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    Walking the Nile
    Walking the Nile
    Walking the Nile
    Audiobook11 hours

    Walking the Nile

    Written by Levison Wood

    Narrated by Gildart Jackson

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Starting in November 2013 in a forest in Rwanda, where a modest spring spouts a trickle of clear, cold water, Levison Wood set forth on foot, aiming to become the first person to walk the entire length of the Nile. He followed the river for nine months, over 4,000 miles, through six nations-Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, the Republic of Sudan, and Egypt-to the Mediterranean coast.
    Like his predecessors, Wood camped in the wild, foraged for food, and trudged through rainforest, swamp, savannah, and desert, enduring life-threatening conditions at every turn. He traversed sandstorms, flash floods, minefields, and more, becoming a local celebrity in Uganda, where a popular rap song was written about him, and a potential enemy of the state in South Sudan, where he found himself caught in a civil war and detained by the secret police.
    An inimitable tale of survival, resilience, and sheer willpower, Walking the Nile is an inspiring chronicle of an epic journey down the lifeline of civilization in northern Africa.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 21, 2016
    ISBN9781515977759
    Author

    Levison Wood

    Levison Wood served as an officer in the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan before becoming an explorer, author and documentary maker. He is famous for undertaking the first expedition to walk the entire length of the Nile River on foot, as well as walking the length of the Himalayas and circumnavigating the Arabian peninsula from Iraq to Lebanon. He has written nine best-selling books and produced several critically acclaimed documentaries. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and The Explorers Club.

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    Reviews for Walking the Nile

    4.5/5

    96 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Part travelogue, part historical novel, part political fiction, part cultural history, part comical, Levison Wood has become one of my favorite travel writers. Beyond his incredible accomplishments he has a true knack for storytelling. While thousands of miles separated from his walks, with every journey I feel as if I’m walking right alongside him.
    • 5/5
      Fascinating read. Very well done. Listened to some chapters twice.
    • 5/5
      An amazing story so very well written and narrated! I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping tale of the extreme difficulties and sadness that were experienced in following a most prominent river in modern day but still deepest darkest Africa!
    • 5/5
      Absolutely great book, well written. Completely absorbed in the whole journey. Thanks
    • 5/5
      The experts say Africa is where life started. The Nile River has throughout time held the amazement and fascination of everyone who has witnessed its power as it is the Nile that transformed the way humans came together. Africa as seen through the eyes of the west is often portrayed as one big hopeless mess of a continent. And in many ways it is. Countries that were colonies of the major European powers were handed back to the people with little or no guidance on how to run a country. The government's of these countries are busy doing or or two things almost exclusively; looting and pillaging every last cent whether from money from the West or selling out any natural resources they have to the highest bidder. Or they are in-prisoning, and killing their rivals.Now Africa has a new problem to add to those already listed. Religion. The upper portion of the continent is Muslim the lower portion Christian and a variety of other religions, only the Muslim religion of 2016 and beyond is not the old one that allowed people of other faiths. No this new version is, death to anyone who doesn't see things and do things our way. But what about the people?Walking the Nile in many ways answers the question what about the people. Throughout the authors trek from a burbling spring in a forest in Rwanda to where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean, the people by and large are just doing whatever they need to survive. And continue to go out of their way to help this walking explorer on his quest, to walk the length of the Nile.1. Rwanda, a country who will forever be known for one of the worst genocides of it people ever committed.2. Uganda a country still remembered for it dictator of the late 20th century Idi Amin, and all of the atrocities he committed.3. South Sudan- barely a country before it broke down into a massive civil war. 4. Sudan the beginning of Islam as far as the trek of the Nile is concerned. A country whose people constantly outdo one another in showing their kindness and generosity, while having to contend with a government who Trusts no one.5. Egypt. A country who goes from good to bad to worse consistently throughout history and currently is in a very bad way. A police state, who doesn't trust its people or foreigners. And it is the people who suffer the most.Reading Walking The Nile, you get all of this along with humor, human insights, history, some hope for the peoples of Africa, and a negative view of their governments. This is a fantastic book.
    • 5/5
      Very informative & well written, the author has relayed an accurate appraisal of the countries he trecked.Full marks.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant, we’ll worth reading. Excellent description of the journey and it’s history. Would recommend and will read again
    • 5/5
      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, 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.”
    • 5/5
      At 2 o'clock this morning I flipped the last page of this incredibly enlightening armchair travel book. The author Levison Wood embarks on an incredible journey to walk the entire Nile river. Starting in Rwanda traveling North all the way to Egypt, he walks for 261 days through hell. Part Indiana Jones true adventure story, part war-time news journalism, the author encounters much more than he ever expected. Being chased by hippos and giant crocodiles, traversing the great Sahara sand dunes with camels getting lost and about to run out of water, were just a few of the adventure parts of this story. Fleeing wars, trudging through swamps and hacking his way through snake infested sweltering jungles, dodging AK47 gunfire, being arrested and being placed under surveillance by local military, is where current affairs news reporting came in to play. This eye-opening journey was scary, horrifying, and nothing but a misery. I have never read about Rwanda, Uganda, or the Sudan before so I learned an aweful lot. It's sad, terrifying, heartbreaking, and interesting, yet still a really good read! I award the book 5 stars for darn good writing and for being a riveting page-turner. I just ordered another of Wood's books; Walking the Himalayas. Can't wait!
    • 4/5
      There are a handful of rivers that are globally known, the Amazon which spans the continent of South America and the Nile which reaches deep into Africa. It is a river that has continually challenged explorers who have dared to take it on, not all of whom have mastered it, it is 4250 miles long after all. Levison Wood decided to walk its length. Not only is it an epic challenge in its own right but he would have to pass through jungles, savannahs, crocodile infested swamps, and one of the world’s hottest deserts, some of the most hostile environments in Africa as he walked north to the Mediterranean. Not only that but the seven countries that he would walk through are some of the most troubled and dangerous places on the planet.

      Thankfully Wood as an ex-army officer is a tough character and he was going to need all the skills that he learnt there to keep the physical and mental strength up. As he walks we get a commentary on the state of modern Africa as seen from the people making a living there, rather than the sanitised reports that you will read here. He doesn’t walk alone as he has guides and is joined by friends at various points of the journey.

      The rest of me was scattered, back across Africa, back along the river from which I had come

      Wood is an amiable bloke who can make friends quickly and has a knack of diffusing tensions when they do arise. It is an unbelievably tough journey that took no prisoners full of euphoric moments and tragedy. He took a huge personal risk in undertaking this walk, the threats were real and present every single day, but all the way though the book he shows grit, determination and resilience with all the challenges that Africa throws at him. A genuine tough guy and a great adventure book. 4.5 stars
    • 4/5
      This book sets out the story of Lev Wood's adventures walking the length of the Nile, from its (farthest) source in Rwanda to the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt.This is a book about journeying, about meeting people and discovering more about the world. It's a book about hacking your way through jungles, running from hippos, leading a train of camels across the desert, finding relics of ancient civilisations, and rescuing baby monkeys.It's also a book about Africa's problems. Corrupt governments, civil wars, genocide, spies, AIDS, drought, villages where everyone is sitting around drunk, deforestation - Lev encounters them all, and mostly lets the people he meets tell their stories of them directly.And it is a book about failure. Lev first fails to walk the length of the Nile because of war in South Sudan - after a night where his hotel is attacked by gunmen, he leaves the country and picks up the trail in Sudan again. He also fails to cross the border into Egypt from Sudan, catches a boat along lake Nassar instead, and then drives back as far as he can to start from the Egyptian side of the border. There is no doubt in my mind that this is an epic journey to Walk The Nile, but the idealistic visions of the first days in Rwanda, of every step along the river's length, is not achieved.It is definitely an expedition that works because of money. His guide through Egypt costs £34,000 to set up minders, guides, and government permissions. When he needs to cross the desert, he buys three camels (he sells them on later). Everywhere he goes he pays guides and porters. This is not one man striding out with a 15l backpack. I was horrifically shocked by the sudden death of Matt Power. The book had been mostly jungles and jolly japes, and he seemed so prepared, and so similar to me, with his water bladder and expedition food. The fact you can just die from walking in the terrible heat - 49 degrees! - shocked me to the core. I was also a little bit taken aback when I realised Lev Wood is exactly my age! I have not walked the entire length of the Nile, and he did it about ten years ago.
    • 4/5
      At one point, Levison Wood says that “exploration has always been about more than pure discovery or of being the first to do something." His travelogue, WALKING THE NILE, speaks to that thought. Despite his obvious admiration for the explorers who preceded him, his focus on this 4,000+ mile, 9-month adventure is about much more than geography. In fact geography seems to be incidental in the age of Google Earth. Instead he gives us a fascinating collection of stories about the history, culture, climate, terrain, fauna, and especially the people of the region.There is much to admire about the people Wood met on his journey. They are struggling under incredibly adverse conditions including kleptocracies, civil strife, disease and poverty. Yet one can’t help but agree with Wood’s sentiment about their hospitality and concern for his welfare. "I also saw how incredibly hospitable they were to a man walking through Africa.” Villagers offered to build him a house and find him a wife. On the last Saturday of every month, the people of Kigali perform service to maintain their city. Refugees from the Sudanese civil war do more than just make due. As one porter tells Wood, "Life goes on." Wood’s journey would not have been possible without the assistance of several pretty amazing guides and porters, the most notable being Boston Beka. In addition to providing the services for which he was paid, Boston welcomed Wood to his home and became a dear friend. He clearly wanted to travel with Wood to the Mediterranean, but was sent home for his own safety. Of course not all that Wood encountered was pleasant. The death of the American journalist, Matt Power, from heat exhaustion was indeed tragic. It shook Levison’s resolve to its core. “I wanted to be anywhere but here, thinking of the man who had died so that he could write about me on my indulgent, pointless, selfish trek.” Other bad experiences can be viewed as minor by comparison, but seen together, they demonstrate a level of commitment to adventure that few could match. Trekking in the Sahara with little water, camping in an abandoned prison that was a massacre site, bypassing the Sudd swamp because of the obvious danger from a very hot war, the need to bribe corrupt officials just to walk in Egypt, and interrogation at every border crossing by secret police or child soldiers serve as examples of hardships that exceed the challenges of just walking 25-30 miles a day through some of the most inhospitable terrain on the planet.The narrative is simple and often too matter-of-fact. Levison, after all, is not a seasoned writer but an ex-soldier. He still manages to convey a sense of adventure few would want to miss.
    • 3/5
      Why walk the Nile?
    • 4/5
      Levison Wood, right at the beginning of his travelogue, echoing the mountaineer George Mallory's raison d'être for climbing Mt. Everest, states that he wanted to walk the length of the Nile "Because it's there." He then amends that statement, saying that he wanted to follow in a great tradition, to achieve something unusual and inspire others, but that much of his motivation was selfish - to go on a great adventure, to test himself. (Kindle location 67) Later he further refines those objectives to a more external, less personal, focus: "to see how [the Nile] shaped lives from the ground, day by day and mile by mile." (Kindle location 137) He starts his story not at the beginning of his trek, but in the middle as he encounters the front lines of the Sudanese civil war, where he witnesses rocket fire and an angry mob who wants to kill anyone who may be associated with the United Nations (and, as a white Britisher, he could easily be mistaken for one and shot on sight!) The story then moves back in time to the beginning of the trek, in December, 2013, in the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda, to a tiny spring sprouting a trickle of water from a hole in a rock, claimed by an agent of the National Tourist Board of Rwanda to be the source of the furthest tributary of the Nile. Wood provides a bit of history, linking his forthcoming journey to Alexander the Great and the Roman Emperor Nero, to Stanley and Livingston and Speke, and rooting it in historical and geographic controversy (Lake Victoria is the commonly accepted origin of the White Nile.)And so, Wood sets off, determined to walk every step of the entire 4,250 mile length of the Nile (measured from the Rwandan spring.) We learn quite a bit about the guides and friends who accompany him through different stages of the trek, and the history and details of the living conditions of the villagers and inn-keepers whom he encounters. We learn about the physical difficulties he and his compatriots face - searing heat, blisters, thirst - but actually little about his own personal discomfort. In the manner of the notable British explorers who preceded him, he soldiers on.That doesn't mean that he isn't affected by those travails. After all, the group faces many dangerous circumstances, from single-minded crocodiles and hippos in the deep jungle to heat exhaustion in the Sahara Desert to AIDS in the villages to war. Indeed, death does overtake the party, causing some soul-searching in Woods. He wonders if continuing the pursuit of his goal at the risk of the lives of his compatriots is too selfish.While the physical difficulties of the trek are discussed, the majority of the focus is on the societal difficulties Wood faces and that the people met along the way endure - the problems at the borders as he passes through Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt, the collapsing economies and infrastructure, famine, war, and the greed of the police and military personnel. On the 30th of August, 2014, after 271 days of trekking, he reaches the Mediterranean port of Rashid (the place where the Rosetta Stone was discovered), in Egypt. Here the Nile waters complete their long journey and a changed Wood realizes, in contrast to his attitude at the beginning of the venture, that he had only gotten through his journey due to the kindness of strangers, the normal people that he had met day to day - a most unselfish understanding born out from all of the events experienced in his story. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.