Looking for Lovedu: A Woman's Journey Through Africa
by Ann Jones
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The acclaimed adventure writer Ann Jones tells the story of her overland journey, with the British photographer Kevin Muggleton, from one end of Africa to the other. Their purpose: to reach the southernmost tip of the continent and find the Lovedu people, a legendary tribe guided by the "feminine" principles of compromise, tolerance, generosity, and peace. A tribe that was known for its use of skillful diplomacy instead of warfare, and was ruled by a wise and powerful magician, a great show more rainmaking queen--the inspiration for H. Rider Haggard's novel She. Together Jones and Muggleton set out from England in a 1980 powder-blue army surplus Series III Land Rover. They hurry through France and Spain to Gibraltar and board an intercontinental ferry to North Africa. In Morocco they work a scam to circumvent government red tape, and travel on toward the first great challenge of the journey: the Sahara, where, despite dire warnings, they set out alone, through roadless shifting dunes, across the great apricot-colored expanse of desert. Jones tells how they ferry across the river into Senegal and come upon the Île de Saint-Louis, the first French settlement in West Africa. She describes how they beat their way through trackless bush to Bamako, the capital of Mali, on the Niger River, as their vehicle begins to disintegrate, and how they speed southward through once-prosperous Côte d'Ivoire and pause to visit the full-scale replica of Rome's Saint Peter's Basilica, built by the then-president of Côte d'Ivoire at a cost of 360 million of his own dollars. In Ghana they explore a fort from which slaves were shipped to the New World. They hurry through Togo and Benin to Nigeria, where they are harassed by omnipresent soldiers in the uneasy aftermath of the execution of the author Ken Saro-Wiwa and other political dissidents. In Cameroon they meet the fon of Chobe and his chief female minister, Ya Wende, and visit the twenty-four wives of the fon of Nkwem. As they continue the journey they battle malaria, try to reform two would-be robbers, sing Christmas carols with American missionaries, confront extornionist and dangerous Mobutu men, and come near collapse on Zaire's impassable muddy "roads." Finally, they pause to recuperate in a posh hotel, whose luxuries spell the end of their expedition together--the author rejecting modern comforts, her companion yearning for more. Ann Jones writes of how she travels on in search of the Lovedu people: through Tanzania and Malawi and the Tete Corridor of Mozambique to the ruins of the once-magnificent city of Great Zimbabwe. She writes of crossing the Limpopo River into South Africa, where her long journey culminates in an audience with Modjadji V, Queen of the Lovedu. Her book is an irrestistible roller-coaster ride through Africa--crowded with obstacles, beauty, maddening corruption, and marvelous people. show lessTags
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how can i not enjoy a book about adventure, history, and feminism? it's the travelogue of a woman as she goes north to south overland through africa, and you get a good dose of western colonialism, african corruption, and how it's everyday africans that have to live with it all.
I am conflicted over rating this book....does it deserve 5 stars for honesty, great writing and beautiful imagery? Or does it deserve 2 stars for whining rants and feminism overboard? I'll go with the 5 because I'm an optimist and more often than not I felt so touched by the author's observances, and her desire to slow down and *see* what was around her...places, people, relationships, history, challenges, triumphs, depth. "There are those who are living, I thought, and those who are rushing on." What she shows us of each country she travels through is just a peek, a tease and yet can be so moving: "Why do you cut down all the trees?" I asked a woodsman we met along the road. "We have too many trees," he said. "In New York is no trees. show more New York is modern. When trees is gone, Malawi is also modern." Think on that. show less
This was an interesting visit to Africa, and I enjoyed most of the adventure. The author didn't seem to have a clear reason for being there and hadn't done a great job of choosing her traveling companions along the way, which added to the conflicts along the way.
The strongest theme I took away from this story was the plight of women in African countries and the difficulties they face surviving life in a male-centered culture. By the time the author reached her objective of visiting the queen of Lovedu, I felt the visit to be anti-climatic after the other incidents along the way.
The strongest theme I took away from this story was the plight of women in African countries and the difficulties they face surviving life in a male-centered culture. By the time the author reached her objective of visiting the queen of Lovedu, I felt the visit to be anti-climatic after the other incidents along the way.
Ann Jones sets off across Africa in search of Lovedu.
And what is this Lovedu that so intrigues this seasoned journalist?
Lovedu is an old African civilization in which the chief is a woman. Unlike most of Africa. Unlike most of the rest of the world.
So Ann Jones sets out in search of this mythic place, traveling across Africa with a reckless and impulsive young male driver to accompany her and complement her more sedate, less knowledgeable-about-Africa older self. Along the way, they bog down in muddy roads, are accosted by greedy border guards, desperately seek edible food and replacement car parts, and, generally speaking, have lots of exciting and dangerous adventures.
Ann Jones finds Lovedu. I don’t think I am giving anything away show more in telling you this. But I’ll let you see for yourself what the Lovedu she finds is like. show less
And what is this Lovedu that so intrigues this seasoned journalist?
Lovedu is an old African civilization in which the chief is a woman. Unlike most of Africa. Unlike most of the rest of the world.
So Ann Jones sets out in search of this mythic place, traveling across Africa with a reckless and impulsive young male driver to accompany her and complement her more sedate, less knowledgeable-about-Africa older self. Along the way, they bog down in muddy roads, are accosted by greedy border guards, desperately seek edible food and replacement car parts, and, generally speaking, have lots of exciting and dangerous adventures.
Ann Jones finds Lovedu. I don’t think I am giving anything away show more in telling you this. But I’ll let you see for yourself what the Lovedu she finds is like. show less
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10+ Works 759 Members
Ann Jones is a journalist, photographer, and the author of eight books of nonfiction, including Women Who Kill, Kabul in Winter, and War Is Not Over When It's Over. She has reported on the impact of war in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, and embedded with American forces in Afghanistan. She regularly writes for The Nation and TomDispatch.com.
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- Languages
- Dutch, English
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- Paper, Ebook
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