This solo female cyclist's dramatic adventure sweeps you along the dusty, pot-holed roads of Africa and into the villages and lives of the people who live there. Who has not wanted to escape the daily grind, to search for life and adventure elsewhere? Australian-born and London-based Pamela Watson had a comfortable, if overworked existence, as a management consultant but yearned for sun, freedom and the adventure of not knowing what the next day might bring. "That's it!" she thought. "I'll cycle across Africa!" Join her on this intoxicating journey that began as a search for meaning and adventure, and turned into a discovery of her desires for clean clothes, privacy and pineapple, and insight into her temperamental behaviour. Perplexed by what causes her to choose suffering over a pedicure and love, she perseveres and along the way discovers companionship, kindness and compassion in the villages, and injustices that burn through the page. Now in its third edition, Esprit de Battuta: Alone Across Africa on a Bicycle is an exhilarating travel book by a funny and self-aware female explorer of Africa before mobile phones. It is a must-read for all armchair adventurers, those who are curious about the everyday lives of the people of the rural villages of Africa and those who dare to challenge the status quo.
