Walking the Americas : 1,800 miles, eight countries, and one incredible journey from Mexico to Colombia

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Wood, Levison, 1982-

Edition:

First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition.

Physical Description:

viii, 291 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations, map ; 24 cm

General Note:

Includes index.

Summary:

"Starting in the Yucatán, Wood sets out on an epic walking voyage, moving through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, travelling in the opposite direction along vital migrant routes. Journeying from sleepy barrios to glamourous cities to Mayan ruins lying unexcavated in the wilderness, Wood forges new relationships along the way that stand at the heart of this book--and the personal histories, cultures, and popular legends he discovers paint a riveting history of Mexico and Central America. While contending with the region's natural obstacles, he partakes in family meals with local hosts, learns to build an emergency shelter, and witnesses the surreal beauty of the landscapes. Finally, Wood attempts to cross one of the world's most impenetrable borders: The Darién Gap from Panama into south America, a notorious smuggling passage and the wildest jungle he has ever navigated."--Jacket flap.

Contents:

Hampton Court -- Mornings in Mexico -- The Americas -- Meeting an explorer -- Departure -- Yucatán -- Ruins -- Trouble in Paradise -- Boot camp -- Borderlands -- El Petén -- Barrios -- The ascent -- Escape to Nicaragua -- Land of fire -- Chirripó -- Paradise found -- Panama -- Crossing the Panama Canal -- The end of the road -- The last jungle -- The Darién Gap -- New Scotland -- Colombia.

Subject Term:

Walking -- Central America.

Hiking -- Central America.

Publication Info:

New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2018.

Subject:

Walking -- Central America.

Hiking -- Central America.

Central America -- Description and travel

Wood, Levison, 1982- -- Travel -- Central America.

Pedestrianism

Bushwalking

Tramping

Trekking

Central America -- Description and travel -- 1951-1980

Central America -- Description and travel -- 1981-

SAILS ISBN:

9780802127495

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Easton - Ames Free Library	917.2804 WOOD 2017	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	796.51 WOOD	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mansfield Public Library	917.2 W	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Free Public Library	917.204 WOO 2018	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Norfolk Public Library	917.28 WOOD	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Pembroke Public Library	910 WOO	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Plympton Public Library	918.1 WOO	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Rochester - Plumb Library	917.28 WOO	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Levison Wood's famous walking expeditions have taken him from the length of the Nile River to the peaks of the Himalayas, and in Walking the Americas , Wood chronicles his latest exhilarating adventure: an 1,800-mile trek across the spine of the Americas, through eight countries, from Mexico to Colombia.

Beginning in the Yucatán--and moving south through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama--Wood's journey takes him from sleepy barrios to glamorous cities to Mayan ruins lying unexcavated in the wilderness. Wood encounters indigenous tribes in Mexico, revolutionaries in a Nicaraguan refugee camp, fellow explorers, and migrants heading toward the United States. The relationships he forges along the way are at the heart of his travels--and the personal histories, cultures, and popular legends he discovers paint a riveting history of Mexico and Central America. While contending with the region's natural obstacles like quicksand, flashfloods, and dangerous wildlife, he also partakes in family meals with local hosts, learns to build an emergency shelter, negotiates awkward run-ins with policemen, and witnesses the surreal beauty of Central America's landscapes, from cascading waterfalls and sunny beaches to the spectacular ridgelines of the Honduran highlands. Finally, Wood attempts to cross one of the world's most impenetrable borders: the Darién Gap route from Panama into South America, a notorious smuggling passage and the wildest jungle he has ever navigated.

One of the rawest and most exciting journeys of his life, this expedition required every ounce of Wood's strength and guile to survive. Walking the Americas is a thrilling personal tale, an accomplished piece of cultural reportage, and a breathtaking journey across some of the most diverse and unpredictable regions on earth.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

British explorer Wood (Walking the Nile, Walking the Himalayas) narrates in lamentable fashion another formidable trek, this time his travels across Central America-a journey that spans eight countries and includes the harrowing jungle of Panama's Darién Gap. Wood's subject matter is fascinating, but the prose often ambles into cliché (he is caught "sweating buckets" or worrying that his crew had "bitten off more than we could chew"), and though he offers historic asides and insights into the politics of the region, these don't offer much depth. At times his descriptions of the locals become caricatures: he imagines a Mayan man's "forefathers, naked except for a jaguar skin and a bow, perhaps a feather in. [their] hair." As Wood hikes southward, he sees migrants making the treacherous journey north toward America and Canada, but misses the opportunity to offer anything beyond a passing glance. Wood's crossing of the Darién Gap with his support team of indigenous locals and a clearance from Panama's border police is anticlimactic. The narrative feels tired, but fans of Wood's previous books will certainly welcome another journey with him. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

The British explorer's latest trek takes him by foot from Mexico to the edge of Colombia.The book's title might be misleading, as Wood (Walking the Himalayas, 2016, etc.) notes in the introduction: this trip was "solely a journey through Central America." The author was joined by Alberto Caceres, a recently divorced Mexican friend who had "never been in a jungle, or walked further than a few miles." Despite a few blisters, however, and more than few complaints, the chatty Caceres, who could "charm the hind legs off a donkey," kept up the pace. Sometimes on uncharted paths and often on major highways where the main obstacles they faced were drunken drivers and thoughtless truckers, the two covered 1,800 miles in a little over four months. Wood excels at verbal snapshots of the differences among the countries, and he avoids dwelling on the monotony of many of the days in favor of describing more exciting ones spent diving into caves where they discovered Mayan skulls, climbing unnamed pyramids, eating termites ("bitter and woody") during a lesson on jungle survival, getting caught in quicksand, and being escorted through the gang-ruled barrios of Honduras' San Pedro Sula, which until recently "held the dubious honor of being known as the murder capital of the world." While this means that readers only get tantalizing glimpses into the author's experience, it also makes for brisk reading. The narrative culminates with a trek through the jungles of Panama's Darin Gap, an area ruled by drug lords that has, during the past 20 years, "swallowed up more people than perhaps anywhere else in the western hemisphere." Fortunately, Wood and Caceres made it through the "brutal, skin-tearing, lung-busting jungle climbs" with nothing worse than some nasty spider bites.A jaunty glimpse into the cities and countryside of Central America from the point of view of a traveler well-equipped to compare life there to other countries around the globe. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

In his third walking release, following the award-winning Walking the Himalayas (2016), British travel writer Wood pulls the reader along for a thrilling narrative trek through towns, back roads, and natural wonders of Central America, all on foot. He elevates this already fascinating landscape with lively prose that combines travel journal with history lessons, memoir, and survivalist handbook. This skillful weaving of genres creates intensity and suspense chapter to chapter, keeping the reader's interest piqued and the pages turning as Wood pays deep respect to a dangerous and extraordinarily beautiful part of the planet. A renowned world explorer and photographer and the only person ever to walk the entire length of the Nile River (4,250 miles), Wood has been featured on Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel, and fans of such popular programs as Discovery TRVLR and Naked and Afraid will find this book packed with the sorts of adventures they love to safely experience from the comfort of their favorite reading spaces.--Tempone, Frank Copyright 2018 Booklist

Library Journal Review

The focus here isn't really on how the author accomplished such an incredible feat but, rather, how he enjoyed and appreciated each step of his journey and the remarkable landscape that surrounded him. British explorer and photographer Wood chronicles his trip with traveling companion and guide Alberto as they attempt to walk through Central America. While they certainly faced struggles along the way, including snakes, torrential rain, and drug smugglers, the potential dangers they feared they might encounter during their journey were mostly avoided, even in the dreaded Darien Gap, which they passed through relatively unscathed. Wood spends most of the time describing the culture, people, and natural wonders that he experienced. He weaves into his work brief history lessons of the areas he visits so listeners can better understand the present-day conditions, affording listeners unique insight into the Central America that tourists rarely get to see. Barnaby Edwards narrates, bringing Wood's passion for travel to life and adding flashes of humor to the story with his portrayal of the good-natured Alberto. VERDICT Recommended for fans of travel writing and those with an interest in Central America. ["He focuses on the people and places he and Alberto encounter, which makes for great reading": LJ 2/15/18 starred review of the Atlantic hc.]-Theresa Horn, St. Joseph Cty. P.L., South Bend, IN © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Excerpts

Nothing could have prepared us for the sheer brutality of the terrain that we encountered in the Darién. At least the porters were cheery. For the Embera, it was a well-paid holiday away from their wives. The older and bolder amongst them had been this way before, five or ten years ago; they couldn't remember when exactly. Only Leo knew the route, at fifty-seven years he was the oldest of the group. Even the chief hadn't been this way in over twenty years and couldn't remember the path. For several of the youngsters it was their first major outing, and if they made it, it would be the first time they had ever seen the ocean. A few of the lads wore old trainers and flip-flops. Only one had boots. The rest were quite content to walk in rubber wellies. 'We're used to it,' grinned the chief. 'But if you want to donate any of your boots at the end, we won't say no.' He winked. The first day in the Darién we walked for five hours and covered only six miles and by the time we found a suitable place to camp, on the bank of the river, Alberto and I were utterly exhausted. Even the Embera and Segundo looked tired. We cleared a patch with our machetes and strung our hammocks and cooked some rations up to eat. By six o'clock it was pitch black and there was nothing left to do. Each of us slid into our hammocks as the noise of the forest roared in the darkness. Only then did it finally sink in how far away from civilisation we really were. This was true wilderness, and if anything went wrong here, there would be no one coming to find us. Excerpted from Walking the Americas: 1,800 Miles, Eight Countries, and One Incredible Journey from Mexico to Colombia by Levison Wood All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Introduction	p. 1
1 Hampton Court	p. 6
2 Mornings in Mexico	p. 14
3 The Americas	p. 26
4 Meeting an Explorer	p. 36
5 Departure	p. 46
6 Yucatán	p. 55
7 Ruins	p. 66
8 Trouble in Paradise	p. 81
9 Boot Camp	p. 94
10 Borderlands	p. 108
11 El Petén	p. 120
12 Barrios	p. 133
13 The Ascent	p. 148
14 Escape to Nicaragua	p. 161
15 Land of Fire	p. 171
16 Chirripó	p. 187
17 Paradise Found	p. 199
18 Panama	p. 209
19 Crossing the Panama Canal	p. 223
20 The End of the Road	p. 235
21 The Last Jungle	p. 247
22 The Darién Gap	p. 259
23 New Scotland	p. 271
24 Colombia	p. 280
Acknowledgements	p. 289

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Excerpts

Excerpts

Table of Contents