The Last Resort: A Memoir of Mischief and Mayhem on a Family Farm in Africa

The Last Resort is a highly personal story about Douglas Rogers' return visits over a few years to Zimbabwe to visit his parents. It is a rich and penetrating portrait of Rogers' homeland and what is happening there under the rule of Robert Mugabe - not only what is happening to the remaining white settlers but to the native black population. Douglas Rogers' parents, Lyn and Ros have run a game farm and backpackers lodge for many years in the eastern part of the country. This is a moving story of their will to survive in their own home against odds that would overwhelm anyone. They are survivers who have learned to adapt to the dramatic changing condition of this calamitious land. From the opening pages describing Roger's plane landing at the airport at Harare when he first returned home one feel a cloud of dread as to what he will find as he thumbs rides to The Drifters, his parents resort. But what is overall the theme of the story is the desire of the human spirit to survive and to outlast the evil that is around them. The book is filled with dramatic happenings to these people but also with great humor. They did not lose their sense of life's joys. There are some very funny scenes of going to Miss Moneypenny who is the money changer, to get bundles of Zimbabwe dollars. The book reads much like a novel as you just don't know how it will end.I was disappointed that there were no photos in the book until I went to Douglas Rpgers' wedsite [...] and found the photos by Stefan Ruiz. Look at the photos before, during and after you read the book. They are of the characters and the area of the story. They show beautiful noble people. Also it would be great to stay at The Drifters. Even if one is not that intereted in Zimbabwe the book is a wonderful story of survival and the human desire and will to last. I would love to meet Lyn and Ros.

A great read, whether you are familiar with Zimbabwe's history in Africa or not. The tenacious couple who endure so many amusing and not-so-amusing intrusions on their rural paradise are well characterized as people who are both willing to adapt, and to fend off unwelcome attempts at repossession of the land they have always called home. Their son tells their story in such an entertaining and informative way. I delighted in reading the creative actions they took to protect their much loved property and life-style. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about hardships and solutions brave people will live though to remain on land they love. Their interactions and experiences with locals and visiters, alike tell a great deal about the ingenuity of the human spirit and love for home. They are a brave and entertaining couple who succeed using unusual and outlandish means to retain their much-loved home in one of Africa's challenging regimes. Their son tells a great story. This book was a spot-on recommendation from Amazon.com

This book was my first ever e-book purchase. And what a choice! Poetically penned by a native white Zimbabwean (Rogers,Douglas)who details his frequent visits to his parents' small backpackers lodge business while they stared straight in the eye some of the most daunting of circumstances which threatened their livlihood, and even their lives!I flew through this addictive and easily read non-fictional account of the peril's of life under the Mugabe regime for fourth-generation Rhodesians,namely the author's biological parents, who are forced out of necessity to adapt to the volitile political climate that has declared them (white landowners) de facto Enemies of the State. The ways in which they do this are clever, resourceful, and always entertaining; in part due to the incredible optimism and humor these last bittereinders retain, all the while facing down daily the most daunting of obstacles, not to mention the ever-present threat of state-sponsored forceable Occupation & Eviction from their farms by political thugs. White farmers (and all white land owners this couple soon discovered) became Mugabe's scapegoat for diverting blame away from abyssmal economic state of the country which sat in 80% unemployment and 10,000+% inflation ahead of the looming Presidential elections where the ruling ZANU-PF party faced viable opposition for the first time in decades. Vivid and accurate articulation of the pervaisive extent of corruption in Zimbabwe, and blatent abuse of democracy, as citizens see their constitution erroded while President Bob's power is increased as his cronies get enriched at the expense of the largely starving populace. The Amazing tale is truely the Rogers' remarkable faith in Zimbabwe's critically-wounded democratic system, their determination and unwavering resolve to eek out a livin and refusal to disown their native country that has turned their back on them.Lastly, let me say that this book is one of those "real life is stranger is Crazier than fiction" reads that makes me want to visit Drifter's Lodge outside of Mutare, Zimbabwe.

This is a great book about people surviving, adapting and ultimately thriving in the face of adversity. It tells the story of the authors parents battling to survive and hold on to their game farm and tourist lodge in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe in the face of the madness unleashed by the Mugabe regime. Rogers more than his parents lives in fear of the day the "war veterans" will arrive and throw them out of their home. It also details the way Zimbabwe has changed. The overland safari trucks full of European backpackers may have been frightened off but people still come to the lodge for albeit different reasons. It acts as a sanctuary for the displaced neighbouring white farmers and a hang out for the black smugglers and illegal miners on the recently discovered diamond fields nearby. Roger's to his amazement and amusement even finds his parents sub-letting out part of "Drifters" to ganja growers. Written with great humour and honesty this is a wonderful book.

Written as a journalist bought up in Zimbabwe returns to see how his parents are surviving their retirement running a back-packer hostel. The account covers life under Mugabe and the consequences of staying unmolested by the regime and continuing the family's long association with the country. The writing is excellent and the black humour of their personal story is welcome.

This book is actually well written which is why I gave it four stars. I was engaged by it but I didn't like the book. As with so many of the people who have reviewed the book, I too have a connection with Zimbabwe, having been born there in the 1950's and having lived there until I was about 21. Members of my family continued to live in Zimbabwe until the early 1980s and there was always some contact with a circle of former residents as well as with friends who still lived there via my family.One of the reasons I bought the book was because many reviewers commented that the book was amusing. I thought it would be good to be able to feel some positive emotion about life in Zimbabwe. However, I actually found the book harrowing. The lengths Douglas Roger's parents have to resort to in order to maintain their home and livelihood and the degeneration of society and communities at all levels struck me as deeply tragic. Above everything else, the description of the alcohol fuelled craziness just depressed me because it was so accurately reminiscent of my childhood experiences of white adults who just could not get their heads around the reality that their lifestyle was unsustainable and of black adults who needed escapism. (If you want to be even more depressed, read "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight" by Alexandra Fuller.) Needless to say, my family has now banned me from reading any more books about Zimbabwe that are described as "funny" or "hilarious".

This turned out to be an engrossing, incredible story. I couldn't put it down. The writer writes against the backdrop of extreme hardships of the inhabitants of Zimbabwe. Thoroughly enjoyed all the real Zimbabwean characters of the story. Zimbabweans are a special people! For me their story ultimately represents the pointlessness of life - vanity of vanities. Nevertheless, I love to escape the busy-ness of life through books like this, on southern Africa. I love and can feel the slower pace of life there and the sense of being so close to nature. Highly recommended.

I have no connection whatsoever to Zimbabwe, but I have always been fascinated by its plight. Douglas writes about his own experience about the country, never once resorting to self-pity, instead writing about characters you grow to love, including his imperfect, but lovable parents.The main issue with Zimbabwean writing, is that it discusses the problem as if it is simply whites v blacks. Rogers makes it clear that blacks receive just as much pain if not more from the Mugabe regime, and they are just as brave and stoical in their plight as his white parents.The prose is beautifully written. A must read please buy it.