Interview With Tony Park
SA4x4|August 2018

Best-selling author of Safari and African Dawn.

Interview With Tony Park

Tony Park is an Australian fiction writer whose novels touch on conservation, survival adventure and conflict. However, there is one common thread running through all 15 of them – Africa. Tony was bitten by the safari bug more than 20 years ago, and he now spends half the year in his home just outside the Kruger National Park. We sat down with him to examine his serious Africa addiction, and his passion for Land Rovers.

This is the question you probably get asked the most, so let’s get it out of the way. When did your love affair with Africa begin? 

My wife Nicola and I came in 1995. She’s the planner in the family, so she says, “We’re going to Africa!” And I just say “Okay”! To give you an indication of my level of interest – and this is a true story – on our way to the airport, I asked her, “Where are we going again?” We hired a little Corolla, and we drove through South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. The first place we stopped was the Kruger National Park, and that’s probably where it started. It all happened so quickly. All of a sudden, I was driving faster than I ever had in my entire life, because in Oz, we don’t have high speed limits. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. I just about freaked out the first time I saw a zebra! It’s not a love affair – it’s an addiction. By the end of our first week, we had already started planning our return trip. It was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and the next year we were supposed to go to South America. I’ve never been to South America. I don’t know what it is about this place – the wildlife, the landscapes, the people, or just the general attitude towards life, but it’s addictive. Why do we get in our 4x4s and go to some pretty uncomfortable places? Because we can’t get enough of it.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2018-Ausgabe von SA4x4.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2018-Ausgabe von SA4x4.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS SA4X4Alle anzeigen
SA4x4

Uganda The Pearl Of Africa

This trip, the very last in the series of stories from Dan Grec’s two-year Africa round trip, details a scary mishap and some extraordinary wildlife encounters

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
March 2020
Chewy, But Edible
SA4x4

Chewy, But Edible

Take another look at those garden pests

time-read
4 Minuten  |
March 2020
Auto Perfection?
SA4x4

Auto Perfection?

Adding a six-speed auto to Mahindra’s workhorse ups the game for this value proposition

time-read
3 Minuten  |
March 2020
SA4x4

Defenders On Tour

The second 2019 Defender Trophy event kicked off in Limpopo and was unique in that participants camped in three different countries…

time-read
9 Minuten  |
March 2020
SA4x4

Rad Rig The Dream Catcher

Motorhome world’s one-of-a-kind luxury globetrotter

time-read
4 Minuten  |
March 2020
The Difference Between An Overlander And An Offroader
SA4x4

The Difference Between An Overlander And An Offroader

A very important distinction needs to be made between the offroader and the overland traveller; often the two are thought to be the same.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
March 2020
Steelmate TP-S9
SA4x4

Steelmate TP-S9

Solar powered TPMS (External sensor)

time-read
3 Minuten  |
March 2020
SA4x4

Light on the dark side

VW AMAROK DARK LABEL

time-read
4 Minuten  |
March 2020
Monkey business!
SA4x4

Monkey business!

Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) are the most widespread of the African monkeys; occurring from the Ethiopian Rift Valley, highlands east of the Rift, and southern Somalia, through the eastern lowlands of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia (east of the Luangwa Valley), Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and all nine provinces in South Africa.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
March 2020
SA4x4

GREAT ZOOKS

There are a few mishaps as a bunch of Jimnys tackle one of Lesotho’s premier off-road challenges, Baboon’s Pass

time-read
10 Minuten  |
March 2020