South from the Limpopo: Travels Through South Africa - Softcover

Murphy, Dervla

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000655105X ISBN 13: 9780006551058

Publisher: Flamingo, 1998

Synopsis

A social, cultural and political journey through South Africa, before, during and after the transfer of power, by the much-loved and indomitable travel writer, Dervla Murphy.

Dervla Murphy’s journal of her cycle tours of South Africa in 1994 gives a day-by-day view of that momentous period.

When Dervla first pedalled across the Limpopo (the great river dividing South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe) she fancied that she ‘understood’ South Africa’s problems because for more than 40 years she had – from a distance – taken an interest in them. Twelve hours later that illusion was shattered. South from the Limpopo reflects her moods of confusion and elation, hope and disappointment as she tries to come to terms with a country even more complex and fractured – but also more flexible – than she had expected.

The journey of more than 6000 miles took her through all 9 provinces of the new South Africa. As the months passed she came to realize how simplistic it is to see South Africa’s conflict as only ‘black versus white’. What consistently sustained her on this emotionally and physically gruelling journey was the blacks’ most moving and humbling capacity for forgiveness.

To read this book is to share her invaluable and moving experiences and to see South Africa in a new light.

About this title

About the Author

Dervla Murphy was born in Co. Waterford, Ireland, of Dublin parents and still lives there. Since 1964 she has been regularly publishing descriptions of her journeys – by bicycle or on foot – in the remoter areas of four continents. She has also written about the problems of Northern Ireland, the hazards of the nuclear power industry and race relations in Britain.

From the Back Cover

When Dervla Murphy first pedalled across the Limpopo she fancied that she 'understood' South Africa's problems because for more than forty years she had – from a distance – taken a particular interest in them. Twelve hours later, that illusion was shattered. 'South from the Limpopo' reflects her moods of confusion and elation, hope and disappointment as she tries to come to terms with a country even more complex and fractured – but also more flexible – than she had expected.

Her journey of over 6,000 miles took her through all nine provinces of the new South Africa. From remote impoverished ex-'homeland' villages, to the luxurious homes of the rich whites, the scruffy homes of poor whites and in the black township of Khayelitsha, Dervla experienced the contrasting social conditions of South Africa's people.

Dervla Murphy bicycled alone through this extraordinary and haunting nation during a period of great uncertainty and tumultuous change (before, during and after the elections). With her remarkable ability to mix and share with people of all colours, creeds and political persuasions, she provides a unique perspective on South Africa with its apparently insoluble problems and desperate inequalities – a country she truly came to love.

"Dervla Murphy admits that she has 'become inexplicably attached to this crazy country'.
The measure of her achievement is that she gets her reader to share wholeheartedly in that attachment."
TIM HEALD, 'Literary Review'

Edition details

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 000655105X
• ISBN 13: 9780006551058
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 592