Customer Reviews

Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off I love the cover of the book. Makes me smile every time I pick the book up.

For someone like me, who loves late night drives in summer to go see the tarantulas coming out and crossing the road , this book is a keeper. Have been spending time with younger family members reading it aloud and then commenting for long periods of time on the photographs which are awesome and a must see. And they seem to take off with the book, which speaks volumes, when young people love a book so much they don't want to set it down.

Most people when they see the book may think of some television personality from the Animal Planets in some far off place down under, wrestling unsuspecting creatures into submission to be shown to the viewer. Not this author and not this book. This is the real thing. Down to earth, informative without all the grandstanding.

Which is what those of us who love to travel, and who love wildlife appreciate. We grew up around rattle snakes, cougars, grizzlies, eagles, deer and other American creatures. To the point I admit I like animals more than I like most people. And this book make you feel the same way.

The photographs are crisp and clear and the dialogue intelligent and informative, to the point I want another book from Marty Essen!!! How nice to see other parts of the world with dialogue that reminds us all that its a small world and we each have a role to play in protecting unseen places from destruction.

When Marty Essen was about to turn forty, he didn't get a tattoo or buy a Porsche, he grabbed his wife and toured the world. This wonderful book isn't just a tour guide. It is an extensive, informative, humorous and educational story about two people that passionately roamed the most remote parts of the globe in search of curious creatures.

The story starts in the tropical country of Belize, where Marty and Deb find they discover more about the countries animals, creatures, flora and fauna than they anticipated. Marty is always looking for that `fer-de-lance' (large dangerous snake), while his wife Deb tags along, sometimes finding even more interesting things. Bitten by the bug of Belize, the Essen's travel by rustic boat on the Peruvian Amazon, discovering more than they anticipated, including swimming with dolphins and piranhas and hiking through thick muddy jungles where the plant life can be just as dangerous as that tiny ant, whose bite feels like being hit by a bullet.

Australia's wet jungle and dry outback prove even more amazing as this brave couple seek out more of the world's endangered species and are not shy about their view on world politics. On the other side of the world, the drive through Canada proves not only beautiful but more curious that expected. From encounters with porcupines and endangered sheep to the wonderment about how the days grow longer the farther North they drove. This road trip is straight out of a Jack London story.

From Canada, the intrepid travelers go far under to Antarctica, where, surprisingly, they discover vast differences rather than similarities. Needless to say, the less than tropical boat cruise, the blizzards, the glaciers and the animals proved once again that surprises are many and one is never bored.

Once again, seeking the extremes, the duo finds themselves in hot Borneo where travel and hiking produces anything from elephants to leeches. Essen keeps the excitement going with every page just by telling the story, but he infuses enough humor and stunning educational material that you feel like you are experiencing a National Geographic special. Indeed, it is more than that!

When the couple travels to Europe, you don't know what to expect at this point. Visiting the numerous National Parks is mixed with the historical buildings, culture and nature of Spain. The societal musings and experiences are surprising in a country that is both modern and antiquated. If you're still not excited, you'll find the Essen's hike up the Matterhorn a little more than exhilarating. These people have spunk!

The book is saturated with humor, one of which is the last chapter, "Hippo Canoe and Zimbabwe Too", the story of their African adventure. Here we learn of Africa's extreme political nature as well as the wildlife. The national parks in Africa proved no less thrilling than any others. They include confrontations with baboons, zebras, cape buffalos, warthogs, leopards, crocodiles, elephants and Marty Essen's favorite animal, a snake - or to be more specific, an African Rock Python. Yes, he picks it up.

This world-wide adventure is more than a journey through wildlife and its adventures. It is a tale of observation of other cultures and the manner in which they treat the environment and its stakeholders. It is obvious Marty Essen wants to save the planet, but he never pushes too hard. He doesn't need to. Just reading about the wonderful and amazing animals, countries and people the Essen's encounter will change your mind about life, nature, common sense politics and the world. That's saying a lot.

I wasn't sure what to expect upon my first encounter with this book since I'm used to watching nature shows on TV and rarely get to read about them. This book turned out to be a wild and fascinating adventure of a married couple traveling though the seven continents, commenting on many steps of their journey with sharp eye for the tiniest details that made for a marvelous book. Marty Essen shows his deep talent for writing, his witty comments and jokes; descriptions of the people, places, even their dogs that went with them to Canada were so entertaining that I never knew what was coming up next. This isn't some boring nature book but a delicious seven course meal of the highest caliber. The book is easy to read yet is chock full packed with incredible information that can only be witnessed by the person who actually went to those places and experiences the cold, the hot and dangerous spots that hold so much allure to all of us.

First leg of the trip was Belize, located on the Caribbean Sea where they searched for deadly snakes and explored flora and fauna of the humid, tropical jungle followed by an amazing boat ride through the rivers of the Amazon. Next they visited Australia, savoring the red hot beauty and in search of cute marsupials followed by a 5,572mile drive to Canada and back with their adorable dogs where they slept in tents and discovered beauty that is closer to most Americans than they think. Up next was Antarctica, a magnificent place that so few of us get to experience, and with Marty and Deb it was a chilling and glorious landscape that wasn't as alien as it appears to be. Borneo, Europe and Africa were the last places that were covered, making me feel that the whole Earth was covered with footprints that belonged to the Essens. Their cheerful and sometimes scary encounters were so wonderfully written about, supplemented with marvelous photographs that I had to look at every time I cracked the book. They were also in perfect order with the book, giving the reader a transition into their trip from place to place, making it seem effortless even though it took them a few years to complete. It also helped that Marty took notes while traveling, making this book more authentic and adding little bits and pieces of conversation and jokes that could have been lost otherwise.

I felt closer to some of my favorite animals after reading this gripping book, felt the warmth and hospitality of people from far away places and best of all I feel like I got the front row seat at a ride of my life, thinking that perhaps one day I will visit those places and give them the same respect as the author did. Marty placed great value upon respecting our planet, not littering and being careful with wild animals, not bringing them any harm when they are being observed. People should go and visit places to take the beauty in, not to take it away and diminish it in any way.

This was a really exciting read, a wild life memoir filled with laughs and valuable information that will grip any reader and it made me feel like I went on an adventure of my own, reading about the close encounters with the most beautiful places and coolest animals.

- Kasia S.

The first thing I noticed about this book, (well, not really the first thing, the first thing was the photograph of the author with a critter of some kind over his eye), so the second thing I noticed was the sub-title, Exploring the Seven Continents.

Seven Continents?

Yes, there are seven continents, but I didn't think that ordinary folk were allowed to visit Antarctica. It turns out that you can, and even tells you the name of the travel agency that sold them the trip and the cost ($4,495 per person - but it's gone up since then and there's a fuel surcharge). It sounded like a splendid trip on a Russian ship that only carried 49 passengers. --I read this chapter first. Now I want to go.

Perhaps the biggest strength of this book is the writing style. It's a mix of great detail (he must have taken copious notes of what happened every day), humor (especially about the antics of his fellow travelers and his own), and commentary about the wildlife along the way (he has a particular fascination with snakes, not one of my things).

All in all its a fascinating book, and it includes a lot of places like jungles that are not my favorite, but which make good reading. Every so often he seemingly can help himself and takes off on a tirade against George W. Bush. I dismissed these as the typical rantings of a disgruntled Democrat who just can't seem to believe that their guys lost but thought that this was a bit out of place and didn't help a travel book.

Marty Essen is a natural storyteller. That shows through in page after page of this book.

He's also a natural adventure aficionado, while at the same time, knowing his limits, then taking that extra 5 percent of "push."

And, the visits, the vacations, the treks, on Cool Creatures, Hot Planet, let him show his chops.

Essen and his wife Deb visit all seven continents. His first trip, to the Amazon, was written up as a guest travel story for his local newspaper in Montana. Bitten by the international adventure bug, they set out to visit all seven continents, and then work the material into this book.

In addition to general nature travel, Marty is a Grade A herper -- no trip is satisfied without his lust for the biggest, baddest snakes in that part of the world being seen by him.

He makes out well on all trips, as well as seeing plenty of other exotic wildlife.

Along the way, Marty also throws in some basic social history from the part of each of the seven continents he visits. Seeing him talk about local customs, shopping and people-greeting is an added touch for this great book.

So, too, are the extensive color photos of his snakes and other wildlife he spotted.

This award winning book deserves the high accolades it has received and it also deserves a wider reading audience. Anyone who loves National Geographic Specials, World/Globe Trekkers, or Wild Kingdom or any PBS program which features insects, frogs, snakes birds or other animals in their natural habitat will definitely enjoy reading this book. Marty Essen provides a view of the natural wonders of some very exciting regions of the world from his unique perspective. His descriptions are accurate, entertaining, occasionally serious and often humorous. His book is like a travelogue but it is much more than that. Often he includes scientific facts, history of the region or subject he is describing, plus his personal commentary and descriptions of his adventures. Over a period of four years Marty and his wife Deb managed to visit seven continents. They viewed some of the most rare life forms on this planet, plant and animal, including sea life, all in their natural environment. Marty's on-going commentary is refreshing and engaging as he describes how he and his wife decided to visit such exotic locations as Belize; Peru and the Amazon River; Australia and the Great Barrier Reef; British Columbia, Canada and Alaska; Antarctica; Borneo (Indonesia); Europe: Spain, France and Switzerland; and last but not least, Zimbabwe (Africa). Marty's writing style provides the right balance of personal story, direct observation and description, scientific facts, occasional history, awesome wonder, humorous anecdotes, and the serious wake-up call to environmental conservation. His photographs add the perfect touch to rounding out a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. Some people take their love for planet earth and its creatures to a higher plane, Marty Essen is one of these people. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves animals and loves traveling. Most people who love to travel would enjoy reading Marty's honest and humorous appraisals about his globe-trotting adventures.

The remainder of this review is for those readers who appreciate more detailed descriptions about some of the contents of this fascinating book. Anyone else could stop and be satisfied with the general description given above.

The first world trip taken by Marty and his wife was to Belize where they encountered a poisonous butterfly. They had hoped to see a jaguar in its natural habitat and Marty wanted to discover a fer-de-lance (a pit viper, i.e. snake) but these were found only at a visit to the Belize zoo which keeps rare endangered species within a natural environment for the public to enjoy and view. The reader is soon caught up in Marty's unique interest, his love of herpetology, which he developed when he was a young boy. The reader both cringes and rejoices whenever he finally discovers one of these creatures wherever he visits. Deb and Marty end their vacation in Belize snorkelling and scuba diving in the waters near Blackbird Cay, an island located off the second largest barrier reef in the world. Their next great adventure took them to Peru to live on a two story boat where they saw the natural flora and fauna of the amazon. They even traded goods with the Yagua Indians who appreciated receiving T-shirts and some harmonicas.

In Australia their third destination, Marty and his wife visited national forests and explored caves. They stayed at a family run lodge whose owners help rehabilitate local wildlife such as a wallabe named Herbie and a silver wallaroo named Bonnie whose mother was run over by a car. While Deb went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, Marty hiked for four hours with a local guide hoping to discover a huge amythestine python - they succeeded!

Their next trip took them through Canada all the way up to the Arctic Circle. Their descriptions of natural wildlife both plant and animal are worth reading. They witnessed a caribou herd migration and even discovered one unfriendly town in Canada. They often went off the main highways to view spectacular scenery.

One of the most outstanding and memorable trips in this book is the one to Antarctica. While Antarctica is not for everyone, this couple made it definitely sound like the adventure of a lifetime! Shipmates from all over the world shared life on board the ship, Professor Multanovsky. They encountered flocks of penguins on the Aicho Islands. They also saw gentoos, chinstrips, elephant seals, fur seals, and huge icebergs. Marty's wife Deb had the most spectacular encounter which was viewing a humpback whale while standing alone on the deck. They also visited a Ukrainian run research base in Antarctica. One particularly interesting episode in the book is how the expedition dealt with a very annoying passenger named Mildred - who broke one of the cardinal rules of scuba diving.

For this reader, the Borneo adventure was the most hair-raising. Borneo is an Indonesian island, the third largest in the world, and home to aboriginal tribes who used to be head-hunters and cannibals. This courageous couple took a six hour drive into the interior of Borneo for their rainforest/jungle expedition and took a 90 minute canoe ride to begin their trip. This long anticipated four-day overnight back-packing trip had some adventures they did not expect. They hiked mountainous terrain and had several rivers to cross. They waded through waist-high water with nearby rapids. On a rest stop Marty's mind began to wander thinking about "worst-case" scenarios of being left in the jungle. However his confidence returned when they resumed hiking. In the middle of their trip, the guide's father had died and to their dismay he left them with a new guide and two other men. Needless to say, everything turned out fine but the conclusion to this true-to-life story is not-to-be-missed!

In Europe Marty and Deb rented a car to visit Spain, France and Switzerland. In Spain, they visited national forests, explored ancient castles and discovered excellent Spanish wine. To this reader's disappointment, Marty does not identify which wines he drank nor from what region. Luck was with them, as they saw live ibex, mountain goats with ribbed twisted horns, grazing on a mountainside. Arriving in France, they found the people friendly and hospitable. One amusing event was stopping at a French truck stop for a meal. Among the 50 or so truckers the Americans clearly stood out and then Marty noticed mst of them were sipping on red wine, while some were eating escargots. In Switzerland they meet up with Emad, a friend from their trip to Antarctica. Emad was their guide to viewing the Matterhorn. They rode up 9,642 feet on gondolas to see this astonishing mountain.

Their last and final destination on this world wide itinerary was the continent of Africa, specifically Zimbabwe. Marty explained that in 2004 the U.S. State Department identified it as one of the 10 most dangerous places to visit in the world but the pros of visiting won out. In Africa they hiked in a national forest, canoed down the Zimbezi River, spent time at a bush camp and viewed Victoria Falls before returning home. Marty includes some outstanding photographs of his trip to Zimbabwe: himself holding a 10 1/2 foot long African rock python, photos of a zebra, African elephant, a lion and an astonishing view of Victoria Falls. The trip to Africa is a fitting conclusion to this great book. As someone who loves traveling but is unlikely to visit *all* seven continents, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the true stories about the seven dream vacations taken by this couple. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

This is a fascinating book about animals. This book is also about the beauty found on the seven continents of the world too. Marty Essen sheds some new light on animals some people are afraid of. I learned that the saliva from vampire bats can be made into a blood thinning drug called Draculin, and it can help people surviving from heart attacks and strokes. I also learned that snake venom has been used in development of drugs for people have diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney disease.

I learned about animals I never even heard of like the mudskipper. A mudskipper is a fish found in Australia that spends more time out of the water than in it. I also learned that an Ibex is a horned mountain goat that can found in Spain. I learned that caribou is a type of deer that can found in Canada. I also learned that moose, wolf, and sheep can found in Canada too. I love books that teach me something new about animals and geography, and this book certainly does that.

Marty and his wife Deb did many interesting things that some people only dream about. They saw and photographed humpback whales up close in Antarctica. They went canoeing on the dangerous Zambezi River filled with hippos and crocodiles. They went to the top of mountain peaks in Switzerland. On her own, Deb scuba dived off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to look many different fish and other ocean animals. They also explored some of castles in Spain too. I love the photographs in this book too. This is an entertaining and very informative book about animals and the natural beauty of our seven continents.

Marty Essen and his wife travelled the world seeking and photographing wildlife, especially snakes and amphibians, and this book records their adventures.

At first I was taken aback by the flippant tone of this book, because I'm used to reading nature writers like Matthiessen and Heinrich and Schaller, who take a very different approach. After a while, though, the joke-laced, up-to-the-minute, Comedy Central sort of tone became engaging. I think the book would do well for young and reluctant readers, but it also has interest for nature and travel enthusiasts in general. Occasional philosophical and political comments were contextually appropriate and perhaps were strengthened by contrast with the overall light tone.

I would have liked to see many more of the photographs that were taken.

Did you ever watch Steve Irwin grab a snake in the wild and then think, I want to do that? If so, then this is the book for you. Marty Essen starts to live his dream with a trip to the Amazon. Gamely accompanied by his wife, Deb, he treks through the rain forest seeking dangerous snakes. Finding the experience fascinating, the couple followed that trip with seven others over the next 3 1/2 years.
The reader accompanies them on expeditions to Canada, Borneo, Australia, Antartica, Europe and Africa. Avoiding the tourist areas, they sought out close encounters with the wildlife and nature in each continent.
His enthusiasm for herps (snakes and lizards) plus exotic insects makes lively reading. Plenty of adventures fill the 450 pages, including an attack on their canoe by a hippo.
Marty's photographs of the wildlife kept me flipping to the photo section to see the striking pictures that matched his description. I sure wish they were full page photos, as each deserved more than the allotted 1/3 to 1/8 of a page. Really some stunning shots.
At first I found his humor a bit juvenile and could have skipped the imaginary conversations with his dogs who traveled with them in Canada. Gradually the light touch grew on me and I felt I knew him and his wife fairly well by the end of the book. Fun people.
A few places he drops references to President Bush and the war and the government's destructive policies on the environment. Some may find these annoying, but they don't seem inappropriate in a book about saving wildlife.
I particularly enjoyed the section on their Australian trip as he described places I'd seen myself. His assessment of the Australian people hit the target. They are a delight to know and are quite progressive about conservation compared to Americans.
Another part that resonated with me was the description of the caribou migration during their trip to Canada. I'd read James Oliver Curwood's description of that massive animal movement in The Alaskan. It was interesting to see the change that a century of human infringement causes.
If you love to travel or want to experience exotic places vicariously, pick up a copy of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet.
(I had to cover the front of the book so I wouldn't see the whip-scorpion on his face. That bit was too much for me.)

I am conflicted on how many stars to give this book, add a 1/2 to the 3. I liked how accessible and possible the Essen's journeys felt. I have been lucky enough to have been on similar trips except theirs were longer and more vigorous. That is what was interesting to me, it didn't feel like Marty was tackling things that only the few brave adventurous could do, even hiking 77.5 miles.

The book was humorous in parts and easy to read, but somehow I rarely felt the real essence of the places he was describing. There was lots of focus on the animals, especially snakes, but the smell, and sounds and look of each continent were somehow missing for me.

On the other hand, this book certainly could light the traveling fire in readers. Marty and Deb were great at going with the flow, taking advantage of opportunities, and working with group dynamics and yet getting the experiences they wanted also.

I enjoyed referring to the pictures which were accessible and fun and gave a good flavor of the trips.