Product Description

In No Picnic on Mount Kenya, Felice Benuzzi recounts one of the most bizarre and daring adventures of this century. In 1943, Benuzzi and two fellow Italian prisoners of war escaped from a British camp in equatorial East Africa with one goal--to climb the seventeen-thousand-foot Mount Kenya. Filled with suspense and humor, it is an extraordinary story that has earned its place as a masterpiece.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #479278 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Amazon.com Review
Ethiopia, 1941. Felice Benuzzi was a junior officer in the Italian Colonial Service, stationed in Addis Ababa, when the British thwarted Mussolini's ambition to build a colonial empire in East Africa. Benuzzi, along with thousands of other Italians, was captured and interned in a POW camp near the foot of Mount Kenya, where he and his countrymen languished indefinitely, waiting out the war and the desperate boredom, passivity, and isolation of prison life. "In order to break the monotony," he writes, "one had only to start taking risks again." But the isolation of the camp precluded the possibility of escape to a neutral country: "I thought, then at least I shall stage a break in this awful travesty of life. I shall try to get out, climb Mount Kenya and return here." So begins No Picnic on Mount Kenya, a first-class adventure story full of courage, humor, and exquisite detail.

Benuzzi and two fellow prisoners spent six months secretly hoarding food; sewing clothing, shoes, and tents; and scavenging for scrap metal to hammer into ice axes and crampons. After escaping, they braved the multiple risks of capture, wild animals (including elephants and rhinoceros), starvation, frigid weather, and some of the most challenging climbing conditions in Africa. The men ascended 16,300 feet to Mount Kenya's Point Lenana, hoisted a homemade flag, and then returned to the misery of the camp. Benuzzi and his comrades never cared that their freedom was fleeting: they climbed Mount Kenya to reaffirm their humanity in the face of a barbaric world war. The gallantry of this gesture sets No Picnic apart from typical mountaineering stories of risk and self reliance. --Svenja Soldovieri

From The New Yorker
A most extraordinary and well-written prisoner-of-war and escape story.

Review
A tale worth reading by any convert to the joys of mountaineering literature . . . Benuzzi's paradoxical mixture of pride and self-mocking humility is attractive; his courage is amazing; his story is dramatic. -- New York Times

A wonderful story of crazy courage that warms the heart! -- Library Journal

Customer Reviews

What a story!
I just needed to comment that the author is my grandfather, and I am very proud of both him and his work.
He was - apart from his job as a diplomat - a passionate Alpinist. He loved mountains. It was not only to relieve the boredom of POW life that he and his two friends made the climb, it was also because they fell in love with Mt Kenya the first time the clouds finally cleared and they saw it...
He spent a large portion of his life working to protect Antartica from development and other human intrusions.
He was a great man, and he wrote a wonderful book. Look for an upcoming T.V. documentary on their climb; it should be interesting.

Real world fantasy!
No Picnic on Mount Kenya by Felice Benuzzi. This real world tale of adventure and danger to escape the doldrums of life as prisoners of war boggles the mind. Why would three ill-fed, poorly equipped, insufficiently trained, and uninformed Italian prisoners of war escape from their British camp, leaving behind a note saying they would return in two weeks? Encountering bull elephants and real or imagined leopards and rhinos, they slip and slide with hand-built iceaxes and crampons and overburdened backpacks up the slopes of Africa's second tallest mountain. Gives you a sense of wonder about the human animal.

Tribute to POW's Hunger for Freedom, Mountaineering Style
As one who loves mountains and climbing, I relish great stories of exceptional mountaineering feats. At times, however, I ponder the meaning and heroics of well planned, well outfitted and well guided expeditions--even when they produce grim results. This is an almost whimsical mountaineering tale with meaning, heroics...and a lot of heart. Bored with dreary life as an Italian prisoner in a British POW camp, Felice Benuzzi's spirit is lifted as he spies majestic Mt. Kenya break through the clouds and he contemplates the idea of escaping the camp long enough to climb the peak and plant a flag. Given the practicalities of the geopolitical map of East Africa in 1941, Benuzzi realizes he has little hope of a successful escape to friendly territory. So, Benuzzi determines to channel his energy to engaging partners in his quest, storing away supplies and manufacturing within the confines of a POW camp the technical equipment to climb a very difficult peak. After six months of preparation, Benuzzi and his two partners must escape the POW camp and avoid close encounters with Africa's dangerous big game (they are in the heart of prime hunting lands) before they can even begin their mountaineering endeavor. Already weak from their life as POWs, running short of supplies, facing unfavorable weather and lacking adequate information about the mountain's topography, they are denied Mt. Kenya's highest point on the route that also denied an earlier group led by the esteemed Shipton. However, Benuzzi savored the sweet taste of success on the mountain's second highest point before returning to camp. The lingering taste of success sustained Benuzzi through the remainder of his days as a POW. Benuzzi recounts his feat with modesty, grace and subtle humor. Fun and inspiring!