No Picnic on Mount Kenya: A Daring Excape, a Perilous Climb

An extremely well-written book, especially considering the author was not writing in his native language. A crazy idea about climbing a mountain by 3 novices; crazier still under the circumstances of escaping from a POW camp with the intention of returning. I bought the book after having read the story in National Geographic "Adventure" of 2 experienced & well-outfitted mountaineers who re-traced their steps. The original is better!

Felice Benuzzi wound up in a Second World War POW camp close to the foot of Mount Kenya, a mountain that is higher than the highest alp in Europe. Prison camps are boring; soon Benuzzi, who went on to become an ambassador in post-war Italy's diplomatic service, was dreaming of scaling the mountain he saw beyond the barbed wire of his confines. Eventually he did break out, and with the help of two fellow prisoners and rudimentary mountain climbing equipment they had made in the prison camp, he and a fellow prisoner ascended one of Mount Kenya's peaks, where they planted an Italian flag. A great story of adventure and humanity that loses a little of its lyricism in its translation into English. Great reading for all ages.

I just needed to comment that the author is my grandfather, and I am very proud of both him and his work.He was - apart from his job as a diplomat - a passionate Alpinist. He loved mountains. It was not only to relieve the boredom of POW life that he and his two friends made the climb, it was also because they fell in love with Mt Kenya the first time the clouds finally cleared and they saw it...He spent a large portion of his life working to protect Antartica from development and other human intrusions.He was a great man, and he wrote a wonderful book. Look for an upcoming T.V. documentary on their climb; it should be interesting.

Most climbing books are rather boring, even to climbers. There's something about climbing that just doesn't translate well to books. But even though I've never had to break out of a prisoner of war camp just to go climbing, Benuzzi's story just seems more familiar and human than any other climbing story I've ever read. I can imagine myself on his climb, feeling like he was feeling. I don't know if a non-climber would get quite as much out of it, but the story is funny and the adventure is exciting, so give it a shot.

A big adventure story is even more compelling when told in simple prose as this one is. The author's tone is a constant reminder that we are being let into the events by one who lived them, rather than a professional observer with a more polished writing style. I lately discovered "The Ascent", a feature film loosely based on Benuzzi's story, by Canadian Director Donald Shebib. Shebib added a love interest and beautifully photographed the story on location in Kenya. Check it out.