A review of Crossing the Heart of Africa – An Odyssey of
Love and Adventure by Julian Smith, Harper Collins, NY, 2010
Readers, if any, of this blog will recognize that I enjoy
books about travel in Africa. This is an interesting one. Author Smith’s
gimmick is that he retraces the epic 1898 journey of Ewart Grogan, who walked
from Cape to Cairo in order to secure the hand of the woman he loved. Smith too
parallels Grogan’s quest, not only the route up the spine of Africa but with
reflections on his relationship with the woman he is soon to marry. I was not smitten with Smith’s romantic
musings, but I did enjoy the alternating segments of what Grogan endured (and
wrote about) and what Smith encountered. Obviously much had changed, especially
in terms of transportation – Grogan walked while Smith used public conveyances –
bikes, buses, boats, planes, which were much, much faster. Smith’s journey is fleshed out by sporadic
conversations with Africans that shed light on topics of the day whereas Grogan’s
encounters with locals were often threatening, dangerous, and ultimately resolved
through violence.
After Grogan succeeded in his quest (Smith stopped short),
he did marry his beloved Gertrude (Smith married his love too). The Grogans moved
to Kenya where the two became notable personages in the settler community.
Grogan was a thorn in the government’s side, but a successful entrepreneur both
in business and agriculture. Among his
efforts were vast sisal plantations in the area around Taveta on the Kenyan/Tanzanian
border. There he built an imposing
house, dubbed Grogan’s castle, on a barren hilltop. I was stationed in Mombasa from 1981-84 and
visited the abandoned and dilapidating “castle” on several occasions. It was indeed testimony to a vanished era and
a monument to a remarkable man.
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