Customer Reviews

Jungle Travel & Survival

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

 

 

If you're thinking of travelling to a jungle area, this book is indispensible. It has well-thought out information about everything from health to culture shock, dealing with guides, children in the jungle, how to behave when interacting with tribal populations, what to pack, group dynamics, managing a mosquito net, the truth about ants, how to tolerate being wet all day, how to use a machete... literally everything you'll need to know.

My only criticism is that the information about jungle survival (as opposed to travel) is only one chapter, and though it is also well-written, is limited in scope. My sense is that this was an excellent travel book with some survival information thrown in at the last minute to justify putting 'survival' in the title. Therefore, hard-core survival researchers might be disappointed. All others are likely to tremendously appreciate this book.

This book is great as an overview and a spring board to other info. It is a thin volume and as such does not delve very deeply to any one subject.

I guess I would like to see more detail on survival and less about organizing a jungle expedition. In other words it should be more personally oriented and less group oriented.

Still, for someone who knows nothing about the jungle this book serves to introduce you to some important precautions and gear to take and leave behind.

Living in the largest rainforest in the world is a great life, yet dangers can be at ever turning of the trail. Dr. Walden has written a superb book for both the casual traveler as well as the experienced explorer. There are numerous books and persons who call themselves "experts" that have written about the rainforest. Only a few of these "experts" come close to the truth about life here; while most can only use hype and self praise to sell their books, Dr. Walden has walked the walk and can talk the talk. Great read, excellent information and I highly recommend it even for the arm chair explorers.
Dr. Juanito Aguila Zala
Nuevo Andoas, Ecuador

Well written, thorough and entertaining. We have visited several areas in the Central American and Mexican jungles and find the book very helpful. We hope to visit Pacific rim jungles next year and the book will travel with us.

Dr. John Walden has written an excellent guide to jungle travel and medicine. He has drawn on many decades of experience practicing medicine in the jungles of South America. This is a fascinating guide to jungle travel and jungle survival. If you plan to visit a jungle area, the best thing would be to have Dr. Walden in your party. Failing that, the next best thing would be to read this book!

A "field manual" with critical contextual insights typically missing in these guides. Written in a personal, humorous style to keep you entertained and informed on those rainy days when you are enduring too much tent time. The book appears to represent an author with wide experience. A spiral, waterproof edition would be useful. Trek on Dr. Walden!

As someone who's worked and traveled over much of the neotropics, I can say with some authority that this book was probably written by someone with very little experience in the field, in actual survival situations. The author is a physician who, it is claimed on the back cover, has made numerous trips into the Amazon to work with indigenous people. Sorry, but this doesn't make you an authority on jungle survival, and the book's emphasis on diseases, how to behave properly around native people, hiring a guide, etc. acts as filler to the last 15 pages or so of at least somewhat useful information. Particularly weak are the sections on finding food and water, very important information if you're actually trying to survive, and the section on navigation is pathetic. This information needs to be very specific as to what species are edible and what are not in different parts of the world, and the book does a terrible job in this regard. There has to be something better out there.

It's more ...prepare your self to travel.
I liked getting tips on culture understanding.It was fun to read.
But the author suggest alot of other books.
Very fast and general.

It's not what a needed.Not enough information for me.Sorry.

Dr. John Walden, who has spent much of his career in the jungle, has written an excellent book covering the essentials of jungle travel. If you plan to travel to these areas, the bestthinkg would be to have Dr. Walden as a teavel companion. The next best thing would be to read this book. Hoghly recommended!