Leaf in the Wind: Travels in the Heart of Africa [Hardcover]

Peter Hudson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1985 Hudson, an Englishman, returned to Africa, where he had once spent time working on a Zambian farm, to travel for a year as a "leaf in the wind," with "no pretension of aim and no ambition." This lovely, startling, humorous book records his experiences. Seeking out the most undeveloped areas, Hudson walked the arid plains of Mali, rode a riverboat through the dank jungles of Zaire and hitchhiked through war-torn stretches of Somalia, where foreigners are usually not allowed. With a cultivated yet refreshing naivete, he rode a night truck through rain forests, watched the "animal dance" of pygmies and accepted the hospitality of the generally gracious, gentle African people. In the caresses of curious, friendly pygmies (which felt to him like "a shower of autumn leaves"), in the whims of apparently corrupt border officials, even in the overwhelming silence of the Sahara, the author finds the heart of this continent filled not with darkness but with small triumphs, real danger and an almost painful beauty.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Hiking and hitchhiking, Hudson explores the world of the common African, a world which ordinary tourists, who traverse Africa as if it were a huge game park, never see. Hunting with pygmies, tramping between Saharan oases, catching river steamers, and sampling Somalia and Djibouti, he finds that people can enjoy life without Western materialism and values. The author has a quick wit, and his gift for simile and metaphor should delight young people as well as older armchair travelers. This should stand beside Quentin Crewe's In Search of the Sahara ( LJ 10/1/84) on both school and public library shelves.
-Louise Leonard, Univ. of Florida Lib., Gainesville
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Columbus Books Ltd; 1ST edition (May 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0862871646
• ISBN-13: 978-0862871642
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,380,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Travel > Africa > Somalia
  • #59 in Books > Travel > Africa > Western Africa: Mali, Mauritania & Western Sahara
  • #89 in Books > Travel > Africa > Democratic Republic of Congo

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The personal experiences of an African trip., December 22, 2003

By 

Kevin M Quigg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Leaf in the Wind: Travels in Africa (Hardcover)

I love to travel and I admire Hudson for taking off and spending a year traveling the African continent. This book relates his experiences in three countries: Mali, Zaire (DR of Congo), and Somalia. This was written in the eighties before two of these countries fell to pieces. It probably would not be safe to travel now with the way things are going in much of Africa.
Hudson's point is the African people are wonderfully kind to strangers, even those from the West. His experiences prove that once you are off the beaten track for tourists, the people are friendly and helpful to the stranger from another land. Hudson experiences no discrimination. He lives and travels like Africans, and gets their viewpoint. He even understands the corruption common in everyday African life. I admire Hudson's courage in undertaking this trip and his writing is easy to follow. A good read.