Growing up in East Africa gave the author early exposure to travel and foreign countries. Qualifying in medicine, he worked in Solomon Islands for the next ten years during which time he undertook research which lead to a programme of eliminating filariasis from the world. Returning on leave, he was able to extend his journeys and include South America, starting his continuing interest in this part of the world. Posted to Tanzania as Medical Coordinator of an aid programme, he completed his second travel book. In 1985, he joined the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he taught until retiring to Scotland in 1999.
