African rainbow : across Africa by boat

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African rainbow : across Africa by boat

Lorenzo & Mirella Ricciardi

Ebury Press, 1989

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Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This is an account of the African Rainbow Equatorial Expedition which achieved the first-known crossing of Africa by boat, navigating an often hazardous and uncharted course through the waterways which lie between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It is a travel story which gives a personal portrait of the African continent. Led by the explorer Lorenzo Ricciardi and his wife Mirella, a photographer, the expedition set out in November 1985 and travelled 6,000 kilometres from the Rufiji River delta in Tanzania, through the unexplored Kilombero Valley, across Lakes Malawi, Rukwa and Tanganyika, finally reaching the mouth of the Zaire on the Atlantic coast 20 months later. The story, told both by Lorenzo and Mirella Ricciardi and illustrated with Mirella's photographs, highlights the dangers, triumphs and joys of the journey as well as many controversial issues in Africa today, particularly those of ecology and conservation, such as the plight of the mountain gorilla and the chimpanzee, the poaching of game in Tanzania's Selous National Park and the felling of huge areas of rainforest in Zaire. Encounters with white water rapids, hippopotami, crocodiles and elephants, sleeping sickness, poachers, fishermen and villagers are recounted. In addition to a description of the landscape, the book focuses on how Africans live and some effects of independence, with the aim of giving an insight into the places and people of Africa today. The authors also describe their meetings with some of the best-known "Africanists" such as George Adamson, Richard Leakey, Maurice Kraft, Citoyen Mushenzi and Jane Goodall. Above all "African Rainbow" is a cry for action to stop environmental destruction in Africa and elsewhere and to this end Lorenzo Ricciardi plans to call for a United Nations for Conservation. A television film is planned to tie in with the publication of this book. Mirella Ricciardi has also written "Vanishing Africa".

Table of Contents

  • Preface: Author's background and how the expedition came about. Part 1 God helps the daring: meet George Adamson and his lions
  • survival lessons from Eddie McGee
  • the team members
  • the expedition sets off. Part 2 The mighty Rufiji: Rufiji river delta
  • first camp
  • from mangrove swamp into Savannah
  • tsetse flies and sleeping sickness
  • local lore
  • snakes and spiders. Part 3 Lions in the Selous: Selous National Park
  • birds
  • Beho Beho hot springs
  • criticism of inept wildlife conservation
  • escape from hippos
  • lion in the camp
  • Shuguli Falls. Part 4 The mysterious Kilombero: marooned by floods
  • discontent in team
  • hunting impala for dinner
  • wildlife encounters
  • in Kilombero river valley
  • Mpanga mission
  • snake bites
  • onto Mbeya. Part 5 The crocodiles of Lake Rukwa: in the Mbarara Mountains
  • to Lake Mukwa
  • hunting crocs at night. Part 6 Love, mangoes and witchcraft: Christmas at Rukwa
  • a witchdoctor's advice
  • discovery of missing croc
  • a crime of passion
  • hunting man-eating crocs at Rungwa. Part 7 The Lake of Tempest: Lorenzo nearly dies of cerebral malaria
  • gathering a new team
  • catching a thief
  • exploring Lake Malawi (Nyasa) and Livingstone Mountains
  • across stormy Lake Tanganyika. Part 8 Chimps and baboons: Ujiji, where Stanley met Livingstone
  • Jane Goodall and her chimps
  • baboons. Part 9 Ruzina joins the expedition: adopting Ruzina the chimp
  • among the Watusi in Burundi
  • hazards on the Ruzizi river to Lake Kivu
  • into Rwanda
  • Maurice Kraft and live volcanoes. Part 10 Never stand up to a gorilla: into Zaire
  • citoyen Mushenzi and encounters with gorillas
  • a bridge of vines
  • Leopold III's hunting lodge
  • fracas in the team. Part 11 Slaves, cannibals and sharpshooters: life in Shabunda
  • journey to Kalima
  • circumcision ceremony. Part 12 Then the parrots began to sing: menace in the jungle
  • "heart of darkness"
  • on Stanley's trail down the Lualaba. Part 13 The Congo throws off her shackles: Stanley Falls
  • Zaire's murky past
  • desolation in Ubundu
  • on towards Kisangani. Part 14 In the grip of the river: shooting the rapids at Wagenia Falls
  • brushes with death
  • strange days in Kisangani. Part 15 A giant among rivers: on the Zaire (Congo) River
  • floating villages
  • wanderers on a prehistoric earth
  • threat of cannibals
  • hunting chimpanzees
  • cutting down the forests
  • charms of Mbandaka. Part 16 At last the Atlantic: to Kinshasa
  • Livingstone Falls
  • Kinshasa artists' market
  • Mobutu's art collections
  • down to Banana on Atlantic coast.

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