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The Timbuktu School for Nomads: Across the Sahara in the Shadow of Jihad
The Sahara: a dream-like, far away landscape of Lawrence of Arabia and Wilfred Thesiger, The English Patient and Star Wars, and home to nomadic communities whose ways of life stretch back millennia. Today it's a teeth-janglingly dangerous destination, where the threat of jihadists lurks just over the horizon. Following in the footsteps of 16th century traveller Leo Africanus, Nicholas Jubber went on a turbulent adventure to the forgotten places of North Africa and the legendary Timbuktu.
Once the seat of African civilization and home to the richest man who ever lived, this mythic city is now scarred by terrorist occupation and is so remote its own inhabitants hail you with the greeting, "Welcome to the middle of nowhere."
From the cattle markets of the Atlas, across the Western Sahara and up the Niger river, Nicholas joins the camps of the Tuareg, Fulani, Berbers, and other communities, to learn about their craft, their values and their place in the world.
The Timbuktu School for Nomads is a unique look at a resilient city and how the nomads pit ancient ways of life against the challenges of the 21st century.
Once the seat of African civilization and home to the richest man who ever lived, this mythic city is now scarred by terrorist occupation and is so remote its own inhabitants hail you with the greeting, "Welcome to the middle of nowhere."
From the cattle markets of the Atlas, across the Western Sahara and up the Niger river, Nicholas joins the camps of the Tuareg, Fulani, Berbers, and other communities, to learn about their craft, their values and their place in the world.
The Timbuktu School for Nomads is a unique look at a resilient city and how the nomads pit ancient ways of life against the challenges of the 21st century.
228 pages, Hardcover
First published September 8, 2016
31 people are currently reading
423 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Jubber
9 books46 followersI'm a writer and traveller, with a passion for history and a pair of itchy feet. I'm fascinated by storytelling, nomadism, exploration and the connections (or misconnections!) between past and present.
I've written four books so far. My latest is Epic Continent, about some of Europe's iconic tales and my adventures amongst them.
Before that was The Timbuktu School for Nomads, about my experiences amongst nomads in North Africa.
The Prester Quest, my first book, sets out from the canals of Venice to the highlands of Ethiopia, following the mission of a medieval physician sent in search of a mythical priest-king. It won the Dolman Travel Book Award.
My second book, Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah's Beard, explores the Persian-speaking world through the lens of an 11th century epic poem, travelling from Tehran to the tomb of a medieval Sultan in Afghanistan.
I have written for The Guardian, The Observer, the TLS, the Globe and Mail and BBC Online, amongst other publications; spoken on BBC Radio 4 and NPR in the US; and have written plays performed at the Edinburgh Festival, the Finborough Theatre and the Actors' Centre.
I've written four books so far. My latest is Epic Continent, about some of Europe's iconic tales and my adventures amongst them.
Before that was The Timbuktu School for Nomads, about my experiences amongst nomads in North Africa.
The Prester Quest, my first book, sets out from the canals of Venice to the highlands of Ethiopia, following the mission of a medieval physician sent in search of a mythical priest-king. It won the Dolman Travel Book Award.
My second book, Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah's Beard, explores the Persian-speaking world through the lens of an 11th century epic poem, travelling from Tehran to the tomb of a medieval Sultan in Afghanistan.
I have written for The Guardian, The Observer, the TLS, the Globe and Mail and BBC Online, amongst other publications; spoken on BBC Radio 4 and NPR in the US; and have written plays performed at the Edinburgh Festival, the Finborough Theatre and the Actors' Centre.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 19, 2016
Subtitled, “Across the Sahara in the Shadow of Jihad,” this book sees author Nicholas Jubber attempting to travel across the desert. In particular, he wants to follow the journey of Leo Africanius, a Sixteenth Century explorer, who travelled to the Kindgom of the Songhay in 1507. Jubber admits readily that he has long been entranced by the desert and by the nomads who live there. However, his attempts to join a caravan on a journey of his own is not well timed. The cities of North Africa were (and many still are) experiencing revolution, war and sectarianism.
We follow his attempts to learn how to live in the desert and his journeys in North Africa; including Timbuktu, working in a tanning factory in Fez, travelling to Azrou in the Moroccan highlands and other places – including the forbidden, dangerous border between Morocco and Mauritania. When Jubber arrived in Timbuktu it was 393 years later than Leo Africanus in 1507. Then it was a grand regional power – not it is widely considered, even by those who live there, as the middle of nowhere…
The author does a good job of explaining what is happening in this dangerous, turbulent part of the world and draws parallels between earlier violence, as experienced by the long ago traveller Africanius, and current events. He also tells of lessons he experiences in the desert and of his attempts to travel in a very hostile environment and extremely dangerous political situations.
This was an interesting read. I enjoyed reading of Jubber’s experiences, the people he meets and of his struggles with the language (aided, remarkably, by rap music) and of his attempts to meet nomads. I recalled reading Wilfred Thesiger’s travel books so long ago and felt saddened that this part of the world is in such turmoil. The only problem with this, is that the book jumped around so much and, as Jubber often failed to do exactly what he hoped to (albeit through no point of his own) it was, ultimately, not quite the travel book you felt he wished to write.
We follow his attempts to learn how to live in the desert and his journeys in North Africa; including Timbuktu, working in a tanning factory in Fez, travelling to Azrou in the Moroccan highlands and other places – including the forbidden, dangerous border between Morocco and Mauritania. When Jubber arrived in Timbuktu it was 393 years later than Leo Africanus in 1507. Then it was a grand regional power – not it is widely considered, even by those who live there, as the middle of nowhere…
The author does a good job of explaining what is happening in this dangerous, turbulent part of the world and draws parallels between earlier violence, as experienced by the long ago traveller Africanius, and current events. He also tells of lessons he experiences in the desert and of his attempts to travel in a very hostile environment and extremely dangerous political situations.
This was an interesting read. I enjoyed reading of Jubber’s experiences, the people he meets and of his struggles with the language (aided, remarkably, by rap music) and of his attempts to meet nomads. I recalled reading Wilfred Thesiger’s travel books so long ago and felt saddened that this part of the world is in such turmoil. The only problem with this, is that the book jumped around so much and, as Jubber often failed to do exactly what he hoped to (albeit through no point of his own) it was, ultimately, not quite the travel book you felt he wished to write.
December 24, 2019
Once again I´m sofa-travelling to Timbuktu, this time in the company of Nicholas Jubber.
I am green with envy, I wish I had the guts to go to a place which has been on my bucket list for more than 30 years, a place which sadly has suffered hard from circumstances.
However, this is not only about Timbuktu, but also a voyage through the Sahara and the people who surround it.
Hardships and happiness - and the consequences of demographic and climatic changes.
The traditional nomadic culture is facing dire times, but there a people who are determined to continue the lifestyle of their forefathers, because that is the only way to feel free.
At times you may find the book a bit self-centered with the curious ambitions of the author, but it is an amazing journey and a loveletter to the people he meets.
I am green with envy, I wish I had the guts to go to a place which has been on my bucket list for more than 30 years, a place which sadly has suffered hard from circumstances.
However, this is not only about Timbuktu, but also a voyage through the Sahara and the people who surround it.
Hardships and happiness - and the consequences of demographic and climatic changes.
The traditional nomadic culture is facing dire times, but there a people who are determined to continue the lifestyle of their forefathers, because that is the only way to feel free.
At times you may find the book a bit self-centered with the curious ambitions of the author, but it is an amazing journey and a loveletter to the people he meets.
July 26, 2018
The Sahara desert is the largest hot desert in the world. The only deserts larger than it, are the polar regions. It covers the top part of Africa and is around 3.6 million square miles in area. It hasn't always been a desert as every 41,000 years or so it changes back into grasslands before reverting to desert once again. It is harsh there too, the temperature in the hottest part of the year can reach 40 deg. C with the sand reaching 85 deg. C and the night time temperatures can drop to 13 deg. C. The surreal landscape has attracted all sorts of people of the millennia, the people who managed to survive there became nomads, travelling from waterhole to waterhole, eking a living from the shifting sands. The cities became places of legend, centres where the merchants who brought a substance more valuable than gold from the arid land, salt and it is the place where the richest man who ever lived made his fortune.
Even with the threat of jihadists, it is a place that still attracts travellers. Nicholas Jubber is one of those who is captivated by the region and is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the 16th-century traveller Leo Africanus. His journey will take him from the sands of Morocco to the markets of Mauritania and onto the city of the sands, Timbuktu. On his journey around these countries, he wants to be involved with the locals, help them, learn from them and discover the secrets of the desert. He ends up helping in a tannery, wandering the sands alone while friends that he has made keep an eye on him, ride camels and glean the ways to look for water in a landscape that surrenders very little.
By travelling with the locals he immerses himself in the culture. slowly they come to accept this man who mangles their language, shares their food and camps deep in the dunes. He absorbs the peace of the desert, understanding the people that choose to live there and why they would not swap this life for anything. Not only is he a sensitive traveller, it is really well written too, describing what he sees with the excited eyes of a child. But it is a place of danger too, the journey into Timbuktu was fraught and the stories that he heard when he arrived were horrific. Can really recommend this for those that want something a little different from regular travel books and it is about a part of our world that is rarely written about now. 4.5 stars.
Even with the threat of jihadists, it is a place that still attracts travellers. Nicholas Jubber is one of those who is captivated by the region and is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the 16th-century traveller Leo Africanus. His journey will take him from the sands of Morocco to the markets of Mauritania and onto the city of the sands, Timbuktu. On his journey around these countries, he wants to be involved with the locals, help them, learn from them and discover the secrets of the desert. He ends up helping in a tannery, wandering the sands alone while friends that he has made keep an eye on him, ride camels and glean the ways to look for water in a landscape that surrenders very little.
By travelling with the locals he immerses himself in the culture. slowly they come to accept this man who mangles their language, shares their food and camps deep in the dunes. He absorbs the peace of the desert, understanding the people that choose to live there and why they would not swap this life for anything. Not only is he a sensitive traveller, it is really well written too, describing what he sees with the excited eyes of a child. But it is a place of danger too, the journey into Timbuktu was fraught and the stories that he heard when he arrived were horrific. Can really recommend this for those that want something a little different from regular travel books and it is about a part of our world that is rarely written about now. 4.5 stars.
July 5, 2017
Joa, also wenn man sich wirklich seeehr für nordafrikanische Geschichte, Politik und Kultur interessiert, ist es sicherlich gut. Für jemanden wie mich, der sich einen tollen Reisebericht erhofft, ist es nichts: Es ist weder logisch aufgebaut, noch spannend geschrieben. Schade!
September 18, 2016
3-. This was frustrating. There is a great book in this subject and I believe there's a good book in this book (I could occasionally glimpse it), but one that required more patience, study and editing to create. As it is, The Timbuktu School of Nomads gives an impression that the author wanted to travel with a caravan and write about it (he admits that he was looking for a topic no-one else had written about), but as it did not come to pass, he cobbled together a story from the material he had managed to gather. It's scattered, over-written and shallow, with occasional redeeming descriptions and insights. I finished it because I find the area and the nomadic way of life extremely fascinating and even an account that does not do them justice is interesting to read. I know it's a travel book and one could say I'm being too harsh, but (historical) travel writing can be of exceptional quality - just look at William Dalrymple.
June 24, 2024
The Timbuktu School for Nomads: Across the Sahara in the Shadow of Jihad is supposedly about Jubber's journey through the Sahara in an attempt to experience life with the nomadic tribes spread over this whole region. However, the timing was off and the region experienced a whole lot of strife, much of it from the rise of ISIS. But Jubber finally got his trip and wrote a book on it ...
First, I'll say that the research was pretty well done and Jubber went to great lengths to meet people and gain information on different aspects of life. There were some interesting characters and the author's passion for this trip really shines through. This actually made an otherwise incoherent book somewhat readable.
I am a little unsure what the point of this book actually is. On one hand, Jubber claims he is trying to follow Leo Africanus, the 16th century Spanish traveller who travelled extensively in Europe and Africa, and was both Christian and Muslim at different points of his life. But the subtitle says he is following in the wake of the jihadis, which I assumed to mean that he is trying to explore how these terrorists changed the region. He himself claims he wanted to follow the salt caravans through the desert, but was unable to due to the violence in the region. But what Jubber actually did was some absolutely random stuff of his own.
Jubber spends months in Morocco doing god knows what, hanging around in the tanneries of Fes with some guys, who have nothing whatsoever to do with the premise of the book. He goes all over the place, goes back and forth, and completely butchers his own narrative in an attempt to stuff every single thing he knows into the book. He does not manage to bring out a proper evocation of the region and the nomadic life in its full flavour, but I did learn a few things.
I would say this is a book with a very interesting topic and good research, but very badly written with apparently no editing at all.
First, I'll say that the research was pretty well done and Jubber went to great lengths to meet people and gain information on different aspects of life. There were some interesting characters and the author's passion for this trip really shines through. This actually made an otherwise incoherent book somewhat readable.
I am a little unsure what the point of this book actually is. On one hand, Jubber claims he is trying to follow Leo Africanus, the 16th century Spanish traveller who travelled extensively in Europe and Africa, and was both Christian and Muslim at different points of his life. But the subtitle says he is following in the wake of the jihadis, which I assumed to mean that he is trying to explore how these terrorists changed the region. He himself claims he wanted to follow the salt caravans through the desert, but was unable to due to the violence in the region. But what Jubber actually did was some absolutely random stuff of his own.
Jubber spends months in Morocco doing god knows what, hanging around in the tanneries of Fes with some guys, who have nothing whatsoever to do with the premise of the book. He goes all over the place, goes back and forth, and completely butchers his own narrative in an attempt to stuff every single thing he knows into the book. He does not manage to bring out a proper evocation of the region and the nomadic life in its full flavour, but I did learn a few things.
I would say this is a book with a very interesting topic and good research, but very badly written with apparently no editing at all.
November 2, 2016
I wasn't gripped by this book, but I'm glad I read it - now I know just how little I know about the complexity of the Saharan region, in terms of the sheer multitude of tribes, cultures and battles that it has been host to. I struggled to remember the names of all the rulers, rebels and tribes but it's thrilling to once again be reminded of just how much human history there is.
Eye-opening aside, I did have issues with the way the book was written. It was often ambiguous as to where chapters sat in relation to each other chronologically, "is this before he went to 'nomad school'?" etc. The prose could be beautiful and vivid but almost as often, overblown - what does a "flinty shrug" look like??
If you're looking for a book that specifically discusses the origin of many modern jihadist groups, this one certainly provides a good introduction (there's a particularly great paragraph about jihadists in Iraq in which Jubber conjures the allegory of a virus, without ever mentioning "virus"). It's only one element of the book, but within this Jubber invokes comparisons between modern day and historical jihadists, and explores the conditions (both environmental and cultural) that have created the former.
Eye-opening aside, I did have issues with the way the book was written. It was often ambiguous as to where chapters sat in relation to each other chronologically, "is this before he went to 'nomad school'?" etc. The prose could be beautiful and vivid but almost as often, overblown - what does a "flinty shrug" look like??
If you're looking for a book that specifically discusses the origin of many modern jihadist groups, this one certainly provides a good introduction (there's a particularly great paragraph about jihadists in Iraq in which Jubber conjures the allegory of a virus, without ever mentioning "virus"). It's only one element of the book, but within this Jubber invokes comparisons between modern day and historical jihadists, and explores the conditions (both environmental and cultural) that have created the former.
June 5, 2017
A man walks into the desert to discover the legendary Timbuktu.
Visit the locations in the bookTimbuktu
I was lucky enough to chat to the author and he wrote a lovely piece on his travels - this is a very personal and unique read. I don't know many people who have been here and it seems like a unique choice so I wanted to read it, and chat to the author about it. So many stories in this tiny country!
Visit the locations in the bookTimbuktu
I was lucky enough to chat to the author and he wrote a lovely piece on his travels - this is a very personal and unique read. I don't know many people who have been here and it seems like a unique choice so I wanted to read it, and chat to the author about it. So many stories in this tiny country!
June 1, 2017
I suppose most any journey that puts one's life in peril can be called existential. Here's a brave soul, an Englishman, who did it. By bus, train, pickup truck, boat and donkey cart he traveled from Fez, Morocco, to Timbuktu in the Sahara desert. Despite his white skin he is accepted by the mostly Arabic populace, sometimes to great amusement on their part. He gamely swallows fetid food and dances with them. He'd visited Timbuktu earlier, but then came a jihad that terrorized the city. It was battered on three fronts between Tureg secessionists, Islamic militants and a French-led pan-African army. Now his goal is to revisit the city now that it is free. His route roughly parallels the Atlantic coast to Mauritania before it turns inward. Along the way he experiences desperate people scrambling for survival, bureaucratic obstructionists and benevolent Islamic power. In the end: "What a joy it is to be out here, out in the Sahara, the heat of the beast [camel] warming your thighs, the wind dancing in the stubble grass, dunes cresting in the distance, the earth and sky exchanging one another's light, melding in a pearly, lemony tapestry of graduating horizontal bands. This is life … this is nature…. this is IT!" Existential, indeed!
October 19, 2025
Nicolas Jubber is an enthousiastic traveller and story teller. You feel his -at moments- almost child-like passion come through during his journey and in between the interesting history of nomadism and recent dangers in the Sahara desert.
October 12, 2021
Exquisite writing - A story driven by a dreaming
In this book I encounter a world that I too once dreamed of. Excitement, enquiry and a thirst for knowledge were all satisfied in the turning of each page. Here was a world I knew nothing about when I began to read but Nicholas opens our eyes and understanding to it all. I read with joy, exhilaration, sadness and tears as well as optimism. This is no sentimental telling of a journey, it is beautiful, stark and especially objective in its narrative. A masterpiece that towers over any travel book I have ever read. For all lovers of travel, this book is a must-have.
In this book I encounter a world that I too once dreamed of. Excitement, enquiry and a thirst for knowledge were all satisfied in the turning of each page. Here was a world I knew nothing about when I began to read but Nicholas opens our eyes and understanding to it all. I read with joy, exhilaration, sadness and tears as well as optimism. This is no sentimental telling of a journey, it is beautiful, stark and especially objective in its narrative. A masterpiece that towers over any travel book I have ever read. For all lovers of travel, this book is a must-have.
September 1, 2016
Like the author I have always felt that the ships of the desert and the journeys they make in caravans have a mystique; unlike him I don't have the balls to walk into Timbuktu as jihadists are seizing it and preparing to burn the historic manuscripts and impose shariah.
I certainly felt that I learned a great deal about the causes of strife in West Africa and the tensions between nomadic and sedentary peoples there. There was a clear sense of pursuing the footsteps of Leo Africanus and like him illuminating an area of great ignorance for most of us.
I certainly felt that I learned a great deal about the causes of strife in West Africa and the tensions between nomadic and sedentary peoples there. There was a clear sense of pursuing the footsteps of Leo Africanus and like him illuminating an area of great ignorance for most of us.
November 19, 2022
A good travelogue about Western Africa is long overdue and although this one focussing on the nomads of Morocco, Mauritania and Mail starts slowly, it second half is very engaging. The author has researched history with passion; his language competency allows some wonderful vignettes from his adventures. The politics is covered well and his writing quite evocative. Structuring the story around his Timbuktu camel management lessons works quite well. I particularly enjoyed his focus on Mail, a land I love and also Mauritania, rarely reached.
March 13, 2018
After reading the last page, I felt like I've watched 5 minutes of a bad and boring documentation. The best pages of the book are the photo pages in the middle.
Too bad, but it turned out to be one of these books that catch you with a trendy and modern cover and then you have to realize: that's all.
Too bad, but it turned out to be one of these books that catch you with a trendy and modern cover and then you have to realize: that's all.
May 26, 2017
The book just did not work for me. The people the author met seem to have been fascinating to him but they all blur together for me. Partly this is my fault since the foreign names blend together for me and at some point I just did not care enough to work on keeping them separate.
August 19, 2017
Wanna Wander
The book is an invitation for a nice wandering in between several marvelous places. From Morroco to Mali. Even though knowingly dangerous , I am ready to go.
The book is an invitation for a nice wandering in between several marvelous places. From Morroco to Mali. Even though knowingly dangerous , I am ready to go.
April 17, 2019
I thought this a great book offering an rare insight into nomadic life in the dessert rarely seen by visitors.
November 22, 2025
What an incredible book. I thought I knew a fair amount about the ethnicities and tribes of the western Sahel, but Nicholas Jubber really lived that knowledge. What an incredible solo trip; a trip that rose above even the most adventurous "backpacking" due to the high level of research that obviously informed it. It made me think about my aimless traipse through some of the same regions, and how un-researched and un-prepared I was. He definitely did what I had halfway envisioned doing, and obviously had done exponentially more planning prior to doing so.
Great quote from one of Jubber’s friends/informants:
“‘It is true,' said Sandy, 'many have left this life. But I will never leave it. To leave this life is to scorn the life of my parents, to say there is something superior to that life. Of course, we can do things to improve. We should educate our children, so they can understand better how to treat the animals, how to work with people in the city. But that doesn't mean we should abandon this life. To be a Tuareg is to be a herder.
We are free and independent. We walk differently from the people in the town. Our life is a good one, as long as there is pasture, water and security. It is the best life I know.'"
– Sandy Ag Mostapha, quoted by Nicholas Jubber, The Timbuktu School for Nomads, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2016, pgs. 296-297.
Great quote from one of Jubber’s friends/informants:
“‘It is true,' said Sandy, 'many have left this life. But I will never leave it. To leave this life is to scorn the life of my parents, to say there is something superior to that life. Of course, we can do things to improve. We should educate our children, so they can understand better how to treat the animals, how to work with people in the city. But that doesn't mean we should abandon this life. To be a Tuareg is to be a herder.
We are free and independent. We walk differently from the people in the town. Our life is a good one, as long as there is pasture, water and security. It is the best life I know.'"
– Sandy Ag Mostapha, quoted by Nicholas Jubber, The Timbuktu School for Nomads, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2016, pgs. 296-297.
January 19, 2024
Girl I ain’t ever read a footnote
August 6, 2024
The author is not a good writer and it makes it really hard to read this book, badly written. Did discontinue.
Do not recommend to anyone interested in the region.
Do not recommend to anyone interested in the region.
January 17, 2019
Meine Meinung
Die Wüste fastziniert mich sehr, seit ich sie das erste Mal erleben, spüren und atmen durfte! Diese wundersamen Hügel aus Sand, die sich ständig wandeln, dir das Laufen erschweren und dich zu deinem inneren Kern bringen, da es dort nicht viel Ablenkung gibt. Umso gespannter war ich zu erfahren, was der Autor über die Wüste und seine Erlebnisse auf der Reise bis nach Timbuktu in Mali zu erzählen weiß. Welche Lektionen gibt uns die Wüste?
Wir erfahren von der schon kindlichen Faszination Jubbers für die Wüste. Sein Unterfangen, als Europäer durch so viele arabische und afrikanische Länder zu reisen, ist nicht von jetzt auf nacher umsetzbar. Der Arabische Frühling macht ihm einen Strich durch die Rechnung, terroristische Gruppen sind eine Gefahr, Stammesrituale und Regeln für Menschen, die mit den Nomaden / Beduinen in Kontakt treten wollen müssen beachtet werden unvm. Er muss sich organisieren, vieles bedenken und doch geht es irgendwann los.
Auf seiner Reise erlebt er sehr viel Spannedes aber auch viel Elend. Dabei stellt er Vergleiche zu Leo Africanus an, der ebenfalls die Sahara bis nach Timbuktu bereiste und dies in seinem Werkt Descrittione dell’Africa veröffentlichte. So kann man auch als Leser kleine Einblicke in die Unterschiede oder die Gemeinsamkeiten der Reisen feststellen, zwischen denen fünf Jahrhunderte liegen.
Was mir sehr gut gefallen hat ist, dass Nicholas Jubber seine Reise und seine Erlebnise nicht verklärt. Offen erzählte er über Missstände und Zustände. Aufgelockert wird alles durch einige schöne, bunte Bilder, die auf der Reise entstanden sind.
Warum der Verlag diesen Titel gewählt hat, erschließt sich mir nicht ganz. Denn aufgrund des Titels hatte ich eine etwas andere Vorstellung (zur Gliederung) des Reiseberichts. Am Ende jedes Kapitels wird kurz auf die jeweilige Lektion eingegangen, die ich mir jedoch anders vorgestellt hatte.
Ganz toll fand ich am Ende des Buches Erklärungen zu vielen arabischen Begriffen, die der Autor im Bericht verwendet.
Fazit
Im Großen und Ganzen ist dies ein schöner und umfassender Reisebericht, der dem Leser die karge Wüste und das Leben mit ihr und darin zeigt. Es gibt viel zu lernen. Nach diesem Buch fühlt man sich den Nomaden etwas näher und beginnt sie zu verstehen. Doch leider konnte ich Jubbers Liebe und Begeisterung für die Wüste nicht richtig erfühlen. Desahlb konnte mich sein Reisebericht auch irgendwie nicht richtig mitreißen, obwohl er voller Informationen ist.
Die Wüste fastziniert mich sehr, seit ich sie das erste Mal erleben, spüren und atmen durfte! Diese wundersamen Hügel aus Sand, die sich ständig wandeln, dir das Laufen erschweren und dich zu deinem inneren Kern bringen, da es dort nicht viel Ablenkung gibt. Umso gespannter war ich zu erfahren, was der Autor über die Wüste und seine Erlebnisse auf der Reise bis nach Timbuktu in Mali zu erzählen weiß. Welche Lektionen gibt uns die Wüste?
Wir erfahren von der schon kindlichen Faszination Jubbers für die Wüste. Sein Unterfangen, als Europäer durch so viele arabische und afrikanische Länder zu reisen, ist nicht von jetzt auf nacher umsetzbar. Der Arabische Frühling macht ihm einen Strich durch die Rechnung, terroristische Gruppen sind eine Gefahr, Stammesrituale und Regeln für Menschen, die mit den Nomaden / Beduinen in Kontakt treten wollen müssen beachtet werden unvm. Er muss sich organisieren, vieles bedenken und doch geht es irgendwann los.
Auf seiner Reise erlebt er sehr viel Spannedes aber auch viel Elend. Dabei stellt er Vergleiche zu Leo Africanus an, der ebenfalls die Sahara bis nach Timbuktu bereiste und dies in seinem Werkt Descrittione dell’Africa veröffentlichte. So kann man auch als Leser kleine Einblicke in die Unterschiede oder die Gemeinsamkeiten der Reisen feststellen, zwischen denen fünf Jahrhunderte liegen.
Was mir sehr gut gefallen hat ist, dass Nicholas Jubber seine Reise und seine Erlebnise nicht verklärt. Offen erzählte er über Missstände und Zustände. Aufgelockert wird alles durch einige schöne, bunte Bilder, die auf der Reise entstanden sind.
Warum der Verlag diesen Titel gewählt hat, erschließt sich mir nicht ganz. Denn aufgrund des Titels hatte ich eine etwas andere Vorstellung (zur Gliederung) des Reiseberichts. Am Ende jedes Kapitels wird kurz auf die jeweilige Lektion eingegangen, die ich mir jedoch anders vorgestellt hatte.
Ganz toll fand ich am Ende des Buches Erklärungen zu vielen arabischen Begriffen, die der Autor im Bericht verwendet.
Fazit
Im Großen und Ganzen ist dies ein schöner und umfassender Reisebericht, der dem Leser die karge Wüste und das Leben mit ihr und darin zeigt. Es gibt viel zu lernen. Nach diesem Buch fühlt man sich den Nomaden etwas näher und beginnt sie zu verstehen. Doch leider konnte ich Jubbers Liebe und Begeisterung für die Wüste nicht richtig erfühlen. Desahlb konnte mich sein Reisebericht auch irgendwie nicht richtig mitreißen, obwohl er voller Informationen ist.
December 4, 2016
I was a winner of this book on Goodreads. I like to travel a lot and like Mr. Jubber also drawn towards the desert. The pull is strong. I like the feeling of solitude that the desert brings, although it typically is not as lonely as one would think. This is a book of travels to Morocco, Mauritania, and Mali through some exotic lands and cities with names that roll off the tongue. He meets some really interesting people along the way, which is one of many of the benefits of travelling for sure. It makes me want to go there and do some exploration on my own some day soon.
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