Waypoints

Martineau, Robert

£9.99

Unhappy in his office job, Robert Martineau craves an experience that will shake his feeling of inertia. Aged 27, he buys a flight to Accra, and begins to walk. He walks 1,000 miles through Ghana, Togo and Benin, to Ouidah, an ancient animist centre on the West African coast. Martineau walks alone across desert, through rainforests, over mountains, carrying everything he needs on his back, sleeping in villages or on the side of paths, travelling shrine to shrine. Along the way he meets shamans, priests, local historians, archaeologists and kings. He begins to confront the lines of slavery and exploitation that binds his home to theirs. Through the process of walking each day, and the lessons of those he walks among, Martineau starts to find the freedom he craves, and to build connections with the natural world and the past.

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Publish Date: 21/04/2022

Description

A spellbinding travel book, exploring the psychology of walking, pilgrimage, solitude and escape.

‘An extraordinary, dreamlike journey through West Africa’ Adharanand Finn

At the age of twenty-seven and afraid of falling into a life he doesn’t want, Robert Martineau quits his office job, buys a flight to Accra and begins to walk. He walks 1,000 miles through Ghana, Togo and Benin, to Ouidah, an ancient spiritual centre on the West African coast.

As he travels alone across rainforest, savannah and mountains, Martineau meets shamans, priests, historians, archaeologists and kings. Through the process of walking each day, and the lessons of those he encounters, Martineau starts to build connections with the natural world and the past – and, at last, to find the meaning he craves.

‘Marvellous… A book about how to travel’ Jay Griffiths, author of Wild

‘[Martineau’s] story, beautifully written, of how his pilgrimage of sorts changed him forever’ Evening Standard

Additional information

Weight 220 g
Dimensions 198 × 130 × 18 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

xiv, 258

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

916.604 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K