Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison (B)

The title is intriguing, isn't it? It was the title, as well as the nifty lion on the front cover, that caught my attention last week at the Bingham Creek Library. I picked up the book on a whim, and was pleasantly surprised. Peter Allison worked for a number of years as a safari guide in South Africa and then in Botswana, and his stories are fantastic. I would love to sit around the campfire with this guy!

The stories range all over. Some deal with guests of the camp, other guides, or pesky camp "pets;" others take place in the bush--lions attacking, getting lost on the Okavango Delta, or watching an elephant give birth. The stories range in length as well--anywhere from a longer 12 pages to a mere 2 or 3. In and of itself, that keeps the book interesting.

I was most pleased to discover that, though a safari guide, Mr. Allison can actually write. Too often these memoir-type books are bogged down in the author's lack of writing ability. Sure they've led an exciting life, but can they write about it? I thought the writing style was delightful in this book. The pace moved along quickly, and I found myself reading "just one more story"...over and over again before I went to bed.

This book will probably never be a Classic, but it was entertaining.

I give it a B. Nothing extraordinary, but all good fun.