Africa Par Adventure, edited by Peter Ward, is as if a group of many backpackers, teachers, anthropologists, politicians, war correspondents and academics gathered around a campfire and traded stories about their respective experiences and their personal perceptions concerning Africa.

Central to many of the travel stories related in the book is that traveling brings to us a knowledge that would be difficult to duplicate by the mere reading of a reference text. For example, how many of us have ever heard of such places as Sao Tome and neighbouring Principe? These two islands together form a country and are located in the Gulf of Guinea in Western Africa west of Gabon. In the sixteenth century it was the world's biggest sugar producer and a vital sorting point for slaves. Unfortunately, today its 120, 000 citizens are among the world's poorest people and produce virtually nothing. Only by visiting this country can we appreciate the severity of the problem.

Have any of us experienced first hand African hospitality as exhibited by people living in Ghana or Egypt, where no matter how poor they may be, there is always room to share a piece of bread with you.

We often see African women carrying large containers of water on their heads. How do they manage to pick up the containers and balance them on their heads? I guess we could look up the information in some encyclopaedia, however, there is nothing like being present to witness this feat. As recounted by Rachel Schneller, who visited Mali, we are informed that ten litres of water weighs twenty-two pounds, a fifth of a woman's body weight, and she had seen women carry at least twenty litres in aluminum pots large enough to hold a television set.

Apart from the travel experiences expounded upon in this very ambitious book, there are essays dealing with wildlife, superstitions, doing business in Africa, politics and religion, economics, history and war.

The book does succeed in its objective of presenting Africa in a way that is understandable to the masses. However, I believe it would have been more effective if it divided the topics into two distinct books, the first dealing with travel adventure and the second with politics, economics, and culture.

I commend the editor in that all of the proceeds of the book will be donated to Raleigh International, an international charity that develops young people through challenging and worthwhile community and environmental projects on expeditions around the world.