Review: Walking the Nile

Walking the Nile by Levison Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Levison Woods *almost* walked the whole Nile but had to skip most of South Sudan due to what feels like civil war eternal. No explorer has made it completely through and most don't make it through Al-Sudd, pictured in the background. He started at one (contested) origin of the White Nile, in Rwanda.

There are a few mentions of British people "discovering" parts of the region even though he mocks the "discovery" of the Rosetta Stone later in the book. He does have respect for the communities he passes through but understandably, he is treated with a wary surveillance, with frequent stallings due to bureaucracy. He can plan for some situations but loses a travel companion to heat stroke. It's not a region I will likely ever visit myself so I took my time and looked up more on the internet as I went.

I did watch the BBC miniseries that goes with this but it's better to read the book first to have more of the detail for parts they skip, and context they don't provide.

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