Title: Journeys to the Other Side of the World: Further Adventures of a Young Naturalist
Author: David Attenborough
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Conservation, Non-fiction
Dates read: 7th December 2018 – 14th January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Two Roads
Year: 2018
5th sentence, 74th page: There seemed very few people around Kumburuf from whom we could recruit replacements, but Jim said that there would be plenty about in a day or so.

Following the success of the original Zoo Quest expeditions, in the late 1950s onwards the young David Attenborough embarked on further travels in a very different part of the world. From Madagascar and New Guinea to the Pacific Islands and the Northern Territory of Australia, he and his cameraman companion were aiming to record not just the wildlife, but the way of life of some of the indigenous people of these regions, whose traditions had never been encountered by most of the British public before.

From the land divers of Pentecost Island and the sing-sings of New Guinea, to a Royal Kava Ceremony on Tonga and the ancient art of the Northern Territory, it is a journey like no other. Alongside these remarkable cultures, he encounters paradise birds, chameleons, sifakas, and many more animals in some of the most unqiue environments on the planet.

Written with David Attenborough’s characteristic charm, humour and warmth, Journeys to the Other Side of the World is an inimitable adventure among people, places and the wildest of wildlife.

I almost screamed when I found out that David Attenborough had released yet another book. After all, the man is honestly my idol and I find it impossible to pass up anything that involves his work. Not only do I love finding out more about a man who has a lot to do with my choice in career path, but I also love the style in which he writes. He is funny and entertaining. And the beautiful way in which he writes transports you to another world and another time.

Where Adventures of a Young Naturalist takes you on the first few zoo quest expeditions and the animals that they encountered, Journeys to the Other Side of the World has more of a focus on the people that were encountered. And I loved this change of pace. Although it is the animal and conservation aspect of Attenborough’s work that I have always been obsessed with, the anthropologist in me is enthralled by the cultures that are encountered. Especially considering that this would have been at least fifty years ago, so the changes that would have occurred have made many of these places and peoples change entirely.

I’m so incredibly disappointed that this book is over. I loved going through the Pacific Islands, Madagascar and Australia. Especially considering it was such a different time, and even if I followed in David’s footsteps, I wouldn’t be able to see half of the things that he had. It’s a different world, a different time, and a different place. And one that I found incredibly fun and intriguing.

Image source: Hachette Australia