Overland Journal – August 01, 2019

OVERLANDJOURNAL FALL 2019

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hegaveusa tour.Wemethimthatdayasa

personandnota politician.

I was also dropped off near the Zó-

calo inMexico City bysome caravanners

onChristmasEve.I endedupwalkingthe

streetsbymyselfandlosttrackoftimebuy-

ingtrinketsandplayingwithbottlerockets,

barelyfindinga taxicabtotakemebackto

campat 11 p.m.Wallyconsideredsending

mehomeforthat—hissenseofresponsibil-

ityformewasgreat.

In1955,theEasternCanadianCaravan

crossedtheUnited Statesvia theMother

Road,Route 66.Most of mytime inthe

States untilthen was spent in California.

Lookingbackonit,wow,whata wonderful

waytoseethecountry.I hadmyfirststeak

forbreakfastinAmarillo,Texas,andloved

seeingthechangesfromstatetostate.

Forthe 1956 EuropeanCaravan,I flew

on a propeller-drivenTWA Constellation

toLosAngeles,NewYork,Gander,Shan-

non,Orly,andfinallyZurichtobegreeted

bymymotherandtheByams.Afterleaving

IrelandandbeforearrivinginParis,engine

numbertwoburnedout.I was 17 yearsold,

and a coupleof glasses of winehad been

servedtome.Apriest wassittingnext to

meonmyright,andonmylefttheflames

swirledbymeoutsidethewindowina 40-

to50-foottrail.Theenginewaschangedout

in Paris.

NotlongafterarrivinginEurope,Wal-

ly purchased a BMWIsetta that I drove

throughthecontinentforhim.Uponarrival

backintheUnitedStates,I droveit coastto

coast—uphillsat 25 mph,downhill at 55

mph,onthelevelat 45 mph.My mother

followedme withher Chevroletand Air-

streamtoprotectmefrombecominga hood

ornamentforaneighteen-wheeler.

The 1959AfricanCaravanwas an

enormousventure.Howmuchplanning

wentinto it?

It wasapparentin 1953thatWallywascon-

sidering an African caravan across North

Africa,throughtheMiddleEasttoEurope.

Oneofhisdepartmentmanagershadtrav-

eledthroughNorthAfrica,andtheirdiscus-

sionswerethefoundationforthetrip.Wally

thenhada visiontotraversethelengthof

AfricafromCapetowntoCairo.Likea jig-

sawpuzzlethepossibilitiescametogether.

In 1956,while theEuropeanCaravan

was going I on, I missed two months invis-

itingcertaincities,includingParis.Myini-

tialdesiretogotoAfricawastorevisitEu-

ropeandseetheareasI hadmissedin1956.

Whentheplans were formalized,I asked

Wallyif I couldgo.Hetoldmeit wouldbe

a workingpositionas theadvancescoutand

required35-plusAirstreamfamiliestojus-

tifymygoing.InApril 1959 I received word

thatAfricawason.

As a scoutfor the Africantrip, how did

you communicatewith the rest of the

groupwithoutcomms?Whatwere

your mostimportanttasks?

The basic tasks were checking the roads,

findingcampsites,andmeeting with gov-

ernmentofficials.In a newplace,thefirst

thingtodowastogototheequivalentof

cityhallandmeetthemayororprominent

figureheadtointroducethecaravanandits

needs.Anescortwasoftenprovided,usually

thepolicedepartment,totakeyoubackto

theentrancetotown.A seriesofsignswere

putuptoguidethecaravantothecampsite.

Thesignswerenecessary,sincenotallrigs

arrivedat thesametime.

Communicationwasa problemandwas

persontoperson,andwiththeexceptionof

leavingmessageswithcityofficialsto giveto

Wally,thiswasrare.

As a scout, the longest period ahead

fromthe maingroupwas two weeksand

might have included three to five camp-

sites.Roadshadtobereallyterribleforus

toremainor backtracktothegrouptolet

them know what they were getting into.

Therewere numerous almost no-goroads

whereweassistedwithourscouttrucksto

pulltrailersoutofmudandruts,helpedin

buildingroads,andmovingunitsfrompre-

cariouserodedhighwayareas.Youcan’tre -

allychangeroadsthough;youendurethem.

Whatweresomeof Africa’schallenges?

InKhartoum,sevenAirstreamownersopt-

edtogothroughtheNubianDesertinstead

ofbyrailanddowntheNileona barge.We

scoutswentwiththem.Thephotographer’s

truckburned out a bearing,and theme-

chanic’struckhadto towit. Wewerebogged

downinthedesertfor 10 hoursbeforewe

madeit backontrack,eventuallyrejoining

therest.

Inadditiontobeing a scout,I didthe

cooking.Seventeen-year-oldNickCharles,

co-scout, did the dishes. I went to make

Heavyrainsplaguedthe AfricanCaravanin Southern
Ethiopia,requiringeveryman,woman,and childto
assistin makingthe routepassable.Daleis in the
foreground,with Nick Charlesbehindhim. A pause
for a lunchbreakin a smallvillagein Southern
Ethiopia.A campsitein the BelgianCongoduring
the AfricanCaravan.The man with the bull hornis
JeanPierreHallet.He arrangedfor membersof the
Watusitribe to cometo campand later set up inter-
actionsfor us with the Pygmiesin the Ituri Forest.
Opposite:A watercrossingduringthe first Mexico/
CentralAmericacaravan.WallyByam,enjoyinga ride
in a Zulu rickshaw, in Durban, South Africa, 1959.