Book Review: Crossing the Heart of Africa

Just a few months before he was set to wed the love of his life, travel journalist Julian Smith set off on a 4,500-mile journey from South Africa to Sudan. Sounds pretty crazy, right? After all, most dudes just go to Vegas for bachelor party debauchery. But Julian had read of a young British adventurer Ewart Grogan, who’d made the same trek beginning in 1898 in order to win the hand of a girl he was smitten with — or at least prove his worth to her stepfather.

Independent-minded Julian figured that one last sole adventure before “settling down” would help him answer the question, “Am I ready to consign myself to one person, completely, forever?” No one had ever retraced Ewart Grogan’s route across Africa. Julian writes, “Perhaps crossing Africa as he had would help me find peace with this radical new direction my life was about to take.”

I’d like the book Crossing the Heart of Africa if I hadn’t met the friendly, laid-back author at a Society of American Travel Writers event in Tahoe last year. But since I can picture Julian in real life, trekking through Africa, encountering everything from sickness and frustrating immigration officials to treacherous volcano climbs and erratic motorbike drivers, makes the book even more enjoyable to me. In a compelling narrative, he weaves together the firsthand tales of his two-month adventure, as well as the story of his courtship with his wife-to-be Laura and accounts of Grogan’s historic travels through countries peppered with charging elephants and hungry cannibals.

Ever the romantic, I could relate most to the sections that covered Julian’s relationship with Laura. Readers get all sorts of juicy details regarding how they met, how Julian screwed up (resulting in a “F*** off” email response from Laura), and how they fell in love.

Truckbed travel in Mozambique. Photo by Julian Smith.

Another highlight of the book: the images in the center of the paperback of Ewart Grogan, as well as Julian’s own photographs of gorillas, hippos, Ugandan children and other scenes from his trip. I would have loved to see even more Africa photos — in color — in the book, but I did find just that on Julian’s website.

I have zero interest in undertaking anything remotely resembling Julian’s two-month trek through third-world countries halfway around the world (I am a Vacation Gal, after all). But reading about Julian’s crazy adventure — which included getting puked on by a small child while riding on a bus, various intestinal ailments of his own (but no malaria, like Ewart Grogan had endured) and cramped, random sleeping quarters — was thoroughly enjoyable from the comfort of my own couch. I had to frequently refer to the map in the front of the book, to understand where he was at many points in his journey; readers more familiar with Africa — and its culture, history and politics — will appreciate the keen description even more.

I recommend Crossing the Heart of Africa to anyone with an interest in legendary 19th-century expeditions, way way off-the-beaten path foreign exploration, or, perhaps most importantly, fairy-tale endings.