Dodging Elephants is the story of how one ordinary woman raced across Africa on her bike. Flung from the corporate hamster wheel, she set off with very little training, plenty of Christmas fat, a custom-made bike and absolutely no idea of what she was letting herself in for. The Tour D'Afrique is the longest bike race on earth.12,000 kilometres from Cairo to Cape Town through ten countries and with 63 competitors lined up at the start. Each chapter has a different story to tell; new places and peoples, high mountains, burning desert sands, thick mud, biting tsetse flies (known as the devil), and vibrant African dawns and dusks. During the journey, the riders are beaten with whips, stoned by local cattle raiders, held up at gun point and face malaria and typhoid in camp. They cycle through the dry season in the Sudan with temperatures reaching 51 degrees, and then hit the rainy season in Tanzania with mud up to their knees and tents permanently wet through. You really feel for them! When the only landmark for miles is the skeleton of a camel that looks smugly happier than you imagine they do and you think it impossible to push those pedals around once more, even vicariously, something will jolt everything right back into perspective. From penis envy every time nature calls along the trail, to the "night of shame" from which no one is exempt by the time the finish line beckons; from the naked mile, to the 'who stole the shitter' shambles, Dodging Elephants will put a silly grin on your face. Maybe best to read this one in private or you might get some odd looks. Oh yes, and there's a near death experience with an elephant. You'll encounter the highs as well as the lows, with Africa forming a beautiful backdrop along the way. The race begins in Egypt on the eve of the Arab Spring, goes through the Sudan as the south declares independence and becomes the newest country on earth, continues through the worst drought for thirty years in Northern Kenya before landing on the pristine highways built by ubiquitous Chinese contractors, entering Zambia where old and new Africa collide, and ending up in South Africa at election time. This is a proper old-fashioned adventure. A romp through Africa told with humour and charm. As you read "The End", you'll either be reaching for your laptop to sign up for next year, or reaching for another nice glass of red wine and thanking your lucky stars that you don't have to!
About the Author: Alice Morrison, is a Scottish Adventurer, currently based in Morocco. After a childhood spent running around the African Bush, she was sent to boarding school in Edinburgh where she learned Latin but no decorum. She studied Arabic and Turkish at University which has led to a long love affair with the Middle East. Adventuring had been something she had always done part time until in her mid-forties destiny in the shape of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, intervened. His cuts made her redundant and she gleefully burned her briefcase, and headed off for a life in the unknown. She has plunged through a number adventures including the Tour D'Afrique when she raced from Cairo to Cape Town on a bike; Atlas to Atlantic, a world first trek from the highest point of North Africa straight across the Atlas mountains to the sea; and the Marathon Des Sables, the toughest footrace on earth, six marathons across the Sahara desert in six days. "If I can do it, anyone can," she says, "You just have to set your sights firmly on your goal and then pursue it with demonic persistence ignoring pain, humiliation and despair along the way. It is always worth it!" Web: www.alicemorrison.co.uk Facebook: Alice Hunter Morrison Twitter: @aliceoutthere1