Synopses & Reviews
A trek in the company of the great predators. Tim Cahill once wrote that "there was a time for all of us when we wanted to be Rick Ridgeway." Explorer, adventurer, entrepreneur, Ridgeway takes readers on an incredible journey. On foot for a month, from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, through the plains of Tsavo, to the sea, he offers a rare ground's-eye view of east Africa as it is today and how it once was before the incursion of European civilization. Ridgeway takes a hard look at the possible future facing this once-pristine landscape, its magnificent animals, and its indigenous inhabitants. Accompanied by memorable characters, such as Danny and Bongo Woodley, sons of the legary Tsavo warden Bill Woodley; renowned elephant biologist Joyce Poole; and the descants of the Waliangulu--the "People of the Long Bow"--the last great hunters of the region, Ridgeway encounters lions, rhinos, and elephants in this wonderful adventure on the trail, and through interviews with luminaries such as Richard Leakey, comes face-to-face with the legacy of colonialism, in both cultural and ecological terms, here in the cradle of life.
Review
"Rick Ridgeway is a graceful and engaging companion, and East Africa teems with danger, challenge, and excitement." --Bill Bryson,
The New York Times Book Review"Mr. Ridgeway's effort is to use his trek, which takes him from the ice fields of Africa's highest mountain to the Indian Ocean...as a starting point for reflections on history and nature." --Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
Synopsis
In one of the most acclaimed travel and adventure books of the past year, Rick Ridgeway chronicles his trek from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Indian Ocean, through Kenya's famed Tsavo Park. His tale is, according to
The Boston Globe, "a gripping account of how it feels to be charged by an incensed elephant and kept awake at night by the roaring of stalking lions." But it is more than an adventure story.
The Los Angeles Times noted that "the pace of walking gives Ridgeway time to contemplate his great theme and the great men and women who have struggled with the conundrum of whether man can live at peace with the beasts." Ridgeway examines the effects of colonial expansion on the indigenous people, the landscape, and the animals, and contemplates the future for all of them.
About the Author
Rick Ridgeway, from Ventura, California, is one of the world's foremost mountain climbers and an accomplished documentary filmmaker and writer. His articles have appeared in Outside, National Geographic, Traveler, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. He is the author of three books, including Seven Summits, with Dick Bass.