No Picnic on Mount Kenya

by Felice Benuzzi

In the shadow of Mount Kenya, surrounded by the forests and creatures of the savannah, life drags interminably for the inmates of P.O.W. Camp 354. Confined to an endless cycle of boredom and frustration, it is little wonder when one prisoner realises he can bear it no longer.

When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea - an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea.

There are not many people who would break out of a P.O.W. camp, trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meagre rations, and with a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef among their more accurate guides. There are probably fewer still who would break back in to the camp on their return.

This is the remarkable story of three such men. No Picnic on Mount Kenya is a powerful testament to the human spirit of revolt and adventure in even the darkest of places.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure, Travel, History, Africa, Memoir, Mountaineering

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1947

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felice Benuzzi was in the Italian Colonial Service in Addis Ababa from 1938 until he was rounded up with other Italian civilian population in 1941. He was declared a prisoner of war, brought to Kenya and imprisoned in 354 PoW Camp, administered by the British at Nanyuki, near Mt Kenya.

Benuzzi explains his story, detailing his life in the camp, the boredom and monotony, and the need for a goal - an achievement - something to plan and prepare for. As an amateur mountaineer he knew a little, but perhaps not enough to know all the difficulties in carryout the trip he planned.

In short, he found two companions, one to climb with and one to settle in the base camp and assist with the logistics and the trip to the mountain and back. The three men set about to obtain rations and equipment (through barter, trade and care parcels from home), and formulate a plan.

Then, simply put, the men escapes from the Pow camp, walked to the mountain following the Nanyuki River, proceeded to ascend, set up a base camp then attempt the climb to the upper summit. After this, they packed up and re-traced their steps, broke back into the PoW camp, and took their punishment.

I won't spoil the details of the summit, and the history of the mountain, which is well explained.

Obviously this is a translated work. I am not sure whether the translation has any effect, but I didn't the writing exceptional, although the content is. What it lacks in polished narrative it makes up for in audacity, human effort and ambition. Benuzzi shares his thoughts and failings as readily as his successes, giving the impression of honestly and a likeable man.

Rations in particular, were limited - when do you hear stories of generous portions in a PoW camp? Yet these men saved food, traded other goods for food, enough to undertake an 18 day mountaineering expedition. Food, health, wild animals, weather and sleep all bring elements of challenge to this story.

4 stars

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me begin by stating that I am a climber and have a desire for adventure; sure, those might seem to go hand in hand, but how many climbers are willing to suffer in their thirst for adventure? My suffering has been hardly that, but the limited hardship I've endured has brought an appreciation for those who have set their sets higher, further afield or took on a challenge thought foolhardy by many. Which brings us to this book, this author, this audacious undertaking.

Any climber or traveler who has spent some time crashing through the brush, navigating off trail, guessing at what might lie above and the best path to it will appreciate Benuzzi's writing, which captures the essence of being outdoors, off the beaten track on an adventure. It is not lost on the reader that the this is the vantage point of one who is restrained (actually prevented) much more than we are from enjoying "being out there." He distills his sense of wonder and appreciation into words.

I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of how they finagled materials to create their gear, amazing. And I enjoyed even more the view of life at the POW camp--really a microcosm of society itself, who would have guessed?

This may be a book that will stick with you long afterwards. I special ordered my copy, and as I rarely keep books (I live in an 800 sq ft home) I sold it back to the bookstore. Since, I have looked for it more than once...hoping to chance upon it for another read. Maybe that next time I'll keep it--it deserves a spot simply to be frequently seen and remembered, it is that special.

[Lee Prescott · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a daft 20-something I too decided to climb Mount Keyna. I hitch-hiked a lift to the park gate - at about 10,000 feet hoping some other idiot would turn up and hike up to Point Lenana with me, as it was strictly forbidden to trek alone (something to do with being eaten by lions, trampled by elephants/buffalo, being subject to altitude sickness, freezing to death, falling off etc.). As it was, I was incredibly lucky and managed to tag on to a trip organised by staff at the UNHCR base in Nairobi led by the guide cited as the best in the Lonley Planet.
It was a struggle, but I made it. Very slowly.
So, I understand a little of the madness that drove Benuzzi and his 2 friends to attempt to tackle the mountain. But those guys take the biscuit - they were POWs and the assembly of their kit list reads like something out of one of the more far-fetched episodes of the A-Team. Add to that the route they had to take and their rations, it makes my attempt at machismo seem pitiful in comparison.
Its an amazing story and well worth the read, but not a 5-star for me as the writing isnt that great. I enjoyed Benuzzi's dry sense of humour at times, but there's too much lobelia field X and Y and not enough of the human element of the story in this for me.

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great adventure book about 3 Italian POW's in East Africa who escaped from their camp to attempt to summit Mt. Kenya. The book is extremely well written and one feels that you are there with them on their journey.

[sevdah]

There's no way I could recommend this book highly enough. Let me first disclose that memoirs about war or books about climbing don't interest me at all, but I flicked through the pages and noticed the clear and precise writing which is something I always enjoy. I was soon hooked and knew I had to take it home since it was unlike anything I had expected. Not only is it written amazingly well, the story is also great - bored out of their minds in a camp, three prisoners of war escape to climb mount Kenya and then go back after two weeks (they never planed to escape to freedom due to impossibly large distances). What makes it absolutely unique is that Benuzzi is a funny character with sharp wit, unmatched taste for adventure and a love of life that is simply infectious.

[Lobsang · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I described this book to a friend, he was upset that the POWs break back into the camp after climbing Mt Kenya: "That's not how an escape story is supposed to end!" But it's not an escape story; it's a story about taking enormous risk in answer to one's inner freedom. Benuzzi would be a better reader than writer of poetry; the descriptive and narrative skill are not award winning. But spirit of this journey comes through vividly -- for me, especially once the party is above the tree line. As the vista opens out, so does the spirit. And the chutzpah of breaking back in at the end is delicious.

[Catriona · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at just over 110 pages.

Interesting story and an amazing feat but I found the writing style dry and I wasn't invested.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a magnificent little book!

I won't dwell on the feat itself, on which plenty of other reviewers have commented, other than to say that it is quite astounding. I only wish to comment on the writing: even without crediting his command of a foreign language, Benuzzi is incredibly gifted with words and has a wonderful eye for the humorous and sublime in life. Take, for example, this theatrical passage describing an elephant,

Renouncing his drink when only a few yards from the water he stopped and gave each one of us a short, almost contemptuous glance from his little vivacious eyes. Then he lifted his trunk almost vertically, together with his age-worn reddish-brown tusks, and dropped it gently and slowly in a disdainful half circle... A moment later his black shining back, surrounded by a halo of midgets, was hidden by the leaves which bowed to his passage and then closed fan-like as though to mark the end of a show.

If it doesn't bring a smile to your lips at the very least, I'm done talking to you.

My favorite passage, however, displays his marvelous artistic insight into the relationship between men and nature, nature and words:

There were trees of great height, some with smooth slender stems like masts...; stately trees with stems supported by clear-cut buttresses between which one could park a car... there ropes, pipes and wires composed some huge machine. Poor modern man, amazed by the wonders of nature, can only describe these by comparing them with the monsters of our mechanical age!

A great book from a great man.

[Monty Milne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful account is unusually different from the usual POW escape story. The author was an Italian taken prisoner when the British liberated Ethiopia in 1941. Held in a POW camp deep inside Africa, he was so far away from friendly territory that his chances of getting back to Italy were effectively nil. But that was not the objective: he decided to break out in order to climb Mount Kenya, and then break back inside the camp once this had been achieved.

This was a splendidly quixotic and immensely plucky thing to do. Amazingly, Benuzzi and his companions achieved success (although admittedly not getting to the highest peak). The description of climbing a mountain whose feet are in tropical heat and whose head gleams with snow above the treeline gives a terrific sense of place. This is an extraordinary account of heroic achievement in very difficult circumstances, with the added bonus that – despite some nail biting moments – all turns out well, and all concerned behave like gentlemen. The intrepid Italians break back into captivity having planted their flag on Mount Kenya, and are brought before the camp commandant for the inevitable punishment that escape attempts must always receive. The commandant, however, congratulates them on their “sporting “ achievement, and gives them a very light few days in the cells, excused all duties, with a chance to build up their strength after their exertions. This is a story from which everyone emerges with credit – and there are not many war stories where one can say that.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book alone sparked my curiosity, and although I have never understood the motivations of mountain climbers, I seem to have read a handful of books recounting the exploits of that curious subspecies of adventurer.

Benuzzi writes lyrically and evocatively, and he is throughout charming and rather self deprecating. His quixotic quest -- to escape an african British prison camp, climb Mt. Kenya, and then return to the camp -- sets him firmly in the company of romantics and dreamers.

It was the monotony of prison camp life that most galled him, and he longed for something -- anything -- to break the monotony.

Recounting his initial glimpse of the mountain, the reader understands how completely he falls under its spell:

...then I saw it. An ethereal mountain emerging from a tossing sea of clouds, framed between two dark barracks: a massive blue-back tooth of sheer rock, inlaid wit azure glaciers; austere yet floating fairy-like on the near horizon.

He writes with an engaging panache. I especially enjoyed the sections after he and his two companions make their break from camp and spend a number of days fighting their way toward the mountain in difficult terrain. Details of the sights, the major and minor annoyances of the trek, the quirks of his companions, and heady passages describing the lush scenery abound.

Golden-green sunrays filtered through the foliage and were broken into a thousand reflections on the stream, foaming among smooth, multicoloured stones....There were countless birds, from graceful sunbirds with slender beaks and bright colours, to harshly croaking lories showing in flight their blood-red wing feathers. Troops of monkeys jumped from branch to branch ....Butterflies of every size and colour dallied gracefully along the banks.

Finally, he and his two companions set up a base camp, where one of the trio remains and Benuzzi and a companion begin their climb. I confess to never being terribly interested in descriptions of climbing itself, though invariably I pick up a few new words from said descriptions such as "couloir" ("A gully, sometimes a potential route").

Alas, the peak of Mt. Kenya proved unattainable, and years later Benuzzi found that he and his companion had, in fact, attempted an impossible route. However, despite near starvation and exhaustion, a successful climb up a secondary and less challenging peak was made. Despite his disappointment at not attaining his goal, he waxes lyrical over the spiritual benefits of the climb:

From one point of view it seems to me today that it was madness for two grown men, out of training for eight years, having spent twenty months in prison, debilitated by a backbreaking flight of nine days, by the weight of impossible rucksacks, and by a lack of food and sleep, having left from an irrationally distant and low base camp, to be prepared to go, in winter conditions, where mountaineers like Shipton and Tilman, vastly superior to them in technical terms, well trained, well nourished and aided by porters, had not wanted to go....from a purely spiritual side, however, which matters more to a true mountaineers, our ignorance was a genuine godsend.

The last quarter of the book is given over to what Benuzzi learned about Mt. Kenya and the various attempts to climb it by numerous mountaineers over the years. This section, to be truthful, I found a bit boring and I skimmed through it. Still, on the whole, this was an unusual and memorable book, part adventure and part love story - of a man for a mountain.

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Italian officer and mountaineer Felice Benuzzi was serving in the Italian Colonial Service, stationed in Abyssinia, when, in 1941, he was taken prisoner by the Allied forces. Benuzzi was sent to a PoW camp near the second highest mountain in Africa, the 17000 ft high Mt Kenya. It was only a matter of time before a tantalising glimpse of the glacier-clad slopes of Mt Kenya gave Benuzzi a yearning to escape the PoW camp—not to escape permanently to freedom, which would have been next to impossible—but only long enough and far enough to climb Mt Kenya.

No Picnic on Mount Kenya is the story of Benuzzi's adventure. Along with two fellow POWs, Benuzzi went on a seventeen-day trip that reads like the very essence of adventure. He begins with explaining how he happened to come up with the idea, then all the plans that were made (the fact that he, despite being a PoW, actually managed to gather or improvise all the equipment for the expedition, amazed me. That ingenuity and resourcefulness was fascinating).

Past the planning stage, of course, begins the account of the expedition itself, and it's fascinating. There are scary near-encounters with wildlife, there are the forests they have to make their way through, the perils of the river, the beauty of the natural flora, the giant lobelias and giant groundsels and helichrysums—and then the mountain, which proves very difficult to conquer... In between, Benuzzi even puts in a brief interlude, a chapter on Mt Kenya itself, where he explains its place in local folklore, and provides a history of its discovery by the West, including its ascent over the years.

I loved this book. I am no mountaineer, but Benuzzi writes with so much feeling, and he brings the expedition alive so vividly, that I could imagine myself there, facing all those troubles, yet going on, all for the sake of that mountain gleaming ahead. Plus, the characters of the three men, the camaraderie that developed and the sense of humour that kept them going, comes through very well and helps make this book even more readable.

Highly recommended.

[Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute must-read!

The book was a pleasant, easy read and definitely was a page-turner. Not only does this book entertain you and swallow you up with the story it tells, but it also teaches you a great deal. From mountaineering to Kenya and its history, and World War 2 as well. This book is for all audiences and can appeal to those who live in the outdoors as well as those who would rather hear about someone else's struggle.
This book is very unique, starting from the plot itself, to the characters and the format. It gives a very unique perspective, very rare to find. “No Picnic on Mt. Kenya” is a true story and a nonfiction text but is written like a novel would be. The narrator and author (Felice Benuzzi) writes and documents in diary entries what life is like in the English POW camps for the Italians, and then what the trek up Mount Kenya was like. After reading this book you will feel like you not only visited the POW camp but made your way up the mountain as well. It’s also a must-read for anyone who is willing to climb up the mountain themselves. You will also build sympathy for the characters and you will really feel what it felt like to walk around in their boots. All in all, this is a brilliant book that is a must-read and one which is so cleverly written so that it makes you feel like you are alongside the characters the whole time.

[Damiano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is truly an amazing book. That's because it isn't only a brilliantly written novel, with many breathtaking images vividly depicted in its pages. It isn't either because the story is actually true, and three italians really did such a incredibly stupid and beautiful thing as escaping only for the sake of climbing the beautiful mountain they saw from their camp.
This is instead a book where the love for nature and mountain emerges as pure and sincere as few others.
Really, you should read it.

[Geve_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story here is quite unique, and for that I will rate this 3 stars. The writing was not great, but forgivable since this is a non-native english speaker and not an author. In some ways the writing was charming in how unpolished it was, but it also was very tedious to read the details of walking, getting tired, resting, then walking some more. About 2/3 of the way through, the story really picked up and I devoured those portions when the escapees were away and in the real hike. The descriptions of plants and animals was really interesting.
I found it very difficult to look on the men with much respect. I was shocked at how good they had it in a prisoner of war camp. In a way, it was nice to see how well they were treated and how many amenities they had, but they really didn't appreciate it, and being that they were on the side of the axis, who at this time were mass murdering european and soviet prisoners of their own, it made it very hard to be sympathetic. In addition, when they escaped, they apparently knew their specific escape would cause those prisoners who remained in camp to be punished, and they did it anyways, and they did it to CLIMB A FUCKING MOUNTAIN. They didn't escape because they were tortured or starving or anything like that, they just wanted to climb a mountain. Upon their return, their fellow prisoners were angry with them for this exact reason, and the author seems totally unbothered by the harm they caused to their FELLOW PRISONERS and countrymen. The fact that they just essentially waltzed back into camp, underfed and exhausted with no fear of any real punishment or being worked to death was just crazy.
Maybe it all irks me because they were already in a good position by being in a brit pow camp, but they undertook this selfish adventure just so they could get a thrill. And then the author gets mad that a reporter said they had flown their flag upside down, and he blames politics for it, like, yeah man, you served a nation that was allies with Hitler, bro. When they were returning, and he was mulling over their accomplishment, it started to feel like they wanted to conquer something, because they had been conquered. I dunno, not my favorite, I guess the background of this whole thing spoiled the adventure for me a bit.
So, yeah. The actual hiking was cool, the rest, not so much.

[Mary Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benuzzi comes across as such a nice man, both in the POW camp and on the great escape with 2 companions toward the mountain, that he is rather seductive in his descriptions of the landscape and we can sympathize with the privations of their diminishing provisions.

[FerroN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quando la controffensiva delle truppe alleate in Eritrea e Somalia si abbatte sui deliri coloniali e imperiali del governo italiano, per migliaia di soldati del regio esercito arriva il momento di sperimentare i campi di prigionia africani.
All’inizio del 1941 Felice Benuzzi, funzionario ad Addis Abeba, è arrestato dagli inglesi; dopo vari trasferimenti, è internato infine nel POW Camp 354 di Nanyuki, nella regione del Monte Kenya. La detenzione trascorre nell’inattività e nell’inerzia, in un’attesa avvilente e senza speranza. Nel maggio 1942, in seguito alla prima osservazione del Monte Kenya, Benuzzi escogita l’idea di fuggire e andare a piantare una bandiera italiana sulla vetta del monte.
Il progetto è ai limiti della follia, ma la necessaria organizzazione permette di dare uno scopo a giornate vuote e interminabili; poco importa se il ritorno al campo significherà ulteriori punizioni. Dopo altri otto mesi – spesi per convincere due compagni di prigionia ad unirsi a lui e per realizzare di nascosto vestiario e materiali adatti – il 24 gennaio 1943 la squadra composta da Felice Benuzzi, Giovanni Balletto (Giuàn) e Vincenzo Barsotti (Enzo) supera i reticolati e si incammina verso l’ignoto.

“Fuga sul Kenya” si apre con la descrizione della prigionia: immagini e brevi frammenti sparsi che danno la sensazione che il tempo si sia fermato o passi inutilmente; ma quando cominciano i preparativi per l’evasione, il racconto diventa più coinvolgente. La ricerca di compagni si rivela difficile, soprattutto perché è necessario mettere al corrente del progetto il minor numero possibile di detenuti; non meno impegnativa è la realizzazione clandestina e artigianale di giacche, zaini, tenda, corda, piccozze e ramponi (!) con materiali di recupero o prelevati dalla discarica.
Se gli ostacoli posti da un’evasione da un campo di concentramento africano non sono paragonabili a quelli di un lager europeo, è ciò che attende oltre il filo spinato a preoccupare: l’impossibilità di ricevere qualsiasi tipo d’appoggio o d’aiuto, l’assenza di un vicino confine da varcare per mettersi in salvo e, soprattutto, un territorio selvaggio e pericoloso (gli altopiani e le foreste che circondano il Monte Kenya costituiscono infatti l’habitat di rinoceronti, bufali ed elefanti, nonché terreno di caccia per leoni e leopardi).
Quanto alla parte alpinistica, la piccola spedizione non dispone di alcuna informazione circa itinerari di avvicinamento, vie di salita, difficoltà tecniche o precedenti tentativi di salita alla vetta.

È la sera stabilita per la fuga. Sotto il peso di zaini pesantissimi, con allenamento scarso e conoscenze approssimative del territorio e della montagna, per i tre uomini l’impresa si dimostra subito durissima. L’ambiente è grandioso ma poco decifrabile e tra tensione, spaventi, fame e sonno (le dodici ore di buio richiedono costanti turni di guardia all’accampamento), la marcia è estenuante. Ma ci sono anche i momenti di relativo riposo: tra rumori e richiami della foresta, sotto il cielo attraversato dalla scia luminosa della Via Lattea, ci si scambiano ricordi felici di un mondo distante e immagini di tavole imbandite, e si riflette sulla necessità o l’opportunità della realizzazione di se stessi e delle proprie aspirazioni.

Felice Benuzzi termina di scrivere le sue memorie il 10 luglio 1946 mentre si trova ancora prigioniero. Scritto in inglese (“No picnic on Mount Kenya” è il titolo originale), il libro non è il racconto di un’impresa alpinistica d’alto livello, bensì la storia di una grande avventura vissuta con abilità e coraggio.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The night sky was clear. There was the smell of good earth in the air such as I had seldom noticed in Africa. I was thinking, the future exists if you know how to make it, and it’s up to you…”

- Super interesting story, interesting perspective from an Italian POW in a British camp in Kenya. Mountaineering & climbing with meagre rations pulled together from the camp makes for a great adventure.

[Matti Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve officially finished my alphabet challenge with this book!

[Miriam Glustein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is absolutely insane - three prisoners of war horde enough food and supplies to break out of their PoW camp, climb Mount Kenya, and break back into their camp, all while battling starvation and illness. The stories of PoW life are fascinating. There were so many things that I would never have considered, like how to make climbing shoes in the camp. Benuzzi is clearly not an experienced writer and I'm sure that some of it was lost in the translation from Italian to English, but the story speaks for itself and is still very much worth reading.

[Clara Mazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una (pagina di) storia vera.
Nel 1943 tre prigionieri di guerra italiani evadono da un campo di prigionia britannico in Kenya al solo scopo di scalare il Mount Kenya. Si erano preparati per mesi, di nascosto, procurandosi con mille espedienti i materiali per fabbricare poi da loro stessi ramponi, piccozze, corde, tende, scarpette da roccia (fatte con foglie e cordino di brandina)... La loro migliore cartina della montagna era il disegno riportato su una scatoletta di carne e così, alla cieca, hanno attraversato la foresta equatoriale, in uno scenario quasi da film Avatar, tra meraviglie mozzafiato e pericoli angoscianti fino a giungere ai piedi della montagna. Stremati e mal nutriti, riescono tuttavia a raggiungere la vetta del Lenana (4985 mt) e a piantare il tricolore dopo di che rientrano e si consegnano alle autorità – d’altronde non avrebbero potuto fare altro: il Mozambico, il paese neutrale più vicino, dista circa un migliaio di km.
Rientrati al campo, vennero puniti ma la loro pena, 28 giorni di reclusione, venne commutata in soli 7 per l’apprezzamento da parte dell’ufficiale inglese responsabile del campo per il loro exploit sportivo.
Una storia umana ricca di significato e che porta in sé una grandissima lezione di umanità: anche se la conquista della Punta Lenana, soprattutto fatta con le loro dotazioni, non è stato uno degli exploit maggiori della storia dell’alpinismo, è invece la motivazione dietro a questa fuga che emana uno grande sprone alla riflessione.
I tre protagonisti erano prigionieri di guerra, ovvero, a quanto dicono, il peggio che possa accadere durante un conflitto: non sei un eroe perché non ti batti, non sei un mutilato di guerra (che si avvicina all’eroe), non sei un defunto (pianto, onorato e commemorato). Non sei niente. Sei un peso da gestire, da nutrire e da curare ma che non ha effetto alcuno sul conflitto. Sei talmente niente che non si parla né si parlerà mai di te. Le giornate passano uguali e infinite. L’essere umano sbiadisce giorno dopo giorno, fino a scomparire. Ecco quindi che l’idea di scalare una cima è la metafora per tornare alla vita, per sentirsi di nuovo la linfa scorrere nelle vene: avere un progetto, incontrare ostacoli, risolverli, fare i conti con le proprie paure sempre in agguato, accettare le sconfitte, saper gioire comunque di tutto quello di positivo che si incontra lungo il nostro cammino. Ma soprattutto: non perdere mai la voglia di ridere. Ecco, l’umorismo che è sparso in abbondanza lungo tutto questo racconto, sia all’interno del campo che fuori, è anch’esso (soprattutto?) è innanzi tutto sorprendente (mai ho letto di tanti scherzi in racconti di guerra!) foriero della grande forza dell’uomo che prova a non morire “dentro”, la morte peggiore. Questa vittoria montana è la vittoria dell’uomo sulla mediocrità, sulla povertà intellettuale/interiore. E’ l’uomo che crea guerre con tutti gli annessi inutili, ma sa che sa anche gioire e sfruttare dei doni che gli sono stati fatti dalla natura. Questa storia è come la lucina nel buio – personale e dell’umanità.
Una storia letta d’un fiato e tra le lacrime.

Felice Benuzzi è nato nel 1910 a Vienna e trascorse la sua vita a Trieste. Dopo l’esame di stato in giurisprudenza, si trasferì a Addis Abeba nel 1939. Con la conquista dell’Abissinia da parte degli Inglesi nel 1941 venne internato in vari campi di prigionia in Kenya (la moglie la bambina di 8 mesi vennero internati da altre parti) dove rimase fino alla fine della guerra. Dal 1946 entrò in diplomazia e dopo essere stato in Pakistan, Francia, Berlino Ovest, Australia concluse la sua carriera come ambasciatore d’Italia in Uruguay. Si adoperò per l’ingresso dell’Italia nel Trattato sull’Antartide (ratificato nel 1984) e fu, tra le mille altre cose, uno dei soci fondatori di Mountain Wilderness. E’ morto nel 1988. Benuzzi scrisse sempre in italiano, tranne quest’avventura che ebbe la sua prima versione in inglese: No Picnic On Mount Kenya. Ebbe un successo straordinario.

[David Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to make some sort of light-hearted crack about the author being a lunatic and dragging a couple of lunatic friends along on this adventure. But then I came across this passage:

"[O]urs was a conceited and even mad venture. We had had no climbing experience for eight years, had been prisoners of war for the past two and had had little to eat and little sleep since our escape. Since then we had been crushed beneath the weight of our rucksacks and, finally, we had to start our actual attempt on the summit from a base camp which was too low and too far away from the peak. Yet we attempted, under winter conditions, a climb which Shipton and Tilman, accomplished mountaineers, had considered hopeless even in summer. Shipton and Tilman were presumably in hard condition, well fed and well served by porters - in a word, free men. We were not and did not know - that is our only excuse."

This isn't an expedition on the scale required to summit Mt. Everest, but it's a much more logistically challenging operation than any backpacking trip I've been on. I can prepare for my trips by going to the store and buying what I need. These guys needed months to beg, borrow, buy, scavenge, and make what they took. And then they needed to escape from the prisoner of war camp.

You can't make this stuff up.

It's a lunatic thing to do, it's remarkable and admirable. It's a fascinating story, well told.

[Tyson Titensor]

The author was a P.O.W. in Kenya during WWII. He stages an escape so that he can climb the second highest peak in Africa. He knows that there is no chance he will make a permanent escape, so his plan is to just return back to the camp after his climb and deal with the repercussions. It is an awesome story and I loved it.

One of my favorite passages: "Never, I imagine, have mountaineers approached the mountain of their dreams--a colossus of 17,000 feet at that--under such conditions; at least not in this century with its highly organized methods for collecting information. Our ignorance proved an insuperable handicap from the point of view of material achievement; but from the spiritual point of view, which is of far greater importance to the true mountaineer, it was in the nature of a gift from God. Every step led to new discoveries, and we were continually in a state of amazed admiration and gratitude."

[Tom Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This adventure is so unique. daring, crazy and magical. I loved the madness involved in the whole idea. This is truly an excellent account of the desire for adventure, especially that of the absurdness of it all. The story makes me smile everytime I think of it and It has left me with a longing for reckless, blind adventuring.

It is written a little oddly at times but that does not take away from the marvellous feat and brilliant, comical story. If you have a hint of madness and adventure in you then read this!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that combines a thumping adventure story with good humour. The premise is enough to give you a good idea of this: a few Italians plan to escape the boredom of a prisoner of war camp in Kenya, to climb mount Kenya with improvised equipment, to break back into the war camp. A really unique and remarkable story about some eccentric characters living life to the full in difficult circumstances. This book deserves far wider fame and recognition than it gets, for it is a classic in the adventure/travel genre in my view.

[Bobparr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nonostante un ultimo capitolo superfluo e giustapposto, questo romanzo è avvincente. Benuzzi, uomo di altri tempi, ha raccontato una storia appassionante di tre folli e temerari militari italiani, prigionieri nel Kenya del 1943.
I termini sono a volte desueti, come le esclamazioni; nei dialoghi c’è gentilezza e simpatia; nel sentire c’è modestia e bontà d’animo. I meschini sono tenuti a distanza, le difficoltà non sono taciute, non c’è livore nelle frasi. Libro scritto da signori, e da signori vissuto.

[Damir · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is amazing, unique and I definitely recommend this book to climbers and mountaineers, but the writing style was sometimes too detailed. I think it's great that the author documents how he prepared his equipment,but readers beware, it can become too much. I did enjoy his romanticism and I consider this is one of the greatest climbing stories ever.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating true story of three Italian POWs in a British POW camp in Kenya during Word War II. They escape from the camp solely to climb the nearby Mt. Kenya, a peak that at the time had only been climbed by a few previous expeditions.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far from detailed, this book just more or less goes through what happened. The writer has good humor every now and then.

[Aaron Welborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an unexpected gem of a book. Wish it wasn't the only thing he ever wrote!

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story, well told and well illustrated.