Dead Men Don't Leave Tips: Adventures X Africa

by Brandon Wilson

What does it take to follow your dream? Quite a bit, if your dream involves crossing Africa. That's what one couple discovers when they set off on a seven-month overland journey from London to Cape Town. As dedicated independent travelers, they'd already traveled around the world. But was a trans-African odyssey too much for even them? Who do you "cadeau?" How do you create tantalizing dishes from grubs? Or avoid having a spear tossed through your camera? With trepidation, they join an English do-it-yourself overland safari. Flung into the midst of twenty odd companions, they're shocked to discover that many of them have never even camped before. And the "guides" know Africa as well as the dark side of the moon. After their dream turns into a nightmare, they eventually set off across Africa-alone. DEAD MEN DON'T LEAVE TIPS is a captivating tale filled with a passion for travel, spontaneity and unbridled adventure. It is often funny, sometimes anguished, yet always real. Nothing is held back or glossed-over. Wilson takes you onto the crazed roads of Africa, through the everyday ups and downs, and into the lives and hearts of its people. He shows us once again that the real joy of travel is the thrill of getting there. From the Lowell Thomas gold award-winning author of Over the Top & Back Again, Along the Templar Trail, and Yak Butter Blues. "Journeys of body and soul in every sense of the word... Interlaced with this honesty and detail are Wilson's beautiful prose, obvious passion for adventure and a deep inquisitiveness about other cultures, making this book a pleasure to read. Highly recommended." ~ Midwest Book Review "A masterful crossroads of characters, exotic places, history and human drama in a rig that never stalls, and allows the devil to drive his own ill-behaved backyard..." ~ Richard Bangs, legendary adventurer, author of "Mystery of the Nile" "Entertaining and a monument to those who would take on the challenge of land travel across one of the most dangerous, unhealthy continents in the world." ~ Heartland Reviews "Honest, gritty and insightful...it makes the world's most exciting continent read just like that." ~ John Heminway, author of "No Man's A Personal Journey into Africa" "I was swept away by the drama and storytelling...Wilson is never a tourist. He travels heart-first with both feet solidly on the ground and his curiosity always in high gear. He is exactly the right person to be writing travel books for the rest of us." ~ Joseph W. Bean, Maui Weekly "Travel writing at its most sublime, a paean to Africa in all her contradictory beauty, and a tribute to the resiliency of those who travel beyond boundaries not only in search of meaning, but also of understanding." ~ C.W. Gortner, author of The Secret Lion "One of the most engaging travel books we have read." ~ RealTravelAdventures.com "Powerful and gripping story...Fascinating, informative, humorous, poignant, surprising...a terrific read from first page to last-would make a popular addition to any personal or community library Travel section." ~ Midwest Book Review, Travel Shelf "Aficionados of travel books will delight in "Dead Men Don't Leave Tips"...a hybrid of Paul Theroux and Tom Robbins, combining the raw frankness and keen observation of Theroux with the intelligent humor & playful language of Robbins...Readers who have a penchant for traveling will happily devour this book and be sorry it ended. I was!" ~ A. Buklarewicz, Reviewer, Amazon.com

Genres: Africa, Travel

276 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

Reviews

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

The vivid images and entertaining tales of this epic adventure were mostly overshadowed by the constant complaining about the "other overlanders" and the consequent whiny tone of the narrative. Most annoying.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, informative, entertaining, but something of a travel nightmare.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot of adjectives. And I'm not sure where the author would have seen 7-ft tall Maasai. Pretty interesting travel stories.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead Men Don't Leave Tips is, overall, a good read with some fun travel stories, even touching on some of the more poignantly difficult sides of Africa. The author expresses an uncomfortable amount of arrogance toward certain parties (his "overlander" traveling companions and at least one Peace Corps volunteer) which is jarring to read. His arrogance regarding change and development is especially grating to anyone who has actually worked in development in Africa. Aside from these moments of arrogance, though, the book is a good read, with well-told stories and a fairly well-drawn picture of some aspect of each of the countries he and his wife visited. He does a good job sketching some of the bureaucratic horrors one deals with in Africa.

[MsChris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting travel story but ultimately the adventure was lost on me because he spent most of the book bitching. First he was upset about the "overlanders" and then he bitches about the accommodations and then he bitches about his flight getting delayed so he doesn't get to reach the Mediterranean for some "much needed" r & r. Really?? You just took the adventure of a lifetime, and adventure that most people can only dream of and you need r & r? You're bitching? What about all the people who live that life every day and don't get to escape? Or even the people who can't take 7 or 8 months off to go travel around Africa.

Read Harder Challenge 2017: Read a travel memoir.

[Marissa Genta Pineda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to read travel memoirs and this is so fun. A married couple decide to drop everything for a cross-continent safari in Africa. Everything that can go wrong does, but the couple is plucky and have a great spirit of adventure.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great travel book. It details an overland trip through Africa - very entertaining!

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was informative and entertaining and a nice, light read. And they sure covered a lot of Africa!