Tropical Ice, Elephants and Adventure

 

A review of Outsider – A life with the Elephants and Mountains of Africa by Iain Allan, Vanguard Press, 2024

In this memoir Iain Allan retraces his times in Kenya from the 1950s to the present.  Originally from Scotland, he arrived in Nairobi as a preteen. There he found the stiff British Kenya culture stultifying. He did not prosper in school but found his niche in rock climbing. He honed this skill and summited Mounts Kilimanjaro and Kenya by the age of eighteen. Upon graduation he followed loves to England and Australia before realizing that his destiny lay in Kenya.

Once back home, Allan became a safari guide specializing in taking clients up Kilimanjaro and Kenya. On his own time, he pioneered climbing routes on those mountains and on other cliffs.  (Indeed, a good part of the memoir details just what was done and where. Rock climbers will undoubtedly find these descriptions fascinating.) Ultimately Allan started his own company called Tropical Ice that focused on adventure experiences on the mountains but also in the bush, especially walking treks through the national parks of Tsavo West and Tsavo East. 

The author recounts good safari stories of encounters with wild animals. He tells of conquests of mountains around the globe. Throughout he names people – friends and adversaries – encountered along the way.  He muses over changes in clients’ attitudes towards safaris ranging from enthusiastic flexibility in days past to demands for precise undeviating information today. He attributes this to the impact of modern information-on-demand culture. He also tracks the vicissitudes of Kenyan government policy regarding poaching. Finally, he notes with understanding and regret that Kenya’s burgeoning population increasingly puts pressure on the wild spaces and creatures that he loves.   

In sum Allan’s recollections constitute a good story; one well worth reading. People who know Kenya – its geography, people and challenges -  will enjoy his perspective. He called them as he saw them.  I learned a lot about rock climbing.  I especially enjoyed the passages about walks along the Tsavo River.  They brought back memories. My wife Connie and I participated in one of those excursions in 1983 with Iain and Mohamed as guides.

Review from The Literary Reporter

 

My African Anthology by Robert E. Gribbin is a vivid, multifaceted collection of stories and vignettes that transport readers into the heart of contemporary Africa.

With the keen insight of a seasoned diplomat, Gribbin captures the complexities, beauty, and challenges of the continent through tales that span everything from Gacaca justice in Rwanda to mysterious disappearances, rebel encounters, and mythic beasts. Each story pulses with authenticity, whether depicting the quiet strength of landscapes or the charged tension of political intrigue.

Gribbin’s prose is evocative, rooted in lived experience, and often poetic, as shown in his lush descriptions of acacia-scented air and towering mountains.

The collection is not just an exploration of Africa’s external realities but also of its spiritual and cultural soul. For readers seeking a deeper, more human understanding of Africa, beyond the headlines, this anthology offers a compelling, memorable journey into its many truths.

Secrets from Africa?

 

       My latest tale from Africa, Freida's Secret, is now available on amazon as both an e-book ($2.99) and a paperback ($13.99). I enjoyed writing this one. It starts with a recitation of the famous, but ill fated, expedition to relieve Emin Pasha and morphs into a story about his daughter Freida and subsequently the efforts of a former Peace Corps Volunteer to discover the secret. 

    The search for Freida’s secret begins in 19^th century Africa, leads onward to Germany before and during the world wars and ends in Idi Amin’s Uganda.   African explorer Henry M. Stanley’s 1887 expedition to relieve beleaguered Emin Pasha, governor of Equatoria Province of Sudan foundered in the depths of the equatorial rainforest prior to arriving on the shore of Lake Albert where Pasha, and his daughter Freida, who were threaten by Islamic jihadists resided. After much dithering, they reluctantly decamped from Equatoria joining Stanley on a march to the coast. That is history, but what happened to young Freida as she carried a secret forward in life? A mixed-race child she was shunted off to Germany where she confronted the strictures of culture and Nazism. Her secret preserved until uncovered by an American research student in the 1970s.  He in turn set out for Africa to find the truth.  

    Author Gribbin weaves an intriguing tale that combines history and fiction. It is buttressed throughout by realistic descriptions of places – the horrors of the jungle, first sighting of the Mountains of the Moon, the slave port of Bagamoyo, steamship travel through the Suez, Hamburg during the Nazi era, Peace Corps travels in Tanzania, Idi Amin’s Uganda - and people – boisterous Stanley, enigmatic Emin Pasha, self-confident Freida and intrepid Gerson. In sum, it is a heartwarming tale that leads us to ask – what other secrets lie undiscovered?