CONGO TREK - A JOURNEY TO AFRICA'S TROUBLED HEART Coming to Alexander Upstairs

CONGO TREK - A JOURNEY TO AFRICA'S TROUBLED HEART will play the Alexander Upstairs Theatre as part of its Think Up series of TED-style talks. Presented by Tim Butcher, the talk takes place on 21 August at 16:00.

In CONGO TREK, renowned author and award-winning explorer Butcher will discuss his crossing of the Congo, an incredible overland journey that many thought suicidal. The adventure, described in his international best-seller BLOOD RIVER, travels through the history and the reality of Africa's most totemic and troubled country, serving as a warning of the pitfalls and a reminder of the possibilities of nation building.

Butcher is a British author based in Cape Town who has created a unique genre of travel-writing and public-speaking, blending history with actuality. Honoured with the Mungo Park Medal for exploration from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and recognised as an educator with an honorary doctorate from Northampton University, no journey is too dangerous and no story too complex for Butcher. Educated at Oxford and with 20 years frontline experience as a war correspondent, his most recent book, THE TRIGGER, tells the story of the teenager who sparked the First World War by killing the Archduke in Sarajevo. THE TRIGGER was selected as required World War I centenary reading by the then British prime minister, David Cameron. He has also written CHASING THE DEVIL, an account of a 600km trek he made through the Ebola hot zone of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Born in the town of Rugby, cradle of the game, he is currently based in Hout Bay with his family.

Tickets for CONGO TREK - A JOURNEY TO AFRICA'S TROUBLED HEART cost R90 and can be booked online or at the bar, anytime during its regular opening hours. Telephone bookings can be made on 021 300 1652. Alexander Bar & Café is situated on 76 Strand Street in Cape Town's CBD. Find out more about the venue on Facebook or Twitter.