The first half of the book seemed to be mostly about the squabbles between the members of the expedition and the South African who was supposedly the leader. But after he quit in a huff and the trip was continued by the author and a Pole, Piotr Chmielinski, with two others traveling by land as support, it got much more interesting and sucked me into the story. I was moved by the idea of adventure, although I'm not sure I'd want that particular adventure.