This is the second book, I have read by this Author, the first being a trip she took to Papau New Guinea, called Four Corners.
Kira Salak is an explorer and a risk taker. She loves to take solo voyages, quite often putting herself in dangers way. She says she is often fearful , but just makes herself accomplish what she has set out to do. This trip is a 600 mile journey she takes from Old Segou, Mali to Timbuktu, in an inflatable kayak and traveling on the Niger River. She wanted to take the route which was inspired by the Scottish explorer, Mungo Park (1771-1806). Throughout the book she would give us insight into his trip and state of mind and compare them to her experiences. National Geographic sponsored this trip, so she would meet up with a photographer every now and again to have her picture taken in different villages along the way, as she did not want someone to be with her constantly on the journey. A grueling trip in the start with an injured arm and constantly being harassed by villagers. Along the way, she found out which tribes were friendly and those who were hostile towards her, and had some pretty touchy situations to deal with throughout the journey. She always has an interesting and very readable story. I cannot wait for her next adventure.

A great travel adventure.

Liked the journey, didn't like the writing.

The astounding memoir of a woman's arduous journey by inflatable kayak down the Niger River through Mali . Kira Salak, brave modern adventurer, decides to retrace Victorian explorer Mungo Park's route from Old Segou to Timbuktu. The people she meets en route run the gamut from caring and hospitable to greedy and aggressive. She rows through 105 degree heat, violent storms and pods of potentially angry hippos; on the last leg of her journey, she runs out of food and gets dysentery.

Why? I kept wondering, as I read on, enthralled. Why would anyone do this? In Salak's words:
"I wonder what we look for when we embark on these kinds of trips. There is the pat answer that you tell the people you don't know: that you're interested in seeing a place, learning about its people. But then the trip begins and the hardship comes, and hardship is more honest: it tells us that we don't have enough patience yet, nor humility, nor gratitude. And we thought that we did. Hardship brings us closer to truth, and thus is more difficult to bear, but from it alone comes compassion. And so I've told the world that it can do what it wants with me during this trip if only, by the end, I have learned something more. A bargain then. The journey, my teacher

I read this book every few years. Kira's journey to Timbuktu is harrowing at times; she almost gets captured by a group of men on canoes, becomes very ill , all whilst travelling in the remotest Africa alone as a Blonde haired, fair skinned woman. She was / is very brave and her story keeps me on the edge of my seat every time. In fact I come out in hot sweats and cold flushes upon hearing her tales. I am glad she gets out alive and home safe. its a riveting and educating read.

Salak's narrative of canoeing 600 miles on the Niger by herself made me think I'm an utter couch potato who has done nothing with her life. I was hoping for more narrative instead of introspection, but it was a fascinating read.

Can't help but love a book about a woman who can SERIOUSLY kick ass. Salak is an adventurer, National Geographic person, journalist, you name it and takes on the 600 mile journey on the Nile River to Timbuktu, alone. Her experiences are chronicled in her book and it's well worth reading.

An inspiring journey

Kira Salak's harrowing journey down the Niger River is the perfect piece of nonfiction travel adventure writing to quell any reader with an irrepressible sense of wanderlust, curiosity and a slight taste for danger. I appreciated the authors reflections on the history of her journey through Mungo Park and the glimpse she provides us into the cultural conditions of an area not oft explored.

A curious adventure book in that the trip wasn’t really a kayaking challenge — no major rapids, navigation challenges, supply emergencies. Instead, the author is mainly vexed by the climate and the people she encounters (usually at a distance.) Not much in the way of motivation, either, aside from a fascination with 19th century explorer Mungo Park and an assignment for National Geographic. She’s a good enough writer to give you a solid sense of the place, but the overall impression is less one of discovery than a constant sense of low-grade irritation and xenophobia.

BTW, if anyone is interested in Mungo Park, I highly recommend T.C. Boyle’s novel “Water Music,” a rip-roaring read.

There's good writing here and an interesting mix of the author's own journey and a historical journey up the Niger River. However, there are some troublesome parts of the story too, especially toward the end when Salak invasively questions several Malian women about their experiences with rape. Her need to play savior for the women seems to override common decency and respect. Also, her insistence on giving out money everywhere she goes betrays a lack of understanding of cultural norms. I definitely wouldn't use this book as a cultural guide about how to behave in West Africa, but it is an interesting story otherwise.

I read a ton of travel books, usually of people traveling and doing the unthinkable.

Kira is such a badass and her books feel so real. I truly hope she writes a few more, I've read everything she has written now.

An enjoyable serviceable travelogue.