Saturday, October 26, 2024

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown by Paul Theroux

The author had spent some time teaching in sub-Saharan Africa earlier in life. This time he wanted to travel from the north to the south of the continent. He prefered to interact with the people of the bush. However, in the cities he would try to be with the "real" people rather than the foreigners. He observed that most of the Africans were unemployed and that those that had public jobs tended to not do much work. Many businesses were run by foreigners.

Aid workers and missionaries often have noble intentions. However, the results have been lacking. Aid workers often live in the nicer areas, while those that they help are in greater squalor. Schools are often created with foreign teachers. The students that succeed are often likely to leave Africa for greater opportunities. Without continued foreign investment, the institutions tend to fail, rather than being continued by locals. Aid money is just as likely to get siphoned away by government kleptocrats than it is to reach individuals. The aid may even make things worse as it limits the growth of internal industry.

Each country in Africa has its own culture. Some are better off than others. They often present a different face to tourists than they do to the locals. Infrastructure in general is lacking and not reliable. Some are still using early colonist railroads. Schedules come and go as available. Crime is in general a serious problem in many places. However, in spite of all the challenges, there are many positives in the continent. Perhaps the rapid western industrialization and urbanization is not what they need.

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