Felice Benuzzi's "No Picnic on Mount Kenya" recounts an extraordinary tale of adventure, resilience, and the human spirit's yearning for freedom. The book details the experiences of three Italian prisoners of war (POWs) who, driven by the monotony of captivity and inspired by the majestic Mount Kenya, hatch an audacious plan: to escape their camp, climb the mountain, and then return.
Mount Kenya
The Spark of an Idea
Benuzzi, an Italian officer stationed in Abyssinia, was captured by Allied forces in 1941 and imprisoned in POW Camp 354 near Nanyuki, Kenya. The monotony of prison camp life is what most galled him, and he longed for something - anything - to break the monotony. When the clouds parted one morning, revealing the towering peaks of Mount Kenya, Benuzzi was transfixed.
Recounting his initial glimpse of the mountain, the reader understands how completely he falls under its spell: "...then I saw it. An ethereal mountain emerging from a tossing sea of clouds, framed between two dark barracks: a massive blue-back tooth of sheer rock, inlaid wit azure glaciers; austere yet floating fairy-like on the near horizon." This sight ignited an idea - a daring escape not for freedom, but for the challenge of climbing the mountain.
Planning and Preparation
Benuzzi shared his vision with two fellow prisoners: Dr. Giovanni ('Giuàn') Balletto and Vincenzo ('Enzo') Barsotti. Together, they embarked on months of meticulous planning and preparation. Despite being POWs, they ingeniously gathered and improvised equipment through barter, trade, and care parcels from home.
Read also: Journey to Mount Sinai
The assembly of their kit list reads like something out of one of the more far-fetched episodes of the A-Team. They scoured the camp for materials, transforming a broken car bumper into usable steel pieces for makeshift crampons. Bed sheets were repurposed as ropes, and a compass was crafted from a magnetized razor blade. They also carefully saved food from their meager rations to sustain their expedition.
The Escape and Trek to the Mountain
In January 1943, the three men stealthily escaped from the POW camp. They followed the Nanyuki River towards the mountain, navigating through dense jungle and forests infested with wildlife. Unarmed, their encounters with wild animals added an element of danger to their journey.
Details of the sights, the major and minor annoyances of the trek, the quirks of his companions, and heady passages describing the lush scenery abound. Golden-green sunrays filtered through the foliage and were broken into a thousand reflections on the stream, foaming among smooth, multicoloured stones....There were countless birds, from graceful sunbirds with slender beaks and bright colours, to harshly croaking lories showing in flight their blood-red wing feathers. Troops of monkeys jumped from branch to branch ....Butterflies of every size and colour dallied gracefully along the banks.
The Ascent
Upon reaching the base of Mount Kenya, they established a base camp. The climb itself proved to be arduous, with challenges including scaling ice walls without proper gear and traversing steep rock faces. Their food supplies dwindled, forcing them to hunt for sustenance. Despite these hardships, their determination and resourcefulness kept them going.
Benuzzi writes with a simplicity and vigour that take you with him every yard of the way. At the foot of the highest peak the sailor was too ill to go further, and Benuzzi and the doctor went forward to the climax of their adventure. Their way back was as hazardous as the ascent, and the tension never relaxes until they at last break back into the P.O.W.
Read also: All About Mount Cameroon
Alas, the peak of Mt. Kenya proved unattainable, and years later Benuzzi found that he and his companion had, in fact, attempted an impossible route. However, despite near starvation and exhaustion, a successful climb up a secondary and less challenging peak was made.
Felice Benuzzi
The Return and Aftermath
After an eventful 18-day period on the mountain, the three adventurers broke back into Camp 354. To the astonishment of the British camp commandant, the three adventurers broke back into Camp 354.
Returning to the POW camp, the three men were greeted with a mixture of astonishment and admiration for their audacious adventure. Although they were punished for their escape, the mountaineering feat they accomplished ensures that their story is celebrated and remembered. They have proven that even in the darkest of times, the human spirit can triumph over adversity.
The commandant, however, congratulates them on their “sporting “ achievement, and gives them a very light few days in the cells, excused all duties, with a chance to build up their strength after their exertions. This is a story from which everyone emerges with credit - and there are not many war stories where one can say that.
Read also: Comfort in Nairobi
Themes of Freedom and Adventure
Throughout the book, Benuzzi emphasizes the contrast between the oppression of camp life and the freedom of the mountains. This contrast is the leitmotif of Benuzzi's book. Perhaps more than any climbing story, No Picnic on Mount Kenya captures that strong underpinning of revolt common to most mountaineers.
For Benuzzi, the climb was not just a physical challenge but a spiritual journey. He waxes lyrical over the spiritual benefits of the climb: "From one point of view it seems to me today that it was madness... from a purely spiritual side, however, which matters more to a true mountaineers, our ignorance was a genuine godsend."
Benuzzi's sketches and his glorious writing and humor make this an incomparable tribute to camaraderie and daring. "No Picnic on Mount Kenya" is a powerful testament to the enduring spirit of adventure and the human capacity for courage and resilience.
The book crackles with the same dry humour as its title. Benuzzi's sketches and his glorious writing and humor make this an incomparable tribute to camaraderie and daring. -- Jane Manaster * San Francisco Book Review * Felice Benuzzi's tale is a real joy. An extraordinary adventure written with a light, deft, humorous touch that makes it irresistibly readable. And it certainly shows that the British don't have a monopoly of eccentricity.
The book is extremely well written and one feels that you are there with them on their journey. Any climber or traveler who has spent some time crashing through the brush, navigating off trail, guessing at what might lie above and the best path to it will appreciate Benuzzi's writing, which captures the essence of being outdoors, off the beaten track on an adventure. It is not lost on the reader that the this is the vantage point of one who is restrained (actually prevented) much more than we are from enjoying "being out there." He distills his sense of wonder and appreciation into words.
I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of how they finagled materials to create their gear, amazing. And I enjoyed even more the view of life at the POW camp--really a microcosm of society itself, who would have guessed?
Book cover
Publication Details
Benuzzi, of Italian-Austrian parentage, initially wrote his account in both English and Italian from 1943 to 1946, while still in POW camps. The Italian version, with a marginally more detailed text, was first published in 1947 as Fuga sul Kenya - 17 giorni di libertà [:Escape on Kenya - 17 days of liberty][3] (L'Eroica, Milano). The English version was published in February 1952 as No Picnic on Mount Kenya (William Kimber, London), with the subtitle The Story of Three P.O.W.s' Escape to Adventure.
Benuzzi's English title, perhaps suggested by this line of de Watteville's, refers to the expression 'It was no picnic', meaning 'It was hard going', but with an ironic allusion to the climbers' meagre POW rations. There have been at least eighteen English impressions, some published without the subtitle.
Here's a simplified table summarizing the key events:
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| Imprisonment | Felice Benuzzi is captured and held in a POW camp in Kenya. |
| Inspiration | Benuzzi sees Mount Kenya and conceives the idea to climb it. |
| Planning | Benuzzi and two companions gather equipment and plan their escape. |
| Escape | The three men escape from the POW camp. |
| Ascent | They climb Mount Kenya, facing numerous challenges. |
| Return | They break back into the POW camp and face the consequences. |
Popular articles:
tags: #Kenya
