ADH4

About 10 million years ago the enzyme in our bodies used to detoxify alcohol, dehydrogenase or ADH4, underwent a single mutation that left it 40 times more efficient.  The mutation occurred in the last common ancestor we shared with gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.  Without a modified ADH4 even small quantities of alcohol are poisonous.  With a modified ADH4 alcohol can be consumed safely and used by our bodies as a source of energy.

-Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life

So…A bunch of Kiwis, Aussies and two Canadians set out in a truck to drive overland across half the world.  Getting out of India by a land border was a hassle, involving an unscheduled trip to Srinigar (where only the Red Cross could cross), and then retracing our steps and quickly darting across a land border while the pooh-bah preventing us was on a brief leave.  First delay.  Crashing in Pakistan which involved an extended period of repair.  Second delay.  Getting arrested by the military in Iran.  Third delay.  Climbing a mountain in Turkey that was not meant to be climbed.  Wandering into a bar in Aleppo that was not meant to be visited by Westerners.  Missing the Lake Nubia ferry in Egypt, driving to the coast to Port Sudan instead (and getting stuck many times), then attempting to drive “around” the civil war in the south of Sudan (which at the time was still one country) and getting stuck in the desert.  Because it rained.  And remaining stuck for a month.  Retracing our steps back to Khartoum, then flying to Nairobi.  And what was supposed to be, all in, seven months, turned into ten.

 

Lassus wrote 530 motets, Telemann 35 operas, Bach nearly 300 cantatas, Haydn 104 symphonies.  Quick, name five of Bach’s cantatas.  I thought so.  Sometimes too much is just too much.  But so it goes.  And that in a way was the trip.  So much.  As our driver Annie put it at the 40 year reunion, that drive was some of the best memories (of her seven year gig driving for Encounter Overland) and some of the worst.

One guy walked off into the desert.  Another guy stayed behind in Khartoum to direct aircraft!  Three of us, Pete, Casey and myself called it a day after seven months, and flew to London.  But the hardcore African Animals persevered and showed up in London three months late, just days before the Challenger crashed.  Now there’s a metaphor.

38 years later most of the group convened in Sydney.  40 years later most of the group convened in Rotorua.  There is of course so much more to this story, this saga, but in short: A lot of beer was consumed.  And a lot of mosquitoes and flies plagued the group, a lot of dehydrated food was consumed, and despite the accidents and breakdowns and weather and, yes, Delhi belly, everyone survived.  And hell, you can’t even drive down and camp in Ngorongoro anymore so, you know, a lot of the trip couldn’t be repeated even if you tried.

The above shots were in Pakistan.  Hanging with some wealthy local looking for a wife and, above, with Gary, on a three-person detour to Hunza, which ran into a few snags.  I sold that leather satchel on eBay about 15 years later for more than I paid for it in Sydney!

Hanging in Rotorua, a few showers, a few haircuts, and a few pounds later.  Like 40 years later.

Pete, not at the reunion, with Tony in Perth.  Bruce, also not at the reunion, with Rob.

Celebrating 40 years in Rotorua, Saturday night, African theme.