Africa on Six Wheels: A Semester on Safari

Levitov's unique, lyrical memoir of three months in Africa leading a group of University of Nebraska students deserves a wide audience. English professor Levitov, a seasoned traveler, doesn't simply know Africa well, she knows how to write about it, capturing an exquisite sense of place in just a few words, and making the countries they visit—Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa and especially Malawi—pop off the page. Just as keen is her genius for capturing the personalities of her traveling companions and those they meet: student Sean, who fights malaria; Misha, who befriends a Nairobi boat captain; Gavin, their fearless, rock-solid driver; and Sonja, always the Africans' first choice for dancing. The Africans they encounter are just as memorable, especially Mr. Chiuma, whom Levitov befriends in Malawi; he insists she take one of his two chairs as a gift. Interacting with and learning about their “joyous, happy, and thankful” African hosts, Levitov develops her pedagogic rationale for dragging 16 white kids across the dark continent: “the generosity of spirit I see again and again among people who have so little... [is] a way of being that we Westerners, in our wild strivings to progress and excel, have lost.” How pleasurable for readers that Levitov has managed to capture that beautiful African spirit in this fine travelogue. (Apr.)