Mystery of the Nile: The Epic Story of the First Descent of the World's Deadliest River [Hardcover]

Richard Bangs (Author), Pasquale Scaturro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2005

A thrilling account of the greatest geographical expedition of our time-the first-ever complete descent of the Nile River.

Over the past century, many explorers have attempted to run the magnificent Nile, but none succeeded. At least a dozen men died trying, and since 1964, three explorers have been shot, two have drowned, and another simply disappeared.

In April 2004, the renowned adventurer Pasquale Scaturro made history when he completed his epic journey down the Nile in 114 days, traveling 3,250 miles by kayak, from its source in Ethiopia to the shores of Alexandria, where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. He ran the great river in the face of such obstacles as deadly crocodiles and hippos, arrests by Ethiopian and Egyptian militia, gunfire from Sudanese bandits, extreme temperatures, violent sandstorms, and exposure to malaria.

He details his historical quest here, with critically acclaimed coauthor Richard Bangs, in a breathtaking tale that features a beautiful collection of photographs. MacGillivray Freeman Films is releasing an IMAX movie in conjunction with the book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Explorers have always clamored to be the first, and after centuries of such conquests, there are precious few left. One first that hadn't been fully achieved, however, was navigating the Nile from its source in Ethiopia to where it pours into the Mediterranean near Alexandria. In 2004, Scaturro and Gordon Brown, two men with shockingly little regard for their own safety, undertook this expedition, running the 3,000 miles of river in some terrible conditions. Ostensibly, the point of this trip was to make an IMAX film of it (which will be released in February), but readers soon learn that the journey was an end in itself. The book's beginning, as the pair start out in Ethiopia, is fascinating; they explore ancient churches and convince suspicious locals they aren't a threat. Bangs, an expert river guide, and geophysicist Scaturro explain how the team undergoes harrowing stretches of whitewater and evades flotillas of aggressive crocodiles, painfully negotiating their way north, through the Sudan and into Egypt. The material for a raw and thrilling adventure is definitely here, but alas, the narrative never sustains much momentum, constantly flashing back to other exciting episodes in Scaturro's life in a manner that eventually feels like padding.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–In a beautifully integrated confluence of story lines, Bangs combines a historian's reflections on the passing terrain and its ancient civilizations with a contemporary adventurer's riveting account of transiting one of the planet's most extreme environments. From a small sacred pool in the Ethiopian highlands to where the river flows into the Mediterranean over 3200 miles away, the water-borne expedition not only had to navigate Class IV to VI rapids, but also to overcome tropical disease and encounters with armed guerrillas, man-eating crocodiles, sandstorms, and political barriers. The expedition's initial stage involved an ambitious IMAX filming project, which was followed by a core team's effort to complete the record-setting descent of the Blue Nile, traveling past Khartoum, through Sudan, and ultimately to Egypt in 114 days. Scaturro, geophysicist and experienced mountaineer/river explorer who led the venture, kept a journal that forms the basis for the book, and Brown, world-class kayaker, served also as cameraman. With telling detail, this book captures many levels of drama, conveying with insight and a sense of immediacy leadership challenges, logistical crises, and split-second decision-making, as well as reflections on large-scale issues such as environmental consequences of redirecting the flow of the Nile for power-generation schemes. The volume contains two black-and-white maps and a 16-page insert of color photographs, which are key to illuminating the sheer enormity of the undertaking.–Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (February 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399152628
• ISBN-13: 978-0399152627
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,552,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Frequently Off Track, April 4, 2005

By 

Michael H. Frederick (Gaithersburg, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mystery of the Nile: The Epic Story of the First Descent of the World's Deadliest River (Hardcover)

I read this book just prior to a trip to Egypt and a boat ride (as a lowly tourist) down the Nile. While I enjoyed most of it I found myself questioning whether or not I'd liked to have been on an expedition with these guys.

Although parts smack of rip-roaring adventure I feel that the author (written by Bangs with Scaturro's input) waivered off course a few too many times. I understand that the reader should know the motivation (and sometimes the personality) of the protagonist but there are too many chapters on Scaturro's other adventures, including rafting trips in Colorado and Idaho, the paralysis of his son and even climbing expeditions up Mt. Everest. I was looking for a straightforward tale of the first navigation of the entire Blue Nile. What we get is a treatise on the inner workings of the mind of a daring adventurer, working to overcome seemingly insurmountable problems as well as the demons from his past.

While the story is interesting (you find yourself asking how the heck they persevered) the individuals aren't exactly likeable. His companion, Gordon Brown, comes off as an unbelievable jerk. He assaults one of the Ethiopian crew members, throws fits and stubbornly insists on sticking with his kayak, no matter how much he jeapordizes the efforts of the team. At one point he disappears with his parents to go sightseeing in Luxor, at a very critical moment in the trip.

Scaturro, for someone with so much experience, seems to have started the trip a bit unprepared. He doesn't know Brown, he has no idea how he's going to cross the border into Sudan and, worse yet, decides to tackle the problem of navigating Lake Nasser, under strict Egyptian military control, by forcing his way across. Shouldn't these details have been worked out in advance? Sudan is, of course, problematic but the Egyptian government should have been consulted beforehand. The famous IMAX company should carry some clout. The entire undertaking was almost jeopardized due to a lack of prior permission from host governments.

None of this is to belittle what Brown and Scaturro accomplished. It's an amazing feat. The trials they overcame are incredible...being shot at by bandits, chased by crocodiles, threatened by hippos, intimidated by petty local officials, to say nothing of the life threatening and extremely dangerous rapids they traversed. I salute them for their courage and fortitude.

At times, however, I found myself wondering how Bangs, eight thousand miles away in the US, could have known what Scaturro was thinking or seeing at any given moment. They kept in contact by satellite phone and e-mail but descriptions of sunsets, Scaturro's self-doubt and flashbacks to problems faced on other expeditions come across as what historians call "re-thinking the thoughts." Either Bangs and Scaturro collaborated very closely or the writer did some imaginative filling-in of the blanks.

I'd recommend the book for what it is, a tale of the latest accomplishment of a professional adventurer. Personally, I prefer a more straightforward story, full of detail on what the team was experiencing at any given moment. That might have been accomplished if the person writing the book was actually on the expedition.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars We need another version of this trip, March 6, 2006

By 

Chico Reader (Chico CA, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mystery of the Nile: The Epic Story of the First Descent of the World's Deadliest River (Hardcover)

Pasquale Scaturro and Gordon Brown make the first "source to sea" expedition down the Nile. It is a splendid adventure that would make a great story. Unfortunately, the author spends nearly a third of the pages interjecting musings from himself (he wasn't there) and boring the reader with sideline stories that that have little if any connection with the current expedition. Just as the reader gets swept up in the adventure, the author interupts the scene with some left field factoid and destroys any sense of cadence. It's almost as bad as being in the grip of a televised Olympic event and having it interrupted by an inane story about the father of one of the athletes.

The author, Richard Bangs, wasn't on the trip but writes an almost first person narrative based on interviews with Scaturro and assorted other people. Inexplicably, he doesn't interview Gordon Brown who comprised a full 50% of the expedition. Instead he castigates Brown at every turn for being moody, violent, "silent for days", self-absorbed, etc., etc. At no point does the author offer any explanation why Brown might be behaving the way he does. The reader is left wondering why and a simple over-the-phone interview of Brown would have answered these questions.

In the final chapters Bangs decides (again, without talking to Brown) that Brown's anti-social behavior is linked to a brain cancer that has long-since been cured. Not only is it a convenient way for Bangs to avoid doing his homework and writing a definitive documentary; it's a blatantly cheap shot at Brown and any other person who has been challenged with a handicap - temporary or not.

This is a wonderful adventure that deserves an honest, accurate, and well rounded accounting by a first rate author who isn't afraid to dig for details and doesn't have some personal axe to grind.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping adventure!, October 11, 2005

By 

Blessed "in His arms" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mystery of the Nile: The Epic Story of the First Descent of the World's Deadliest River (Hardcover)

This book tells the amazing, almost unbelievable, story of two adventurers who navigate a hostile and souless river--through crocodiles, bandits, hippos, blinding sand storms, malaria, voracious insects, civil wars. In addition to the gripping and compelling adventure, the history of the Nile and the surrounding regions is explored, the politics of Africa are discussed (including the impact of US involvement), and the impact of poverty and big business on the environment is explored. For those who are fans of Everest adventures, their are lots of comments regarding past attempts on the summit. Don't miss the IMAX movie, either. It is amazing. For Christians, I must warn that this book contains strong humanist themes--"There they discover a mirror in which they see their own faces, and learn that the savior they sought was within themselves"--which are disquieting. However, I loved this book--it painted pictures in my mind that will remain forever.