The Last Train to Zona Verde: My Ultimate African Safari

307 Pages·2013·1.73 MB·English

by  Paul Theroux

Books by Paul Theroux
FICTION
Waldo
Fong and the Indians
Girls at Play
Murder in Mount Holly
Jungle Lovers
Sinning with Annie
Saint Jack
The Black House
The Family Arsenal
The Consul’s File
A Christmas Card
Picture Palace
London Snow
World’s End
The Mosquito Coast
The London Embassy
Half Moon Street
O-Zone
My Secret History
Chicago Loop
Millroy the Magician
My Other Life
Kowloon Tong
Hotel Honolulu
The Stranger at the Palazzo d’Oro
Blinding Light
The Elephanta Suite
A Dead Hand
The Lower River
CRITICISM
V. S. Naipaul
NONFICTION
The Great Railway Bazaar
The Old Patagonian Express
The Kingdom by the Sea
Sailing Through China
Sunrise with Seamonsters
The Imperial Way
Riding the Iron Rooster
To the Ends of the Earth
The Happy Isles of Oceania
The Pillars of Hercules
Sir Vidia’s Shadow
Fresh Air Fiend
Dark Star Safari
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star
The Tao of Travel
The Last Train to Zona Verde

Copyright © 2013 by Paul Theroux
Published simultaneously in the United States by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a
retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying
or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an
infringement of the copyright law.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication available upon request
eISBN: 978-0-77108522-2
Maps by Jacques Chazaud McClelland & Stewart,
a division of Random House of Canada Limited
One Toronto Street
Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 2V6
www.mcclelland.com
v3.1
To Albert and Freddy,
Sylvie and Enzo,
with love from Grandpa
When my father used to travel, he didn’t fear the night. But had he all his toes?
— Bakongo (Angola) proverb
God almighty said to Moses, peace be upon him: Take an iron staff and wear iron
sandals, and then tour the earth until the staff is broken and the shoes are worn out.
— Muhammad bin al-Sarraj, Uns al-Sari wa-al sarib (A Companion to Day and Night
Travelers), 1630, translated by Nabil Matar
Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Maps
1. AMONG THE UNREAL PEOPLE
2. THE TRAIN FROM KHAYELITSHA
3. CAPE TOWN: THE SPIRIT OF THE CAPE
4. THE NIGHT BUS TO WINDHOEK
5. NIGHT TRAIN FROM SWAKOPMUND
6. THE BUSH TRACK TO TSUMKWE
7. CEREMONY AT THE CROSSROADS
8. AMONG THE REAL PEOPLE
9. RIDING AN ELEPHANT: THE ULTIMATE SAFARI
10. THE HUNGRY HERDS AT ETOSHA
11. THE FRONTIER OF BAD KARMA
12. THREE PIECES OF CHICKEN
13. VOLUNTEERING IN LUBANGO
14. THE SLAVE YARDS OF BENGUELA
15. LUANDA: THE IMPROVISED CITY
16. “THIS IS WHAT THE WORLD WILL LOOK LIKE WHEN IT ENDS”
17. WHAT AM I DOING HERE?