Tales from the Torrid Zone - Travels in the Deep Tropics

Zusatztext “Lyrical [and] moving. . . . Part memoir! part travel yarn! a hymn to the solar lands.” — The New York Times Book Review “Entertaining. . . . This world is literally teeming with natural wonders! local characters! and wild stories.” — The Boston Globe “A book to treasure on many levels. . . . Be prepared to be fascinated.” — The Washington Times 'Fascinating. . . . A diverting! loose-limbed tour of the earth's hot zones. . . . Mr Frater! a genial tour guide and a stylish writer! makes excellent company.” — The New York Times Informationen zum Autor Alexander Frater has contributed to various U.K. publications and has been a contracted New Yorker writer; as chief travel correspondent of the London Observer he won an unprecedented number of British Press Travel Awards. His two most recent books, Beyond the Blue Horizon and Chasing the Monsoon , have been made into major BBC television films. He lives in London but travels frequently to the tropics. Klappentext Alexander Frater was born to a family of Scottish expatriates on the tiny island of Irikiki in the South Seas. Following his dreams of being a writer! Frater left home! but the call of the tropics compelled him to return again and again. Join him as he dines with the Queen of Tonga; makes his way through two civil wars; visits the spots where surfing and bungee jumping originated; and expresses his love for the region where he is at once a tourist! explorer! adventurer! and native son. From Tahiti to Thailand! Mexico to Mozambique! Frater gives us a richly described! endlessly surprising picture of this diverse! feverish! languorously beautiful world. Leseprobe A Place Called Pandemonium Some years ago I returned to my birthplace and found it had become a luxury holiday resort. Described in the brochures as “Iririki, Island of Elegance” and lying snugly in Port Vila’s blue harbour, its forty-four acres were crowned with flowering trees and contoured like a tall polychromic hat; you could walk the shadowy path around its brim in twenty minutes. It was a comfortable spot; when the mainland sweltered, Iririki usually got sea breezes and cooling showers. Once it had contained just two houses: our mission bungalow and—set in parklike grounds with a flagpole flying a bedspread-sized Union Jack—the palatial residence of the British Resident Commissioner. Now seventy-two air-conditioned accommodation units were strung across its northern end. By the resident’s jetty a signpost read “Old Hospital Ruins.” Directed back half a century, I saw myself as the guests drifting over on parasails might see me: an ageing, perspiring, overweight man hurrying towards a jungly acre that looked like an abandoned archaeological site. Somewhere in there, among the creeper-strewn hillocks and slabs of mossy concrete, my father had delivered me with forceps; now I expected, if not a thunderclap, at least an acknowledgement, some audible sign. That, however, only came at the check-in desk when a porter cried, “Welcome to the Champagne Resort!” and handed me a complimentary fruit punch. Drinking it, I realized the vaulted reception area, built from local hardwoods, stood on the site of our vegetable garden. Then, having spelled my name for the clerk, I told her about my links with the island. She went “Uh-huh,” and asked for my credit card. Handing me a key she said, “Enjoy your stay, Mr Fraser.” My unit overlooked a tiny, fan-shaped beach where I had learned to swim; two topless women lay sunning themselves on the spot where I once kept my canoe. Later, eating a Big Riki burger at the poolside restaurant, I was relieved to find the restaurant’s location held no associations at all. My son turned up and said, “How do you feel? Have the squatters moved in?” I felt pretty good, actually—indeed, oddly gratif...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Alexander Frater
• Editore: Vintage USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 12.02.2008
• EAN: 9780307388261
• ISBN: 978-0-307-38826-1
• Pagine: 400
• Dimensioni: 134 mm x 203 mm x 23 mm
• Serie: Vintage Departures; Vintage Departures
• Categoria: Viaggi > Reportage di viaggio, racconti di viaggio > Mondo, Artide, Antartide