The Ukimwi Road

The Ukimwi Road is the riveting account of renowned traveler Dervla Murphy s most intrepid journey yet 3,000 miles by bicycle through the heart of sub Saharan Africa, a region that has recently drawn the world s attention as an epicenter of the AIDS epidemic ukimwi is Swahili for AIDS Along her route from Kenya through Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia to Zimbabwe Dervla Murphy observed the harrowing problems of the people among whom she traveled She witnessed the devastating effects of AIDS, drought and economic collapse on the land, as well as the skepticism of Africans about Western development projects and aid schemes which promise so much but deliver so little She also discovered a wide range of reactions to AIDS, which has reached epidemic proportions in Africa, and which poses a new and mysterious threat to traditional family life. Free Read The Ukimwi Road [ author ] Dervla Murphy [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr While this is classic Dervla , for me it was much less enjoyable reading than I have come to expect from her This is purely down to the time and the place Southern Africa Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia in 1992 Aids really was reaching epidemic proportions, and yet the lack of understanding or acceptance by everyday Africans was an all time low Basically denial.In this book, Dervla, on her trusty bicycle follows a trail from one country to the next, interacting as Derlva doe While this is classic Dervla , f...Ms Dervla Murphy, an intrepid and brave woman, takes us on a bicycle journey in Southeastern Africa Kenya to Uganda to Tanzania to Malawi to Zambia and finally Zimbabwe We experience these countries via her bicycle and her opinionated eyes.I did some cycling in North America when I was much younger Ms Murphy is doing this at the age of sixty on roads that are far tougher than anything here in North America many of her roads were unpaved She definitely has an iron constitution The vitali Ms Dervla Murphy, an intrepid and brave woman, takes us on a bicycle journey in Southeastern Africa Kenya to Uganda to Tanzania to Malawi to Zambia and finally Zimbabwe We experience these countries via her bicycle and her opinionated eyes.I did some cycling in North America when I was much younger Ms Murphy is doing this at the age of sixty on roads that are far tougher than anything here in North America many of her roads were unpaved She definitely has an iron constitution The vitality of this book is the many different encounters the author has with groups of people many of them very poor Her trajectory, which she did in the early 90 s, takes her through AIDS ravaged areas She did not know at the beginning of her journey that AIDS was to dominate every conversation she had There are remarkable discuss...This is actually my second time reading this book I noticed several reviews that pan Murphy s insane trip by bike through forbidding territory and I feel these people just didn t get her Therefore, I d like to copy out my favorite line from the book which sums her up for me, and it s on p 125 of the hardback from a scene in Uganda where she is trying to buy milk I noticed Bushenyi s little milk depot and rejoiced, fresh milk being my No.2 addiction the attentive reader will by now have d This is actually my second time reading this book I noticed several reviews that pan Murphy s insane trip by bike through forbidding territory and I feel these people just didn t get her Therefore, I d like ...Reading it in 2012 I found myself viewing itas a historical travel book I found the writing to be disjointed some excellent descriptions of the landscape followed by long winded historical information often quoted rather than summarized I would also say that I found Murphy to be very judgemental maybe even cynical about many of the people she encountered along the way as well as the various situations the villages and towns found themselves in I plowed through to the end because every Reading it in 2012 I found myself viewing itas a historical travel book I found the writing to be disjointed some excellent descriptions of the landscape followed by long winded historical information often quoted rather than summarized I would also say that I found Murphy to be very judgemental ma...Murphy takes this bike ride across Africa when she is sixty years old, certainly an inspiration This book also seems a littlethoughtful and less given to large generalizations about people and cultures than the other book I read by her, Cameroon with Egbert A good travel mild adventure book.60 year old Waterford writer, Dervla Murphy cycles from Nairobi to Zimbadwe in 1992 and finds the journey dominated by the AIDS epidemic ukimwi being the KiSwhaili word for AIDS The author encounters extreme continuous poverty and suffering and struggles with feminism and racial equality as many of those she encounters do not accept either though they suffer from them The up sides are the people themselves, being largely kind and generous, and the scenary Violence and political unrest are 60 year old Waterford writer, Dervla Murphy cycles from Nairobi to Zimbadwe in 1992 and finds the journey dominated by the AIDS epidemic ukimwi being the KiSwhaili word for AIDS The author encounters extreme continuous poverty and suffering and struggles with feminism a...This was a fun book to read Murphy s observations are amusing and well written, and presented in a matter of fact way that generally avoids excessive romanticism about Africa and Africans The AIDS narrative running through the book was also interesting to me, as I d just read 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa written in the mid 2000s a few weeks earlier Murphy s book provided a trip further back in time to the early 90s, before treatment was an option in Africa, and while many countries were This was a fun book to read Murphy s observations are amusing and well written, and presented in a matter of fact way that generally avoids excessive romanticism about Africa and Africans The AIDS narrative running through the book was also interesting to me, as I d just read 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa written in the mid 2000s a few weeks earlier Murphy s book provided a trip further back in time to the early 90s, before treatment was an option in Africa, and while many countries were still finding thei...Ukimwi, AIDS, the slim disease The epidemic permeated everywhere Dervla Murphy went and in every conversation she had along her four month bike ride through sub saharan and southern Africa in the early 1990s It was actually written a bit drily for how dire the subject matter was It was tough to read the descriptions of the havoc this epidemic had wreaked on the African population After AIDS, the next most common topic of conversation was Western Aid equally interesting, equally drily writ Ukimwi, AIDS, the slim disease The epidemic permeated everywhere Dervla Murphy went and in every conversation she had along her four month bike ride through sub saharan and southern Africa in the early 1990s It was actually written a bit drily for how dire the subject matter was It was tough to read the descriptions of the havoc this epidemic had wreaked on the African population After AIDS, the next most common topic of conversation was Western Aid equally interesting, equally drily written I feel like I know the skeleton of the issue from various classes I took in college, but couldn t speak intelligently about it Suffice it to say, Colonialism is obviously still such a powerful force across Africa That sounds like the most sheepish thesis statement of a thousand college term papers By the way...Readable but quite boring, a bit like digesting a series of lengthy emails from your eccentric elderly aunt about her recent bicycle trip in Africa I suspect this is the intended effect anyway despite her reputation for self effacement, Dervla Murphy spends the greater part of the book cultivating an image of herself as doughty adventurer with a thoroughly clear sighted understanding of the world s problems This begins to grate after a while Less so when she is documenting yet another jolly Readable but quite boring, a bit like digesting a series of lengthy emails from your eccentric elderly aunt about her recent bicycle trip in Africa I suspect this is the intended effect anyway despite her reputation for self effacement, Dervla Murphy spends the greater part of the book cultivating an image of herself as doughty adventurer with a thoroughly clear sighted understanding of the world s problems This begins to grate after a while Less so when she is documenting yet another jolly close shave with her bicycle, or telling us how little the evening s hotel or dinner costs which she does unfailingly throughout More when she cannot resist embroidering most of what she describes with her saloon bar opinions of the state of the countries she is travelling through Sisal and tobaccoexport crops on all those fertile acres, Africa still providing what the West needs at prices decided in the West a generation after Independence That said, ...Appalling I browsed this while waiting for an appointment with my dentist I managed to plough through 2 chapters before deciding that going ahead with the dental appointment was a better idea The writing is so poor that I imagined myself seein...

• English
• 23 June 2018
Dervla Murphy
• Paperback
• 276 pages
• 0006548024
• Dervla Murphy
• The Ukimwi Road