Wheelbarrow Across the Sahara

Geoff Howard is a parish priest from Manchester. On Christmas Eve 1974 he departed from Beni Abbes in Algeria- his destination was Kano in Nigeria.

The wheelbarrow of note in the book title is a “Chinese Wheelbarrow” - not that I have ever heard of, or seen one. It has a large central wheel and a box locker each side. They come with a mast and a sail, which is said to take part of the load from the operator, but this was proven by Howard to be more hindrance than help, as it is obviously very direction-dependent, and it makes no sense to tack like a yacht when pushing a wheelbarrow! The sail and mast were quickly abandoned in favour of brute force.

Beni Abbes to Kano is some 1946 miles (a little over 3130km); Geoff Howard, the mad bugger, pushed his Chinese Wheelbarrow all this way (less the 1km in which he rode in a truck in a moment of weakness). It took him 94 days, for an average of over 20 miles a day (32km).

That he was assisted by two British soldiers who were in a Land Rover and accompanied him most of the way makes it sound easier - but this was a safety consideration, and he made his own complex rules about how and when they could assist. He was to carry all his own equipment and food, water, supplies etc between towns - ie self sufficiency, but he did meet up with them to camp each night. They generally did not stay in towns, but backtracked a few miles to camp in relative peace, in which case they loaded up the wheelbarrow and were able to share food that night (as they would have done had they stayed in the town). Mechanical repairs and medical assistance could be rendered when the Land Rover passed by (he set off early in the morning, they passed him around lunchtime or later and he determined how many more miles they would travel before camping). He was able to take food or supplies offered by others on the road, and the locals were generous with small food offerings.

His purpose? Other than proving to himself he could make it, and proving all those who told him he could or would not make it wrong - was to raise money for the poor in Nigeria, where he and his wife had recently completed a year as volunteers for an aid organisation. He had learned a little of the language in that time, so that came in helpful when he crossed the border from Niger.

This book was not published until 1990, as once his journey was over he was overtaken by normal life - he was back to work, his wife and children (and the four more that eventuated). Like the journey, it is quite an extraordinary book. Chris Bonington wrote a one-page Foreword, and wrote ‘Not much of an adventure' I thought, ‘pushing this ridiculous wheelbarrow along a well travelled road or track with a Land Rover in constant attendance.' Which is not very complimentary, but is not really the whole story either.

While he had his religious moments - conversations with God, requests to God that were responded to by the local people, it was not an overpoweringly religious book. He was perhaps at his most amusing where he was out of his comfort zone - the soldiers teasing him about the local girls, the various offers he received and the like. The book was written well, it engaged and maintained interest in a way that journeys which are repetitive by nature often are not engaging reading. While he was detailed in his food, this was generally sparse and minimal and didn't take up much page space, his camping, sleeping and living was covered off but not repetitive and there were various changes to this along the way as he lost equipment or evolved his processes. Howard also shared much of his personal life, and also his troubled thoughts for the three month journey. I wouldn't say his marriage was on the rocks, but there was some turmoil, and he was inclined to think the worst - remembering this was all prior to digital communication, when loved ones had to send letters to random towns and cities, predicting when they might arrive and when the traveller might collect them.

A slim book of less than 200 pages, the font was very small (too many of these small font books lately!) and so was probably equivalent to a 250 page read.

4 stars.