Ever since I learnt that people drive around Africa in 4x4s, sleeping in rooftop tents for months at a time, I dreamed of joining them. My obsession became reality in January 2020, when together with my boyfriend I bought a 20-year-old dark blue Land Rover Defender. She's called Nyala. After a few test weekends to check out the car, we were ready to go. Coronavirus struck. Borders closed, hard lockdown began. Our plans to spend six months overlanding through southern Africa were put on hold. Fast-forward six months, and we were ready to go again. Chasing Ostriches chronicles this journey of exploration through South Africa. We roamed the backroads and national parks in our trusty (and not so trusty at times) Defender. We climbed misty mountains, camped in empty deserts, sunbathed on tropical beaches, and saw wildlife galore under the hot African sky. I came back with dirty clothes, an even dirtier car, and memories to last a lifetime. I hope my book will help you do the same.

Edwin Cawston courted the early-20th-century publics fascination with exotic foreign creatures when he began raising ostriches, for more than the use of their feathers in the clothing industry. When Cawston brought the enormous, flightless, African birds onto prime real estate in the Arroyo Seco of South Pasadena, Los Angeles County, more than a few observers thought that the looniest bird might be him. But Cawston was determined to showcase struthio camelus, the biggest bird in the world at 8 vertical feet and 350 pounds. The Cawston Ostrich Farm soon became one of the most popular Southern California attractions, drawing millions to watch people ride the birds bareback at a cruising speed of 35 miles per hour. Cawston supplied ostrich plumes for budget-minded consumers as well as fancy feathers for Vaudeville dancers, movie actresses, and even European queens, becoming a great promoter and showman of his time.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

The strange, untold story of the Nazis and adventurers who fought for Ethiopia against Mussolini’s invaders.

"دوروتيا فون لينكه (الكونتيسة مالمينياتي)، رحالة ألمانية جريئة ولدت في روسيا وكانت ذات شخصيّة مغامرة فريدة، استولى عليها لفترة من شبابها حلم إجتياز صحراء الربع الخالي بطائرة أو بمنطاد، فقادت منفردة برحلة عام 1914 من دمشق إلى المدينة المنورة برفقة الشيخ الشاب الوسيم سلطان الطيّار شيخ عشيرة ولد علي، ويبدو أنها وقعت في غرامه... وكانت تأمل في إقناعه بمرافقتها في رحلتها المجنونة إلى الربع الخالي، لكن إندلاع الحرب العالمية الأولى حطّم أحلامها وألغى مشروعها، فعادت بعد رحلة شاقة عبر زلفي والقصيم إلى المدينة المنورة، ومنها إلى دمشق ثم إلى أوروبا. تقدّم لنا دوروتيا في كتابها هذا مثالاً فريداً عن جرأة الرّحّالات الأوروبيات وشغفهنّ بالمغامرة."

A memoir of flying Hawker Hunters for the famed aerobatic display teams, and other adventures in aviation. Brian Mercer is one of the most outstanding postwar RAF fighter pilots and in this eminently readable autobiography he recaptures life as it was in the days of transition from flying piston-powered aircraft to jet power. His flying and leadership skills resulted in a long association with what was then considered the finest aerobatic display team in the world—Treble One Squadron’s Black Arrows. Flying the elegant black Hawker Hunters in large formation displays was no easy task, and Mercer explains in great detail how their legendary precision was achieved, revealing many exciting incidents en route. When Treble One’s Hunters were replaced with the supersonic Lightning fighter, it soon became clear that these superfast aircraft were not suited to close-up display flying. Brian was then asked to form a new RAF display team and continue with Hunters. This was to become the No. 92 Squadron’s Blue Diamonds, who inherited the star role. Faced with the fact that future promotion within the RAF would move him from cockpit to desk, Brian elected to join the then-fledgling airline Cathay Pacific, and his story also includes many lively accounts of incidents that occurred while he was flying from the company’s home base at Kai Tak in Hong Kong.

Contains the proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Wernerian Natural History Society, etc.