And Miles to Go Before I Sleep
A British Vet in Africa
Published on 9. April 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
386 pages
978-1-906122-09-6 (ISBN)
Description
After three years working as a young vet in rural Aberdeenshire, Hugh Cran decided that it was time for a change. He got it. He took a post in Kenya and, forty years later, he's still there, still working, still loving every exasperating, challenging, unexpected moment.
This is a page-turning account of working as a vet at the sharp end.
Cattle owned by the Maasai herdsmen or the white settlers might take up most of Hugh's time, but these cattle are assailed by lightning strike, snake bites, disease passed on by zebra and wildebeest. He's up against sun cancer, witch doctors - who knows what to expect next?
Travelling miles on rough roads, Hugh never knows if he will be performing surgery on dirty sacks, besieged by every species of Kenyan insect, by the light of a failing car-headlamp!
But the colourful people who frequent Hugh's Nukuru practice, the sheer vitality of the Kenyan scene and the rewarding nature of the grinding task in hand, keep him answering that persistent phone, day and night, and heading off into the unknown.
This is a page-turning account of working as a vet at the sharp end.
Cattle owned by the Maasai herdsmen or the white settlers might take up most of Hugh's time, but these cattle are assailed by lightning strike, snake bites, disease passed on by zebra and wildebeest. He's up against sun cancer, witch doctors - who knows what to expect next?
Travelling miles on rough roads, Hugh never knows if he will be performing surgery on dirty sacks, besieged by every species of Kenyan insect, by the light of a failing car-headlamp!
But the colourful people who frequent Hugh's Nukuru practice, the sheer vitality of the Kenyan scene and the rewarding nature of the grinding task in hand, keep him answering that persistent phone, day and night, and heading off into the unknown.
Reviews / Votes
This lively tale will strike a chord with all British vets, farmers, animal lovers and those in search of a page turning adventure. It is absorbing reading and a very considerable achievement... of real literary merit. A compelling story.This proved to be a most enjoyable and, in its way, instructive book. As well as the expected anecdotes about large and small animal medicine, with an exotic twist, there is plenty of atmosphere of life for a young European in the colonies. And it is certainly not all pink gins and evenings in the club. I would happily recommend it. As you read this book you'll smile, wince, be absorbed and wonder at Hugh's ability to remain calm when all around is chaos. This is a good read and will certainly brighten up a winter's evening. In 1966 the newly-qualified vet Hugh Cran traded his safe Aberdeenshire practice for one in Kenya - at that time a country hissing with man-eating lions, gin-swilling colonialists and machete-swinging natives. This book recounts his experiences and explains why, some 40 years later, he remains working in this colourful continent. Excellently written and in turns laugh-aloud funny and deeply moving. This is no breezy, light-weight travel guide. Instead, it's an occasionally moving, invariably fascinating tale of a Scotsman who carved out a truly extraordinary African life.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 148 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
498 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-906122-09-6 (9781906122096)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2014
Merlin Unwin Books
€8.39
Available for download
Person
Hugh Cran qualified as a veterinary surgeon in Edinburgh in the early 1960s. In search of adventure and more sunshine than Aberdeen could offer, he answered a small ad. in 1966 to work in a rural practice in Kenya.
As well as working as a general vet in Nakuru, he kept diaries, and explored the wild mountains of Kenya. After a colourful and exhausting 50-year career in Africa he has just returned to the UK and now lives in Castle Carey, Somerset with his wife Berna.
As well as working as a general vet in Nakuru, he kept diaries, and explored the wild mountains of Kenya. After a colourful and exhausting 50-year career in Africa he has just returned to the UK and now lives in Castle Carey, Somerset with his wife Berna.