Levison Wood

Wood walked through some pretty serious terrain (the Sahara) and came this close to dying of thirst, dangerous lands (South Sudan), and paranoid lands (Egypt). What I loved most were his conversations with Boston, Wood‘s Congolese guide who lived in Uganda, which consumed a lengthy part of his walk. Boston provided a unique perspective about so many things, but mostly from the experiences of the destitute who do what they can to survive, even if it means clearing forests to grow crops or show more catching and selling baby monkeys 😭 to feed their families. Climate change be damned when you have to feed your family. Such a horrible but enlightening truth—one we‘ve got to realize if we are to help create incentives NOT to clear habitats and kidnap baby animals. We‘ve got to listen & understand, or as my parents used to say, “walk a mile in their shoes.” I learned a lot. Highly recommended. show less

Levison Wood, a British writer, documents his trek from source to sea of the Nile River, and, in the process, provides detailed accounts of the people, politics, history, recent struggles, and ways of life in Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt. This book is perfect for an armchair traveler (like me) who will never go to these areas but wants to know what this part of the world is like.

Wood encounters many challenges, such as being chased by a hippo, dodging crocodiles, show more literally walking into a warzone, being detained by one country’s secret police, crossing a stretch of desert in search of water, navigating border crossings, finding guides, buying camels, evading smugglers, and viewing ruins of ancient civilizations. As he travels, he touches on topics related to the areas he travels – he visits the Rwandan genocide museum, talks to the leader of an orphanage dealing with the ongoing AIDS crisis, and discusses the many regional civil wars with their associated displaced populations. He views the changes brought by dams and deforestations.

I was impressed by the hospitality of the people. They enabled him to complete the journey, providing food and shelter despite having few resources. It is well-written, engrossing, and relates a wealth of information. The photos at the back give the reader a picture to go with the written word. Those who enjoy travel memoirs or learning about current-day challenges in Africa will want to read this book.

Memorable quotes:

“The strangest thing was, this wasn’t even the most extreme hospitality we had seen since leaving the desert two days before. In one dusty little shanty, where we had stopped to buy soda and water the camels, a shopkeeper – within ten minutes of discovering I was English – had offered to give me some land, build me a house, and find me a wife.”

“What we were walking through, I realised, was nothing less than the history of the world – not just the history of Sudan or its peoples, the Ancient Nubians, or even the prehistoric people who had come before. Everywhere we looked, there were reminders of how recent mankind’s appearance on this planet has been – and of how the earth has been transformed and transformed again across its lifetime.”

“It gives me great pleasure to think that in a small way my expedition has inspired others to travel and hopefully brought to attention a more positive and unseen side to Africa.” show less

On an atlas, the small chain of countries that link the great continents of North and South America look tiny. It is a beautiful and varied part of our planet, but their size on the map belies just how tough a part of the world it is. Not only is it hot and humid, but you will have to contend with swamps, malaria, spiders and jaguars and the jungle and the remnants of ancient cities. Not forgetting the armed gangs of drug smugglers and military types with itchy trigger fingers, this is not show more the place for your tourists. Thankfully Levison Wood is not your regular tourist.

His chosen 1,800-mile route along this slender piece of land would take in eight countries. He was starting with Mexico, where he had persuaded his friend Alberto to come along for the trip. He readily agreed, remembering the time he spent in Africa with him travelling by truck; then Levison dropped the bombshell, saying that they would be walking it… Alberto still agreed to go with him every step of the way.

Levison Wood is one of the few adventurers left in the world who is capable and mad enough to undertake these sorts of long treks across parts of the world that people would not normally venture to. At times it is an unbelievably tough journey, as they deal with hacking their way through the understory, encountering migrants heading for a new life in America and the relentless task of putting one foot in front of the other. He is one tough guy to even attempt a challenge of this order, let alone complete it. Alberto and Wood have even joined the exclusive club of those that have managed to pass the impenetrable jungle at the Darien Gap. This is such a wild area that even the Pan-American highway stops in its two continent run. It is a reasonably well-written account of his trip, if you are expecting literary excellence then this is not necessarily going to be the author for you. What you do get though is an honest account of a unique hike with all the highs and lows from a genuine tough guy.

Great stuff. Now to watch the TV series. show less

Read: February 2016
Re-read: April 2019
Rating: 5/5 stars, best of 2016

Walking the Nile is the companion book to the TV documentary that was shown on Channel 4 last January. I really enjoyed watching it and when I saw the book was available on kindle for 99p I had to buy it.

Levison Wood is a really good writer. His descriptions of his surroundings, the people he met and the countries he visited were so vivid and real. The book adds more depth to the journey he took as he is able to describe show more more details than could be shown on TV. In particular he wrote a lot about the death of Matt Power, an American journalist who was going to accompany him for a week on his journey but died of heatstroke after only a few days. The book shows how much Wood struggled with the decision to carry on walking the length of Nile, and how Matt's death influenced the way he carried on with the walk. It was very moving.

Wood didn't shy away from talking about the corruption in some of the countries he visited, especially at the border crossing into Egypt but he also showed how generous and giving the people were who lived along the route. In Sudan he was offered a place to stay and given food every night by people who barely had enough to feed themselves.

You don't need to have watched the show to read the book; the fact that Wood is being filmed all along the walk is barely mentioned at all. I think anyone interested in travelling and exploring would really enjoy reading this book.

I have just finished watching Wood's new Channel 4 show; Walking the Himalayas, and I will definitely buy the companion book to that series as well. show less