Book Review - Traversa

Traversa by Fran Sandham: This is Sandham's account of walking 3000 miles across Africa, beginning on Namibia's Skeleton Coast and ending in Bagamoyo on the Indian Ocean in Tanzania. He claims the inspiration for his endurance feat came from his life-long preoccupation with the African continent's Victorian era explorers, such as Livingstone and Stanley, who "came to regard crossing Africa overland from coast to coast as a goal to rival the discovery of the source of the Nile." (The overland crossing of Africa became known as "the Travera.") However obsessed with the explorers he was, I get the feeling that Sandham - who was an editor at Rough Guides for several years - hit upon the walk as the perfect book material for the type of adventure travel he's good at, his humorous writing, and his moxie. I picked up the book because he covers some familiar turf for me on the African continent and I always enjoy another's perspective of places I know. I didn't gleam any new tidbits about culture or destination from Sandham - his book is walk-driven - but neither did I put it down. He knows how to tell a good yarn at a pace which I am guessing matches his hyperactive personality, and he is very funny. And for this reader so sold on experiencing Africa out of a vehicle, his "Traversa" was a huge achievement.

27-08-2008

Book Review - The World Without Us

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman: This book's premise is beautifully simple: what happens to the earth if mankind suddenly disappeared. How we disappear is irrelevant. We're just gone. What would life on earth become? Drawing upon the collective knowledge of engineers, archaeologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders, scientists of varied disciplines, and many other professionals, as well as by turning to the past to study what the planet was like before we arrived on the scene, Weisman paints a convincing picture that our resilient planet will start healing itself immediately. I enjoyed the book for the hope it instils in the indomitability of nature, although Weisman saves the worst news to the end, such as the ramifications of the 30,000 intact nuclear warheads and 441 nuclear plants we leave behind, among many other lethal substances. There is a chapter devoted to Africa which may answer why so many of us undergo personal epiphanies there, especially those of us who think that the planet is better off with animals back in charge. With the exception of Antarctica, Africa is the only place which has not suffered a major wildlife extinction, an irony when you consider that Africa has been occupied by humans, the agents of extinctions, longer than anywhere else on the planet. It remains the last continent where big mammals survive, and with us gone, they will most certainly inherit the earth. Nostalgic safaris which duplicate the era of the great white hunter attract much business to East Africa. The operators promise their clients that they will experience "Africa the way it used to be." What might be a more valuable marketing tool at this point in time is to equate "Africa the way it used to be" with "Africa the way it will be."

Why do East Africa's big mammals still exist when in less than a millennium man decimated America's and Australia's mega-fauna? According to Weisman, because man and big animals evolved together in Africa, wildlife had time to adjust to man's predations and come up with ways to survive. Examples of this are a zebra's stripes, which make it difficult for an individual to be singled out in a crowd; the way wildebeest use large herds for protection; and the forging of alliances between species to take advantage of each other's superior eyesight or smell. On the contrary, mega-fauna elsewhere in the new world were at a disadvantage when man arrived because they were unaware how dangerous we were.

27-08-2008

Music Review - Music of the Ba'Aka of Dzanga-Sangha

Music of the Ba'Aka of Dzanga-Sangha: the only way you can get a hold of this music is through Louis Sarno, the American who recorded it and who has lived with this Central African pygmie group for over 20 years. You may also see if you can find a copy of Louis' book Song from the Forest: My Life Among the Ba-Benjelle Pygmies - some of the books were released with the music - but don't tell Louis that I recommended this. He doesn't like his book, years now after he wrote it. He asked me not to look for a copy of it. (I didn't listen.) Out of respect for Louis' feelings, I won't review his book. But I will tell you this. I think it is worth a read for what you will learn about the Ba'Aka people, especially about their music which is why Louis was drawn to Central Africa in the first place. He happened to hear a pygmie song on the radio and it affected him so much that he decided to travel to their remote rainforest home. He never left. His CD of recordings was made between 1986 and 1996. It preserves eleven Ba'Aka compositions, from the yodeling the women make on their way to the forest for a day of gathering, to the ancient boyobe ceremony which is held before a traditional net hunt. Women and children summon in song the forest spirits who appear dressed in bark and leaves to bless the hunt. Some of the pygmie music is dying out, which will make Louis' CD a wonderful thing to own. If you come on a Central African safari I will introduce you to Louis. If you want a copy of this beautiful and rare Ba'Aka music please write and I will put you in touch with Louis.

27-08-2008

Tidbits 5

"Never trust a man in shoes": a Central African proverb.

"Archaeology isn't about glittery objects - it's about their context. We are part of the context. It's our workers whose fields are burning; it's their children who have malaria. We come to study ancient civilization, but we end up studying about NOW."

Subsistence Living

27-08-2008