The Shadow of Kilimanjaro: On Foot Across East Africa - Hardcover

Ridgeway, Rick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805053891 ISBN 13: 9780805053890

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 1998

Synopsis

A fascinating and deeply moving chronicle of a journey by foot across East Africa offers depictions of the vanishing animals of a rapidly vanishing world, exploring possibilities for the future and confronting the long history of colonialism. 15,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Known for such feats as being the first climber to reach the summit of K2 without bottled oxygen, climbing Antarctica's highest mountain, and leading a team to the top of aformidable 2,000-foot granite tower in the most remote corner of the Amazon's Orinoco jungle, Rick Ridgeway, in his latest book, takes a walk. Of course, it's no ordinary stroll. Accompanied by park officers, Ridgeway treks unprotected among lions and elephants, rhinos and oryxes.

The Shadow of Kilimanjaro is as much a search for answers to an adventurer's most soul-searching questions as an account of a thrilling journey. In the introduction Ridgeway writes,

Henry David Thoreau did not write that in wilderness is the preservation of the world, as he is oft misquoted, but that "In wildness is the preservation of the world." There is a difference, and it is significant. A wildness is intact. In wildness, all the original pieces are there. My own backyard mountains in California, from the Coastal Range through the Sierras, are in many places wilderness, but none of it is wildness because the grizzly is gone. We may have the grizzly on the state flag; having it there, however, is not a celebration of our heritage but a burlesque of what we have done to the most noble patriarch ever to walk the land.

Starting at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and ending at the Indian Ocean, Ridgeway's aim during this adventure is less to get there and more to be there. During his weeks on foot, he thoughtfully considers the effects of colonial expansion on Africa's indigenous peoples, its landscape, and its awe-inspiring animals--all the while contemplating with a conservationist's heart Africa's uncertain future.-_ Kathryn True

About the Author:

Rick Ridgeway, from Ventura, California, is one of the world's foremost mountain climbers and an accomplished documentary filmmaker and writer. His articles have appeared in Outside, National Geographic, Traveler, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. He is the author of three books, including Seven Summits, with Dick Bass.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0805053891
• ISBN 13: 9780805053890
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288