Coates, Frank

Frank Coates was born in Melbourne, ran away to Africa in 1989 at the age of 45, joined a UN team in Nairobi as a technical expert and a year later, on the shores of Lake Victoria, married a Tanzanian of the Nyamwezi tribe. It was a life-changing experience for the ex-Telecom Australia engineer who had earlier worked in Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. The UN contract ended, but Frank was now hooked on Africa, and worked as a consultant in countries from Kenya to Swaziland and from Mozambique to Botswana. It was during these four years that he developed his passionate interest in the political and cultural history of East Africa.;