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Palin's adventures have always appealed to this chap. His
humour gets him through some of the difficult times that all
travellers have to endure and he is just so damn nice - even
when hit in the face by spraying gunpowder from a medieval
musket - that you've got to think he is a saint.
In this adventure, he sets off from Gibraltar and travels
around the Sahara desert - pretty much most of North Africa
- seeing the sights and meeting the people.
Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, Niger,
Algeria, Libya and Tunisia are all traversed and, for an ageing
Englishman, old Palin puts himself through some interesting
situations that younger spirits may have baulked at.
He goes to a refugee camp of some 200,000 people who have
been ejected from Morocco because they fought against that
country's invasion of the Western Sahara. When in southern
Morocco, Mrs A and I found ourselves chased by army types
who thought I was there to interview these people - and Palin
does it for me!
He hops on board the world's longest train - an iron ore
express in Mauritania - travels up (and gets marooned along)
the Niger River, comes across the Paris-Dakar rally, visits
Goree Island where most of the black slaves from Africa were
channelled through by Arab traders, meets the unique Dogon
people, goes to Timbuktu and even visits the place where he
and his Monty Python mates filmed the Life of Brian.
Michael Palin Sahara is beautifully filmed - the transfer
is first rate and the sound stands up equally so - and will
give you a very good idea about what life is like across North
Africa.
The images of the crowded medieval streets of Fez had me
on the lookout for fast-moving donkeys, pictures of that same
city's tanning works had us holding out noses as we remembered
the stench and the sight of the main square in Marrakesh had
Mrs A checking over her shoulder for well-meaning snake charmers
who do like to dangle their damned reptiles over unsuspecting
foreigners.
This is a fantastic series that will appeal to backbackers
searching for a new destination and armchair travellers alike.
If you liked it on the Cretin Box, then the DVD extras make
this worth buying for your home library.
Conclusion: 90% Extras: 80%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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