Book Description

Dave, Sue and Chris set off from Britain in a decrepit London taxi that’s already clocked-up half a million miles. Their unlikely goal is to drive it across 21 countries to Cape Town, South Africa – by way of the pyramids of Egypt, the lions of the Masai Mara, Kilimanjaro, Victoria Falls and the great sea of sand of the Namib Desert. The taxi proves its mettle by overheating before they even get to Dover. They should have taken that as an omen.

Ahead of them lies a journey to the alternative side of travel, where they pass through some of the hottest desert on earth, run the gauntlet of armed bandits and take on roadway that locals are certain is impossible for such a car: the taxi is pushed to its limits – and often beyond. The story brims with characters met along the way, from street hustlers to township residents, who offer a glimpse of the world through the eyes of its poorer inhabitants.

From the pyre of car crashes and broken limbs comes a tale heaped with laugh-out-loud humour and sparkling with insight into the realities of lives lived differently.