![A group of men toil to clear rocks and debris from a landslide to reopen a precarious mountain road](https://www.amateuremigrant.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMG_2287-748x519.jpg)
A little local difficulty
The first book I remember reading that involved travel to far flung locations was one written by an old colonial hand, Fred G Merfield, with the alluring title ‘Gorillas were my Neighbours’. Looking back, I now see it as the memoirs of a casual racist, (amazingly quite acceptable at the time), with caricatures of tribal rituals, cannibalism and bush meat in Equatorial Africa. However, it was a considerable eye-opener for an eleven year old boy and certain phrases from it still loiter in my mind.