What do you think?
Rate this book
Journey to the Jade Sea
Hillaby's account of his fascinating journey across Africa.
208 pages, Paperback
First published June 11, 1964
About the author
John Hillaby
34 books7 followershttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/peo... written by Douglas Matthews:
Pedestrian was the last word to apply to John Hillaby, though he has been called the most celebrated pedestrian in England. Yet like his contemporaries, Clive Wainwright and Wilfred Thesiger, he was admired as much by armchair idlers as by the serious walking fraternity. Whether pacing rapidly through the streets of London or across the high moors of his beloved Yorkshire, his tall, spare figure was instantly recognisable, and even in his seventies he could leave younger men struggling in his wake.
... the son of a printer, he was educated at Woodhouse Grove school, Leeds, from where he made his early countryside excursions. He began his career as a journalist on local weeklies in the West Riding, but was quickly caught up in the Second World War, seeing active service with the Royal Artillery, notably in the retreat through Dunkirk. He married, first, in 1940, Eleanor Riley, with whom he had two daughters, though this marriage was later dissolved.
Returning from the war he took up journalism again, and from 1949 was zoological correspondent on the then Manchester Guardian. The New York Times engaged him as European science correspondent from 1951, and the New Scientist as biological consultant from 1953. He published his first book, Within the Stream, in 1949, and all the time he was travelling, in Africa, North America and, of course, in Britain. He never scorned modern transport (though he hated motorways), but used it mainly to get him to where he wished to start serious travel, which for him was on his own two feet.
...
Hillaby was a director of the Universities Federation of Animal Welfare, and a frequent broadcaster on radio and television. He was made a Fellow of the Zoological Society, was awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the City University, and in 1973 was appointed Woodward Lecturer at Yale University.
After publishing Nature and Man in 1960, Hillaby really made his impact upon the literary scene with Journey to the Jade Sea (1964), about his remarkable thousand-mile walk from Northern Kenya to Lake Rudolf, alone except for his hired bearers and a string of camels, many of whom acquire personality and character under his pen. His rueful sense of this noviciate, inept with the animals, awkward with his rifle, and dependent on the Africans for guidance and support, is belied by the achievement itself and by the professionalism of his planning and organisation. The reviewers gave it warm praise, as much for its literary quality as for the journey itself, and the book remains a classic among travel writings, having brought a new, individual and endearing personality before the reading public.
It also set the pattern and style for his later writings: Journey Through Britain (1968), an account of his walk from Land's End to John-o'-Groats, almost entirely on tracks and bridle ways; Journey Through Europe (1972), his similar walk from the Hook of Holland to Nice by way of the Alps; and Journey Through Love (1976), on scattered travels in Britain and America, which also recounts the death from cancer in l972 of his second wife, Thelma ("Tilly"), whom he had married in 1966.
Hillaby was deeply affected by Thelma's death, but although he was a solitary walker he was a companionable man, and in 1981 he married Kathleen Burton. Katie was to bring him more than domestic support. A doughty Yorkshire woman who had lived much of her life in Ceylon, she proved to be as enthusiastic a walker as John Hillaby himself, and from now on she accompanied him on his travels and appears as a cheerful, practical figure in several of his subsequent books.
These were Journey Home (1983); John Hillaby's Yorkshire (1986); John Hillaby's London (1987); and Journey to the Gods (1991), in which he returned to his earlier format with an account of his walk from Athens to Mount Olympus. His last book, Hillaby's Worl
Pedestrian was the last word to apply to John Hillaby, though he has been called the most celebrated pedestrian in England. Yet like his contemporaries, Clive Wainwright and Wilfred Thesiger, he was admired as much by armchair idlers as by the serious walking fraternity. Whether pacing rapidly through the streets of London or across the high moors of his beloved Yorkshire, his tall, spare figure was instantly recognisable, and even in his seventies he could leave younger men struggling in his wake.
... the son of a printer, he was educated at Woodhouse Grove school, Leeds, from where he made his early countryside excursions. He began his career as a journalist on local weeklies in the West Riding, but was quickly caught up in the Second World War, seeing active service with the Royal Artillery, notably in the retreat through Dunkirk. He married, first, in 1940, Eleanor Riley, with whom he had two daughters, though this marriage was later dissolved.
Returning from the war he took up journalism again, and from 1949 was zoological correspondent on the then Manchester Guardian. The New York Times engaged him as European science correspondent from 1951, and the New Scientist as biological consultant from 1953. He published his first book, Within the Stream, in 1949, and all the time he was travelling, in Africa, North America and, of course, in Britain. He never scorned modern transport (though he hated motorways), but used it mainly to get him to where he wished to start serious travel, which for him was on his own two feet.
...
Hillaby was a director of the Universities Federation of Animal Welfare, and a frequent broadcaster on radio and television. He was made a Fellow of the Zoological Society, was awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the City University, and in 1973 was appointed Woodward Lecturer at Yale University.
After publishing Nature and Man in 1960, Hillaby really made his impact upon the literary scene with Journey to the Jade Sea (1964), about his remarkable thousand-mile walk from Northern Kenya to Lake Rudolf, alone except for his hired bearers and a string of camels, many of whom acquire personality and character under his pen. His rueful sense of this noviciate, inept with the animals, awkward with his rifle, and dependent on the Africans for guidance and support, is belied by the achievement itself and by the professionalism of his planning and organisation. The reviewers gave it warm praise, as much for its literary quality as for the journey itself, and the book remains a classic among travel writings, having brought a new, individual and endearing personality before the reading public.
It also set the pattern and style for his later writings: Journey Through Britain (1968), an account of his walk from Land's End to John-o'-Groats, almost entirely on tracks and bridle ways; Journey Through Europe (1972), his similar walk from the Hook of Holland to Nice by way of the Alps; and Journey Through Love (1976), on scattered travels in Britain and America, which also recounts the death from cancer in l972 of his second wife, Thelma ("Tilly"), whom he had married in 1966.
Hillaby was deeply affected by Thelma's death, but although he was a solitary walker he was a companionable man, and in 1981 he married Kathleen Burton. Katie was to bring him more than domestic support. A doughty Yorkshire woman who had lived much of her life in Ceylon, she proved to be as enthusiastic a walker as John Hillaby himself, and from now on she accompanied him on his travels and appears as a cheerful, practical figure in several of his subsequent books.
These were Journey Home (1983); John Hillaby's Yorkshire (1986); John Hillaby's London (1987); and Journey to the Gods (1991), in which he returned to his earlier format with an account of his walk from Athens to Mount Olympus. His last book, Hillaby's Worl
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 26, 2020
Considered a classic by some, this book describes the authors journey in Kenya from Wamba north to The Jade Sea as Lake Rudolf is sometimes know. Lake Rudolf itself was renamed in 1975 to Lake Turkana after the predominant tribe who live nearby.
Hillaby was, at the commencement of his journey, quite a greenhorn, and his self disparaging writing is very British, and breaks up the achievements of his trip quite well. Primarily walking, with camels carrying the loads, and with native guides and a few tips from Wilfred Thesiger. These included taking no boots, but soft soled canvas tennis shoes - of which he took ten pairs.
The Jade Sea is in northern Kenya near the Ethiopian border. Arriving and departing from Nairobi, the actual travel begins in Wamba in the Samburu county, and is now a National Reserve. As Hillaby makes quite a point of his inadequacy at the beginning of his expedition he is quite reliant on good guidance from his local assistants. He spoke none of the language, was inexperienced with guns, terrible at navigation, knew nothing of camels and had practically no experience in the bush. Quite a remarkable undertaking, given the lack of grounding in practical skills, really.
Hillaby makes a point of stating for the record his poor marksmanship. Towards the end of his 1100 mile, 3 month journey he does improve, abut he also records some success he puts down to luck.
P56
During the early stages of the safari it was apparent I was deeply concerned about game and gunnery. There is much to be said about the ethics of killing; I am not concerned with them here. As I saw it the problem was that we were moving towards deserts where we could neither buy goats nor carry enough tins to last us through the journey. As gun was a necessity but I was not much good at ranges of two and three hundred yards. In an effort not to lose too much face I used to invent reasons for not shooting but I'm pretty sire that the met saw through them. They knew I didn't want to shoot and they were determined that I should.
P67
During the night, I managed to chase a hyena - not out of but into my tent. The only casualty was a canvas shoe. The animal bit off the toe cap as cleanly as if it has been sliced off with a pair of shears. I don't know whether my foot would have been treated the same way had it been inside; I remember only my annoyance at being wakened up at midnight and the ridiculous scamper around the tent.
It had been erected in a gap between two large bushes. When the hyenas began to call with growing insistence I got up and saw two pairs of bright green eyes in the light of the torch. I threw a brick at them. When another animal began to yowl behind me I went around the back of the tent to investigate. The hyena stood there - ashen grey in the bright light. It seemed to unabashed that I chased it angrily. The animal swerved around the bush and disappeared. Walking around the bush to the front of the tent I saw it disappear through the back flap. It seems I had chased it in.
P193
...For those who are keeping the score of what i missed with the gun, I must say here that I missed again.
P195 - my square brackets
During the early part of the day Leland and I managed to get lost in rather ridiculous circumstances... How I managed to lose my way when I tried to rejoin him [Leland] is difficult to explain, but in an effort to cut off a corner I had strayed into a little canyon. I walked back angrily to where I imagined we had parted and heard his call. The shout echoed and added to the confusion of direction. I called back and eventually fired a shot...
The incident ended on the usual note of anticlimax. As I climbed up a hill to a patch of scrub intent on lighting a fire (I had read somewhere that this was the thing to do), Leland (who had been watching me) climbed swiftly around the other side.
At time a little slow, but an enjoyable read where Hillaby told much of his companions and his experiences. I also enjoyed the throwbacks to Thesiger's London-given advice before the trip.
4 stars
Hillaby was, at the commencement of his journey, quite a greenhorn, and his self disparaging writing is very British, and breaks up the achievements of his trip quite well. Primarily walking, with camels carrying the loads, and with native guides and a few tips from Wilfred Thesiger. These included taking no boots, but soft soled canvas tennis shoes - of which he took ten pairs.
The Jade Sea is in northern Kenya near the Ethiopian border. Arriving and departing from Nairobi, the actual travel begins in Wamba in the Samburu county, and is now a National Reserve. As Hillaby makes quite a point of his inadequacy at the beginning of his expedition he is quite reliant on good guidance from his local assistants. He spoke none of the language, was inexperienced with guns, terrible at navigation, knew nothing of camels and had practically no experience in the bush. Quite a remarkable undertaking, given the lack of grounding in practical skills, really.
Hillaby makes a point of stating for the record his poor marksmanship. Towards the end of his 1100 mile, 3 month journey he does improve, abut he also records some success he puts down to luck.
P56
During the early stages of the safari it was apparent I was deeply concerned about game and gunnery. There is much to be said about the ethics of killing; I am not concerned with them here. As I saw it the problem was that we were moving towards deserts where we could neither buy goats nor carry enough tins to last us through the journey. As gun was a necessity but I was not much good at ranges of two and three hundred yards. In an effort not to lose too much face I used to invent reasons for not shooting but I'm pretty sire that the met saw through them. They knew I didn't want to shoot and they were determined that I should.
P67
During the night, I managed to chase a hyena - not out of but into my tent. The only casualty was a canvas shoe. The animal bit off the toe cap as cleanly as if it has been sliced off with a pair of shears. I don't know whether my foot would have been treated the same way had it been inside; I remember only my annoyance at being wakened up at midnight and the ridiculous scamper around the tent.
It had been erected in a gap between two large bushes. When the hyenas began to call with growing insistence I got up and saw two pairs of bright green eyes in the light of the torch. I threw a brick at them. When another animal began to yowl behind me I went around the back of the tent to investigate. The hyena stood there - ashen grey in the bright light. It seemed to unabashed that I chased it angrily. The animal swerved around the bush and disappeared. Walking around the bush to the front of the tent I saw it disappear through the back flap. It seems I had chased it in.
P193
...For those who are keeping the score of what i missed with the gun, I must say here that I missed again.
P195 - my square brackets
During the early part of the day Leland and I managed to get lost in rather ridiculous circumstances... How I managed to lose my way when I tried to rejoin him [Leland] is difficult to explain, but in an effort to cut off a corner I had strayed into a little canyon. I walked back angrily to where I imagined we had parted and heard his call. The shout echoed and added to the confusion of direction. I called back and eventually fired a shot...
The incident ended on the usual note of anticlimax. As I climbed up a hill to a patch of scrub intent on lighting a fire (I had read somewhere that this was the thing to do), Leland (who had been watching me) climbed swiftly around the other side.
At time a little slow, but an enjoyable read where Hillaby told much of his companions and his experiences. I also enjoyed the throwbacks to Thesiger's London-given advice before the trip.
4 stars
September 3, 2019
My first John Hillaby book ... but it will not be my last! I loved this author. John tells of his eleven hundred mile (1770 km) journey through northern Kenya ... on foot. His effortless style of writing made everything about his journey interesting. He knows his own weaknesses and isn't afraid to point them out, often in a very humorous way.
4 Stars = Outstanding. It definitely held my interest.
4 Stars = Outstanding. It definitely held my interest.
June 1, 2011
If P.G. Wodehouse had written a safari book, it would have been this one. I love trek books with voice and this author here offers himself wryly and unabashedly as a bungling greenhorn. The reader is amused while learning what to look for in a camel (always helpful on a safari), how to shoot one's dinner, and what you do or do not want to see in elephant droppings.
The Jade Sea is also known as Lake Rudolph (one man's sea is another man's lake, right?). It was discovered by the Austrian Count Teleki who named it after the melancholy Crown Prince Rudolph (to cheer him up, I suppose. Didn't work; he shot himself and the beautiful young Marie Vetsera anyway).
Hillaby's hired staff of African men bear an uncanny resemblance to Jeeves-type helpers. When Hillaby leaves on safari, he promises the men he will shoot vegetables (same meaning as meat in Swahili). Since he really does not know how to hunt, he tries very hard to camp far from game, and the men try equally hard to ensure that camp is always made exactly where herds of gazelles and other prey can be found.
I am sure readers will be familiar with the concept of the Westerner who is expected to be a medical expert. No doubt the burden of being expected to have this knowledge has led to the average Westerner becoming very adept at self-medicating. (We had to fill the shoes we were made to wear.) Hillaby demonstrates this Western ability to a young man who comes to him with a missing top joint to his missing finger, which he has sliced off with a panga some days earlier. The young man has been applying cow dung to the finger in the hopes that it will grow back. Hillaby suggests he continue the treatment.
(This reminds me of the Egyptian carpenter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia who had lost varying segments of most of his fingers due to sawing in the dark. He used to pound on our street door so that he could borrow my ex husband's electric saw. Apparently he misplaced his.)
Journey to the Jade Sea is both interesting and funny; I highly recommend it.
The Jade Sea is also known as Lake Rudolph (one man's sea is another man's lake, right?). It was discovered by the Austrian Count Teleki who named it after the melancholy Crown Prince Rudolph (to cheer him up, I suppose. Didn't work; he shot himself and the beautiful young Marie Vetsera anyway).
Hillaby's hired staff of African men bear an uncanny resemblance to Jeeves-type helpers. When Hillaby leaves on safari, he promises the men he will shoot vegetables (same meaning as meat in Swahili). Since he really does not know how to hunt, he tries very hard to camp far from game, and the men try equally hard to ensure that camp is always made exactly where herds of gazelles and other prey can be found.
I am sure readers will be familiar with the concept of the Westerner who is expected to be a medical expert. No doubt the burden of being expected to have this knowledge has led to the average Westerner becoming very adept at self-medicating. (We had to fill the shoes we were made to wear.) Hillaby demonstrates this Western ability to a young man who comes to him with a missing top joint to his missing finger, which he has sliced off with a panga some days earlier. The young man has been applying cow dung to the finger in the hopes that it will grow back. Hillaby suggests he continue the treatment.
(This reminds me of the Egyptian carpenter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia who had lost varying segments of most of his fingers due to sawing in the dark. He used to pound on our street door so that he could borrow my ex husband's electric saw. Apparently he misplaced his.)
Journey to the Jade Sea is both interesting and funny; I highly recommend it.
August 28, 2015
Travel Thesiger-style: 10 pairs of gym shoes and a camel are all you really need.
October 18, 2016
A journey... that can only be appreciated if you read the book for yourself. Simply fantastic; and quite humorous too!
June 9, 2018
This is considered a classic of travel literature. Before reading it, I had read references to the author's self deprecating humor. What I had not expected is the vivid beauty described in this book. Without the gimmick of a pre arranged schedule or theme, Hillaby travels through the desert and scrub of northern Kenya to visit Lake Turkana (then called Lake Rudolf) and the surrounding area. The writing is vivid, clever and honest. The viewpoint is definitely that of an outsider, but not painfully so. Thoroughly enjoyable.
January 4, 2009
John Hillaby has rocketed into my favourite authors list on the strength of this book, an account of a trek in Kenya in the 1960s. As mentioned previously, I am a big fan of bumbling, rambling writers who can talk up the most inconsequential incidents into an enormously entertaining adventure. John Hillaby is exactly like that. I will have to dig around the second hand book shops for his other works.
September 9, 2018
A wonderful book about a desert journey by camel that had me reaching for my atlas and dreaming of the life of the trail.
January 26, 2021
Modern travel writing seems to fall into one of two categories – humorous, or horrible. There doesn’t seem to be too much in the middle, where someone has a lovely time and writes about it in a deadpan way. I guess we are so familiar with most places in the world with TV and film now that writers have to work hard to hold our interest. This book, being a bit older – is of a previous era, when writers still had new places to describe.
In the 1960s, John Hillaby set off on a journey to the ‘Jade Sea’, (Lake Rudolf, or Lake Turkana these days) in northern Kenya, for no better reason than that he was bored with life. Inexperienced, but informed by none other than Wilfred Thesiger, he successfully negotiated the hire of men and camels and wandered off into the desert to see what he could see. Neither overtly humorous or truly horrible, his journey is however about a part of the world few of us will ever see, and even though more than fifty(!) years have elapsed since his trip, it’s hard to imagine much has changed. Some of the things described, like poaching, hunger for medicine and opportunistic guides can still be observed today.
Despite heading off into fairly wild terrain and camping amongst many dangerous animals, the journey evokes the atmosphere of a sort of luxurious safari, with camels to do the heavy lifting and multiple bottles of scotch being carried around. That’s probably John Hillaby’s relaxed attitude coming through in the writing. Even the need to slaughter a sick camel, getting lost in the desert, and interactions with scorpions, lions and rhinos don’t seem to phase him. The relationship with the four main men who accompany him is interesting, and although clearly fitting into a master/employee type arrangement, it is unusual that he learned the local language before undertaking the trip. Part of the deal for men accompanying John was that he provided them with meat by shooting birds and gazelle and catching fish along the way. I’m not sure he would have been let loose with a bunch of guns to shoot his dinner in a foreign country these days.
The thing that is notable about this book is that it feels like most of the time the whole journey was because there was nothing better to do. John even admits on the first page that he had to ask someone for an excuse to make the journey. Some of the places he went to sound harsh and not really worth visiting. At one point he literally heads off into the desert for want of other ideas, sees almost nothing and gratefully returns to more populated areas. What I learned from this book is there’s a reason not many people live in deserts. Enjoyable read about a more innocent time when you didn’t need a reason to travel, or to contrive to find humour in your adventures.
In the 1960s, John Hillaby set off on a journey to the ‘Jade Sea’, (Lake Rudolf, or Lake Turkana these days) in northern Kenya, for no better reason than that he was bored with life. Inexperienced, but informed by none other than Wilfred Thesiger, he successfully negotiated the hire of men and camels and wandered off into the desert to see what he could see. Neither overtly humorous or truly horrible, his journey is however about a part of the world few of us will ever see, and even though more than fifty(!) years have elapsed since his trip, it’s hard to imagine much has changed. Some of the things described, like poaching, hunger for medicine and opportunistic guides can still be observed today.
Despite heading off into fairly wild terrain and camping amongst many dangerous animals, the journey evokes the atmosphere of a sort of luxurious safari, with camels to do the heavy lifting and multiple bottles of scotch being carried around. That’s probably John Hillaby’s relaxed attitude coming through in the writing. Even the need to slaughter a sick camel, getting lost in the desert, and interactions with scorpions, lions and rhinos don’t seem to phase him. The relationship with the four main men who accompany him is interesting, and although clearly fitting into a master/employee type arrangement, it is unusual that he learned the local language before undertaking the trip. Part of the deal for men accompanying John was that he provided them with meat by shooting birds and gazelle and catching fish along the way. I’m not sure he would have been let loose with a bunch of guns to shoot his dinner in a foreign country these days.
The thing that is notable about this book is that it feels like most of the time the whole journey was because there was nothing better to do. John even admits on the first page that he had to ask someone for an excuse to make the journey. Some of the places he went to sound harsh and not really worth visiting. At one point he literally heads off into the desert for want of other ideas, sees almost nothing and gratefully returns to more populated areas. What I learned from this book is there’s a reason not many people live in deserts. Enjoyable read about a more innocent time when you didn’t need a reason to travel, or to contrive to find humour in your adventures.
February 20, 2023
1964 travel journal - lauded for changing the course of travel writing for ever but its hard to tell that 60 years later.
Its a journal of a 1000 mile trek around Lake Rudolf in Northern Kenya. Hillaby does it solo - with the exception of the African guides he needs to lead - and feed, through what they can carry or hunt on the trail. It's a witty, engaging read and Hillaby is keen to show his weaknesses and ineptitude in a humourous light. He has 12 pairs of trainers in his kit list. He has a rifle to provide meat from the hunt but can barely shoot. He just about deals with language issues from a phrase book and is keen to point out his respect of his trail partners - although they could not be more different in background/attitude.
Its one of those books that requires more research. There is no real explanation as to the "why" this journey is being taken. There is some historical background to the Victorian era Austrian who discovered the lake but nothing about why Hillaby wants to go out there now. The back cover details that he was bored with London Office life - but what he did is not explained. Just that he lived in Hampstead. Had a wife and kids - but how he planned, financed and got family permission to disappear for 6 months, on a potentially dangerous trip is not touched on. I have to apply in writing three days in advance if I am going for a pint.
But research can be completed elsewhere - this page points to other writers of an ilk, and indeed Hillaby's standing in the walking community.
I will investigate more after enjoying this 207 page book.
Its a journal of a 1000 mile trek around Lake Rudolf in Northern Kenya. Hillaby does it solo - with the exception of the African guides he needs to lead - and feed, through what they can carry or hunt on the trail. It's a witty, engaging read and Hillaby is keen to show his weaknesses and ineptitude in a humourous light. He has 12 pairs of trainers in his kit list. He has a rifle to provide meat from the hunt but can barely shoot. He just about deals with language issues from a phrase book and is keen to point out his respect of his trail partners - although they could not be more different in background/attitude.
Its one of those books that requires more research. There is no real explanation as to the "why" this journey is being taken. There is some historical background to the Victorian era Austrian who discovered the lake but nothing about why Hillaby wants to go out there now. The back cover details that he was bored with London Office life - but what he did is not explained. Just that he lived in Hampstead. Had a wife and kids - but how he planned, financed and got family permission to disappear for 6 months, on a potentially dangerous trip is not touched on. I have to apply in writing three days in advance if I am going for a pint.
But research can be completed elsewhere - this page points to other writers of an ilk, and indeed Hillaby's standing in the walking community.
I will investigate more after enjoying this 207 page book.
February 17, 2020
Wonderful writing, of the age, with plenty of entertaining asides.
October 12, 2023
Quirky haunting travel yarn
March 27, 2014
One of the few “this changed my life” books. Made me realise that you really could walk away and start again
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews