Getaway blogger and Australian novelist Tony Park shares his passion for African travel and how he gets his ideas for his adventure-filled novels.
Tony Park’s love for Africa was sparked on a holiday in 1995, when he travelled around South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe for three weeks with his wife, Nicola. The first place they visited was Kruger – and that’s where the African travel bug bit. Since then, they’ve been back to Southern Africa every year, increasing their trips to six months at a time.
Having always wanted to write a novel, Tony started his first one on a trip in 1998 in his trusty Landy. Four months of overlanding saw him and Nicola take in what was a popular overland route at the time – Kruger, Hwange, Vic Falls, Lake Kariba and South Luangwa. While travelling, Tony wrote Far Horizon, an exciting page-turner about an overland tour group, illegal hunters and an ex-army officer’s quest for revenge.
After the book’s success, Tony adapted his lifestyle in order to make room for more novel writing. He now leads a life that most of us could only dream about – he travels in Africa each year and writes a new book on location. He often doesn’t have any ideas for his next book but, once he’s arrived in Africa and starts his six- month trip, the story flows.
With his seventh and most recent novel, The Delta, all he knew before arriving on a trip to Namibia and the Okavango Delta was that he wanted a female mercenary as the lead character. Having never been to the delta before, he was inspired by its landscape and people and the story unfolded as he travelled.
As a result of Tony’s writing on location, the descriptions of places in his books are brilliantly detailed. I asked Tony if he ever struggles to come up with stories, to which he replied: “˜I don’t think writer’s block is possible in Africa – you can never run out of ideas and characters. If you are stumped, you can just open a newspaper and get a story.’
Watch out for Tony’s upcoming book, African Dawn, which is about rhino poaching.
Tony’s travel
Favourite destination: Kruger National Park. I spend two months there each year. Pretoriuskop and Shingwedzi are my favourite camps.
Best travel experience: Seeing mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
Auction your name for conservation
With the last couple of his books, Tony has auctioned names of characters and donated the money to wildlife charities. He raised thousands of Australian dollars from The Delta, which went to Painted Dog Conservation and Save the Rhinos. If you fancy seeing your name in one of his books, check out his website www.tonypark.net for information about upcoming online auctions.
Read my review of Tony Park’s latest book, The Delta, here.
Buy Tony Park’s books here.
Read Tony Park’s Getaway blogs here.
