THE Speaker at our August meeting was Mr Fran Sandham, editor of Rough Guide, with a talk entitled ‘Solo Walk Across Africa’.

As a 6-year-old, Fran Sandham was an avid reader of Tarzan comics which began a fascination with Africa. Years later he decided to make a New Year’s resolution and have a great adventure – walking solo across Africa.

It took Fran a year of saving, working in two book shops before he had enough money to get to the Skeleton Coast, Namibia on the west coast of Africa for the start of his adventure. He did no preparatory fitness training before the trip and had no back up team – just a Michelin map with the scale of 40k to 1cm with 3,000 miles to walk, carrying a rucksack weighing 100 lb in temperatures well into the 40s. Fran weighed 12 ½ stone at the beginning of his journey and 8 ½ stone at the end!!

One of the highlights of his journey was seeing the magnificent Victoria Falls and his best memory was of the first evening on the Skeleton Coast where he experienced a feeling of freedom and anticipation.

The only time Fran felt like giving up was when he got lost in the Namibia desert where the heat of the sand was 75? and his feet were covered in huge blisters. Fran decided to buy a cart to transport his backpack which he painted and bought a stubborn donkey which refused to do anything. After 2 and-a-half months the donkey had moved less than a mile. He then tried a mule with the same effect. So he was back to carrying his rucksack.

He was warned about snakes, bandits, lions and malaria. While walking on a new tarmac road in North Namibia, he trod on the head of a puff adder and did not realise how high he could jump until that moment! Luckily he was not bitten and the snake got away.

He did not encounter any bandits but on the contrary found he was welcomed by everyone he met who invited him to share their food – mainly a sort of maize porridge with stewed rodents or goat – delicious!! He collected water from the village pumps. Often small children would walk with him between the villages. They were fascinated by the two trekking poles Fran was using – he looked as though he was skiing over the desert.

Lots of different advice was given to him in case of meeting a lion and the game warden advised him not to pitch his tent in the game reserve. Fran became very sick through drinking unclean water and had to leave his tent many times during day and night – luckily he wasn’t on the lions’ ‘good to eat’ menu!

He arrived at Lake Malawi in the rainy season and left his straw hat out to dry whereupon it was eaten by ants.

Fran did not want his journey to end and felt sad when, after a year he reached Tanzania and the Indian Ocean knowing that he would not sleep so soundly in the future. Unfortunately and ironically he contracted the dreaded malaria the day after arriving at his journey’s end.

Fran’s talk was accompanied by photos and amusing anecdotes and was thoroughly enjoyed by an appreciative audience.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 19 September at 14.15 at Wulstan Hall with a talk entitled ‘A Policeman’s Lot’ by Alan Rogers MBE. New members will be very welcome.

JACKIE PEEK