Years back I enjoyed Allison's first memoir about being an African safari guide so was a bit excited when this book popped up browsing the shelves.
Allison returned to Australia after his years in Africa, "settled down" and subsequently felt stuck and restless. In his mid-thirties (not quite so old as he sometimes comments on) his relationship ends, he sells up and heads out to South America for an extended ramble. His stories are still self-deprecating, well-paced, optimistic and full of love of nature and animals. From what I recall his first book was more enjoyable, but in all fairness years of stories can be combined better than 18 months of budget vacationing.
The title refers to time spent at Parque Machia, a wildlife reserve in Bolivia. These were some of the best stories I think. Allison then traveled as a tourist to Patagonia and back up to Bolivia. Those stories were also interesting from his perspective as a guide. The book finished with an extended stay in Ecuador with the Huaorani in Yasuni National Park. This portion fell flat for me. I got the feeling Allison just needed to fill up on some stories to make a book. There were descriptions which felt glossed over or situations unmentioned... it felt more edited. The chapter where he auditioned for a TV nature show was also edited, I'm sure for legal reasons. Nothing bad, just not as animal-centered as his first chapters. I also can't help but wonder why he didn't visit the Amazon. If you're coming from Australia for more than a year, even if your friends are based in Chile, how do you skip Brazil entirely?
The book was worth borrowing from the library for the first half alone, but if there are any stories that don't capture the imagination skip them.
3 stars
Years back I enjoyed Allison's first memoir about being an African safari guide so was a bit excited when this book popped up browsing the shelves.
Allison returned to Australia after his years in Africa, "settled down" and subsequently felt stuck and restless. In his mid-thirties (not quite so old as he sometimes comments on) his relationship ends, he sells up and heads out to South America for an extended ramble. His stories are still self-deprecating, well-paced, optimistic and full of love of nature and animals. From what I recall his first book was more enjoyable, but in all fairness years of stories can be combined better than 18 months of budget vacationing.
The title refers to time spent at Parque Machia, a wildlife reserve in Bolivia. These were some of the best stories I think. Allison then traveled as a tourist to Patagonia and back up to Bolivia. Those stories were also interesting from his perspective as a guide. The book finished with an extended stay in Ecuador with the Huaorani in Yasuni National Park. This portion fell flat for me. I got the feeling Allison just needed to fill up on some stories to make a book. There were descriptions which felt glossed over or situations unmentioned... it felt more edited. The chapter where he auditioned for a TV nature show was also edited, I'm sure for legal reasons. Nothing bad, just not as animal-centered as his first chapters. I also can't help but wonder why he didn't visit the Amazon. If you're coming from Australia for more than a year, even if your friends are based in Chile, how do you skip Brazil entirely?
The book was worth borrowing from the library for the first half alone, but if there are any stories that don't capture the imagination skip them.