African Approaches

A story of epic proportions, African Approaches: Roads to a Far Off Place tells of trials and triumphs, despair and elation, failure and success - every page laced with Jo Jordan's wry humour and slightly anarchic pragmatism. Inspired by a grainy black and white film of an overland journey across the Sahara to Nigeria and stumbling across a small ad in the Observer announcing an 18-week overland trip to South Africa, the young Jo left 'swinging sixties' London behind and never looked back. It was then that she met her future husband, Nick, with whom she went on to form Hobo Trans Africa Expeditions. With an eye for the absurd, Jo deftly portrays the cast of characters encountered in Hobo's early days of trial and error, through to its gradual transformation into a leading Africa-overlanding enterprise of its day. Interwoven through it all is the equally compelling tale of their build project in Tanzania. Finding the perfect shamba (parcel of land) overlooking the spectacular Mount Meru, Jo and Nick set about creating Samaki House. Drama and farce notwithstanding, they and a host of visitors do eventually get to enjoy their Konyagi sundowners on the verandah. This is a chronicle of courage, of fulfilling the human urge to explore and push beyond boundaries. But most of all, it's about squeezing the pips from life.