Download To Timbuktu for a Haircut: A Journey Through West Africa AudioBook Free
"Although Timbuktu is available, there is a common belief that it is, in fact, nowhere." Timbuktu: the African city known to story as a land of scholars, splendor and puzzle, a golden years in the Sahara Desert. But to many this is a vaguely recognizable name - a flippant tag for "the most remote place on earth." With this fabled city as his goal, creator Rick Antonson commenced a month-long trek. His initial plan? To get a haircut. Aided by an adventuresome spirit, Rick endures a forty-five hour coach drive, a swindling travel agent, "UNDER-DEVELOPED, three-lane" roads, rivers, and a set deck ferry vessel before finally attaining Timbuktu. Rick narrates the history of the elusive vacation spot through the teachings of his Malian guide Zak, and encounters with stranded travelers, a camel owner, a riverboat captain, and individuals who call Timbuktu home. Antonson's eloquence and calm wit focus on the city's myths - the centuries old capital and traveler's aspiration - as well as its realities: A city gripped by poverty, where historic treasures lie near the sands of damage. Indeed, some 700,000 historic manuscripts continue to be there, endangered. Both a travelogue and a history of a location long ignored, To Timbuktu for a Haircut emerges as a plea to protect days gone by and open social dialogues on a global scale. The second edition of the important book outlines the volatile political situations in Timbuktu following spring 2012 military coup in Mali and the subsequent capture of the town by Islamic extremists. Actually, this is a competition against time to save lots of the city's irreplaceable artifacts, mosques, and monuments, and to understand why Timbuktu's past is vital to the future of Africa.
