After finding a second-hand guidebook to Africa in a Helsinki bedsit, Alasdair Vale starts to plan a trip to the continent which he will later fall in love with. Welcome to Civilisation visits all four corners of the continent from climbing Kilimanjaro in the East to illegal border crossings in West Africa. Riding with smugglers through the Sahara is nothing compared to exploring ancient Ethiopia and losing his heart in Cameroon (just before losing half of his money in a hold-up in Senegal). This book gets under the skin of Africa in a way that no other travel book manages to do. There are no gimmicks in Welcome to Civilisation, only a love of Africa and a desire to share it.