no better illustrated than in the passage about his flight back from Lake Turkana to Nairobi. After extensive and far from perfect field repairs to his Cessna, Griffin makes the two hour flight back, only to discover afterwards that, among other things, his left wing was held together only by the plane's shell, and would have disintegrated with a good bump. On top of that, his engine crankshaft had a hairline fracture, which could have resulted in engine failure mid-flight.
The author says it best however, "these sobering facts were best not dwelt upon." To make light of the incident, Kipsoi's spear is hung over the pilot's common room door.
It's at this point that you start to realize how well you feel you know Scott and Krystyne Griffin. The character development all starts to come together, and you bond with Scott during his ordeal trying to rescue his plane. You really want to see him succeed in his effort to rescue his plane.
At the end of chapter eight, another lesson in the fragility of life is taught to Griffin. David Huntington, one of his few close friends in Africa, and a UN worker there is killed in a car crash on the N'gong Road. Life must now go on for Scott with one less person to confide his troubles in.
The author says it best however, "these sobering facts were best not dwelt upon." To make light of the incident, Kipsoi's spear is hung over the pilot's common room door.
It's at this point that you start to realize how well you feel you know Scott and Krystyne Griffin. The character development all starts to come together, and you bond with Scott during his ordeal trying to rescue his plane. You really want to see him succeed in his effort to rescue his plane.
At the end of chapter eight, another lesson in the fragility of life is taught to Griffin. David Huntington, one of his few close friends in Africa, and a UN worker there is killed in a car crash on the N'gong Road. Life must now go on for Scott with one less person to confide his troubles in.
Travel Writing Blog #4 - Chapters 5 & 6
Griffin displays another example in chapter five of the kindness and selflessness of many African people. The story he relates deals with a young French pilot named Michel, and his decision to fly a mission at night, against Service policy, to rescue a girl hemorrhaging after birth. Flying to Sabarei, on Kenya's Northern border with Ethiopa, would take two hours, and that put their arrival time well after sunset. Michel is undeterred, however, and his thirst for approval from the other pilots lands him in a middle-of-nowhere mud-pit, at night, with a dying girl to be loaded, and a potentially disastrous take-off over water to look forward to. After Rose, the nurse, loads the girl, Michel makes an incredibly close take-off, risking more lives than his own to get them of the groud.
The patient ends up dying, as does Rose's son, but that vignette shows the devotion of some Africans to helping others and contributing to their country.
Chapter six, however, details Griffin's own experience with a crash, this time on South Island in Lake Turkana. His writing here very effectively conveys the intense embarrassment he felt after marooning himself, Krystyne, and Kipsoi, a Samburu warrior who sold his spear for a plane ride, on the deserted island. His fear for his plane and the lives of those he's brought with him is evident as he recalls the event, and their situation is little improved when Turkana fisherman arrive on the scene. Kipsoi freaks out (Turkana and Samburu tribesman don't play well together), while the Turkana end up sniffing gas from Griffin's plane and charging the castaways for food and assistance.
Putting on another display of his apparent luck/skill at making miraculous escapes from stressing situations, the group are rescued by a Kenyan Army helicopter. The Major in command and his men are killed shortly after leaving Griffin and Krystyne at Loiengalani, adding more emphasis to the already clear message this chapter sends about the fragility of life, especially in the African desert.
The patient ends up dying, as does Rose's son, but that vignette shows the devotion of some Africans to helping others and contributing to their country.
Chapter six, however, details Griffin's own experience with a crash, this time on South Island in Lake Turkana. His writing here very effectively conveys the intense embarrassment he felt after marooning himself, Krystyne, and Kipsoi, a Samburu warrior who sold his spear for a plane ride, on the deserted island. His fear for his plane and the lives of those he's brought with him is evident as he recalls the event, and their situation is little improved when Turkana fisherman arrive on the scene. Kipsoi freaks out (Turkana and Samburu tribesman don't play well together), while the Turkana end up sniffing gas from Griffin's plane and charging the castaways for food and assistance.
Putting on another display of his apparent luck/skill at making miraculous escapes from stressing situations, the group are rescued by a Kenyan Army helicopter. The Major in command and his men are killed shortly after leaving Griffin and Krystyne at Loiengalani, adding more emphasis to the already clear message this chapter sends about the fragility of life, especially in the African desert.
Travel Writing Blog #3 - Chapters 3 & 4
"I remember the jacaranda trees," Griffin says at the beginning of chapter three, vaguely echoing Meryl Streep's "I had a farm in Africa" opening to her Academy Award winner "Out of Africa." Griffin, however, goes on to describe a very different Nairobi from that of Baroness von Blixen/Isak Dinesen's stories.
Chapters three and four take us from Griffin's arrival at the Nairobi Club, where he ends up living during his two year stay, through his first meeting with Mike Gerber, the director of AMREF/The Flying Doctors Service, the arrival of his wife Krystyne, and a flight with an aging French member of the Service's staff, nicknamed "Mama Daktari." He also introduces the cast of characters who make up the hangar crew of The Flying Doctors Service.
During one of his first out-trips, he accompanies eighty-eight year-old Dr. Anne Spoerry, or "Mama Daktari," as she's known to her African patients, to Marsabit, a small town in the Northern region of Kenya, East of Lake Turkana. There, he is introduced to the age-old interaction between Africans and whites, and the way Africans view medical assistance. Dr. Spoerry sets up shop at the airstrip, while the villagers, walking the one mile from their homes, pour in throughout the day for attention. They treat each other with respect, and Mama Daktari does what she can for as many as she can, but at the end of the day, the line is still long, and many go without help. Still, however, as Griffin and Spoerry pack up their gear, the locals break out into song, celebrating the Daktari's visit.
Griffin starts to introduce Swahili into his writing in this chapter. "Mugumu" (fig tree), "jambo" (hello), and "asante sana" (thank you) are some of the words he takes from Swahili, the language spoken by Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu. He exposes us to the linguistic diversity of Africa, giving us as complete a cultural experience as is possible.
Chapters three and four take us from Griffin's arrival at the Nairobi Club, where he ends up living during his two year stay, through his first meeting with Mike Gerber, the director of AMREF/The Flying Doctors Service, the arrival of his wife Krystyne, and a flight with an aging French member of the Service's staff, nicknamed "Mama Daktari." He also introduces the cast of characters who make up the hangar crew of The Flying Doctors Service.
During one of his first out-trips, he accompanies eighty-eight year-old Dr. Anne Spoerry, or "Mama Daktari," as she's known to her African patients, to Marsabit, a small town in the Northern region of Kenya, East of Lake Turkana. There, he is introduced to the age-old interaction between Africans and whites, and the way Africans view medical assistance. Dr. Spoerry sets up shop at the airstrip, while the villagers, walking the one mile from their homes, pour in throughout the day for attention. They treat each other with respect, and Mama Daktari does what she can for as many as she can, but at the end of the day, the line is still long, and many go without help. Still, however, as Griffin and Spoerry pack up their gear, the locals break out into song, celebrating the Daktari's visit.
Griffin starts to introduce Swahili into his writing in this chapter. "Mugumu" (fig tree), "jambo" (hello), and "asante sana" (thank you) are some of the words he takes from Swahili, the language spoken by Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu. He exposes us to the linguistic diversity of Africa, giving us as complete a cultural experience as is possible.
Travel Writing Blog #2 - Chapters 1 & 2
We join Scott Griffin near the beginning of his flight, as he guides his plane out of Canadian airspace, and into the danger zone that is the Atlantic Ocean. If something goes wrong on a ship in the Mid-Atlantic, it's not good, but on an airplane, especially a small Cessna, mistakes, miscalculations, and mechanical failures are unquestionably fatal. Fortunately, Griffin only experiences diabolical weather conditions, radio failure, and a bad case of exhaustion after multiple consecutive long-haul flights, which add to the story without taking his life. His arrival at his destination brings us to the end of the second chapter. Tired and hungry, he swoops over the N'gong Hills, makes an instrument approach and landing to Nairobi's Wilson Airport, and taxis up to the Flying Doctors Service hangar.
Griffin already sees a change in local lifestyles in these first chapters. While resting and refueling in the Azores before continuing on to Europe and Africa, he is invited for a drink by the captain on duty at Santa Maria airport. Surprised by the act of generosity, he agrees, and learns a little bit about the islands' aviation history and lore. "We don't see many planes coming through here any more," says the captain, Helder Fernando da Silva Borges Pimental. He clearly remembers a time when the islands were the crucifix of transatlantic air travel. But things have changed with the introduction of jet-engines and non-stop flights, and the islands are losing their importance. The people and their distinct Portuguese/international culture, however, still remain.
This first act of kindness is the beginning of Griffin's experience with a way of life vastly different and more fulfilling to him than his previous life in Toronto.
Griffin already sees a change in local lifestyles in these first chapters. While resting and refueling in the Azores before continuing on to Europe and Africa, he is invited for a drink by the captain on duty at Santa Maria airport. Surprised by the act of generosity, he agrees, and learns a little bit about the islands' aviation history and lore. "We don't see many planes coming through here any more," says the captain, Helder Fernando da Silva Borges Pimental. He clearly remembers a time when the islands were the crucifix of transatlantic air travel. But things have changed with the introduction of jet-engines and non-stop flights, and the islands are losing their importance. The people and their distinct Portuguese/international culture, however, still remain.
This first act of kindness is the beginning of Griffin's experience with a way of life vastly different and more fulfilling to him than his previous life in Toronto.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Travel Writing Blog #1 - Overview
Reading about the near disasters of a transatlantic flight in a single-engine Cessna while you yourself are making the same flight, albeit in the relative comfort and safety of a Boeing, is probably not recommended. But that speaks to the merits of a good book, one that grabs you by the propellor shaft and pulls you into the clouds, where you forget, ignore, or don't care about what is happening around you. All that matters is the book.
That's "My Heart is Africa" in a nutshell. Scott Griffin's tale of his two year African sojourn halted my life on page one, and didn't let it start again until the covers closed for the final time. Maybe it had something to do with the jet-lag or the excessive amounts of excellent wine one consumes in Italy, but one of the best books I've read this year has been by a mere businessman!
Griffin and his wife, Krystyne, spent two years based in Nairobi, Kenya, while he worked to reorganize The Flying Doctors Service, an organization that provides emergency medical and evacuation services to East Africa in its entirety. They also flew various missions and out-trips around Africa, Griffin's personal goal for his journey being to circumnavigate the African Continent.
Brilliantly written, superbly paced, and inescapably intringuing, "My Heart is Africa" paints an accurate and refreshing picture of life in every corner of the Dark Continent, from Arab North Africa to white dominated South Africa, black Nairobi to politically unstable . A clear-headed view of the people living on the world's most impoverished continent is also presented: foreign aid workers and organizations, black Africans, white Africans, various military personas, the UN, and a host of other tasty characters all appear in this magnificent cross section of Africa.
That's "My Heart is Africa" in a nutshell. Scott Griffin's tale of his two year African sojourn halted my life on page one, and didn't let it start again until the covers closed for the final time. Maybe it had something to do with the jet-lag or the excessive amounts of excellent wine one consumes in Italy, but one of the best books I've read this year has been by a mere businessman!
Griffin and his wife, Krystyne, spent two years based in Nairobi, Kenya, while he worked to reorganize The Flying Doctors Service, an organization that provides emergency medical and evacuation services to East Africa in its entirety. They also flew various missions and out-trips around Africa, Griffin's personal goal for his journey being to circumnavigate the African Continent.
Brilliantly written, superbly paced, and inescapably intringuing, "My Heart is Africa" paints an accurate and refreshing picture of life in every corner of the Dark Continent, from Arab North Africa to white dominated South Africa, black Nairobi to politically unstable . A clear-headed view of the people living on the world's most impoverished continent is also presented: foreign aid workers and organizations, black Africans, white Africans, various military personas, the UN, and a host of other tasty characters all appear in this magnificent cross section of Africa.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)