Vilem Nemec was dreaming about going to
Africa for years. He was a pharmacist, just completing his exams, and
studying languages, zoology and natural history to prepare himself for the
trip--his dream of the future. Then one night, at a party with his
friends, who were teasing him that he will never make it, he announced that he
is leaving tomorrow. He got himself into asituation from which he could
not back out without losing face, so he left for Africa the next day, with no
money in his pockets. This is a journal of his two year trip to Cairo from
Prague, with many humorous adventures in between. His granddaughter, Jana
R. Nemec-Jirak, translated the journal from the Czech language.
Coming Soon:
Twenty-Five Years In
Africa
Jana spent several years translating this
volume of memoirs of 25 years of' Vilem's life in Africa. His explorations
and natural studies took him all over Egypt, Abyssinia, Somalia, Sudan and Sinai
Peninsula. He is describing the Arab customs, courting, weddings and
harems, and their every day life, as well as the life of the different native
tribes he encountered on his travels. He also describes the Dervishes'
uprising in Sudan and their terrorist reign for several years, and the last
battle with the Anglo-Egyptian forces, which finally ended the Mahdi followers'
tyrannical destruction, torture and murder.
