On the Hunt in West Africa finds Bostonian Pat Spain, an inexperienced
but enthusiastic traveler and wildlife biologist, on the first shoot of
his new National Geographic TV series in Cameroon, the Congo, and the
Central African Republic. He was told it would be his "trial by fire"
for the world of wildlife TV, and soon finds that to be literally true
after their decrepit pick-up truck catches fire while doing 100 MPH on a
dirt road. Things only get more uncomfortable for Pat from there as he
experiences the wildlife (getting charged by a silverback gorilla and
having a killer bee land on his exposed penis), the food (eating rat and
face-meltingly hot peppers), and some local traditions (he's almost
arrested, accidentally married, and inadvertently invites an evil forest
spirit to live in the Pygmy village he's staying in), and somehow
manages (in his mind, at least) to solve the mystery of Mokele M'Bembe -
a supposed living dinosaur in the riverways connecting these three
countries.
