Skip to main content
< Enquire

Book Review: Whatever You Do, Don't Run - Peter Allison

Book Review: Whatever You Do, Don't Run - Peter Allison

"There can be no better way for a reader wishing to touch the African safari experience from afar than delving into the pages of this most enthralling book." - John Keith, Sandgrouse Travel & Expeditions. 

Life in the African bush, from the safety of your own armchair 

For anyone yearning to experience the African bush observing the amazing variety of wildlife in some of the most extensive and remote landscapes in the world, Peter Allison’s book Whatever You Do, Don’t Run is the nearest thing to actually bouncing across a desert track in a Land Rover on an early morning safari drive.

Across a variety of personal stories taken from Peter’s own life experiences acting as a Botswana Safari Guide, the thrill of living and working in these beautifully diverse environments amongst such a wealth of wildlife is attractively described in an amusing and informative style.

The great achievement of this book is that it tells it as it is. Peter pulls no punches, speaking openly about his own successes and failures as, driven by his love for the African continent and its wildlife, he works his way from backpacking to safari camp management over a decade of experiences. Chapter upon chapter reveal many mind-boggling accounts of simply once-in-a-lifetime incidents and the reader is entertained by captivating near misses with disaster such as the boating trip on the Okavango Delta where, despite being with knowledgeable fellow guides, he contrives to be completely lost after two days of adventuring.  He mistakenly drifts into a hippo lagoon whilst his boat’s propeller is clogged with papyrus grasses and the crew are forced to paddle to safety.

'A bull hippo with a head broader than any of our shoulders opened his mouth, showing his chipped and yellow ivory spears, and charged towards us.  Paddle!  Cliffy shouted.  Paul and I set to with the machetes, using their blades as oars. We felt a bump, and the boat lifted but did not tip. If it had, we would not have lived for long. We powered through, a frenzied dragon boat team, until we were out of the lagoon and into the channel that fed it.'

In true Allison survival style, this particular boating adventure ends safely but not before; 

'one more hippo came at us on our trip downstream but soon we saw the distant camp that we had left three days earlier'.

(Peter Allison, the author and one of Wilderness Safaris top guides).

One of the most engaging qualities of this book is that each chapter covers a different aspect of life at an African safari camp and as the book develops, one is made to feel part of the camp community. Whilst understandably there are many stories featuring African wildlife’s big five, a plethora of other animals such as warthogs, monkeys, baboons, porcupines, honey badgers and even squirrels are included. Equally importantly, the vast wealth of bird and insect life is never ignored and the whole book seems to embrace a welcoming human quality as Peter’s experiences with fellow staff and guests complete this jigsaw of the perfect introduction to life in the African safari camp.  

Peter Allison’s publishers should have added a subtitleWhatever You Do, read this book...It will be your next wildlife adventure!

What Ever You Do, Don't Run by Peter Allison can be purchased easily at www.amazon.com .

Click here to read our full interview with Peter Allison himself: An Interview with safari guide and writer Peter Allison.

What are your favourite safari related books?

If you have read and enjoyed this book please feel free to give your thoughts in the 'readers comments' section below this review. Do you have any safari related books that you think our readers would enjoy, if so please share those with us below. 

Leave a comment

mar bradburn

mar bradburn says: June 10th, 2015 at 9:58 am

Top 5 books! a year in the wild - James hendry
Reply
Jonny

Jonny says: June 12th, 2015 at 11:34 am

Thanks Mark - A Year In The Wild by James Hendry sounds like our sort of book! We will put it on the ever growing 'to read' list.
Reply
mar bradburn

mar bradburn says: June 10th, 2015 at 9:58 am

Top 5 books! a year in the wild - James hendry
Reply

Articles & Blog

Welcome to The Sandgrouse Traveller, your travel and adventure resource.

Sit back and enjoy browsing our archives of luxury and adventure travel stories. Here you will find articles on everything from adventure in the frozen Arctic to reviews of top lodges in the heart of the African savannah, all at the touch of a finger on your tablet or smart phone and with no subscription fee.

Cannot find what you're looking for? Simply use our 'search' function to find personal travel stories and tips based on first-hand experience, interviews with top local guides and international adventurers as well as reviews on the best safari lodges, luxury hotels and holiday destinations.

Categories

Authors

Archive

Never miss an update

Sign up to recieve an email whenever we post something new.