Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16447 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

From Publishers Weekly
At age 19, Australian-born Allison headed to Africa for challenge and adventure, planning to stay no more than a year; having found work as a safari guide, he's still there some 13 years later. In this fun, fearless memoir, Allison shares his experiences taking "guests" through the African wilderness, trips that often don't go quite as planned-due especially to the unpredictability of the animals around them. Allison is a skilled, funny and vibrant storyteller, dishing arcane bits of wisdom like an expatriate Alligator Hunter: "I understand a little bit of monkey language, and 'kwe' is a sound I listened for. It was an alarm... full blown monkey conniptions were reserved for leopards." A hilarious chapter recounting a troubled thousand mile trek through the Kalahari Desert finds Allison trying to wave down a passing truck in the middle of the night: "I realized that the driver would have seen what looked like a very animated sage bush with pasty white hands growing from it... he'd probably go straight to a witch doctor... and ask if there was a curse on him." Along the way, Allison examines his fellow guides, the struggle with exhaustion, getting lost and the temptation to make frequently visiting animals into pets, as well as some poignant asides on love and death.
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From the Back Cover
Whatever You Do, Don’t Run is a hilarious collection of true tales from top ­safari guide Peter Allison. In a place where the wrong behavior could get you eaten, Allison has survived face-to-face encounters with big cats, angry ­elephants, and the world’s most unpredictable animals—herds of untamed tourists and foolhardy guides whose outrageous antics sometimes make them even more dangerous than a pride of hungry lions!
Join Allison as he faces down charging lions—twice; searches for a drunk, half-naked tourist who happens to be a member of the British royal family; drives a Land Rover full of tourists into a lagoon full of hippos; and adopts the most ­vicious animal in Africa as his “pet.” Full of lively humor and a genuine love and respect for Botswana and its rich wildlife, Whatever You Do, Don’t Run takes you to where the wild things are and introduces you to a place where every day is a new adventure! In 1994 Peter Allison set off for a year-long stay in Africa. More than a dozen years and hundreds of adventures later, he’s still leading safaris and collecting stories. Allison’s safaris have been ­featured in National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler, and on television programs such as Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures.

Customer Reviews

Hilarious
This is a well written, and hilarious bok of the accounts of a young safari guide in Botswana. Anyone who has been on safari can relate to the experiences and will welcome the behind the scenes look at guiding. I enjoyed every minute of reading in this book as it took me back to my visit to the Okavango in '87 and '98. Those who have never been to Africa can enjoy this as well and perhaps you will be inspired to go on safari yourself!

Oh, I wish I were there again!
Allison's description of life as a safari guide and his interaction with beast and man will put a smile on your face. While most of the book showcases Allison's sense of humor, I also enjoyed the chapters which showed his heart. His ability to poke fun at himself and others in good-humored fashion left me hoping that he will continue to share his journey in a sequel. As the owner of a travel agency, this will be a gift for all of my clients who travel to Africa. I have lots of fantastic images from my safari - http://thetravelsource.vacationport.net but Allison inspired images that I would never have imagined: the honey badger pet, the mouse plague, and Salvador, the elephant in labor. If you have been on a safari, this book will bring back memories; if you haven't, it will let you dream about what it will be like when you do go. Either way, you'll learn something about the animals that you didn't know before.

Very entertaining misadventures of a safari guide
This book is a collection of stories from the author's time as a safari guide in Africa as a young man. It reminds me of other "travel misadventure" books I have read, but the setting and the fact that the author is a guide make a nice change. I laughed out loud many times while reading the book. There is a bit of "bodily function" humor in here, but less than many other similar books and most of it is pretty funny anyway (like the author finding himself practically peeing on a honey badger, which has a reputation for going for the balls, or being kept awake by amorous lions going at it every 15 minutes all night). Highly recommended light summer reading.