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Looking for Lovedu: A Woman's Journey Through Africa
The adventure began when a young British photographer, Kevin Muggleton, suggested driving from one end of Africa to the other–“You know, the old ‘Cape to Cairo’ sort of thing.” For the renowned feminist writer Ann Jones, it soon became an expedition with a to find the legendary Lovedu, a tribe ruled by a great rainmaking queen and dedicated to the “feminine” ideals of compromise, cooperation, tolerance, and peace.
Setting out from Tangier in a battered old blue-and-yellow Land Rover, Jones and Muggleton face daunting physical challenges, from shifting sand in the Sahara to deep mud wallows in Zaire. They encounter severe food shortages in Mali, military roadblocks in Nigeria, and corrupt border guards all over. In Mauritania they meet a young girl who offers to give Jones her baby sister. As they pass through the ever-changing face of Africa toward a meeting with the Queen of the Lovedu, Jones is perceptive, funny, moving, astute–everything a good travel writer should be. You’ll feel you’re right there beside her, meeting the people, marveling at the physical beauty of the land, sharing in the grand adventure.
Setting out from Tangier in a battered old blue-and-yellow Land Rover, Jones and Muggleton face daunting physical challenges, from shifting sand in the Sahara to deep mud wallows in Zaire. They encounter severe food shortages in Mali, military roadblocks in Nigeria, and corrupt border guards all over. In Mauritania they meet a young girl who offers to give Jones her baby sister. As they pass through the ever-changing face of Africa toward a meeting with the Queen of the Lovedu, Jones is perceptive, funny, moving, astute–everything a good travel writer should be. You’ll feel you’re right there beside her, meeting the people, marveling at the physical beauty of the land, sharing in the grand adventure.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 23, 2001
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About the author
Ann Jones
106 books38 followersAuthor of Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan, Ann Jones is a journalist and activist for womens rights around the globe. She is currently working on a book about women, war, and photography.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
January 26, 2014
This is the classic story of woman meets man, woman wants to travel around Africa, man gets a car and takes over driving, man contracts malaria and woman takes care of him, woman suffers in silence while man is stubborn and refuses to compromise, woman gets fed up and ditches man, woman finds female friends and finally travels around Africa the way she wants. The end.
OK, it might not be a classic story, but it should be. American writer Ann Jones was inspired to visit the Lovedu (pronounced low-BAY-doo) tribe in South Africa because they are ruled by a queen who is known for her peacefulness and her reputed power to control the rain. Jones' first traveling companion is a brash, headstrong and obstinate photographer from England named Kevin Muggleton, who is good at fixing their vehicle but is terrible at being kind. Muggleton wants to make a "Cape to Cairo" kind of trip, meaning driving the length and breadth of the continent. Jones wants to see as much of Africa as she can, and is especially interested in the lives of African women.
"It's the hard-times Africa you read about: one vast undifferentiated lump of dismal news reports dispatched from dreary expat bars by disaffected Western journalists whose secret woe is that the AIDS epidemic makes it too risky to get laid. I wanted to see the rest of Africa, whatever that might be ... I wanted to meet the common people, who, I imagined, must be very different from the governments that sell them out. I wanted to see the bits and pieces of the continent, so many, so varied, and so complex that they might include a rainmaking queen. Ours would be no great expedition of discovery. But it wouldn't be a Hertz rent-a-weekend either."
The pair start their journey in Morocco, drive down the western coastline, through the Sahara Desert, across central Africa and finally split up in Kenya. As Muggleton predicted, every day they faced challenges. In addition to dodgy political conditions, they were up against extremes of nature: desert, jungle, river valleys, mountains, rain and scorching heat. During their months-long trip together, Muggleton would drive as fast as he could, racing through villages and countries and ignoring every request from Jones to stop. The only time Muggleton slowed down was when the vehicle needed repairs.
"It dawned on me as I saw in the rearview mirror yet another beautiful watermelon vendor swallowed in the dust behind us that our expedition was split down the middle as surely as if the Senegal River ran straight through the center of the Land Rover, separating Mugggleton from Jones just as it separated north from south... For me the journey had ceased to be a foolhardy adventure and become a sort of quest — not merely for Loveduland, but for Africa. I yearned for the slow pace of African village life, not the forced march of the European barging through the land with conquest in mind. Of course, I wanted to reach Loveduland and see the Queen. Being an aging female, how could I help but be drawn to a community that values aging females, submits to the power of an aging female ruler, recognizes her experience and wisdom, and choose to be guided by her? What could be more natural? But more than that, I wanted to learn from the Africa we were passing through. Today. Now. That would have meant wandering in the streets, lingering in the markets, falling into conversations, and for that Muggleton had no time. Being a young man, he hoped to find himself in adventures that could not come fast enough. He was always throwing his heart before him, someplace down the road."
In Nairobi, Jones meets two women who agree to go with her to South Africa, and the pace of their travel slows down. They enjoy a holiday at the beach, they camp and cook traditional African dishes, and they finally find their way to meet the Queen, who was even more impressive and serene than Jones imagined.
"As women together we were more or less content to accept the world as we found. To Muggleton Africa was a challenge, an obstacle, a battleground, an arena for the performance of exploits that sprang full-blown from his itchy imagination. To us Africa was the home of people we were pleased to meet. We moved through our days more slowly, though we felt our pace was still too fast."
Aside from the interesting power dynamic between Jones and Muggleton, what I especially liked about this travelogue were the details and history of each country they passed through. The differences between the nations could be striking. For example, the roads in Zaire could barely qualify as roads, they were really just giant mud pools in which vehicles frequently got stuck and had to be dug out. But as soon as they crossed into Uganda, which was more politically stable and had better infrastructure, there were paved highways again. It is easy for Westerners to lump all of the countries of Africa together, but this book is excellent at reminding us that no, you cannot do that.
"The continent is not all of a piece, one entity with no other history than that imposed by its colonizers. It's a great jumble of individual countries, tiny and immense, poor and rich, agrarian and industrialized, home to countless colors, ethnicities, religions, languages, cultures ... Indeed, one of the great discussions among African intellectuals today concerns what it means to be African ... What makes Africa 'dark' is our own ignorance of the place. We don't know its history or much about its present condition either. We've forgotten that it is the homeland of us all."
As you can imagine, when Jones returned to America, she had trouble adapting to the wealth and excess of goods here, and even resented always being shut up in air conditioning. She sold her New York apartment and most of her possessions and headed west to the desert, where she enjoyed living with windows wide open. I enjoyed Jones' writing so much that I plan to read her other books.
I would recommend "Looking for Lovedu" to anyone who likes travelogues or who wants to read more about Africa.
OK, it might not be a classic story, but it should be. American writer Ann Jones was inspired to visit the Lovedu (pronounced low-BAY-doo) tribe in South Africa because they are ruled by a queen who is known for her peacefulness and her reputed power to control the rain. Jones' first traveling companion is a brash, headstrong and obstinate photographer from England named Kevin Muggleton, who is good at fixing their vehicle but is terrible at being kind. Muggleton wants to make a "Cape to Cairo" kind of trip, meaning driving the length and breadth of the continent. Jones wants to see as much of Africa as she can, and is especially interested in the lives of African women.
"It's the hard-times Africa you read about: one vast undifferentiated lump of dismal news reports dispatched from dreary expat bars by disaffected Western journalists whose secret woe is that the AIDS epidemic makes it too risky to get laid. I wanted to see the rest of Africa, whatever that might be ... I wanted to meet the common people, who, I imagined, must be very different from the governments that sell them out. I wanted to see the bits and pieces of the continent, so many, so varied, and so complex that they might include a rainmaking queen. Ours would be no great expedition of discovery. But it wouldn't be a Hertz rent-a-weekend either."
The pair start their journey in Morocco, drive down the western coastline, through the Sahara Desert, across central Africa and finally split up in Kenya. As Muggleton predicted, every day they faced challenges. In addition to dodgy political conditions, they were up against extremes of nature: desert, jungle, river valleys, mountains, rain and scorching heat. During their months-long trip together, Muggleton would drive as fast as he could, racing through villages and countries and ignoring every request from Jones to stop. The only time Muggleton slowed down was when the vehicle needed repairs.
"It dawned on me as I saw in the rearview mirror yet another beautiful watermelon vendor swallowed in the dust behind us that our expedition was split down the middle as surely as if the Senegal River ran straight through the center of the Land Rover, separating Mugggleton from Jones just as it separated north from south... For me the journey had ceased to be a foolhardy adventure and become a sort of quest — not merely for Loveduland, but for Africa. I yearned for the slow pace of African village life, not the forced march of the European barging through the land with conquest in mind. Of course, I wanted to reach Loveduland and see the Queen. Being an aging female, how could I help but be drawn to a community that values aging females, submits to the power of an aging female ruler, recognizes her experience and wisdom, and choose to be guided by her? What could be more natural? But more than that, I wanted to learn from the Africa we were passing through. Today. Now. That would have meant wandering in the streets, lingering in the markets, falling into conversations, and for that Muggleton had no time. Being a young man, he hoped to find himself in adventures that could not come fast enough. He was always throwing his heart before him, someplace down the road."
In Nairobi, Jones meets two women who agree to go with her to South Africa, and the pace of their travel slows down. They enjoy a holiday at the beach, they camp and cook traditional African dishes, and they finally find their way to meet the Queen, who was even more impressive and serene than Jones imagined.
"As women together we were more or less content to accept the world as we found. To Muggleton Africa was a challenge, an obstacle, a battleground, an arena for the performance of exploits that sprang full-blown from his itchy imagination. To us Africa was the home of people we were pleased to meet. We moved through our days more slowly, though we felt our pace was still too fast."
Aside from the interesting power dynamic between Jones and Muggleton, what I especially liked about this travelogue were the details and history of each country they passed through. The differences between the nations could be striking. For example, the roads in Zaire could barely qualify as roads, they were really just giant mud pools in which vehicles frequently got stuck and had to be dug out. But as soon as they crossed into Uganda, which was more politically stable and had better infrastructure, there were paved highways again. It is easy for Westerners to lump all of the countries of Africa together, but this book is excellent at reminding us that no, you cannot do that.
"The continent is not all of a piece, one entity with no other history than that imposed by its colonizers. It's a great jumble of individual countries, tiny and immense, poor and rich, agrarian and industrialized, home to countless colors, ethnicities, religions, languages, cultures ... Indeed, one of the great discussions among African intellectuals today concerns what it means to be African ... What makes Africa 'dark' is our own ignorance of the place. We don't know its history or much about its present condition either. We've forgotten that it is the homeland of us all."
As you can imagine, when Jones returned to America, she had trouble adapting to the wealth and excess of goods here, and even resented always being shut up in air conditioning. She sold her New York apartment and most of her possessions and headed west to the desert, where she enjoyed living with windows wide open. I enjoyed Jones' writing so much that I plan to read her other books.
I would recommend "Looking for Lovedu" to anyone who likes travelogues or who wants to read more about Africa.
July 20, 2023
Do you like adventure travel?
In 1995 Ann Jones and her traveling partner, Kevin Muggleton, set off on an expedition through the African continent. Driving from Tangier to Cape Town, Jones is in search of the mystical Rain Queen of Lovedu, a matriarchal tribe in southern Africa. Jones is equally interested in whether the Lovedu tribe continues to exist and how their feminist values of cooperation, compromise, tolerance, mutual helpfulness and forgiveness coincide with the paternalistic and masculine doctrines she has witnessed throughout Africa.
Along the way Jones is confronted with horrific and dangerous traffic conditions, especially at the beginning of their journey. After conquering the Sahara Desert they drive through land that often didn't have suitable roads, if there were any! They also had to cross rivers without bridges and were forced to make their own rafts. Not only was the physical terrain a challenge but they also had to deal with constant bureaucracy while obtaining visas and paying bribes. Jones had no idea of what would occur at the next bend of the road.
With all that said, LOOKING FOR LOVEDU is an excellent travel narrative that allows the reader to vividly imagine what it must be like to go on an African expedition of their own. Jones does a superb job of intertwining the history of Africa along with her own travel experiences. The effects of colonialism, globalization, tourism, and environmentalism are all explored in an attempt to understand how Africa is sustaining in the current social world. LOOKING FOR LOVEDU is a good book to read if you're interested in both travel and feminism. You may just be enlightened as I was when I finished reading it.
Paul Weiss
In 1995 Ann Jones and her traveling partner, Kevin Muggleton, set off on an expedition through the African continent. Driving from Tangier to Cape Town, Jones is in search of the mystical Rain Queen of Lovedu, a matriarchal tribe in southern Africa. Jones is equally interested in whether the Lovedu tribe continues to exist and how their feminist values of cooperation, compromise, tolerance, mutual helpfulness and forgiveness coincide with the paternalistic and masculine doctrines she has witnessed throughout Africa.
Along the way Jones is confronted with horrific and dangerous traffic conditions, especially at the beginning of their journey. After conquering the Sahara Desert they drive through land that often didn't have suitable roads, if there were any! They also had to cross rivers without bridges and were forced to make their own rafts. Not only was the physical terrain a challenge but they also had to deal with constant bureaucracy while obtaining visas and paying bribes. Jones had no idea of what would occur at the next bend of the road.
With all that said, LOOKING FOR LOVEDU is an excellent travel narrative that allows the reader to vividly imagine what it must be like to go on an African expedition of their own. Jones does a superb job of intertwining the history of Africa along with her own travel experiences. The effects of colonialism, globalization, tourism, and environmentalism are all explored in an attempt to understand how Africa is sustaining in the current social world. LOOKING FOR LOVEDU is a good book to read if you're interested in both travel and feminism. You may just be enlightened as I was when I finished reading it.
Paul Weiss
May 1, 2022
I REALLY ENJOYED this book. I loved the African history included for every country Jones drive through. The analysis of gender inequalities between her and her driving companion muggelton were very relatable but I love how she also wrote about the aggressive inequalities between African women and men. How African women carry the African continent through all of the work they do with little rights of their own including being unable to own property or themselves, while African men do much less but can do anything they please including adultery.
I also relate to Jone’s deep want for a society where women rule resulting in this adventure of searching for the Lovedu tribe.
When I was younger I dreamt of a place that shared the Lovedu Tribes values. I understand being willing to drive across the entire African continent for a society that values peace and harmony over anything else.
Really enjoyed reading about African culture as well. How Africans have a “natural socialism” according to Nelson Mandela that includes cooperation, tolerance, mutual helpfulness. Children are cared for by the community, everyone shares everything, etc.
The west could learn a lot from African culture, such as being less greedy, less individualistic, having a higher value for others rather than objects and so much more.
More examples in my reading activity :)
I also relate to Jone’s deep want for a society where women rule resulting in this adventure of searching for the Lovedu tribe.
When I was younger I dreamt of a place that shared the Lovedu Tribes values. I understand being willing to drive across the entire African continent for a society that values peace and harmony over anything else.
Really enjoyed reading about African culture as well. How Africans have a “natural socialism” according to Nelson Mandela that includes cooperation, tolerance, mutual helpfulness. Children are cared for by the community, everyone shares everything, etc.
The west could learn a lot from African culture, such as being less greedy, less individualistic, having a higher value for others rather than objects and so much more.
More examples in my reading activity :)
January 18, 2014
3.5 stars...
I read the first chapter of this book several times before finally committing to finish it. There's something slightly prickly about Anne Jones, and you can sense it right from the start of the novel. It's a bit off-putting, but the story, the excellent writing, and the message make it worthwhile (and reveal in many instances why the author is prickled). Once I really began, I read it in just a few days.
This book holds all the adventure and frustration you'd expect someone would find while driving from the northern to southern tip of Africa in search of a fabled queen, but there's much more to it. The author butts up against her travelling companions, customs officals, herself, and the staggering inequality and exploitation she encounters. There are also some passages that are absolutely gorgeous. Not my favorite travel-related book, but definitely worth reading.
I read the first chapter of this book several times before finally committing to finish it. There's something slightly prickly about Anne Jones, and you can sense it right from the start of the novel. It's a bit off-putting, but the story, the excellent writing, and the message make it worthwhile (and reveal in many instances why the author is prickled). Once I really began, I read it in just a few days.
This book holds all the adventure and frustration you'd expect someone would find while driving from the northern to southern tip of Africa in search of a fabled queen, but there's much more to it. The author butts up against her travelling companions, customs officals, herself, and the staggering inequality and exploitation she encounters. There are also some passages that are absolutely gorgeous. Not my favorite travel-related book, but definitely worth reading.
May 10, 2020
Who in their right mind would rather spontaneously decide to drive from one end of Africa to the other with a person she just met? That is exactly what the author did and it turned out to be quite an adventure: not exactly a smooth one! Jones' imagery is wonderful. I could feel myself being jostled over ruts and dirt roads, being greeted by gigantic smiles in villages, receiving hospitality from strangers, being hassled and "robbed" by police and custom agents, being frustrated by cultural differences regarding time, etc. At one point, during a particularly rough patch in the trip somewhere in Zaire, I thought, "this lady is bat shit crazy!" Oh wait, that must have been what our parents thought of us when we set out one Boxing Day to drive from Niamey to Timboctu with 4 adults, 4 children, one Toyota Forerunner, and one broken down old Landrover. Needless to say, after living in Africa for 16 years and being somewhat adventurous, I could somewhat identify with the author.
December 7, 2008
I picked up this booking thinking I would love it, but truth be told it took some effort to get through. I loved the history and detail on the African nations, but didn't love the writing style and story telling... I just kept wanting more...
March 16, 2016
Ann Jones sets off across Africa in search of Lovedu.
And what is this Lovedu that so intrigues this seasoned journalist?
Lovedu is an old African civilization in which the chief is a woman. Unlike most of Africa. Unlike most of the rest of the world.
So Ann Jones sets out in search of this mythic place, traveling across Africa with a reckless and impulsive young male driver to accompany her and complement her more sedate, less knowledgeable-about-Africa older self. Along the way, they bog down in muddy roads, are accosted by greedy border guards, desperately seek edible food and replacement car parts, and, generally speaking, have lots of exciting and dangerous adventures.
Ann Jones finds Lovedu. I don’t think I am giving anything away in telling you this. But I’ll let you see for yourself what the Lovedu she finds is like.
And what is this Lovedu that so intrigues this seasoned journalist?
Lovedu is an old African civilization in which the chief is a woman. Unlike most of Africa. Unlike most of the rest of the world.
So Ann Jones sets out in search of this mythic place, traveling across Africa with a reckless and impulsive young male driver to accompany her and complement her more sedate, less knowledgeable-about-Africa older self. Along the way, they bog down in muddy roads, are accosted by greedy border guards, desperately seek edible food and replacement car parts, and, generally speaking, have lots of exciting and dangerous adventures.
Ann Jones finds Lovedu. I don’t think I am giving anything away in telling you this. But I’ll let you see for yourself what the Lovedu she finds is like.
November 10, 2018
If this book did not have Muggleton in it I might have enjoyed it more.
May 18, 2023
2.5 rounded up to a 3 just for having made the trip. This was a disappointing read. The trip was in three segments. The first portion travelling with Muggleton was 4/5ths of the book. It didn't get interesting until about page 79 and only for a little while. The part where she travelled alone wasn't really clear. The last part travelling from Kenya back to South Africa (the part I was most interested in, having travelled it myself) was superficial at best. There was little adventure. The parts about each country could have come from Lonely Planet Guide or wikipedia; it wasn't particularily enlightning.
However there were some noteworthy bits:
P124 ...in Nigeria billions of dollars simply disappeared... crooked politicians transferred an estimated $25 million a day to foreign bank accounts ... little or nothing went to the Ogoni who could no longer make a living in their own land
P148 ... most of the Uranium that built the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs came from the Belgium Congo, while Africans were dying of starvation, exhaustion, exposure, disease and murder. Between 1880 and 1920 at least half the population of the Congo perished.
P164 "Look where we are! No stores, no town, no phones, no electricity, no drinking water, no fuel, no Mars bars, no Coke, but in the middle of nowhere is a bloody Norwegian with a steering relay unit!"
P171 Late in Mobutu's reign the roads had almost no function except to demoralize the people of Zaire. It's hard for rebels to meet and plan and carry out a revolution when they are stuck in the mud. it was part of Mobutu's policy to keep the citizenry divided and conquered.
The search for Lovedu was ridiculous given she was in the vicinity when the author decided it would be her mission and going all the way to England to travel back overland to southern Africa.
However there were some noteworthy bits:
P124 ...in Nigeria billions of dollars simply disappeared... crooked politicians transferred an estimated $25 million a day to foreign bank accounts ... little or nothing went to the Ogoni who could no longer make a living in their own land
P148 ... most of the Uranium that built the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs came from the Belgium Congo, while Africans were dying of starvation, exhaustion, exposure, disease and murder. Between 1880 and 1920 at least half the population of the Congo perished.
P164 "Look where we are! No stores, no town, no phones, no electricity, no drinking water, no fuel, no Mars bars, no Coke, but in the middle of nowhere is a bloody Norwegian with a steering relay unit!"
P171 Late in Mobutu's reign the roads had almost no function except to demoralize the people of Zaire. It's hard for rebels to meet and plan and carry out a revolution when they are stuck in the mud. it was part of Mobutu's policy to keep the citizenry divided and conquered.
The search for Lovedu was ridiculous given she was in the vicinity when the author decided it would be her mission and going all the way to England to travel back overland to southern Africa.
December 28, 2017
Quite a ride! You'd like to strangle the macho partner now and then, yet without his mechanical skills and brute strength, the author probably would not have gotten as far as she did. The driving conditions and volatile political situations are certainly not for the faint-hearted.
March 4, 2020
I really liked this book! It didn't seem like a non-fiction book, as it was an exciting adventure story. The author gave short snippets of historical background on each African country, which was very interesting and useful.
July 19, 2019
Entertaining read about a trip across Africa. Found the narrator a tad annoying.
September 26, 2020
Entertaining read but could do with more context. It doesn’t even mention what year it is until about two thirds through.
May 15, 2013
I struggled whether to give this book three or four stars, and went with four stars mainly because what I loved in this book can be read in other books, and what I found only OK was the stuff unique to this book.
I always love reading about overland adventures through Africa - the adventure, the difficulty, the cast of characters met, the personal growth and insight. This book had all of those things, plus a lot of historical facts about most of the places they visited, which I loved. Especially interesting is the perspective of history as viewed and travelled through in 1995/96, and some of the views of that history have changed since then. The analysis of some of the events hadn't swayed opinions in the world and heroes were still heroes and villains were still villains without the benefit of another 10 to 12 years of analysis. So, I really enjoyed that perspective. Of course, I was a little put off by some of the inaccuracies (first example, the mislabeled map of their trip), but I tried to look past that since they were few.
I also liked the personal aspects of the trip. It was interesting to read the details of the logistics of such a trip - which were many, but it didn't blow me away or draw me in like some of the descriptions of history and culture did.
What I was missing, and what I really expected from this author considering all of the women's history stuff she has written, was more of a focus on women and their history and culture in Africa. Did she talk about women? Yes, mostly in the observations of them working constantly (which is accurate). Was the trip undertaken largely because she wanted to look for portraits of women in Africa? Yes, but with the exception of the very short visit to the queen of the Lovedu, she didn't visit any other tribes or groups that revere women. For that matter, there was very little discussion about tribes at all. Did she view everything as a woman and even travel with women for the second half of her trip? Yes, but there wasn't as much insight into that unique experience as I was expecting or would have liked. Finally, except for the very last historical tidbit about women's rights being essentially abolished in Zimbabwe with a Supreme Court ruling - there was little talk about the history of women in Africa. I was enthralled with that story, and had to wait until the last few pages of the book for that. So, were there insights about women and their lives scattered throughout the book? Of course, but I expected a lot more from something that was billed as "a woman's journey through Africa" and a book that was written in search a female driven tribe in Africa, and an author that has made a name for herself writing female and feminist driven books.
Anyway, it was a pretty good account of an arduous overland journey through Africa. I liked just about everything about it - but it just didn't give me enough of what I wanted. But, what was there was still good and well worth reading especially if you like a female focused adventure book, or want to learn some things about African history without delving into a thick, dry, history book.
I always love reading about overland adventures through Africa - the adventure, the difficulty, the cast of characters met, the personal growth and insight. This book had all of those things, plus a lot of historical facts about most of the places they visited, which I loved. Especially interesting is the perspective of history as viewed and travelled through in 1995/96, and some of the views of that history have changed since then. The analysis of some of the events hadn't swayed opinions in the world and heroes were still heroes and villains were still villains without the benefit of another 10 to 12 years of analysis. So, I really enjoyed that perspective. Of course, I was a little put off by some of the inaccuracies (first example, the mislabeled map of their trip), but I tried to look past that since they were few.
I also liked the personal aspects of the trip. It was interesting to read the details of the logistics of such a trip - which were many, but it didn't blow me away or draw me in like some of the descriptions of history and culture did.
What I was missing, and what I really expected from this author considering all of the women's history stuff she has written, was more of a focus on women and their history and culture in Africa. Did she talk about women? Yes, mostly in the observations of them working constantly (which is accurate). Was the trip undertaken largely because she wanted to look for portraits of women in Africa? Yes, but with the exception of the very short visit to the queen of the Lovedu, she didn't visit any other tribes or groups that revere women. For that matter, there was very little discussion about tribes at all. Did she view everything as a woman and even travel with women for the second half of her trip? Yes, but there wasn't as much insight into that unique experience as I was expecting or would have liked. Finally, except for the very last historical tidbit about women's rights being essentially abolished in Zimbabwe with a Supreme Court ruling - there was little talk about the history of women in Africa. I was enthralled with that story, and had to wait until the last few pages of the book for that. So, were there insights about women and their lives scattered throughout the book? Of course, but I expected a lot more from something that was billed as "a woman's journey through Africa" and a book that was written in search a female driven tribe in Africa, and an author that has made a name for herself writing female and feminist driven books.
Anyway, it was a pretty good account of an arduous overland journey through Africa. I liked just about everything about it - but it just didn't give me enough of what I wanted. But, what was there was still good and well worth reading especially if you like a female focused adventure book, or want to learn some things about African history without delving into a thick, dry, history book.
March 20, 2016
While on a canoe trip on the Zambezi River, the group started talking about where each of them would *really* like to travel. British photographer Kevin Muggleton mentioned driving from one end of Africa to the other. Something about it struck Ann Jones and she found herself agreeing. And so, in October 1995, the 1980 Land Rover Muggleton acquired was loaded up, ferried over to Europe, driven through France and Spain and then ferried across Gibraltar into Morocco. Ann had found information about the Lovedu (pronounced low-BAY-doo) tribe ruled by a Queen where women were in charge. Seeking out these people became the "mission" of the trip. Yet there were all sorts of struggles to get through on the way.
OK, but not a favorite by any means. For one thing, Jones and Muggleton were at odds with each other much of the time: Muggleton wanting to race through, Jones wanting to experience the people. There are a number of comments throughout about the delays and how long it took to accomplish things. True, pace in Africa is different from pace in the Western world. I have to give Ann some credit for sticking it out with him for as long as she did. She hung in all the way to Kenya. The latter part of the book was more enjoyable. A quote sums it up nicely: "To Muggleton Africa was a challenge...To us Africa was the home of people we were pleased to meet." The "us" there is the other women who joined her for the Kenya to South Africa leg. The book includes some history of each of the countries they pass through and this was interesting to read to get a sense of the areas. It really was a trip from one end of the continent to the other: Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, CAR, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa.
OK, but not a favorite by any means. For one thing, Jones and Muggleton were at odds with each other much of the time: Muggleton wanting to race through, Jones wanting to experience the people. There are a number of comments throughout about the delays and how long it took to accomplish things. True, pace in Africa is different from pace in the Western world. I have to give Ann some credit for sticking it out with him for as long as she did. She hung in all the way to Kenya. The latter part of the book was more enjoyable. A quote sums it up nicely: "To Muggleton Africa was a challenge...To us Africa was the home of people we were pleased to meet." The "us" there is the other women who joined her for the Kenya to South Africa leg. The book includes some history of each of the countries they pass through and this was interesting to read to get a sense of the areas. It really was a trip from one end of the continent to the other: Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, CAR, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa.
July 2, 2017
This book was very interesting (and made me reconsider whether I want to visit Africa or not). The author, Ann Jones, decides on a whim, to cross the continent of Africa. Also along for the ride is a man that she hardly knows, Kevin Muggleton. Right off the bat, it's clear the two have very different objectives. Kevin thinks of the entire trip as a challenge to be gotten through as quickly as possible. Ann, on the other hand, would like to take her time and get to know the people. The rampant corruption, dangerous people, and natural challenges they must deal with are incredible in this day and age. I'm amazed they weren't killed. It all seemed like one huge pain in the ass and for what? I guess it's because the author got to really see and know the people of Africa unlike your average tourist staying in a swank hotel. She was able to see past corrupt officials, power-hungry military men, and greedy leaders, to the generosity of the average African person. Jones doesn't not shy away from talking politics and expressing her opinions. She is not fond of the western world's (especially the U.S.'s) policies on Africa. She blames them for supporting many corrupt African leaders who live like royalty while the rest of the people live in extreme poverty. Oh--in reference to the title, Looking for Lovedu, the author needs a reason to cross Africa in order to attract sponsors. So she decided to look for the woman-led tribe, Lovedu, to see if it still existed. It's really a minor part of the book. She does find the leader of the Lovedu, but it's anticlimactic and actually somewhat disappointing. The whole book leads up to this point and yet the author makes it inconsequential.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2012
The idea of finding the Rain Queen started off on a canoe on the Zambezi….. In 1995 Ann Jones a travel writer and Kevin Muggleton, a photographer, and traveling partner, set off on an expedition through the African continent. They drove from Tangier to Cape Town. They used the search of the mystical Rain Queen Modjadji of Lovedu, a matriarchal tribe in southern Africa as the reason, but eventually it became Ann’s passion to find her. Ann is also is equally interested in whether the Lovedu tribe continues to exist and how their feminist values of cooperation, compromise, tolerance, mutual helpfulness and forgiveness coincide with the paternalistic and masculine doctrines she has witnessed throughout Africa. Apart from the feminist aspects, that is real and exist all over the world, it is also an excellent travel narrative that allows you understand and imagine what it must be like to go on an African expedition without a convoy all on your own. The history and real life situations get intertwining along with her own travel experiences. The effects of colonialism, globalization, tourism, and environmentalism are all explored in an attempt to understand how Africa is sustaining in the current social world. The book is fascinating because I’ve been to Modjadji. I’m a South African citizen who has always been intrigued by this mythical Queen. After reading the book I still dream of going on my own expedition.
August 11, 2016
I have been browsing the books available from OverDrive through my local library - if I limit the selection to those books available immediately, often the choices are . . . limited, but not necessarily bad. If I give them a chance.
I have been reading books about Africa more recently - I happened upon this by searching OverDrive for "Africa" as a keyword. The author traveled from England through France to Morocco and down the west side of Africa through Senegal, then across Mali and more or less east to Uganda and Tanzania, then south from there. The trip took up most of 1996 (I think - it's not always easy to tell with travel books like this). The first half of the trip she traveled with a younger man in a 15 year old Land Rover, then the two of them had a falling out and she traveled with several woman for the second third of the trip in a rental Land Cruiser.
The author is a good writer and intersperses some but not too much history and background with her first hand descriptions of what she experienced. The only downside of reading this today is that 1996 is almost twenty years ago, so while her observations are interesting they are hardly current.
I have been reading books about Africa more recently - I happened upon this by searching OverDrive for "Africa" as a keyword. The author traveled from England through France to Morocco and down the west side of Africa through Senegal, then across Mali and more or less east to Uganda and Tanzania, then south from there. The trip took up most of 1996 (I think - it's not always easy to tell with travel books like this). The first half of the trip she traveled with a younger man in a 15 year old Land Rover, then the two of them had a falling out and she traveled with several woman for the second third of the trip in a rental Land Cruiser.
The author is a good writer and intersperses some but not too much history and background with her first hand descriptions of what she experienced. The only downside of reading this today is that 1996 is almost twenty years ago, so while her observations are interesting they are hardly current.
September 7, 2012
I am conflicted over rating this book....does it deserve 5 stars for honesty, great writing and beautiful imagery? Or does it deserve 2 stars for whining rants and feminism overboard? I'll go with the 5 because I'm an optimist and more often than not I felt so touched by the author's observances, and her desire to slow down and *see* what was around her...places, people, relationships, history, challenges, triumphs, depth. "There are those who are living, I thought, and those who are rushing on." What she shows us of each country she travels through is just a peek, a tease and yet can be so moving: "Why do you cut down all the trees?" I asked a woodsman we met along the road. "We have too many trees," he said. "In New York is no trees. New York is modern. When trees is gone, Malawi is also modern." Think on that.
June 24, 2013
Reasonably interesting in providing a broad view of European influence and conquest across the African continent and painting a picture of life, customs and mentalities of local people. The writing got to be a bit superfluous such that at times I felt Jones was trying to prove her worldly knowledge and vocabulary more than telling a meaningful story. I would be hard pressed to find the words 'resplendent' and 'implacable' more frequently used...
Overall a straightforward read and interesting enough to power through the whole thing, but not something that left an everlasting imprint compared to other chronicle-like books that I have read.
Overall a straightforward read and interesting enough to power through the whole thing, but not something that left an everlasting imprint compared to other chronicle-like books that I have read.
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September 11, 2021This was an interesting visit to Africa, and I enjoyed most of the adventure. The author didn't seem to have a clear reason for being there and hadn't done a great job of choosing her traveling companions along the way, which added to the conflicts along the way.
The strongest theme I took away from this story was the plight of women in African countries and the difficulties they face surviving life in a male-centered culture. By the time the author reached her objective of visiting the queen of Lovedu, I felt the visit to be anti-climatic after the other incidents along the way.
The strongest theme I took away from this story was the plight of women in African countries and the difficulties they face surviving life in a male-centered culture. By the time the author reached her objective of visiting the queen of Lovedu, I felt the visit to be anti-climatic after the other incidents along the way.
June 29, 2008
An entertaining but unfortunatey not very informative, book about the current state of Africa, written by a lady as she travels through the numerous African countries. If James Michener defines a 10 on a 1 to 10 scale for informational detail, this book is a minus one. That said, it does give a view, albeit shallow, of the unfortunate states of these countries and helps one to again recall how fortunate we are to live in the U.S.
December 13, 2013
Incredibly boring...an entire book about looking for a mystical rain queen who turns out to be a very unwelcoming woman in a La-Z-Boy recliner. Not to mention the author does nothing but complain throughout the whole trip. When she's with her traveling companion she does nothing but complain about him. After he leaves she does nothing but complain about the fact that he's not there to help her. Don't waste your time with this book.
March 21, 2012
A really good book, easy read. Jones' flow of the story is easy to follow. She certainly was on an adventure! The only reason for three and not four stars is I felt that by the time she reached Nairobi she was somehow no longer dedicated to telling the story or that her energy had slowed (as it would I suspect) for the actual trip she was on.
May 15, 2007
This was a book that I had to read before my trip to Kenya with TFC. That said, it was an interesting subject: the search for a matriarcal tribe in Kenya and all the mishaps along the way. Its been a while since I've read it and my memory is full of other better things.
May 17, 2008
This book made me examine my feminist leanings - something I haven't given serious thought to since my college days! I also came away with more knowledge of the individual African countries that Jones traveled through, and as a good read always does, it made me want to find out more.
June 15, 2008
Fun narrative about a woman journalist traveling by land rover through West Africa with a "Mr. Boyscout" from Britian - a man remarkably like my husband.... causing me to laugh uproariously and want to punch him at regular intervals. Fun chronicle.
January 7, 2010
I liked this book, a lot. The conflicts between the author and her traveling companion are gripping, the struggles to keep their old, beater Land Rover repaired and running were thoroughly documented. It should be required reading for anyone interested in a cross country trek through Africa.
November 21, 2008
What could be better?
The story of a modern day female explorer going through AFRICA to discover the Queen of a matriarchal tribe and discussing history and adventure along the way?
I swear! If I have to read about one more VISA palaver I will swear off travel forever!
The story of a modern day female explorer going through AFRICA to discover the Queen of a matriarchal tribe and discussing history and adventure along the way?
I swear! If I have to read about one more VISA palaver I will swear off travel forever!
July 25, 2011
2008- I enjoyed the portions of this book that dealt with Jones and Muggleton. Towards the end I felt she tried to rush and finish up the story. Still an interesting account of a trip from the top to the tip of Africa.
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