Walking the Americas - by Levison Wood (Paperback)

About the Book

From British explorer and internationally bestselling author Levison Wood, Walking the Americas is an inspiring and perceptive account of Wood's 1,800-mile walk from Mexico to Colombia, chronicling the history, landscapes, and cultures he encounters along the way

Book Synopsis

Levison Wood's famous walking expeditions have taken him from the length of the Nile River to the peaks of the Himalayas, and in Walking the Americas, Wood chronicles his latest exhilarating adventure: an 1,800-mile trek across the spine of the Americas, through eight countries, from Mexico to Colombia.

Beginning in the Yucatán--and moving south through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama--Wood's journey takes him from sleepy barrios to glamorous cities to Mayan ruins lying unexcavated in the wilderness. Wood encounters indigenous tribes in Mexico, revolutionaries in a Nicaraguan refugee camp, fellow explorers, and migrants heading toward the United States. The relationships he forges along the way are at the heart of his travels--and the personal histories, cultures, and popular legends he discovers paint a riveting history of Mexico and Central America. While contending with the region's natural obstacles like quicksand, flashfloods, and dangerous wildlife, he also partakes in family meals with local hosts, learns to build an emergency shelter, negotiates awkward run-ins with policemen, and witnesses the surreal beauty of Central America's landscapes, from cascading waterfalls and sunny beaches to the spectacular ridgelines of the Honduran highlands. Finally, Wood attempts to cross one of the world's most impenetrable borders: the Darién Gap route from Panama into South America, a notorious smuggling passage and the wildest jungle he has ever navigated.

One of the rawest and most exciting journeys of his life, this expedition required every ounce of Wood's strength and guile to survive. Walking the Americas is a thrilling personal tale, an accomplished piece of cultural reportage, and a breathtaking journey across some of the most diverse and unpredictable regions on earth.

Review Quotes

Praise for Walking the Americas:

Sunday Times top 10 bestseller in the UK

Longlisted for the Banff Mountain Book award for adventure travel "One of the most engaging aspects of Wood's narrative is his ability to bring his passion for adventure, for history, for learning about indigenous cultures and interacting with native peoples and for the natural world to the reader in an unpretentious manner . . . His is travel and adventure writing at its best."--Shelf Awareness

"So often books on great treks seem to relish recounting only maladies, sexcapades, or drunken capers. Not so with Wood; he focuses on the people and places he and Alberto encounter, which makes for great reading."--Library Journal (starred review)

"[Wood's] books come with a sense of unpolished authenticity, a natural result of his taking on genuinely adventurous expeditions."--Financial Times (UK)

"A thrilling narrative trek . . . [Wood] elevates this already fascinating landscape with lively prose that combines travel journal with history lessons, memoir, and survivalist handbook. This skillful weaving of genres creates intensity and suspense chapter to chapter, keeping the reader's interest piqued and the pages turning as Wood pays deep respect to a dangerous and extraordinarily beautiful part of the planet."--Booklist

"Wood excels at verbal snapshots of the differences among the countries . . . A jaunty glimpse into the cities and countryside of Central America from the point of view of a traveler well-equipped to compare life there to other countries around the globe."--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Levison Wood and Walking the Nile:

"Levison Wood is a great adventurer and a wonderful storyteller."--Sir Ranulph Fiennes

"Many have attempted this holy grail of an expedition--so I admire Lev's determination and courage to pull this off."--Bear Grylls

"Levison Wood has breathed new life into adventure travel."--Michael Palin

"Obsession, sacrifice, bravery, death--the themes of great expedition tales haven't changed since Odysseus set sail. The adventurer Levison Wood has accomplished a doubly impressive feat, not only walking the Nile but capturing that experience in this lovely, evocative book."--Mark Adams, New York Times bestselling author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu

"Wood's interest, as well as his talents as a writer, lie . . . in finding out 'what life was like in corners of the world that do not always make it into our headlines' and in capturing the character and foibles of the people who inhabit them . . . Mr. Wood has a good eye for detail and a better ear for dialogue . . . What's more, unlike many explorers who went before him, Mr. Wood seems to have remained composed and charming throughout."--Wall Street Journal

"Gripping . . . Collecting these stories--let alone doing so beautifully--requires a variety of lucky skills. Wood emerges as a dutiful and brave guide."--Los Angeles Times

"A travelogue vivid enough to feel the burning sands in our soles."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Walking the Nile continues the illustrious tradition of travel adventures stretching from Marco Polo to Henry W. Longfellow to Bear Grylls . . . Wood's remarkable achievement is one each reader can savor vicariously . . . This worthy effort . . . should satisfy even the most jaded armchair adventurers."--Lincoln Journal Star

About the Author

Levison Wood is a writer, photographer, and explorer. He is the author of two previous books, Walking the Nile and Walking the Himalayas, which won the 2016 Edward Stanford Adventure Travel Book of the Year Award. He served in Afghanistan as an officer in the British Army Parachute Regiment and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and an international fellow of the Explorers Club. His work has been featured in publications around the world, including National Geographic, Discovery Channel Magazine, and on CNN, Channel 4, and the BBC. When not abroad, he lives in London.