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From a starting point in Gibralter, Michael makes his way to Morocco, then over the Atlas Mountains to the little-known countries of Mauritania, Mali, and Chad. He travels on the longest train in the world, meets with the Paris-Dakar Rally in the middle of nowhere, and sees the world's largest mud mosque before arriving in Timbuktu.
Then it's a journey with nomadic herders and a camel caravan, to Algeria and a recently re-opened Libya. Finally, Michael returns to the classical remains of Tunisia, where Life of Brian was filmed and he was crucified.
The mysterious, barren desert is revealed to be a place full of people, landscapes, and stories, a vibrant land with a history of civilisation, trade, and conquest stretching from the ancient Egyptians to the oil-rich Islamic republics of today.
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Gone are the quick quips of the early volumes -- welcome as they were then, they would seem like worn-out comedy sketches if he still used them today.
Instead, he's grown into a reflective travel writer of some note, who deserves to be on the best-seller list not only because of the TV tie-in, but on the merits of this book alone.
As a Yank, I won't see the series for a year or more, but after reading his good work here, I can hardly wait.
Sahara is his latest expedition into the unknown and builds strongly on previous voyages around the Pacific Rim, from North to South Pole and the original grand journey, Around the World in Eighty Days. Best experienced as a follow up to the TV series of the same name, the book allows the reader to relive the places seen in more depth than TV permits and the opportunity to savour some fantastic photography. At Amazon’s reduced price, this book is well worth a buy.
Read it in long absorbed sessions, or read it in short chunks, but read it. Palin takes you to the back of the back of beyond. Far away from the world of the normal travel writer and right into the homes and lives of the people he meets. Whether they’re living in shacks make from old oil drums hammered flat, or sharing a library with a cockerel, all of the characters that he meets are real and full of life. Share their lives. Read Sahara.
Safaran Africa is most often featured in print and on television because of its negative aspects, for example poverty and conflict. Indeed these feature widely in the book but the overwhelming impression left is of amazingly the diverse and complex culture of the area.
Aside from Palin's excellent writing, this book could stand on the quality of its photography alone. It eclipses many "coffee table" art books.
My best Christmas present of 2002!
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