My Heart is Africa

Last year I spent 10 days in Kenya and was totally blown away with the beauty and yet the desperate poverty of this country. Today with the unrest and political turmoil it takes me back to my trip last year. This book I just received last evening and could not put it down. If you like adventure books especially planes or motorcycle travel this book is for you. It has been a good while since I have read a non-novel that was so riveting and exciting it makes you want to read it night and after night. I will give an update when I finish it and I assume that will be in a few days.

This is like reading about the transatlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh... absolutely on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen. Wonderfully told, poignant,with an insider's look at situations on the African continent.

A once in a lifetime book. The authors use of words, his descriptions & ability to make you read just one more page are exemplary. A wonderful story as well. Only wish that more authors who are being published these days would take some lessons from Scott Griffin.

I find that like Mr. Griffin when someone says 'tell me about Africa.' that I am almost unable to respond. My own African experience is certainly not as extensive as his, only a few trips rather than working there for two years. Still, the experience of Africa is unique, as Mr. Griffin found out. He was a successful businessman who decided to interrupt his business career (perhaps a mid-life crisis?) and fly his Cessna 180 to Africa to re-organize Africa's Flying Doctors Service which provides transportation for doctors to remote areas. He made it, with a series of adventures and experiences. His is a perfect example of how one person can help, probably can help as much if not more than the aid being donated through the big organizations. His is also a story of seeing Africa from a non-tourist view. Most of his stories concern flying, the sub-title is 'A Flying Adventure,' and he takes his plane into some touchy situations. He survives, of course, comes home and as he puts it starts a new life.

Scott Griffin had not bargained for a life-changing experience when he decided to spend two years in Africa. Using a mid-life career break from his comfortable business life in Toronto, he took up volunteer work with an African organization, the Flying Doctors Service. The Service is dedicated to providing medical assistance to people in remote regions of Kenya and other East African countries. A project like this would have been challenge enough for most in his situation, but Griffin, an experienced pilot, was determined to fly his Chessna 180 half way around the world to start his assignment in Nairobi, Kenya. This book is the highly entertaining and captivating chronicle of his flight there (and back), his flying adventures within Kenya and around southern Africa. The often poetic descriptions of nature are complemented by his musings about places, people he encounters and his own changing perceptions of life's priorities. Griffin writes with enthusiasm and great warmth of the environment that he explores with his wife Krystine, who is an essential part of the experience and the story. While Griffin's work with the Flying Doctors was as a strategic planner and manager, he and his wife used every opportunity to explore different parts of Kenya - whether game parks or remote places like Lake Turkana. His account of the crash landing on the lake's South Island and the eventual recovery of the plane is full of drama. Forced to spend a couple of nights at the lake shore with the local tribesmen, they are exposed to the dire conditions that these rural communities endure, but also learn of their generosity and hospitality. In the middle of a serious dispute between the Turkana and the Kenyan military, Griffin places the conflict within a broader background. In general, he mixes his detailed travel accounts with personal reflections on the political realities in Kenya of the second half of the 1990s. More dramatic encounters are shared with the reader after they touch down in what looked like an isolated spot in the game park that straddles the Kenyan and Tanzanian border having crossed into Tanzanian airspace without landing permit. The lesson from this escapade is: never fly without the appropriate papers. The international "aid business" is viewed by Griffin with some scepticism. He recalls discussions with colleagues and friends he made in the Nairobi community. Local people, he contends, should play a much greater role in deciding on the direction and implementation of programs than they often are allowed to do. In contrast, his admiration for the nurses, doctors and pilots of the Flying Doctors Service is deeply felt. They don't hesitate to rescue people even in hazardous conditions and bring medical treatment to communities who are completely isolated from any other services. Griffin demonstrates a healthy combination of sensitivity to his surroundings, wonderment at the beauty of Africa and dare-devil attitude when it comes to flying