Crazy River
A Plunge into Africa
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
No-one travels like the renowned writer-adventurer Richard Grant and, really, no-one should. Having narrowly escaped death at the hands of Mexican drug barons in Bandit Roads, he now plunges with his trademark recklessness and curiosity into Africa.
Setting out to make the first descent of a previously unexplored river in Tanzania, he gets waylaid by thieves, whores and a degenerate former golf pro in Zanzibar, then crosses the Indian Ocean in a cargo dhow before the real adventure begins on the Malagarasi river.
Travelling by raft, dodging bullets, hippos, lions and crocodiles, hacking through swamps and succumbing to fevers, Grant's gripping, illuminating and often hilarious book will thrill his devoted readers and bring him to an even broader audience.
Customer Reviews
What I love this book
What I love about this book is that Richard Grant never pretends to be an authority on Africa, but rather tries to allow his reader the opportunity to view it as he is does, which is as a white male newcomer to Africa, experiencing all the quirks that make the African continent such an interesting place.
As a seasoned world traveller myself, with an African father, I'd explored a substantial portion of Africa myself, by the time I was 19. Like all true 'journeys' outside of our first world perspectives, and no more so than in Africa, you have to expect the unexpected, which Richard Grant portrays almost seamlessly.
I've seen enough documentaries on the source of the Nile to know it's not what one would expect. It's Crazy River's unpredictable journeying that makes the book so interesting. Like all great travel writers, Richard Grant manages, in the little time he has, under often difficult circumstances, to give us a broad spectrum of views from the people who actually live and work there, without getting himself beaten up or killed along the way. But only just.
What intrigues me most about Richard Grant's writing is how well he reads women, a rarity in the macho world of lone travel writers. The stories that stick uppermost in my mind are those taken from the view point of the female aid worker; the destruction of mating ritual of the water carriers by well building; the simple gratitude of the poverty-stricken woman as Richard hands her an empty Whisky bottle to use. And finally, how his entire view point changes on his return to the US, incredulous when a woman at a US airport throws a fit over getting the wrong kind of latte.
My only minor complaint, and it's probably because I am a woman, is that I'd rather have heard less about other male travel writers' experiences in Africa, from the last century, and more about Richard Grants' instead, probably because I could relate to him far more. He is neither reckless nor cowardly, treats all kinds of people with the greatest respect. I wish there were more travellers like him. In short, Crazy River is the perfect mix of literature and useful travel information for the African continent. For me, Crazy River has it all.
I look forward to Richard Grant's next book with great anticipation.