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

British photographer, writer and explorer Levison Wood (Walking the Himalayas) has journeyed the length of the Nile and the Himalayas. In Walking the Americas, he hikes 1,800 miles through the countries of Central America.

On this trek, he has Alberto, a Mexican guide and friend, to accompany him, a man who has never hiked through the uncut jungle or been outside of Mexico. Together the two travel south, from Mérida in the Yucatán Peninsula, through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, to its border with Colombia. They end their trip with a swim in the Caribbean Sea.

As with his other books, Wood skillfully incorporates scenic details, the day-to-day aspects of hiking through unfamiliar territory, the history of the various regions and the people they encounter en route. This walk is filled with the dangers of the natural world--snakes, spiders, biting insects that carry a host of diseases, crocodiles, sharks and jaguars, to name a few. Moreover, the men must also worry about drug smugglers, gang members, kidnappers, corrupt police and a host of other unsavory characters who would think nothing of stealing their money, clothes, possessions and their lives.

Reading Walking the Americas places the reader alongside Wood in his feats, as he ponders his motivations and reasons for hiking long distances and as he exclaims over the sheer beauty of the world he sees from a mountain peak few have climbed. His is travel and adventure writing at its best. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer

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