Malaria Dreams: An African Adventure - Tapa dura

A tale of adventure, which begins when a friend asks Stuart Stevens to pick up his Land Rover from the Central African Republic (formerly ruled by the infamous Emperor Bokassa) and bring it back to Europe. He and his ex-fashion model companion little suspected the bizarre adventures they were to encounter. The Minister of Mines' "decided to like" the vehicle and Stevens' subsequent attempts to reappropriate it lead to the discovery that his friend is suspected of being both a spy and a diamond smuggler. So begins the catalogue of disasters and adventures that beset the author and companion on the quest to return home unscathed. Their battle against the odds is coloured by encounters with giant ants and hippos, revolutionary soldiers in the middle of lake Chad, not to mention illness and frequent breakdowns of the hard-won Land Cruiser - running on just one gear.