O'Hanlon's current driving passion? After journeying among the Amazon's headhunters in his most recent In Trouble Again (Random, 1990) it is to catch a glimpse of the African version of the Loch Ness monster: the legendary Mokele-mbembe dinosaur residing in the unreachable depths of Lake Tele, deep in the northern Congo forests. Intrepid? Or merely insensible to pain?O'Hanlon ventures forth, armed with antivenom serums and innumerable medicines against alarmingly resistant diseases; bribes for officials of the Marxist People's Republic of the Congo; presents for the Pygmies he hopes to find; a crusty scientist companion, Larry Shaffer, from Plattsburgh, New York; and volumes of birding guides and H.M. Stanley's chronicles of travels into Africa before him. Neither hostile local chiefs nor an army of skin-crawling bedevilments will thwart our O'Hanlon from his goal. His account is minute and ironical, given lively relief by Shaffer's gallows humor. It offers compelling reading, for seasoned travelers and couch potatoes alike, and includes an excellent bibliography of the rich history, wildlife, and exploration of the Congo. Highly recommended.