Globe-trotting author from Hednesford publishes third book for charity
A globe-trotting grandfather, who has spent more than 25 years travelling on long haul flights, has just published his third book to help raise money for charity but now fears he has been grounded by the pandemic.
Geoff Leo, a retired teacher, from Hednesford, has just completed the third of a trilogy of travel adventure books.
The retired 68-year-old teacher, has just published Elephants In The Sunset, Random Jaunts Around Africa.
Previously Geoff, who has four children and eight grandchildren, has written Laughter on The Bus, Random Jaunts Around The Americas and Sunshine on the Water, Random Jaunts Around Asia.
Any proceeds from his books are donated to Compton Care.
Geoff said: "The book takes me from Morocco and my ambition to ride on the Marrakesh Express to Casablanca.
"The Express was wonderful and although Casablanca is amazing it did not live up to the film of that name.
"In Tunisia my main reason to be there was to go into the Sahara Desert and Egypt was marvellous with Cairo and the Pyramids but the best thing to do is to go on a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan where I enjoyed a seven-day adventure.
"The book covers 12 chapters and includes my visits to The Gambia and Kenya before lockdown.
"As I returned last February with my wife, Karen, we had to go via Istanbul and there we saw people wearing masks for the first time.
"The main crux is that in my mind I am an adventurer and an explorer but to my family I am an absent-minded teacher galavanting abroad.
"I fear now that because of the Covid-19 pandemic that we have seen the end of travel and transport as we have known it for a few years.
"The books and my misadventures could be the last great series of travel books.
"During my travels I found Ethiopia to be one of the most foreign of countries I had ever visited.
"I was arrested at an airport after finding a bullet on the stairwell and handing it to a security guard.
"I thought I was doing the right thing but found myself questioned as to why I had taken live ammunition to the airport.
"In Zambia I nearly fell off Niagara Falls during the dry season as I tried to jump between some boulders and had to be rescued by two young lads.
"However, it was in Botswana where I saw as many as 2,000 elephants gathered in the sunset around the Chobe River while seated in a small boat."
Geoff fears that his travelling days could now be put on hold for three to five years because of the pandemic but said he would love to visit Australia and New Zealand.
His book Elephants in the Sunset, Random Jaunts Around Africa is on sale through Amazon for £4.99 for the Kindle version and £8 for the paperback.
