Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide

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Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

If you feel like laughing October 2, 2007
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Mr. Allison's, WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T RUN is filled with hilariously funny sometimes irreverent stories about his experiences as a safari guide in Botswana. The title is what drew me to his book, only food runs! You can't put it down, it is laugh out loud funny and you don't want it to end. Please write more! I can't wait for your next installment.

5 out of 5 stars

Good, quick read. Enjoyed it a lot. November 5, 2007
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

While I haven't been on safari, I'm guessing that this book should be required reading for anyone who is able to make the trip. Peter Allison's book was a nice, quick read filled with lots of great stories about his experiences. All in all, I would recommend this book highly. Several stories made me laugh out loud.

Enjoy.

4 out of 5 stars

Whatever You Do, Don't Run January 23, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Peter Allison was 19 when he left his suburban home in Australia to follow his dream and backpack around Africa. He soon ran out of money and found himself bar tending in a South African safari resort. He moved up the ranks to a safari guide in Botswana where he stayed for the next seven years running a camp and taking daily jeep rides with tourists from around the world out into the bush.

Allison knew nothing about animals of Africa when he started. Much of the charm of the book is Allison's self-deprecating English humor as he makes mistake after mistake. His amateurism is a parody of the serious African adventurer; yet paradoxically his amateurism gives his account a sense of authority, we are able to see his wayward mistakes as a sign of his own expertise. Amateurism also provides Allison with a form of self-protection from the dangers of the bush; like a Mr Magoo stumbling into bad situations, it is his recognition of bad decisions that enable him to escape (unlike a "professional" who might not be as flexible in admitting a mistake).

_Whatever You Do, Don't Run_ is written in the travel literature tradition of the wayward English gentleman bumbling through situations with campy humor, similar to A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush. The idea is to de-throne the serious, to present a comic vision of the safari world that promotes harmless entertainment; but this also has the effect of disengagement and detachment - the safari guests from Germany, Japan and elsewhere become props to hang global stereotypes or moral outrages. It also serves as cover for Allison - behind the facade of wry humor and aestheticism is a sense of moral and cultural superiority; the self parody hides his own role and responsibility.

5 out of 5 stars

nearly late for work! October 7, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I was a bit hesitant about this book at first because of the very different style. Not in-your-face, nor condescending, not pretensious. Peter Allison is very funny and refreshingly self effacing. Humble, to use an old fashioned word.

But it was the adventure, the outrageous tourists, and the really unexpected turns of events that had me up way past midnight on a working day. So I was a bit out of it with clients. It was worth it!

Superb!

5 out of 5 stars

I want more!!!!!!!!!!!!!! November 10, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I really didn't want this book to end! And I would love to read more!!! As a past visitor to Botswana, this collection of stories gave a delightful look at the behind the scenes, everyday life of the folks who make tourist visits so delightful! Kudos to the author....it's light, fun reading and I want more!!!!

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