The Lost River: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Transformation on Wild Water

by Richard Bangs

In the early 1970s, in a quest to run the last unexplored rivers of Africa, two young men one a client on his first river expedition; the other, author Richard Bangs's rafting partner and best friend, Lew Greenwald. Bangs and Greenwald, who had pioneered several wild rivers in Africa, shared a goal to raft Ethiopia's unrun Tekeze, but Greenwald's death and political turmoil made the dream impossible.
Twenty-three years later, Bangs returned with survivors of the earlier expeditions to complete what was left undone - to run the Tekeze. The Lost River is the story of Bangs's mission to fulfill a promise, to close a circle, and to face the ghosts of tragedy. It is also a deeply personal story as Bangs recounts his beginnings on wild rivers, the relationships forged in pursuit of adventure, and the primal joys that come from exploring uncharted territory.

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Richard Bangs is a world adventurer, international river explorer, Web pioneer, and award-winning author of over a dozen books and hundreds of magazine articles. He is also founding partner of Mountain Travel Sobek, America's oldest and largest adventure travel firm. He is currently producing and hosting the new PBS series, Richard Bangs Adventures with Purpose. An episode about Quest for the Sublime will air Fall 2008. "

Reviews

[Joseph Koffel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wanted to enjoy this book when I first picked it up. But when what feels like half the book is about how the guides chased female clients, white guys ~conquering~ African rivers, and seriously questionable safety norms this book just didn’t age well at all. Wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re really interested in first descents, even then approach it with a big grain of salt.

[River James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 3 river adventure books this week and feel my thoughts about them are best contextualized in relationship to eachother.
4 Stars.
The Lost River by Richard Bangs: he is the one who thunk it, did it and wrote about it making his book the best of the three capturing the out of the box thinking, insane logistics and spirit of adventure.
3 Stars.
Shooting the Boh by Tracy Johnston: a journalist on the river trip in exchange for promoting it really captures the feeling of a trip that doesn't go as planned. Solid, worthwhile.
2 Stars.
The Last River by Todd Balf: a sincere attempt by an author to get into the reasons why individuals lay it out there on adventures. The problem is, that is pretty much the whole book, as the adventure barely starts before it is over and is written by someone who wasn't there.

[John Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is of the most random books I’ve ever read. It came recommended by an older gentleman at a used book store when I said “I like adventure travel stories.”

If you are into high adventure and exploratory river rafting, then you would really enjoy this book; some of the stores shared were enough to actually scare me (almost eaten by crocodiles and hippos). I thought it was really fun to begin with, but just got a little slow towards the end- it could’ve been 100 pages shorter.

[Tatasoutsidevoice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a rockin' good time. It's refreshing to read an adventure travel author who's entertaining, enlightening, informative, interesting and funny for a change .. I can't stand lackluster travel books (and there are way, way too many of them out there). Richard Bangs "is a distinguished travel entrepreneur and adventure traveler who has traversed the globe many times over. He's been called the father of modern adventure travel and the pioneer in travel that makes a difference. Bangs has published over 1,000 magazine articles, 16 books, produced documentaries and CD-ROMs, has been a guest lecturer at the Smithsonian, the National Geographic Society, the Explorers Club, and writes regularly for the New York Times."

[Deborah Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard made me imagine every life and death moment. He gave a soul to each river and each journey live and breathe. His sadness on the page made the ghosts that haunted him of friend lost real and heart felt. And he made me furious at the state of how we treat our rivers. I know the loss of their freedom will me the loss of our freedom.

[Marla Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent, I couldn't put it down. Love this author, his writing is so engaging, and the story of his adventure travels are like being there with him experiencing it first hand.