Slow Journey South: Walking To Africa, A Year in Footsteps

(Paperback)

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Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. When Paula Constant and her husband, Gary, attempt to break away from the conventional 9-to-5 routine, a few weeks lazing in a resort or packed in a tour bus is not what they have in mind. What starts out as an idle daydream to embark on 'a travel to end all travels' turns into something far greater- an epic year-long 5000-kilometre walk from Trafalgar Square in London to Morocco and the threshold of the Sahara Desert. Quite an ambition for an unfit woman who favours sharing cigarettes and a few bottles of wine with friends over logging time on the treadmill. But if the sheer arduousness of walking over 25 kilometres a day through the landscapes and cultural labyrinths of France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco - without a support vehicle - is overlooked in her excitement, then so too is the unexpected journey of self discovery and awakening that lies beyond every bend. Both the companions she meets on the road and the road itself provide what no university can offer- a chance to experience life's simple truths face to face. Paula's transformation from an urban primary school teacher into a successful expeditioner is a true

Reviews

"The joy of the journey through the desert is provoked with such precision that the reader can almost feel the dust and heat. . . . The journey reveals a courageous and adventurous woman full of self confidence and self knowledge." --Sydney Morning Herald

Author Bio

Australian adventurer Paula Constant began walking from Trafalgar Square, London, in 2004. Since then, she has walked over 12,000 kilometres through France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali and NIger. After her West to East solo crossing of the Sahara was interrupted by political strife in Niger in mid 2007, Paula returned to Australia. She plans to resume her walk after the desert summer, in September 2008, backed by sponsors Birkenstock Australia and the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. When Paula walks into Cairo, she will be the first woman ever to have made a solo crossing of the Sahara from West to East, on foot, walking through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and Egypt en route. She is currently writing her second book detailing the desert walk.