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Chasing Africa: A Memoir
Chasing Africa delicately explores the loss of identity, the gift of health and adventure, and the courage to put oneself first despite guilt, fear, and the pull of family. As a teenager, Lisa couldn’t wait to escape suburbia and travel the world. Years later, as a healthy young climber, she was confronted with the depressing realities of her dad’s and her brother’s neurological diseases: Parkinson’s and progressive multiple sclerosis.
In 1996, after watching her dad’s and brother’s bodies fail for five years, she was determined to push fear, worry, and guilt aside to reclaim her adventurous identity the only way she knew travel to Africa on her own. Without Google Maps or the internet, Lisa relied on herself, fellow adventurers, and the kindness of locals while navigating unknown territory. She ascended the magical dunes of Namibia in sole-sizzling heat, paddled the Zambezi River among crocs and hippos, went hiking alone in the Chimanimani mountains, and attended a witchcraft healing ceremony on the remote island of Likoma.
Lisa’s unpredictable adventures and serendipitous setbacks taught her that wonderful things happen when she lets go of guilt and fear. Despite her solitary nature, Lisa discovered that being brave doesn’t mean she has to do it alone. For over two decades, these lessons stayed with her as she grappled with her dad’s and her brother’s lengthy illnesses and witnessed the toll it took on her mom as their caregiver.
PRAISE FOR CHASING AFRICA
Lisa Duncan’s vivid descriptions of her travels left me feeling as though I’d been picked up and plunked into the middle of Africa. Not simply a travel memoir, Chasing Africa captures the all-too common struggle to balance our obligations toward family with our yearning for freedom, travel, and self-growth. This book is a graceful warp and weft of internal conflict and worldly adventure.
Jan Redford, Author of End of the Rope: Mountains, Marriage & Motherhood
Lisa Duncan’s memoir Chasing Africa is as expansive as Africa itself. She dreamt of this trip, longed for these travels. And yet, in the years leading up to her departure, her father and brother fall ill with neurological diseases and her mother becomes a full-time caregiver. As Lisa decides between following her dream or staying home, the reader feels her strength and cheers for her as she makes the decision to go. Through her beautifully rendered and interlaced descriptions, readers will experience the landscape and place that is Africa, and come to understand both Lisa’s curiosity about and fascination with this place, and the strength of character she possesses that drives her forward.
Stella Harvey, author of the novels Nicolai’s Daughters, The Brink of Freedom, and Finding Callidora; founder of the Whistler Writers Festival
If you ever wanted to travel to Africa, Chasing Africa is your second-hand, vicarious chance to go, and Lisa Duncan is a charming and upbeat travel companion.
Wanda Baxter — The Miramichi Reader
Lisa Duncan's story is a journey of healing and redemption, finding belonging in the world and at home with family. [Her] memoir ranks high up there with the best of travelogues like Cheryl Strayed's "Wild." Ultimately, this book is about a strong independent woman finding her home in the world, and most importantly in herself. Highest of recommendations for this extraordinarily well-written and well-told story. A must-read for lovers of travel literature!
Kagan Goh, author of Surviving Samsara: A Memoir Of Breakdowns, Breakthroughs, And Mental Illness
Lisa Duncan writes like a painter and brings her trained eye to every landscape: looking down at the view from her airplane window of the Zambezi River gleaming far below or up at the red dunes of Namibia in the early morning sun.
BC BookWorld (Winter 2022-2023) review by Caroline Woodward, author of Light Years: Memoir of a Modern Lighthouse Keeper
Chasing Africa is a beautifully constructed memoir that puts life into perspective. Skilfully interwoven with Lisa Duncan’s story of her once-in-a-lifetime African odyssey are candid personal accounts of her home life. The frank vulnerability in this writing is inspiringly thought-provoking and aligns with the subtitle of the book, “Fear Won’t Find Me Here.
Angela deJong, author of Be Free and co-author of Polepole: A Training Guide for Kilimanjaro and Other Long-Distance Mountain Treks
In 1996, after watching her dad’s and brother’s bodies fail for five years, she was determined to push fear, worry, and guilt aside to reclaim her adventurous identity the only way she knew travel to Africa on her own. Without Google Maps or the internet, Lisa relied on herself, fellow adventurers, and the kindness of locals while navigating unknown territory. She ascended the magical dunes of Namibia in sole-sizzling heat, paddled the Zambezi River among crocs and hippos, went hiking alone in the Chimanimani mountains, and attended a witchcraft healing ceremony on the remote island of Likoma.
Lisa’s unpredictable adventures and serendipitous setbacks taught her that wonderful things happen when she lets go of guilt and fear. Despite her solitary nature, Lisa discovered that being brave doesn’t mean she has to do it alone. For over two decades, these lessons stayed with her as she grappled with her dad’s and her brother’s lengthy illnesses and witnessed the toll it took on her mom as their caregiver.
PRAISE FOR CHASING AFRICA
Lisa Duncan’s vivid descriptions of her travels left me feeling as though I’d been picked up and plunked into the middle of Africa. Not simply a travel memoir, Chasing Africa captures the all-too common struggle to balance our obligations toward family with our yearning for freedom, travel, and self-growth. This book is a graceful warp and weft of internal conflict and worldly adventure.
Jan Redford, Author of End of the Rope: Mountains, Marriage & Motherhood
Lisa Duncan’s memoir Chasing Africa is as expansive as Africa itself. She dreamt of this trip, longed for these travels. And yet, in the years leading up to her departure, her father and brother fall ill with neurological diseases and her mother becomes a full-time caregiver. As Lisa decides between following her dream or staying home, the reader feels her strength and cheers for her as she makes the decision to go. Through her beautifully rendered and interlaced descriptions, readers will experience the landscape and place that is Africa, and come to understand both Lisa’s curiosity about and fascination with this place, and the strength of character she possesses that drives her forward.
Stella Harvey, author of the novels Nicolai’s Daughters, The Brink of Freedom, and Finding Callidora; founder of the Whistler Writers Festival
If you ever wanted to travel to Africa, Chasing Africa is your second-hand, vicarious chance to go, and Lisa Duncan is a charming and upbeat travel companion.
Wanda Baxter — The Miramichi Reader
Lisa Duncan's story is a journey of healing and redemption, finding belonging in the world and at home with family. [Her] memoir ranks high up there with the best of travelogues like Cheryl Strayed's "Wild." Ultimately, this book is about a strong independent woman finding her home in the world, and most importantly in herself. Highest of recommendations for this extraordinarily well-written and well-told story. A must-read for lovers of travel literature!
Kagan Goh, author of Surviving Samsara: A Memoir Of Breakdowns, Breakthroughs, And Mental Illness
Lisa Duncan writes like a painter and brings her trained eye to every landscape: looking down at the view from her airplane window of the Zambezi River gleaming far below or up at the red dunes of Namibia in the early morning sun.
BC BookWorld (Winter 2022-2023) review by Caroline Woodward, author of Light Years: Memoir of a Modern Lighthouse Keeper
Chasing Africa is a beautifully constructed memoir that puts life into perspective. Skilfully interwoven with Lisa Duncan’s story of her once-in-a-lifetime African odyssey are candid personal accounts of her home life. The frank vulnerability in this writing is inspiringly thought-provoking and aligns with the subtitle of the book, “Fear Won’t Find Me Here.
Angela deJong, author of Be Free and co-author of Polepole: A Training Guide for Kilimanjaro and Other Long-Distance Mountain Treks
320 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2022
2 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Duncan
1 book5 followersLisa Duncan is a Canadian author, educator and outdoor enthusiast. Chasing Africa: Fear Won't Find Me Here (Rocky Mountain Books, Nov. 2022) is her debut memoir. When she isn't teaching or creating, she can be found playing in mountains near her home on the West Coast of BC.
Lisa's favourite fiction books include Half a Yellow Sun and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Lisa's favourite fiction books include Half a Yellow Sun and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 10, 2025
Read this whilst I was currently on my own solo trip in Africa and it felt very familiar. I felt like I understood many of Lisa's feelings very well. I'm so glad I read this when I did as I feel it really gave me a boost as pushing through the anxiety of meeting new people and instead welcoming new possibilities.
November 7, 2022
This was the perfect post-Covid read. I felt like I was in Africa - bumping along in a packed bus, meeting backpackers at hostels, and embracing each day as it comes.
I could relate to the struggle for independence and the weight of responsibility towards those left behind. Some sections really hit home, "I needed to remind myself who I was before illness and grief eroded my identity and muddled my path."
Duncan brings the African landscape to life and creates scenes that stick with you: catching grasshoppers at a gas station, riding ostriches, hiking sand dunes, and many battles against the relentless heat of the African sun.
Equally, her descriptions of meeting fellow travellers - squishing three people into a two person tent, choosing the wrong travel buddy, choosing the right travel buddy but having to part ways - speak to a universal backpacker experience.
Duncan's memoir of pitting self against world reminded me of my own need for adventure in new places. After reading this book I have renewed energy to pursue solo travel!
Definitely recommend.
I could relate to the struggle for independence and the weight of responsibility towards those left behind. Some sections really hit home, "I needed to remind myself who I was before illness and grief eroded my identity and muddled my path."
Duncan brings the African landscape to life and creates scenes that stick with you: catching grasshoppers at a gas station, riding ostriches, hiking sand dunes, and many battles against the relentless heat of the African sun.
Equally, her descriptions of meeting fellow travellers - squishing three people into a two person tent, choosing the wrong travel buddy, choosing the right travel buddy but having to part ways - speak to a universal backpacker experience.
Duncan's memoir of pitting self against world reminded me of my own need for adventure in new places. After reading this book I have renewed energy to pursue solo travel!
Definitely recommend.
October 27, 2022
A travel memoir that inspires you to buy a ticket while sharing a piece of the author's life with you.
I've always wanted to go to Africa and now when I get there the list of places to see is even bigger.
If you have ever traveled you will remember the feelings she evokes of excitement, sadness, fear, uncertainty and so much more. This book is a great way to feel like you've gone on an adventure without leaving your house!
I've always wanted to go to Africa and now when I get there the list of places to see is even bigger.
If you have ever traveled you will remember the feelings she evokes of excitement, sadness, fear, uncertainty and so much more. This book is a great way to feel like you've gone on an adventure without leaving your house!
January 26, 2025
I enjoyed living vicariously through Lisa's descriptions of the different places she journeyed through in southern Africa. Lisa recounts her journey as a 20ish woman backpacking solo in 1995. She reflects on her guilt at leaving her family at home - her father having Parkinson's, her brother having MS and her mother taking care of them all.
I would've loved to see the author share more about what it was like to adapt back home and her journey with her family, including siblings who lived far away. She comes across as quite angry about things, yet not able to say those words. It seems to come out sideways in her travels towards fellow travelers.
I would've loved to see the author share more about what it was like to adapt back home and her journey with her family, including siblings who lived far away. She comes across as quite angry about things, yet not able to say those words. It seems to come out sideways in her travels towards fellow travelers.
January 18, 2023
Great story about her travel adventures while balancing being away from family who are struggling with health. I admire Lisa’s descriptive writing of her travels (that sent me down rabbit holes looking up photos of the Namib desert!) while naturally tying in reflections from past experiences in her life that add context.
February 11, 2023
A wonderful book which skillfully combines memoir, travel writing, humor, psychological journey, philosophy and history! The writer takes us on a journey not just to Africa but to herself, her family, our human history and the timeless strength and beauty of our natural world. As Lisa Duncan fulfills her dream to travel to Africa, she wrestles with family duty to her Canadian family, her own fears about the unknown and traveling in a world without google, iPhones or WhatsApp. She writes beautifully with great detail, perception and compassion but she is unsentimental and her stories and reflections are refreshingly frank. I loved the descriptions of so many different African places, her adventurous spirit and the way that despite fears and scary experiences she kept going and found a way to make it work. It's a great reminder of the joys of traveling in the pre-digital world when you called home with a phone card, when money was travellers' cheques, when you exchanged postal addresses with newfound friends and promised to write. Lisa Duncan seamlessly blends her travelogue with connections to her Canadian home, her childhood, teenage years and present life. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to everyone!
October 30, 2022
This debut read is a beautiful rendition of the coming-of-age “grand tour” across a continent; in this case, several countries in Africa in the mid-90s. I loved getting to read about a narrator who, unsure what to do with her life after she’s graduated from university and gotten a temporary job carrying mail, decides to backpack on her own for the first time. With the worries of her father’s Parkinson’s and her brother’s MS neurological diseases at the back of her mind, she meets adventurous travelers and new customs on her once-in-a-lifetime odyssey to navigate urban and wilderness settings that are off the beaten track.
I loved reading about the adventures and social situations in each destination, and imagining the rich depictions of culture and environmental surroundings in every scene. I also like books that feature Vancouver, Canada; the narrator mentions her hometown experiences multiple times while reflecting on how the lessons from Africa apply to her own life.
An excellent read for those who like travel memoirs that are also introspective, and stories about women defying the insecurities placed on them to trailblaze their own paths in life, career, and romance.
I loved reading about the adventures and social situations in each destination, and imagining the rich depictions of culture and environmental surroundings in every scene. I also like books that feature Vancouver, Canada; the narrator mentions her hometown experiences multiple times while reflecting on how the lessons from Africa apply to her own life.
An excellent read for those who like travel memoirs that are also introspective, and stories about women defying the insecurities placed on them to trailblaze their own paths in life, career, and romance.
March 21, 2023
In 1996, 24 year old Lisa Duncan set off on a personal journey to Africa, breaking from her
Vancouver family where both her father and brother were struggling with incurable, debilitating
diseases. She had some family connections to South Africa- her mother’s sister and a cousin to
receive her and launch her on her journey, but the trip was really about testing herself and coming to grips with both being apart from family and processing her feelings about self and family. Although Lisa writes the book years later, she manages to keep the tone and voice of her younger self. She writes with honesty and self-reflection in a frank and respectful way. Her journey is marked by bravery and adventure—a young, free spirit—and she provides a personal geography of South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Kenya in her vivid account of connection with young backpackers from around the globe. Lisa makes no pretense about the privilege of this hostel-type, minimalist travel and she shares a very readable account of her own version of life on the road.
January 14, 2024
This was just a perfect mix of adventures, family tragedies, love and friendship. We could really accompany Lisa’s African adventure and relate to her. It was a truly uplifting read while still being realistic and honest.
Time passed so quickly while I was immersed in the story. It had the perfect length and now I want to discover the African continent myself!
Huge recommendation for everyone that wants to travel while staying cozy at home and reading:)
Time passed so quickly while I was immersed in the story. It had the perfect length and now I want to discover the African continent myself!
Huge recommendation for everyone that wants to travel while staying cozy at home and reading:)
September 28, 2023
I picked up this book from my local mountain bookstore not knowing what to expect , well all I can say is that for me it’s the best book of the year …. Fascinating and so well written. Highly recommend
January 8, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, couldn't put it down (except to walk the dog). Followed Lisa's journey on Google Earth to see exactly what her surroundings were like.
February 20, 2023
Chasing Africa: Fear Won’t Find Me Here — A Memoir
This review was originally published in the Fall 2022 BC Bookworld quarterly magazine.
Lisa Duncan’s memoir shows us the lifelong value of the Grand Adventure we chose when we were young. Our travels can be our escape hatches, our tickets to places where we can be whoever we want to be in the company of strangers. Like Duncan, we’ll learn lessons, harsh and hurtful as well as gloriously life-affirming, lessons we have the rest of our lives to comprehend and to write about, if we so choose. If life favours us with good health, we may travel again. We’ll know what to pack and we’ll learn what emotional baggage to leave behind too.
As readers, we can be grateful to have had armchair African adventures along with Duncan’s 24 year old self in 1996 but also, we’ll have been spared her difficult family history. What are the odds, in a family of six, for one member, the father, being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in his late fifties and another, a brother in his early twenties learning he has primary progressive multiple sclerosis? There is no known genetic link between these diseases and the father, an angry man, suffers from depression too. The author’s mother, a Dutch immigrant and briefly a free spirit in her own youth, became a a devoted caregiver to both men while in her early sixties.
Youngest-born of the four siblings, the author knew she wanted to travel so, with her mother’s blessing, she flew to Japan to study the language for a year when she was only seventeen. Among other jobs, she worked as a bilingual clerk at Vancouver Airport’s foreign exchange wicket. She attended UBC to study art history for her bachelor’s degree which her father, unable to further his own post-secondary education, scoffed at. But Duncan inherited her mother’s talent with languages as well as a strong and healthy body. She went on to teach Japanese as a second language and also visual arts history for several decades before earning her Masters in environmental education.
Where her life became most sadly conflicted was when she discovered rock climbing. She could not bear to share her passion for being outdoors and up high in the mountains with her brother and her father trapped in their deteriorating bodies or her mother trapped in the never-ending work as their care-giver. Guilt and self-censorship kicked in, guilt for having that strong and healthy body and an increasingly independent mind.
The maternal Dutch side of her family had settled on four different continents, one of which was Africa. Her long-standing dream of travelling to Africa took hold as a child, twirling the globe to find her far-flung cousins. She began saving for her dream trip and she had the confidence to travel solo after her Japanese experience, and knowing she would meet her family in Johannesburg to begin with. She pored over guide books in the pre-Google era and carefully picked her must-see and-do destinations given her time frame, three and a half months, and a backpacker’s budget.
Lisa Duncan writes like a painter and brings her trained eye to every landscape, looking down at the view from her airplane window of the Zambezi River gleaming far below or up at the red dunes of Namibia in the early morning sun. She kept a travel diary and brings a charged immediacy to all the sights, smells, and sounds as she takes us with her in a cramped Volkswagen with no air-conditioning in 40 C heat. Or on the same Zambezi River in an inflatable kayak, having water fights with her fellow paddlers while keeping an eye out for lethal hippos and crocodiles. She loves meeting people and exploring the land and water, the spice-scented roads of Zanzibar or swimming across Lake Malawi to another island -and sensibly taking a boat ride back again.
The serendipity of backpacker travel, those magical moments which stay in the mind’s eye forever, are wonderfully presented here. Singing ‘You Are My Sunshine’ and ‘My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean’ to children while waiting hours for a bus to arrive is just one such moment. Yes, of course there are the skilled pickpockets, the romantic infatuations, the dysentery (a guaranteed romance killer), and the frustrations of dealing with bureaucracies but also the sheer happiness of meeting kind and generous locals and fellow travellers.
Even if your own mind and body no longer tolerate overnight twelve hour bus rides or long hikes down unlit roads to find a campground in the pouring rain, you can still enjoy the thrills of intrepid and thoughtful adventurers like Lisa Duncan.
Lisa Duncan now lives with her family in Squamish where she loves to hike, cycle, paddle and write. She has travelled widely, often on long-distance bicycle adventures.
This review was originally published in the Fall 2022 BC Bookworld quarterly magazine.
Lisa Duncan’s memoir shows us the lifelong value of the Grand Adventure we chose when we were young. Our travels can be our escape hatches, our tickets to places where we can be whoever we want to be in the company of strangers. Like Duncan, we’ll learn lessons, harsh and hurtful as well as gloriously life-affirming, lessons we have the rest of our lives to comprehend and to write about, if we so choose. If life favours us with good health, we may travel again. We’ll know what to pack and we’ll learn what emotional baggage to leave behind too.
As readers, we can be grateful to have had armchair African adventures along with Duncan’s 24 year old self in 1996 but also, we’ll have been spared her difficult family history. What are the odds, in a family of six, for one member, the father, being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in his late fifties and another, a brother in his early twenties learning he has primary progressive multiple sclerosis? There is no known genetic link between these diseases and the father, an angry man, suffers from depression too. The author’s mother, a Dutch immigrant and briefly a free spirit in her own youth, became a a devoted caregiver to both men while in her early sixties.
Youngest-born of the four siblings, the author knew she wanted to travel so, with her mother’s blessing, she flew to Japan to study the language for a year when she was only seventeen. Among other jobs, she worked as a bilingual clerk at Vancouver Airport’s foreign exchange wicket. She attended UBC to study art history for her bachelor’s degree which her father, unable to further his own post-secondary education, scoffed at. But Duncan inherited her mother’s talent with languages as well as a strong and healthy body. She went on to teach Japanese as a second language and also visual arts history for several decades before earning her Masters in environmental education.
Where her life became most sadly conflicted was when she discovered rock climbing. She could not bear to share her passion for being outdoors and up high in the mountains with her brother and her father trapped in their deteriorating bodies or her mother trapped in the never-ending work as their care-giver. Guilt and self-censorship kicked in, guilt for having that strong and healthy body and an increasingly independent mind.
The maternal Dutch side of her family had settled on four different continents, one of which was Africa. Her long-standing dream of travelling to Africa took hold as a child, twirling the globe to find her far-flung cousins. She began saving for her dream trip and she had the confidence to travel solo after her Japanese experience, and knowing she would meet her family in Johannesburg to begin with. She pored over guide books in the pre-Google era and carefully picked her must-see and-do destinations given her time frame, three and a half months, and a backpacker’s budget.
Lisa Duncan writes like a painter and brings her trained eye to every landscape, looking down at the view from her airplane window of the Zambezi River gleaming far below or up at the red dunes of Namibia in the early morning sun. She kept a travel diary and brings a charged immediacy to all the sights, smells, and sounds as she takes us with her in a cramped Volkswagen with no air-conditioning in 40 C heat. Or on the same Zambezi River in an inflatable kayak, having water fights with her fellow paddlers while keeping an eye out for lethal hippos and crocodiles. She loves meeting people and exploring the land and water, the spice-scented roads of Zanzibar or swimming across Lake Malawi to another island -and sensibly taking a boat ride back again.
The serendipity of backpacker travel, those magical moments which stay in the mind’s eye forever, are wonderfully presented here. Singing ‘You Are My Sunshine’ and ‘My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean’ to children while waiting hours for a bus to arrive is just one such moment. Yes, of course there are the skilled pickpockets, the romantic infatuations, the dysentery (a guaranteed romance killer), and the frustrations of dealing with bureaucracies but also the sheer happiness of meeting kind and generous locals and fellow travellers.
Even if your own mind and body no longer tolerate overnight twelve hour bus rides or long hikes down unlit roads to find a campground in the pouring rain, you can still enjoy the thrills of intrepid and thoughtful adventurers like Lisa Duncan.
Lisa Duncan now lives with her family in Squamish where she loves to hike, cycle, paddle and write. She has travelled widely, often on long-distance bicycle adventures.
February 5, 2023
This was such a great read! Highly recommend it. I couldn't put it down and look forward to her next adventure.
December 9, 2023
Great story that deals with connections of all sorts. Readers meet Lisa on her journey to exploring self-connection in her twenties in Africa, while reflecting on her connections back home in Vancouver, Canada, where her brother and father struggled with health issues.
Lisa generously shares her journey with readers as she processes her feelings about self care and the importance of making the right choices for herself.
Her account of past details is remarkable and as readers see wise person looking back, there is a deep and honest account of her experiences with great reflection.
Her account shows brilliant vulnerability and humour as well. It’s worth reading for the untimely medical issue alone towards the end. Lisa is brave enough to put herself in uncomfortable situations in the name of adventure, as well as authentically share who she really is with the world.
Lisa generously shares her journey with readers as she processes her feelings about self care and the importance of making the right choices for herself.
Her account of past details is remarkable and as readers see wise person looking back, there is a deep and honest account of her experiences with great reflection.
Her account shows brilliant vulnerability and humour as well. It’s worth reading for the untimely medical issue alone towards the end. Lisa is brave enough to put herself in uncomfortable situations in the name of adventure, as well as authentically share who she really is with the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2023
An adventurous and enjoyable read that took me on a journey into Africa. By reading this book, Lisa also helped me identify my own vulnerabilities and similar insecurities. Definitely a thumbs up! Can't wait until her next novel.
February 14, 2023
A must read for lovers of travel and adventure. Duncan does a wonderful job transporting her readers to Africa while sharing her personal journey of growth and how she overcame fear. An excellent read for those that love memoirs. Highly recommend this book!
December 16, 2022
Lisa Duncan's heart-rendering, moving and exciting memoir "Chasing Africa" chronicles her true-life adventures as a backpacking 20-something year old woman in the continent of Africa. The book is a classic "Hero's Journey" where Lisa is torn by her responsibilities as a caregiver to her father who suffers from Parkinson's disease and dementia and her brother who suffers from the neurological disease Multiple Sclerosis. Lisa faces the refusal of the call when she wrestles with the decision whether of not to leave her sick father and brother behind in Vancouver, BC to be looked after by her mother as sole caretaker. Ultimately, Lisa answers the call of adventure by not letting fear and guilt hold her back from embarking upon a life-long dream of travelling to the continent of Africa. Lisa leaves the "Ordinary World" of her home in Vancouver to embark upon an adventure in the "Special Extraordinary World" of Africa. Along the way, Lisa meets mentors and allies in her fellow travellers who become her temporary companions during her backpacking travels. During her adventures, Lisa swims across crocodile infected lakes, participates in a witch doctor's ceremony, rides an ostrich, and has near brushes with romance with a handsome fellow traveller, just to name a few of the many highlights of this highly engaging book. During her travels, Lisa reflects in introspective flashbacks about her family — namely her role as caregiver for her father and brother — and how she feels "stuck" saddled with fear and guilt from pursuing her dreams. Ultimately, all journeys must come to and end — the hero has to leave the "Special Extraordinary World" of Africa and return to the "Ordinary World" of Vancouver carrying the boon of the newfound lessons of appreciating the "specialness" of home and family. Lisa Duncan's story is a journey of healing and redemption, finding belonging in the world and at home with family. Lisa Duncan's memoir ranks high up there with the best of travel travelogues like Cheryl Strayed's "Wild." Ultimately, this book is about a strong independent woman finding her home in the world, and most importantly in herself. Highest of recommendations for this extraordinarily well-written and well-told story. A must-read for lovers of travel literature!
February 16, 2023
“Chasing Africa: Fear Won’t Find Me Here” by Lisa Duncan
Chasing Africa is a tender and thoughtful memoir. Lisa is a young woman finding the courage to put her life at home in Canada on pause and embark on a backpacking trip in Africa. She boards the plane filled with fear, worries, and guilt over her father’s and brother’s neurological diagnoses. She is leaving her mother to cope with the effects of her father’s Parkinson’s and her brother’s multiple sclerosis. The book tells the story of Lisa’s escapades tripping through South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi. Slowly, she dispels her negative self-talk and discovers her own unique identity as the strong, brave, and beautiful person she is. On the way, she receives the unsuspecting help of vibrant locals and other tourists. The haunting coastlines, forests, mountains, villages, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls of Africa form an exotic backdrop. Interesting and creative descriptions such as the “suicide squirrels” and the “tandem bike of torment’ add to the reading enjoyment. I loved reading Lisa’s story. Having lived in and visited West Africa, her vivid descriptions recalled many moments of treasured memories.
Chasing Africa is a tender and thoughtful memoir. Lisa is a young woman finding the courage to put her life at home in Canada on pause and embark on a backpacking trip in Africa. She boards the plane filled with fear, worries, and guilt over her father’s and brother’s neurological diagnoses. She is leaving her mother to cope with the effects of her father’s Parkinson’s and her brother’s multiple sclerosis. The book tells the story of Lisa’s escapades tripping through South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi. Slowly, she dispels her negative self-talk and discovers her own unique identity as the strong, brave, and beautiful person she is. On the way, she receives the unsuspecting help of vibrant locals and other tourists. The haunting coastlines, forests, mountains, villages, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls of Africa form an exotic backdrop. Interesting and creative descriptions such as the “suicide squirrels” and the “tandem bike of torment’ add to the reading enjoyment. I loved reading Lisa’s story. Having lived in and visited West Africa, her vivid descriptions recalled many moments of treasured memories.
December 19, 2022
Chasing Africa is an engaging, heartfelt, and intimate story of one young woman seeking her true path. The responsibilities of home - caring for her father and brother with debilitating neurological conditions - weighs heavily on Lisa Duncan’s young heart. Burdened with anxiety and guilt Lisa chooses the one thing that might save her soul and flies away to Africa. In her memoir she seamlessly interweaves the stories of her family with the excitement of solo travel and thrilling adventures, evoking both fear and fearlessness. Lisa embraces not only Africa but her return home with courage and commitment.
December 28, 2022
I was diagnosed 2011. i was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. My symptoms progressed quickly. Soon i was having difficulty breathing, swallowing and even walking short distances. With the help of Health Herbs Clinic natural herbs I have been able to reverse my symptoms using diet, herbs, which i feel has made the most difference. The Parkinson’s natural formula immensely helped my condition, it reversed my Parkinson’s. my slurred speech, then the tremors, and mobility gradually disappeared, even my handwriting is getting better visit their website at health herbs clinic people are suffering from this horrible disease due to lack of information.
September 5, 2024
Exceptional book that took me on a journey that I - regrettably - have never had the chance to take. The author has an innate ability to take the reader on a Southern African backpacking adventure during a very unique and exciting time within the region. There were moments of happiness, sadness…frustration and elation - a fitting combination for a unique continent that despite its challenges, always seems to provide its visitors with answers to many of life’s unanswered questions. Overall, a fantastic read.
September 11, 2023
I loved this book! I enjoyed ‘following the author around’ on her wild journey through Africa, where she has a surprise encounter with baboons and an exciting ride on the back of an ostrich! All the while trying to emotionally sort out family trauma and relationship breakups. Lisa has a quiet and vulnerable style of writing. She has inspired me to try new things that are scary, and to go deep to explore my own past as a way to heal and be empowered. I highly recommend this read!
November 10, 2022
Reading Lisa’s memories of her adventures in Africa help me relive some of my own adventures. Her descriptive recollections make me feel like I am there. The pull of family and guilt for putting yourself first is a conflict many can relate to. It’s inspiring to hear how she embraced adventure and took advantage of every door that opened for her. It was a very special time.
March 20, 2023
I’m so sad that I didn’t love this book. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it was like reading someone’s journal with not much “action” or “thrilling” moments. I could relate to the main character a lot as I had visited almost all the same places as her in Africa, it did bring back some of my own fond memories but at the same time I couldn’t help feeling “been there, done that.”
October 29, 2022
Recently finished the book. A fun bedtime read for the adventurous type. Especially women who feel an amount of trepidation in solo adventuring.. Lisa's journey takes the reader to some pretty far out places and experiences. Inspiring book for women of all ages.
September 10, 2023
An interesting read by an adventurous young lady. Choosing to pursue her dreams in spite of serious family health issues. Follow Lisa as she bravely journeys alone through Africa.
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