What do you think?
Rate this book
Palin's Travels
Sahara
Michael Palin's epic voyages have seen him circumnavigate the globe, travel from the North to the South Pole and circle the countries of the Pacific Ocean. This was perhaps the greatest challenge yet: to cross the vast and merciless Sahara desert.
Shrugging aside the perils of camel stew and being run over by the Paris-Dakar rally, he travels through some of the most spectacular landscapes on earth. For the Sahara is no empty wasteland, but home to a diversity of cultures whose long history stretches from the time of the ancient Egyptians to the oil-rich Islamic republics of today.
Shrugging aside the perils of camel stew and being run over by the Paris-Dakar rally, he travels through some of the most spectacular landscapes on earth. For the Sahara is no empty wasteland, but home to a diversity of cultures whose long history stretches from the time of the ancient Egyptians to the oil-rich Islamic republics of today.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
72 people are currently reading
2,078 people want to read
About the author
Michael Palin
136Ìýbooks1,160ÌýfollowersSir Michael Edward Palin, KCMG, CBE, FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries.
Palin wrote most of his material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "The Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "The Spanish Inquisition" and "Spam". Palin continued to work with Jones, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer. His journeys have taken him across the world, the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television.
Palin wrote most of his material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "The Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "The Spanish Inquisition" and "Spam". Palin continued to work with Jones, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer. His journeys have taken him across the world, the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
December 20, 2020
In Sahara,Michael Palin goes off the beaten track,to the back of beyond.To begin with,I was not too keen on this book as I thought that a travelogue through the world's greatest desert would make for grim,cheerless reading.
However,this book turned out to be very interesting.Palin has a willingness to test himself under the most arduous conditions.The parched landscape of the desert becomes the setting for a thrilling adventure.
He stays in primitive accommodation,travels long distances on the back of camels and even on foot while crossing the desert,samples desert food and does not lose his good humour in scorching temperatures,(which touch 56 C) in the desert.
After having read the book first,a couple of years ago,recently I found the dvd set of this mini series.It is a pretty grim landscape,potentially life threatening,and in places infested by terrorists and bandits.
Palin also meets some interesting characters along the way.He meets a 68 year old Briton,who has been to the Sahara no less than forty times,and considers it recreation.Before meeting Palin,he had travelled eight days,without meeting a human being.
In Libya,Palin comes across the famed desert rats of Tobruq,from WWII,now in their eighties and having gathered for their last reunion on the battle scene.
He comes across ancient Roman monuments and buildings in some places along the route.In Tunisia,he finds people living rather comfortably in underground caves.
He also visits a familiar place,where he was crucified for a movie scene 23 years ago.In Algeria,he flirts with danger,travelling in a train which had been bombed and attacked on numerous occasions.At that time over 100,000 people had been killed in Algeria's Civil War,but that doesn't deter Palin from taking this route.
And,he also goes to Timbuktu.It looks like a primitive place,with its mud houses and dirt streets,making Palin wonder what made travellers across the centuries,want to make their way to it through a forbidding landscape.
However,this book turned out to be very interesting.Palin has a willingness to test himself under the most arduous conditions.The parched landscape of the desert becomes the setting for a thrilling adventure.
He stays in primitive accommodation,travels long distances on the back of camels and even on foot while crossing the desert,samples desert food and does not lose his good humour in scorching temperatures,(which touch 56 C) in the desert.
After having read the book first,a couple of years ago,recently I found the dvd set of this mini series.It is a pretty grim landscape,potentially life threatening,and in places infested by terrorists and bandits.
Palin also meets some interesting characters along the way.He meets a 68 year old Briton,who has been to the Sahara no less than forty times,and considers it recreation.Before meeting Palin,he had travelled eight days,without meeting a human being.
In Libya,Palin comes across the famed desert rats of Tobruq,from WWII,now in their eighties and having gathered for their last reunion on the battle scene.
He comes across ancient Roman monuments and buildings in some places along the route.In Tunisia,he finds people living rather comfortably in underground caves.
He also visits a familiar place,where he was crucified for a movie scene 23 years ago.In Algeria,he flirts with danger,travelling in a train which had been bombed and attacked on numerous occasions.At that time over 100,000 people had been killed in Algeria's Civil War,but that doesn't deter Palin from taking this route.
And,he also goes to Timbuktu.It looks like a primitive place,with its mud houses and dirt streets,making Palin wonder what made travellers across the centuries,want to make their way to it through a forbidding landscape.
April 12, 2010
I found Sahara to be just a little disappointing around the edges. As always, I learned a tremendous amount about the countries through which Palin traveled and I enjoyed his wit. There was something missing in this one, though. It's as if Palin wasn't having a good time. I'm not sure if the conditions were more difficult than he anticipated or if he was overwhelmed by the poverty of those he met, but overall the book lacked the joie de vivre evident in his other travelogues. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it's also not his best.
October 31, 2020
Travelling through books....
July 3, 2024
I listened to this on Audible, which was a joy because it was read by Michael himself. I love his books because they are gentle books to listen to while I am pottering about the house and trying to get to sleep.
This one was about his travels around the Sahara, an area I don't know a lot about. I know a bit about north Africa and the Roman empire and I have romantic ideas about traveling in Morocco, perhaps on a train. And the troubles between Algeria and France, but only as a passing reference. Michael travels to Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Ceuata, Spain and Gibraltar. I love the stories of the people (and camels) he meets along the way, especially in Morocco and Western Sahara. He paints a vivid picture of the landscape, the harshness of the desert and the life that blooms in unlikely places. Libya needed government minders and conversation with locals was restrained. Algeria needed tight security because it's dangerous for westerners, but he still found interesting stories to tell.
Listening to this in 2024, two historical issues make for interest. He was in the Sahara when 9/11 happened. It reminds us how some places are still a bit cut off from news. The other issue that he talks about were the boats that crossed the Mediterranean to Europe with illegal migrants. 22 years later, the issue hasn't gone away.
This one was about his travels around the Sahara, an area I don't know a lot about. I know a bit about north Africa and the Roman empire and I have romantic ideas about traveling in Morocco, perhaps on a train. And the troubles between Algeria and France, but only as a passing reference. Michael travels to Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Ceuata, Spain and Gibraltar. I love the stories of the people (and camels) he meets along the way, especially in Morocco and Western Sahara. He paints a vivid picture of the landscape, the harshness of the desert and the life that blooms in unlikely places. Libya needed government minders and conversation with locals was restrained. Algeria needed tight security because it's dangerous for westerners, but he still found interesting stories to tell.
Listening to this in 2024, two historical issues make for interest. He was in the Sahara when 9/11 happened. It reminds us how some places are still a bit cut off from news. The other issue that he talks about were the boats that crossed the Mediterranean to Europe with illegal migrants. 22 years later, the issue hasn't gone away.
January 30, 2017
Not for the first time during the reading of a book was I left feeling that a writer was becoming gradually disenchanted with his initial purpose, grand and promising to be full of adventure. It was plain enough that it was a tough ordeal for Palin. In the end, it just felt like he was glad that it was over.
The reason for the 3 stars then, apart from the fact that he writes pretty decently, dotted with the occasional wit, is that this book was like an inlet into, like MP and his childhood fantasies with the picture on the box of dates, my own inexplicable, and strange longing for the desert, and the lives of whole generations of people, who in spite of its exacting conditions, have lived on.
The reason for the 3 stars then, apart from the fact that he writes pretty decently, dotted with the occasional wit, is that this book was like an inlet into, like MP and his childhood fantasies with the picture on the box of dates, my own inexplicable, and strange longing for the desert, and the lives of whole generations of people, who in spite of its exacting conditions, have lived on.
February 7, 2022
Companion book to Michael Palin's 2002 travel series Sahara, it provides not only a record the travel around and through the Sahara but the people especially the diverse cultures of each area - wealth verses abject poverty, the friendly and open verses the cautiously apprehensive (usually in the countries under harshly controlling government, terrorists or militant separatists).
From Gibraltar across the Strait to Morocco into Algeria (private security is HIGHLY recommended) to zig zag across the borders of Western Sahara/Saharawi and Mauritania to Senegal and Mali. Once in Timbuktu, Palin and the film crew take a break for the summer as no one travels through the desert at those times.
Back in September to Mali to Niger to Algeria again (same guards) to Libya and Tobruk in time for the survivors of the Desert Rats to hold their remembrance ceremony (capture by Nazis in 1941). Along the coast to Tunisia and its extensive tourist trade. Back into Algeria to Morocco to Ceuta which is a small piece of Spanish territory stuck on Morocco) and then ending crossing the Strait.
The mud brick masques of Mali are gorgeous and hundreds of years old - distinctive and exotic and so apropo for the Sahara area. Also I did investigate the kora music as by Toumani Diabate and it reminds me of a harp but with its own individual style and tone. Lovely.
2022-030
From Gibraltar across the Strait to Morocco into Algeria (private security is HIGHLY recommended) to zig zag across the borders of Western Sahara/Saharawi and Mauritania to Senegal and Mali. Once in Timbuktu, Palin and the film crew take a break for the summer as no one travels through the desert at those times.
Back in September to Mali to Niger to Algeria again (same guards) to Libya and Tobruk in time for the survivors of the Desert Rats to hold their remembrance ceremony (capture by Nazis in 1941). Along the coast to Tunisia and its extensive tourist trade. Back into Algeria to Morocco to Ceuta which is a small piece of Spanish territory stuck on Morocco) and then ending crossing the Strait.
The mud brick masques of Mali are gorgeous and hundreds of years old - distinctive and exotic and so apropo for the Sahara area. Also I did investigate the kora music as by Toumani Diabate and it reminds me of a harp but with its own individual style and tone. Lovely.
2022-030
April 4, 2025
Take me back to Mauritania! Intriguing how little it sounds like it's changed in the 25 years since he visited. Even keener to explore the rest of the Sahara now having read this, although Mali and Niger are perhaps not on the cards for the moment..
September 11, 2021
This was a very enjoyable read. I like how Michael Palin can describe a landscape or a situation without using too many words and with a sense of humour and a touch of self-mockery.
September 10, 2016
This book was pretty well done, considering the subject material, purpose and route chosen. I found it interesting even though i am not seduced by the mystery of that ocean of desert, nor am I a huge Michael Palin/Life of Brian fan. If I had been, I probably would have given the book five stars.
The Sahara sounds like a forbidding place, unwelcoming and full of hardships. It also seems to have shaped the cultures that live within its embrace; they have come to terms with living there- but after reading this account, I have no illusions about wanting to go see it even for a short while.
Michael spent most of his time describing what he saw and experienced, then livened things up a bit with the odd funny one-liner. It helped relieve the dry, unrelenting grittiness of the trip through the book.
The Sahara sounds like a forbidding place, unwelcoming and full of hardships. It also seems to have shaped the cultures that live within its embrace; they have come to terms with living there- but after reading this account, I have no illusions about wanting to go see it even for a short while.
Michael spent most of his time describing what he saw and experienced, then livened things up a bit with the odd funny one-liner. It helped relieve the dry, unrelenting grittiness of the trip through the book.
November 25, 2013
I much enjoy Michael Palin's travel books and television shows. I enjoy the humor and the novel "themes" employed, that often pass through wonderful places most travelers never get to. Of course, no matter how strange or potentially dangerous the locale he visits, he must have a small entourage with him to do the filming and support. I think Palin tries to maintain a measure of distance from his staff, but in the back of my mind I truly wonder how it affects the honesty of the tale (perhaps none at all). Still, I love the second life of this great comic. One quibble: I wish whomever was responsible for the captions would either be brief and simply identify or try to alter the caption a bit rather than parroting what is in the text.
December 3, 2014
Another gem from Mr Palin - an engaging account of traipsing around the large desert across over half a dozen countries of north and northwestern Africa with apparently flippant observations offering a wealth of insightful information on matters political, social, anthropological, economic and environmental. A dashing good read
September 21, 2008
A fun armchair travel book by the former Monty Python star who is a funny, warm and humane travel writer.
January 15, 2018
I was fishing for Pico Iyer's travel books when I came upon this volume at Blossom's bookshop, Bangalore. Written in diary format, it can be quite the companion volume to the hit TV show. Though it starts off strongly and has some vivid imagery in between, some parts are rather skippable, and the overall effect doesn't linger more than a couple of minutes.It's quick and easy read and has some wonderful color photographs of the Sahara.
April 24, 2021
Michael Palin is no Paul Theroux, but he did give me a tour of North Africa. Notice I said North Africa, and not the Sahara. He spends a lot of time dithering around the well-known cities of Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria, but then skips over giant tracts in the desert that I really wanted to know more about (unless there’s nothing worth mentioning). The plus side of this travelogue is that it is absolutely stunning, visually. I don’t think I’ve read a book with more beautiful photographs, even if the dense text in the pages is a bit of a slog, at times. I stuck with this one for a week, and know more about that big part of the dark continent for doing so.
March 2, 2025
I liked the part about Morocco but I didn't really find the rest all that memorable :( I think I just had less of an interest in the other places he visited. All the stuff about desert bandits and FGM were also just a little much for me, I think!
October 10, 2018
Fascinating, well written, beautiful photos, some humour, of course. Interesting to read the different cultures.
October 8, 2017
Its the first time ever that Ive read a book, a nonfiction travelogue at that and watched the TV documentary filmed on it at the same time. And you know what? The Book IS better.
Michael Palin, known for being a part of the Monty Python group and the movie A fish called Wanda, is the quintessential British traveller touring Saharan Africa.
He starts from the British colony of Gibraltar plunging into the Sahara through Morocco, moving onto Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia to finally exit from Ceute, the Spanish outpost in Africa.
Along the way he gives us a real feel for the challenging landscape and the tough, unique inhabitants who live there.
His English witty takes on the situations that he finds himself in spices things up considerably.
Whether he is travelling by boat across the River Niger, by camel caravan across the desert or by more standard modes of transports like buses, Jeeps and trains, we feel as if we are on the journey with him.
And accentuating that feeling was watching the documentary which gives images and sound to what I read, though the photographs that accompany the book are illuminating in their own right.
This journey was made in 2001 and the 911 attacks which occured midway through this journey adds geopolitical subtext which seeps into the latter half of it. Also the knowledge of how unstable the region has become in the 2010s due to Islamic Terrorism, especially in Libya post the fall of Gaddafi makes this recollection poignant. The way things were before Chaos reigned - a period when such a journey through this region was still possible.
Made for a thoroughly entertaining and enriching experience.
Michael Palin, known for being a part of the Monty Python group and the movie A fish called Wanda, is the quintessential British traveller touring Saharan Africa.
He starts from the British colony of Gibraltar plunging into the Sahara through Morocco, moving onto Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia to finally exit from Ceute, the Spanish outpost in Africa.
Along the way he gives us a real feel for the challenging landscape and the tough, unique inhabitants who live there.
His English witty takes on the situations that he finds himself in spices things up considerably.
Whether he is travelling by boat across the River Niger, by camel caravan across the desert or by more standard modes of transports like buses, Jeeps and trains, we feel as if we are on the journey with him.
And accentuating that feeling was watching the documentary which gives images and sound to what I read, though the photographs that accompany the book are illuminating in their own right.
This journey was made in 2001 and the 911 attacks which occured midway through this journey adds geopolitical subtext which seeps into the latter half of it. Also the knowledge of how unstable the region has become in the 2010s due to Islamic Terrorism, especially in Libya post the fall of Gaddafi makes this recollection poignant. The way things were before Chaos reigned - a period when such a journey through this region was still possible.
Made for a thoroughly entertaining and enriching experience.
September 14, 2017
Very Enjoyable. I like Palin's style of fact filled but fun travel guiding. Quite interesting reading this 15 years later when so much has changed with regard to migrants crossing the Med to get to Europe today. It was happening then too, but maybe in a less organised way, at least not on the same scale. Palin's travels through the harsh realities of African life gave him good reason to feel sympathetic for the people that risk everything to get to Europe. But much was admired too about the differences of the rich culture that encompass the wide desert.
11th Sept had just happened and has also changed a lot in the world, I wonder if such a trip would have been able to be undertaken by BBC today?
A curious observation being that Africa fought hard to get the European rule out after many years of colonialism only to now see people fighting and risking everything to cross the seas to be a part of Europe and it's colonial ideologies and paradises. Ironic!
As Palin himself sums it up, nowhere is paradise.
11th Sept had just happened and has also changed a lot in the world, I wonder if such a trip would have been able to be undertaken by BBC today?
A curious observation being that Africa fought hard to get the European rule out after many years of colonialism only to now see people fighting and risking everything to cross the seas to be a part of Europe and it's colonial ideologies and paradises. Ironic!
As Palin himself sums it up, nowhere is paradise.
August 17, 2010
You probably would have guessed by now that I really enjoy reading Michael Palin’s travel books. That would be correct, I find them a delightful way to reminisce after watching the accompanying TV series as they give a lot more insight and background.
Did you know that Sahara was filmed in two parts? Or that 9/11 occurred while they were in the middle of the Sahara and didn’t see any footage for days? How many times did the crew get food poisoning?
You’ll find all this and more in Palin’s meticulous (but never boring) travel diaries. Covering the trip across the Sahara in a variety of means and meeting a number of people, it’s a fascinating armchair ride. His language paints a very detailed picture in your mind.
I didn’t enjoy this as much as Around the World in Eighty Days but that’s probably because I’m not as interested in Africa. But if you’re an Africa fan, you’ll love this.
Did you know that Sahara was filmed in two parts? Or that 9/11 occurred while they were in the middle of the Sahara and didn’t see any footage for days? How many times did the crew get food poisoning?
You’ll find all this and more in Palin’s meticulous (but never boring) travel diaries. Covering the trip across the Sahara in a variety of means and meeting a number of people, it’s a fascinating armchair ride. His language paints a very detailed picture in your mind.
I didn’t enjoy this as much as Around the World in Eighty Days but that’s probably because I’m not as interested in Africa. But if you’re an Africa fan, you’ll love this.
March 14, 2015
Bearing in mind what has happened in the countries mentioned in this book over the past 10 years some of the aspects are a little outdated - the ease of access to gas producing plants, the joking about being kidnapped and Gadaffi.
However, there were some excellent anecdotes and I found myself smiling throughout - the englishman who lived with a cockeral that diliked women for example. The need for armed guards in Algeria, and the constant cowering when large groups of people walked past maybe shouldn't have been as amusing as it was, but it at least gives you an insight into life as a foreigner within the Mediterranean African nations.
The main downside was that I felt Palin focused a little too much on himself rather than the landscape and the plight of the people living in it and despite the frequent mention of bad hotels, he had it far to easy throughout his travels.
However, there were some excellent anecdotes and I found myself smiling throughout - the englishman who lived with a cockeral that diliked women for example. The need for armed guards in Algeria, and the constant cowering when large groups of people walked past maybe shouldn't have been as amusing as it was, but it at least gives you an insight into life as a foreigner within the Mediterranean African nations.
The main downside was that I felt Palin focused a little too much on himself rather than the landscape and the plight of the people living in it and despite the frequent mention of bad hotels, he had it far to easy throughout his travels.
December 11, 2013
Michael Palin is of course very funny (Monty Python), but many don't realize he is also a thoughtful adventurer who took on an Around the World in 80 days challenge and has followed it up with many other journeys. This is a travel journal of his televised trip across Africa in 2001.
Generally I would say it made me want to get the DVD, as lots of the relationships and movement is lost on paper. But he does show a different side of the trip here, as he talks frankly about some reactions he had to people, food, and toileting situations. It was a bonus to have him reflect on filming of Life of Brian in some of the locations he visited now years later. It is nice to see him journaling too- this has his voice clearly, reminding us that he is a traveler, and not just the presenter of some over produced show.
Generally I would say it made me want to get the DVD, as lots of the relationships and movement is lost on paper. But he does show a different side of the trip here, as he talks frankly about some reactions he had to people, food, and toileting situations. It was a bonus to have him reflect on filming of Life of Brian in some of the locations he visited now years later. It is nice to see him journaling too- this has his voice clearly, reminding us that he is a traveler, and not just the presenter of some over produced show.
July 15, 2009
I really like everything Michael Palin did and/or wrote, but as this book is the only one I didn't see the documentary on TV, I thought at first it won't be that interesting as previous travel memoirs.
The title didn't appeal to me much, as I do not think there's much to say about Sahara... about any kind of desert. But this book actually isn't about desert - it is about people and countries doomed to habitate one of the cruelest environments in the world. And I was more than pleasantly surprised how concise and rich in detail this book was written.
I would recommend this book to anyone willing to figure out even a little bit diverse cultures and nations populating the vastness of Sahara.
The title didn't appeal to me much, as I do not think there's much to say about Sahara... about any kind of desert. But this book actually isn't about desert - it is about people and countries doomed to habitate one of the cruelest environments in the world. And I was more than pleasantly surprised how concise and rich in detail this book was written.
I would recommend this book to anyone willing to figure out even a little bit diverse cultures and nations populating the vastness of Sahara.
August 28, 2008
Insist on reading the hard-cover version of all his books. The photography is spectacular. We've fallen in love with Michael (yes, the Monty Python Michael Palin) Palin's travel books. We're half-way through reading his "Himalaya" and have his DVD, "Pole To Pole" in our DVD player.
He writes with a self-effacing good humor, always willing to be the butt of the joke as he journeys along in his dapper Oxford and khakis and comfortable walking shoes.
Go here for more:
He writes with a self-effacing good humor, always willing to be the butt of the joke as he journeys along in his dapper Oxford and khakis and comfortable walking shoes.
Go here for more:
April 25, 2012
Michael Palin can't help to travel and so he does - through the Sahara this time. The book following it is typical Palin: a warm account of his travels, with little anecdotes about the baser aspects and observations of the changing world of the desert.
I loved the book, but while reading I found myself a little uneasy with the - if you want to call it that - lack of political realities (Lybia f.e.). I guess, it is not the aim of this book to be political, but the 'innocence' with which Palin recounts made me uneasy at times.
I loved the book, but while reading I found myself a little uneasy with the - if you want to call it that - lack of political realities (Lybia f.e.). I guess, it is not the aim of this book to be political, but the 'innocence' with which Palin recounts made me uneasy at times.
July 5, 2013
Michael Palin writes with humour, honesty, and with great attention to detail. I really enjoyed how he described the history of each location as he passed through it, but did not focus too much on the history, which would have made it a bit dry. There was a nice balance between his description of his own experiences as a traveller, the history of the places he was visiting, and the lives of the people he met. I felt like I was very much in his shoes, travelling with him. It's a great book for kicking back and relaxing on a lazy day.
January 19, 2016
Palin`s travelogues are definitely entertaining as light reads, but I can not help but feel they grow less exciting as Palin travels more and ages. Its not that the idea of a long trek across the Sahara is not a fundamentally interesting subject, its just that Palin's light humour and wonder at the world seems to fade slightly. To be fair though, even the most optimistic of travellers will find it difficult to love the great desert, and this story does not hold the 'race-against-the-clock' theme of his earlier travel books. Still an enjoying light read.
January 17, 2009
Michael Palin's tour of the Sahara was a major one. Covering eight Saharan countries, as well as the disputed Western Sahara, Palin roasted in 140 degree weather, rode as part of a camel train, ate camel livers and lived to tell the tale, and was run over by the Paris-Dakar rally. Humorously told and interspersed with photographs by the brilliant Basil Pao; Palin's Sahara journey is always lively, with new sights, smells, tastes, and adventures around the next sand dune.
June 19, 2011
I generally love travel books and Palin has a good eye for taking a reader on trips with him. This book (so far) is a bit of a tough read. The adventures are engaging enough, but it all feels 'flat' somehow - like, perhaps, Palin was not always enjoying the ride. Pain's writing is warm with a familiar wit, and this really saves the book for me. While Sahara was not a knockout for me, I think I need to see the TV series now!
July 4, 2011
This is a fine travel book. Palin gives you a sense of place, including some history, physical description and interaction with the locals. He wrote this tp accomplany a film he shot as he traveled around and through the Sahara. He begins at Gibralter and ends there, but hits about everything in between. I found myself online checking out more details about many of the fascinating places he stops at. A fun read all together.
May 8, 2013
A delightful travel book by a very enthusiastic traveler. He even complains only minimally about some late night runs into the desert with a trowel, paper and matches following unfortunately upsetting camel stew. Palin is so very open to each new experience and appreciative of his opportunities that he easily carries along the reader. And from the security of my air conditioned home I can find his travels in 133 degree temps almost enticing. Well--almost. . On to palins next adventure.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.