The celebrated Irish travel writer describes three visits to South Africa, before, during and after the 1994 elections. In the winter of 1993 she cycled right across the country from the Zimbabwe border on the Limpopo to Johannesburg and Cape Town, then back east through the Cape into Natal; in April 1994 she was in Cape Town for the election and Mandela's inauguration; later in 1994, after recovering from an accident in her home in Ireland, she is back in the saddle to see the parts of Natal and Transvaal she wasn't able to get to earlier.

As we would expect, Murphy heads for the most interesting-seeming spots, whether or not she's been warned to avoid them for her own safety, and manages to get into conversation with people of just about every possible cultural background and variety of political opinion (always provided that they can speak some English). Interviewees range all the way from ANC comrades in townships to Eugene Terre'Blanche's horse. Whilst Murphy evidently does her best to give everyone a fair hearing and not get into arguments, she doesn't hesitate to share her positive or negative reactions to what she sees and hears with the reader.

Everything is reported diary-fashion, thus with as little intrusion of hindsight as possible: she wants us to share her on-the-spot reactions: the uncertainty and danger of the lead-up to the elections (especially around the Chris Hani assassination, which happened whilst she was in Cape Town), the general euphoria when they passed off peacefully, and then the realisation six months later that electing a black president was just the first step on a long journey and that there would be a lot of difficult readjustment before all the injustices of apartheid could be put right.

Lively, opinionated, committed: wonderful travel-writing, as always. ( )

Intrepid traveller Murphy cycles her way across South Africa during the momentous events of 1994 when power was transferred from Afrikaners to the ANC led by Nelson Mandela.

This book is however not about politics but about the common folks Afrikaner, Black, Coloured and Indian she meets across the way. One thing that stands out is the rabid hatred still harboured by the whites who for some reason would not treat the rest of the population as normal humans, let alone equally. It is a real wonder that there hasn't been civil war and a tidal wave of violence after the transition. In a way you can say that the whites have been forgiven for all their past transgressions though isolated incidents of extreme violence does occur.

Intrepid traveller Murphy cycles her way across South Africa during the momentous events of 1994 when power was transferred from Afrikaners to the ANC led by Nelson Mandela.

This book is however not about politics but about the common folks Afrikaner, Black, Coloured and Indian she meets across the way. One thing that stands out is the rabid hatred still harboured by the whites who for some reason would not treat the rest of the population as normal humans, let alone equally. It is a real wonder that there hasn't been civil war and a tidal wave of violence after the transition. In a way you can say that the whites have been forgiven for all their past transgressions though isolated incidents of extreme violence does occur.

I absolutely loved Murphy's "Full Tilt" about her ride to India on a bicycle, so I really looked forward to reading "South from the Limpopo" about her bicycle trips in South Africa. However, I found this book really paled in comparison to "Full Tilt." She visits South Africa several times as Apartheid ends and Mandela is elected president. The focus on politics made the book extremely repetitive as she talks politics with most everyone she meets and generally encounters the same opinions amongst members of the same racial groups. There is a bit of alphabet soup as she refers to political parties and assumes you have more knowledge about South African politics than I do. I think this would be a great book for someone who has studied South African politics, but for someone with more superficial knowledge, this book drags. ( )

Murphy, Dervla, 1931- > Journeys > South/Africa/South Africa > Description and travel