WHAT SAHEL AM I DOIN' HERE?

"What Sahel Am I Doin' Here?" is a collection of light-hearted tales that captures the exotic, bizarre, comic and even magical nature of daily life on the African continent. It is the author's tribute to the resilience, joy and adventurous spirit of the African peoples. These unusual and sometimes harrowing stories are described in rich and colorful detail, reflecting the author's experiences in Africa over three decades. In these pages the reader will encounter villagers transforming themselves into hyenas, a remote tribe in Mali whose knowledge of the universe was given to them by ancient space travelers, a horrific Al Qaeda terrorist attack, a close call with killer African bees, pygmies who communicate with the trees, a nefarious arms dealer's private retreat and a host of scoundrels and rogues, as well as numerous misadventures. The book also gives a behind-the-scenes look at two vice-presidential visits (one with disastrous consequences) and chronicles the pitfalls of hosting a congressional delegation (CODEL). Many of the earlier vignettes chronicle an Africa very different from that of life on the continent today; one largely disconnected from the outside world and heavily influenced by oral histories and story-tellers, superstitions, ancestor worship, the after-effects of colonial rule and the politics of the Cold War. The accounts in this book capture the flavor of those bygone times: laughs, tears, warts and all.