Cairo to the Cape

ROBERT KITCHIN/The Dominion Post

DON'T STOP BELIEVING: George Cunningham, the European Union's Charge d'Affairs in Wellington, takes a gentle amble through a city park.

Relevant offers

Travel

Superjumbos put through the paces The best of Australia's island life Jet could 'fall from sky' warning Hipsters move in on Mardi Gras Extremely cute and incredibly scary Beginner's guide to Melbourne Cup Hot spot of serious cool Vintage chic meets modern comfort Cracks put Qantas A380 out of action Another country? Another planet

As a young Oxford graduate and with a stint in the British Army under his belt, George Cunningham set out to walk the length of Africa, from Cairo to the Cape of Good Hope, as a grounding for a career in diplomacy.

Inspired by a similar trek in the opposite direction completed a century before by Colonel Ewart Grogan, Cunningham was inspired to explore the continent of where nascent democracies were still in conflict with dictatorships; where Zimbabwe was still Rhodesia; where the apartheid regime still divided South Africa. Visiting the cradle of mankind on foot, he decided, could offer valuable first-hand experience of conflict and resolution. It would also be a character-building physical challenge for a fit young graduate, he posited.

The contrasts and similarities of Grogan's journey offered a perspective. "We were both explorers and sons of our time. We were both 23. Grogan's was a dry run as a mercenary; mine a foundation for a diplomatic career."

So after two years of planning and carrying a backpack, a cannister of water, a tape recorder, some chewing tobacco - "a valued gift for tribal chiefs, apparently" - a piece of paper with an official stamp and a safari suit for official functions, the 23-year- old set out. For most of the following two-and-a-quarter years, Cunningham walked between villages, meeting the people of the countries he traversed and accepting the help of whichever officials could affect safe passage through areas of conflict.

Good contacts and grass-roots diplomacy saw him garner the support of important friends; President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia became a patron of the trek and, on occasion, he was accompanied by a large troop of bodyguards.

The 10,000-kilometre, 27-month adventure is recounted engagingly in Journey to Become a Diplomat, Cunningham's guide to a career in world affairs for aspiring diplomats.

With Polish heritage and fluency in several European languages, Cunningham's diplomatic career has brought him to Wellington, via New York and Nicosia, where he limits his walking to family outings and holiday tramps.

- © Fairfax NZ News