Looking for Lovedu: A Woman's Journey Through Africa

Ann Jones' book brought me to a new height in my vicarious travel adventures--by the time she and Muggleton had arrived in Zaire, I'd acquired all the relevant country maps, since my world atlas so longer sufficed! I simply needed to see the "roads" they were digging themselves out of, see where the little villages, that they described, were located. Some African geography is embedded in my brain in a new way now.Although I was skeptical at first about the Lovedu search, in the end the book is a huge expression of love and respect, I felt, for the continent as a whole but mostly for all the individuals she met on the way. Her relationship with Celia, for instance, was one destined to cause frustration until assumptions, habits, and just plain cultural differences were described and owned. Ms. Jones certainly models a way to travel that many of us would do well to emulate, even if we're not in our very own Land Rover on our way to the kingdom of Lovedu.

From the beginning, when American writer Ann Jones was preparing for her trans-continental trip across Africa with her young male English traveling partner, Muggleton, she found that she was doing the majority of the work, the organization, the fine details, and the gathering of equipment and supplies. Then for half the journey across Africa, she sarcastically joked and complained about Muggleton's travel philosophy and maniacal driving style. He irrationallly drove across miles of desert, rejecting the safety of joining a caravan, bumped and ground over roadless terrain, slogged through mud and nearly fell off rickety bridges. He refused to let Ann do the driving... she was too slow and careful. He got into yelling matches with gun-toting border officials, and raced wildly away from a car he had hit, whose passengers hollered and threatened. Ann wanted to stop and talk with people and see the sights and learn more about the cultures and lifestyles, but it all whizzed by as Muggleton was determined to make this a trip of challenging the awful driving conditions. For the half of the trip in which Muggleton is her companion, the book focuses on this sour relationship, and bits of history and politics about each country they pass through. I really appreciated learning things about these African countries that I had never been aware of. My finger trailed along the included map of the journey, and helped me learn where these countries are located.Muggleton and Ann parted company halfway through the trip, and although Ann's tongue-in-cheek complaints about him were quite funny at times, I wondered what Muggleton thought about the book when he read it. But, I felt relief along with Ann, that at last she could take time to really see the land she was driving through. In Nairobi, an Englishwoman and a Kenyan woman joined her for the remainder of the trip to find the queen of Lovedu, a legendary female ruler in a land of male domination. During this part of the journey, we learn more details about the lands and people, but Ann also reflects on the role of African women, their lack of power and freedom. There's an ironic comparison to Ann's own lack of freedom in determining the course of the journey when she was with her male partner. He had made all the decisions and ignored her wishes, though she was a supposedly equal partner of Western values.There are all kinds of travelogues, and Ann's is as unique and entertaining as any of them. There are interesting tidbits throughout the book about the people and the sights. In spite of her complaints about Muggleton and the incredible hardship of that part of the journey, which convinced me NEVER to attempt such a thing, the harrowing difficulties they had were also entertaining. One of my favorite parts is when Ann describes the campground the three women had on the shores of a lake, when looking at it from a distance, the women notice that everything is blue... the three round tents, the bathin

In 1995 Ann Jones and her traveling partner, Kevin Muggleton, set off on an expedition through the African continent. Driving from Tangier to Cape Town, Jones is in search of the mystical Rain Queen of Lovedu, a matriarchal tribe in southern Africa. Jones is equally interested in whether the Lovedu tribe continues to exist and how their feminist values of cooperation, compromise, tolerance, mutual helpfulness and forgiveness coincide with the paternalistic and masculine doctrines she has witnessed throughout Africa. Along the way Jones is confronted with horrific and dangerous traffic conditions, especially at the beginning of their journey. After conquering the Sahara Desert they drive through land that often didn't have suitable roads, if there were any! They also had to cross rivers without bridges and were forced to make their own rafts. Not only was the physical terrain a challenge but they also had to deal with constant bureaucracy while obtaining visas and paying bribes. Jones had no idea of what would occur at the next bend of the road.With all that said, LOOKING FOR LOVEDU is an excellent travel narrative that allows the reader to vividly imagine what it must be like to go on an African expedition of their own. Jones does a superb job of intertwining the history of Africa along with her own travel experiences. The effects of colonialism, globalization, tourism, and environmentalism are all explored in an attempt to understand how Africa is sustaining in the current social world. LOOKING FOR LOVEDU is a good book to read if you're interested in both travel and feminism. You may just be enlightened as I was when I finished reading it.

From the first page of Ann Jones'LOOKING FOR LOVEDU, I knew I was in for a literary treat. As the book unfolded, with writing that can only be described as beauteous, direct, and as well painted as any author I have read in the past twenty years, I was never disappointed. It starts as a sheer adventure story as Ann and her co-traveler, Muggleton, a rugged,macho Englishman half her age, plot their Odyssey from one tip of Africa to the other in a second-hand Land Rover. The early part of the story demonstrates Ms Jones'ingenuity in attracting sponsors and dealing with the practical preparations. But it also interjects a "mission" to the effort: seeking out the Queen of the Lovedu tribe, a remote cluster of persons who live on old territory now within the borders of South Africa. The tribe, largely ingnored in athropological circles, is one of the few (or only) matriarchal groups in Africa, with an heriditary female leader and tribal values that are more compromising, cooperative, and conciliatory than the confrontational societies that surround them. This is the setting, but we have only just begun. The day to day adventures, as the Land Rover plods from Morocco, through the Sahara, sub-Sahara and Central Africa, and ultimately to South Africa, are vividly described. We move on with incredible driving feats by Muggleton and his uncanny car repair skills, complemented by Ms. Jones'ability to cope with everything else, including the endless, archaic paperwork required by bribe-seeking border officials. Danger, discomfort, and beauty lurk around them as we are also introduced to new themes. Male/female roles, practically derived and otherwise, are touched on with subtle, and sometimes comical, insight. We are also exposed to digestible, non-technical, doses of African history: pre-Colonial,Colonial, post-Colonial. No sugar coating here. The author tacks into some of the leaders of post-Colonial Africa as heartily as the 19th and 20th century European exploiters, reserving her admiration for the bulk of Africans who have been buffeted in the process. Together with the harrowing adventure scenes, the reader is treated to a consistently amusing rendition of people observations, including Ms. Jones'own reflections on self and purpose. The beauty of Africa hovers like a helicopter above its challenging problems. We do meet the Queen of Lovedu, but each reader must decide what it means. Ms Jones deals with it factually, but I sense she leaves it as a parable.

It's rare to find an adventure travel book so filled with history and politics and written with such a wonderful sense of humor. I have been recommending this book to all of my friends as the perfect vacation reading. I feel that I'm there with Ann Jones, finding out with every page where we're going next. For those of you who've always wanted to do something like this, read it and see if you've got her spirit!