
Book Review – Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
The famous Norweigan explorer Thor Heyerdahl has a theory that the islands of the Pacific Ocean could have been first settled by pre-Colombian explorers from South America rather than the common belief that these settlers came from the North and West. In 1947 he and a crew of four set-offs from Peru on a simple balsa wood raft named Kontiki on a 5000-mile journey to prove this theory.
Leave a Reply

Book Review – No picnic on Mount Kenya: A Daring Escape, A Perilous Climb by Felice Benuzzi
Confined to an endless cycle of boredom and frustration, one prisoner, Felice Benuzzi, realizes he can bear it no longer. When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea, an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea – to escape and climb the mountain.
Leave a Reply

Book Review – Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by John Krakauer
In the 1990s John Krakauer was a contributor to Outside Magazine, a renown adventure publication when in 1996 they asked him to join a guided team to ascend Mount Everest. Krakauer was in a team led by Rob Hall. At the same time, another team was attempting the ascent led by Scott Fischer. Both men successfully guided clients to the summit but experienced severe difficulty during the descent as a massive storm hit the mountain. Sadly, several people, including the head guides lost their lives. This book tells the story from the perspective of John Krakauer.
Leave a Reply

Book Review – Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read
This is the incredible story of a group of mostly young and inexperienced men who find themselves stranded in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet with very limited resources on which to live and how they found the spirit and desire to survive despite the odds stacked against them
Leave a Reply

Book Review – Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
This book captures a remarkable story of bravery, grit and determination. In August 1914 the 28 man crew of the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914–16) left England under Shackleton’s leadership aboard the Endurance. Things did not turn out as planned and the tale becomes not one of achievement and success in the traditional sense but an incredible journey into the unknown and a battle for their lives.
Leave a Reply

Book Review: Blood River by Tim Butcher – Following in the footsteps of Henry Stanley
In 1874 the journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley navigated the River Congo for the first time (as a foreign explorer). It was King Leopold of Belgium who expressed the most interest in his adventures as he was looking to build an empire. Hence the Belgium Congo was born! Tim Butcher, who also worked for the Daily Telegraph decided to follow in Stanley’s footsteps – not a simple task as the country is as dangerous as it was in Stanley’s time.
Leave a Reply

Book Review: Touching the Void by Joe Simpson – An inspiring story of survial
I have never even been tempted to climb mountains. I am not a thrill-seeker, at least one who wants to risk their life, but I do have a strange fascination for those who take on the most challenging adventures. I am addicted to reading books on an extreme adventure.
Leave a Reply

Book Review: Running the Amazon by Joe Kane – A crazy journey along the World’s longest river
Despite his lack of experience of water adventure, in 1995 Joe Kane joined a group of adventurers intent on being the first American to travel the full 4,200-mile length of what may be the world’s most treacherous river: the Amazon.
Leave a Reply

Book Review: The River of Doubt – Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey
“The River of Doubt” by Candice Millard sets out to tell the story of Roosevelt and his partners in their journey on the previously unexplored river, the Rio da Dúvida, or River of Doubt in the dense Amazon rainforest of Brazil. If you like stories of adventure and exploration then this is a great read.
Leave a Reply

Book Review: Travel As A Political Act – Rick Steves
I have been watching Rick Steves travel shows on Public Television for several years. He comes across as a jovial chap and his shows are informative in a light and fluffy way. So, I was somewhat shocked when I recently caught one of his programmes entitled “Travel as a Political Act”
Leave a Reply

Book Review: How to travel the World on $50 a day
Matt Kepnes book “How to Travel the World on $50 a day: Travel cheaper, longer, smarter” is a useful guide for the budding world traveller with a tight budget.
Leave a Reply

Book Review: Soulful Simplicity – Courtney Carver
Book Review: Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver. A passionate expression of how a simple life can improve your health, relationship and reduce stress.
Leave a Reply

Book Review: A World Worth Seeing by Brian Nelson
Judging by the content of this book, Brian Nelson is a well traveled man and has visited just about every country, even some that a…