The Ecphorizer
Tripping Africa |
George Towner |
Issue #29 (January 1984)
The southernmost point is a place called Cape Agulhas, about 60 miles southeast of Capetown. With any luck there will be a sign or plaque or something, in English and Afrikaans, that we can pose beside for the camera, all fresh and innocent. The northernmost point is Cap Blanc, not far from Tunis. There we hope to find another sign or plaque, this time probably in French, toward which we can drag our tattered and grubby bodies for another picture.
In between, the road crosses the Zambezi, Congo and Niger rivers, skirts the Kalahari desert but stabs smack across the Sahara, and plunges through steamy equatorial Africa between the end of the Indian Ocean's summer and the beginning of spring on the Mediterranean. It carries us through South Africa, Ciskei, Transkei, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe (sticking close to the train), Zambia, Zaire, Congo, Gabon (if the road hasn't turned to mud), Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Mali if we have time, Niger, Algeria, and Tunisia.
At least, that's the plan. If the good folk we are visiting start killing each other in large enough quantities that the odd bullet hits a tourist, we will head for the nearest airport. The itinerary still has a few blank spots in it, which we will fill in as we go along. Like, what do you do when Zaire Railways deposits you in Ilebo, on the Kasai river, and the weekly steamer is beached for repairs? But most of it involves regular public transport which people of all colors have been taking for years.
We will not forget THE ECPHORIZER. Runners will be dispatched regularly to the coast with articles for publication. We have even drawn a bead on a few isolated M's to visit along the way. Who knows? Maybe we can peddle a few subscriptions. It will be instructive to discover how many hippopotamus tails we can get for a year's worth of the magazine...
The "ex-edtor's note" to the left also made its way into George Towner's book Ecphorizations as an introductory note to his travels in Africa during 1984, retitled "Tripping Africa." It was originally a letter to John Cumming, who took over the responsibilities of Editor of The Ecphorizer.
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Contributor Profile
George Towner
George Towner was born in Reno and grew up near Berkeley. As a teenager he began making gangster movies using an old 8mm camera, one of which featured a car being pushed over a cliff off State Highway 1. He has started and sold two successful technology firms, and currently works for Apple Computer, where he is the most senior in age. He lives with his wife in Sunnyvale. They have two daughters and a son.
Retraction of the Retraction |
The Editor |
Issue #29 (January 1984)
Contributor Profile
George Towner
George Towner was born in Reno and grew up near Berkeley. As a teenager he began making gangster movies using an old 8mm camera, one of which featured a car being pushed over a cliff off State Highway 1. He has started and sold two successful technology firms, and currently works for Apple Computer, where he is the most senior in age. He lives with his wife in Sunnyvale. They have two daughters and a son.