Once And Forever In Africa

by Paul Richards

For seven years, a rugged and pragmatic American privateer and his wife search for an epic lost gold mind in the most forbidding terrain on earth, the deep jungles of Liberia.

While on this quest, they encounter a native mentor who attempts to teach them a new way of life, one that the locals call "old jungle." Both a philosophy and a way of perceiving, "old jungle" offers them the possibility of a unique awakening. One effect of "old jungle" is a heightened communication with African animals, especially a particular young mongoose fated to become a vital trekking companion.

Before the treasure hunter's initiation is complete, tragedy strikes. Human and animal adversaries force the man and his party to flee for their lives to a tiny fortress hidden in the dense heart of the rain forest. Here in incredibly primitive conditions, they struggle against huge snakes, mile wide floods, apparently supernatural forces, merciless driver ants, and ultimately the jungle itself to accumulate enough resources to escape from Africa. In the process they gain something more precious than gold, the beginning of illumination.

This is the true story of a man who enters the ancient Africa, the Africa of mystery and beauty, and learns that once you are there, a part of you is there forever.

333 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998