Walking the Americas: 1,800 Miles, Eight Countries, and One Incredible Journey from Mexico to Colombia

by Levison Wood Narrated by Barnaby Edwards

Overview

Levison Wood's famous walking expeditions have taken him from the length of the Nile River to the peaks of the Himalayas, and in Walking the Americas, Wood chronicles his latest exhilarating adventure: a 1,800-mile trek across the spine of the Americas, through eight countries, from Mexico to Colombia.



Beginning in the Yucatán, Wood's journey takes him from sleepy barrios to glamorous cities to ancient Mayan ruins lying unexcavated in the wilderness. Wood encounters indigenous tribes in Mexico, revolutionaries in a Nicaraguan refugee camp, fellow explorers, and migrants heading toward the United States. The relationships he forges along the way are at the heart of his travels-and the personal histories, cultures, and popular legends he discovers paint a riveting history of Mexico and Central America. While contending with the region's natural obstacles like quicksand, flashfloods, and dangerous wildlife, he also witnesses the surreal beauty of local landscapes, from cascading waterfalls and sunny beaches to the spectacular ridgelines of the Honduran highlands. Finally, Wood attempts to cross one of the world's most impenetrable borders: the Darién Gap route from Panama into South America, a notorious smuggling passage and the wildest jungle he has ever navigated.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Liesl Schillinger

[Wood's] latest wanderlog, a self-declared "tale of adventure in the modern age," continues the exoticizing, thrill-a-minute tradition of King Solomon's Mines and Indiana Jones.

Publishers Weekly

10/23/2017
British explorer Wood (Walking the Nile, Walking the Himalayas) narrates in lamentable fashion another formidable trek, this time his travels across Central America—a journey that spans eight countries and includes the harrowing jungle of Panama’s Darién Gap. Wood’s subject matter is fascinating, but the prose often ambles into cliché (he is caught “sweating buckets” or worrying that his crew had “bitten off more than we could chew”), and though he offers historic asides and insights into the politics of the region, these don’t offer much depth. At times his descriptions of the locals become caricatures: he imagines a Mayan man’s “forefathers, naked except for a jaguar skin and a bow, perhaps a feather in… hair.” As Wood hikes southward, he sees migrants making the treacherous journey north toward America and Canada, but misses the opportunity to offer anything beyond a passing glance. Wood’s crossing of the Darién Gap with his support team of indigenous locals and a clearance from Panama’s border police is anticlimactic. The narrative feels tired, but fans of Wood’s previous books will certainly welcome another journey with him. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

Praise for Walking the Americas:

Sunday Times top 10 bestseller in the UK

Longlisted for the Banff Mountain Book award for adventure travel “One of the most engaging aspects of Wood's narrative is his ability to bring his passion for adventure, for history, for learning about indigenous cultures and interacting with native peoples and for the natural world to the reader in an unpretentious manner . . . His is travel and adventure writing at its best.”—Shelf Awareness

“So often books on great treks seem to relish recounting only maladies, sexcapades, or drunken capers. Not so with Wood; he focuses on the people and places he and Alberto encounter, which makes for great reading.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“[Wood’s] books come with a sense of unpolished authenticity, a natural result of his taking on genuinely adventurous expeditions.”—Financial Times (UK)

“A thrilling narrative trek . . . [Wood] elevates this already fascinating landscape with lively prose that combines travel journal with history lessons, memoir, and survivalist handbook. This skillful weaving of genres creates intensity and suspense chapter to chapter, keeping the reader’s interest piqued and the pages turning as Wood pays deep respect to a dangerous and extraordinarily beautiful part of the planet.”—Booklist

“Wood excels at verbal snapshots of the differences among the countries . . . A jaunty glimpse into the cities and countryside of Central America from the point of view of a traveler well-equipped to compare life there to other countries around the globe.”—Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Levison Wood and Walking the Nile:

“Levison Wood is a great adventurer and a wonderful storyteller.”—Sir Ranulph Fiennes

“Many have attempted this holy grail of an expedition—so I admire Lev’s determination and courage to pull this off.”—Bear Grylls

“Levison Wood has breathed new life into adventure travel.”—Michael Palin

“Obsession, sacrifice, bravery, death—the themes of great expedition tales haven’t changed since Odysseus set sail. The adventurer Levison Wood has accomplished a doubly impressive feat, not only walking the Nile but capturing that experience in this lovely, evocative book.”—Mark Adams, New York Times bestselling author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu

“Wood’s interest, as well as his talents as a writer, lie . . . in finding out ‘what life was like in corners of the world that do not always make it into our headlines’ and in capturing the character and foibles of the people who inhabit them . . . Mr. Wood has a good eye for detail and a better ear for dialogue . . . What’s more, unlike many explorers who went before him, Mr. Wood seems to have remained composed and charming throughout.”—Wall Street Journal

“Gripping . . . Collecting these stories—let alone doing so beautifully—requires a variety of lucky skills. Wood emerges as a dutiful and brave guide.”—Los Angeles Times

“A travelogue vivid enough to feel the burning sands in our soles.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Walking the Nile continues the illustrious tradition of travel adventures stretching from Marco Polo to Henry W. Longfellow to Bear Grylls . . . Wood’s remarkable achievement is one each reader can savor vicariously . . . This worthy effort . . . should satisfy even the most jaded armchair adventurers.”—Lincoln Journal Star

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"Barnaby Edwards narrates, bringing Wood's passion for travel to life and adding flashes of humor to the story with his portrayal of the good-natured Alberto." -Library Journal

Library Journal - Audio

10/15/2018
The focus here isn't really on how the author accomplished such an incredible feat but, rather, how he enjoyed and appreciated each step of his journey and the remarkable landscape that surrounded him. British explorer and photographer Wood chronicles his trip with traveling companion and guide Alberto as they attempt to walk through Central America. While they certainly faced struggles along the way, including snakes, torrential rain, and drug smugglers, the potential dangers they feared they might encounter during their journey were mostly avoided, even in the dreaded Darien Gap, which they passed through relatively unscathed. Wood spends most of the time describing the culture, people, and natural wonders that he experienced. He weaves into his work brief history lessons of the areas he visits so listeners can better understand the present-day conditions, affording listeners unique insight into the Central America that tourists rarely get to see. Barnaby Edwards narrates, bringing Wood's passion for travel to life and adding flashes of humor to the story with his portrayal of the good-natured Alberto. VERDICT Recommended for fans of travel writing and those with an interest in Central America. ["He focuses on the people and places he and Alberto encounter, which makes for great reading": LJ 2/15/18 starred review of the Atlantic hc.]—Theresa Horn, St. Joseph Cty. P.L., South Bend, INLife with robots in a future Tokyo; a new recording of a Hurston classic

Kirkus Review

2017-12-24
The British explorer's latest trek takes him by foot from Mexico to the edge of Colombia.The book's title might be misleading, as Wood (Walking the Himalayas, 2016, etc.) notes in the introduction: this trip was "solely a journey through Central America." The author was joined by Alberto Caceres, a recently divorced Mexican friend who had "never been in a jungle, or walked further than a few miles." Despite a few blisters, however, and more than few complaints, the chatty Caceres, who could "charm the hind legs off a donkey," kept up the pace. Sometimes on uncharted paths and often on major highways where the main obstacles they faced were drunken drivers and thoughtless truckers, the two covered 1,800 miles in a little over four months. Wood excels at verbal snapshots of the differences among the countries, and he avoids dwelling on the monotony of many of the days in favor of describing more exciting ones spent diving into caves where they discovered Mayan skulls, climbing unnamed pyramids, eating termites ("bitter and woody") during a lesson on jungle survival, getting caught in quicksand, and being escorted through the gang-ruled barrios of Honduras' San Pedro Sula, which until recently "held the dubious honor of being known as the murder capital of the world." While this means that readers only get tantalizing glimpses into the author's experience, it also makes for brisk reading. The narrative culminates with a trek through the jungles of Panama's Darién Gap, an area ruled by drug lords that has, during the past 20 years, "swallowed up more people than perhaps anywhere else in the western hemisphere." Fortunately, Wood and Caceres made it through the "brutal, skin-tearing, lung-busting jungle climbs" with nothing worse than some nasty spider bites.A jaunty glimpse into the cities and countryside of Central America from the point of view of a traveler well-equipped to compare life there to other countries around the globe.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171098759
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Nothing could have prepared us for the sheer brutality of the terrain that we encountered in the Darién.

At least the porters were cheery. For the Embera, it was a well-paid holiday away from their wives. The older and bolder amongst them had been this way before, five or ten years ago; they couldn’t remember when exactly. Only Leo knew the route, at fifty-seven years he was the oldest of the group. Even the chief hadn’t been this way in over twenty years and couldn’t remember the path. For several of the youngsters it was their first major outing, and if they made it, it would be the first time they had ever seen the ocean. A few of the lads wore old trainers and flip-flops. Only one had boots. The rest were quite content to walk in rubber wellies.

‘We’re used to it,’ grinned the chief. ‘But if you want to donate any of your boots at the end, we won’t say no.’ He winked.

The first day in the Darién we walked for five hours and covered only six miles and by the time we found a suitable place to camp, on the bank of the river, Alberto and I were utterly exhausted. Even the Embera and Segundo looked tired. We cleared a patch with our machetes and strung our hammocks and cooked some rations up to eat. By six o’clock it was pitch black and there was nothing left to do. Each of us slid into our hammocks as the noise of the forest roared in the darkness. Only then did it finally sink in how far away from civilisation we really were. This was true wilderness, and if anything went wrong here, there would be no one coming to find us.

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