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Glory in a Camel's Eye: A Perilous Trek Through the Greatest African Desert
Marvelously entertaining and frequently harrowing, Glory in a Camel's Eye recounts the American travel writer Jeffrey Tayler's dangerous three-month journey across the Moroccan Sahara in the company of Arab nomads. Glory in a Camel's Eye gives us an intimate, often surprising portrait of Saharan Africa: the cultural conflicts between native Berbers and Arabs, the clashes...more
Paperback, 245 pages
Published
February 15th 2005
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published 2003)
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I have read a few books by this author now, and look forward to more. This is another in the series of trips to places that no one ever goes but Jeffrey Tayler - and I for one am glad he does and writes so well about it.
This time it is a trip down the Draa Valley in Morocco with two guides, three camels, and an observant eye for details, which he shares with the reader as the journey progresses. Some hardships are obvious and somewhat expected - cantankerous camels, the desert itse...more
This time it is a trip down the Draa Valley in Morocco with two guides, three camels, and an observant eye for details, which he shares with the reader as the journey progresses. Some hardships are obvious and somewhat expected - cantankerous camels, the desert itse...more
Tayler along with two guides takes off across the Sahara Desert. I can add this trip to the list of trips I will never take. Worst of all was the picture Tayler gives of his stop in the home of a Muslim saint; flies covering the food…children with snotty noses…the smell of animal dung coming from the room next door…green meat…men picking their noses while they ate…the intense desert heat….In every village Tayler stopped, locals told him he was the first tourist they’d met. Mmmm…big surprise.
Probably Jeffrey Tayler doesn't come up with the silly titles for his books that emphasize the danger in his travel escapades. This is the second of his travel books that I have read and he does seem to like what might otherwise be considered ill-advised trips - but he survives to write (and publish) about it.
Tayler speaks Arabic (and Russian) and his descriptions of his interactions with his Arab guides are the most interesting aspect of this book. It took my about fifty pages t...more
Tayler speaks Arabic (and Russian) and his descriptions of his interactions with his Arab guides are the most interesting aspect of this book. It took my about fifty pages t...more
Fun Read, perfect for being sick, or being sick of the cold. Excellent descriptions, and happy to have traveled vicarioulsy with him. I'll be looking for some of his other books in the future.
Arduous trek through the Moroccan desert. Provides an interesting meditataion on how the global economy has degraded the integrity of even isolated people.
From Sahara to the Sea by foot, camel and whatever comes your way. It's a totally great concept and theoretically a great story and if the author wasn't such a snarky jerk about most of the people and places he encounters it would be even better. Dude - if you don't actually like it there, don't go. One of the common and fundamental problems with travel literature, rivaled only by its inverse - the complete and total awe and reverence of all things foreign, regardless of whether the things de...more
Carol Duke. Morrocco. Another abt. congo "Facing the Congo" Sahel "Angry Wind" Siberia "River of no Reprieve" --
Bonnie Jeanne
marked it as to-read
Glory in a Camel's Eye: A Perilous Trek Through the Greatest African Desert by Jeffrey Tayler (2005)
A very good travel memoir--a genre I usually like the idea of more than the execution of. Because as much as I enjoy stories from actual live, I get frustrated when I feel robbed of story or craft.
While sometimes I was annoyed by this narrator, I enjoyed his honesty and that he didn't hide or color his biases. It made his insights and his joys all the richer.
This part of the world is especially intriguing and foreign to me. I enjoyed the isolation of his quest as well as the freque...more
While sometimes I was annoyed by this narrator, I enjoyed his honesty and that he didn't hide or color his biases. It made his insights and his joys all the richer.
This part of the world is especially intriguing and foreign to me. I enjoyed the isolation of his quest as well as the freque...more
It was a wonderful adventure (if you weren't actually there!).
Some passages were uncomfortable to read, but all in all very interesting and enlightening
Some passages were uncomfortable to read, but all in all very interesting and enlightening
Excellent story of traveling through Morocco's Draa Valley by mule and camel that provides thoughtful insight into the various ethnic groups in Morocco, desertification, and the Moroccan-Islamic culture. Highly recommend for anyone traveling to Morocco.
A very interesting book about Morocco and that part of the African desert.
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