The late Bruce Chatwin, author of In Patagonia and one of the most influential figures in our niche world of travel writing, had a theory that humans are instinctively nomadic. After reading through the pages of this issue, I’m seeing evidence to support his idea: humans happily meander all over place in our major features. You’ll find them boarding the Rocky Mountaineer rail service to embark on a dramatic wilderness-ogling journey, departing from Vancouver, Canada (p86). They take to the road to follow the banks of a river – the mighty Mississippi – in search of the music and literature at the heart of the culture of the USA (p76). And they swap between light aircraft, Landcruisers and foot to observe – as our distant ancestors also would have – arguably Nature’s greatest spectacle, the migration of wildebeest and zebras from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya (p62). I’d best grab this chance to advise that you’ll need a strong stomach to read certain passages in Deputy Editor Amanda Canning’s atmospheric story, in which she reveals the diverse, occasionally disturbing talents of the co-stars of the migration: the lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs and African wild dogs.
PHOTOGRAPHS: JONATHAN GREGSON, RUSH JAGOE, ROCKY MOUNTAINEERi
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