Welcome to Litsy!

The author and his wife travel some of the most remote and impoverished or war-torn peoples around the globe to, um, collect them? To be voyeurs? The descriptions of the people and the landscapes are well-written. But sadly the author tries to portray themselves as humanitarians but they are not—it feels more like they are collecting experiences. For example, they absolutely must speedwalk in a war-torn area to the frustration of the guards ⬇️

Never mind the guards are putting their lives on the line to look after their entitled &$&@es. This couple MUST do their speed walking in a war zone. Omg is there no end …. and not even realizing how awful this comes across in the book they wrote!

May I suggest waking up and volunteering at the makeshift school, cooking or reading to the students or anything else??

#readingafrica2022

Struggling to finish this one. I still like reading about the places but I swear this couple who wrote the book have a savior complex. They are very well-to-do retired attorneys who live in NYC but love to travel to see the poorest and most destitute, I believe for the adoration described here. They can shed their well-to-do clothes and roll up their darned sleeves and volunteer. But no, they really just like to observe. #readingafrica2022

One more challenge to report on. This is the list of books I‘ve read or am reading (in italics) for #readingafrica2022 including the tagged book. @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

I like travel books about places I‘ll never go. But I find this couple insufferable. They are retired attorneys living in NYC, obviously wealthy enough to travel wherever they want for curiosity sake & to purchase small antiquities (they are cheapskates with the locals), such as here without regard for the well-being of those they hope to observe. And it galls me they worship socialism while they admire the poverty they pay (on the cheap) to see.

“The Great Mosque looms over the market. It is a huge Afro-Gothic mud structure, the largest mud mosque in the world, its three towers rising eighteen meters above the square. Constructed in 1907, it looks like a cross between the Houses of Parliament and the Alamo. Non-Muslims have been barred from the interior ever since a French photographer used it as background for a fashion shoot.” #Mali #readingafrica2022 (photo from internet)

Dennis and Barbara James spent their retirement going to some pretty hard to get places. Some of these stories were interesting but some were kind of cringeworthy given the James‘ desire to visit and take pictures of people who clearly didn‘t want them there. My favorite was Cuba- I loved the descriptions of the art. My least favorite was Venezuela for reasons described above. #ReadingAfrica2022 #Cameroon

The bottom photo wasn‘t captioned but I believe it is the chief and his family. The Baka are a Pygmy tribe in #Cameron. It‘s one of the few remaining hunter/gatherer tribes on the planet. Pygmies are treated very poorly in the country, especially in urban areas, so the authors seemed pleased that this group was separated from urban society. #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#Algeria #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

The authors are traveling the breadth and width of #Algeria. Here is the Great Erg Occidental, something I‘d never heard of, in the Sahara, where the writers spent time. Photo source: https://www.dzbreaking.com/2018/03/11/timimoun-red-oasis-blazing-sun/ #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#Algeria #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

This gave me an impressive idea of how big #Algeria is, from north to south. #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#Algeria #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#Algeria #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#Algeria #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Dang, imagine trekking the most far reaches of the planet with these bios!

In chapter 1 they are in Papua New Guinea, and they just finished hiking for 7 hours!

#Algeria #Cameroon #Ethiopia #Mali #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

This is my next ebook for #readingAfrica2022, which should work for #Cameroon and #Ethiopia. I‘ve been enjoying reading travel books as of late, and this one‘s by two retired attorneys so maybe I‘ll relate, and find out what to look forward to when I retire! Ha!

PS It looks like it will work for #Mali and #Algeria as well.