Angry Wind by Jeffrey Tayler

 

In 2005, travel writer Jeffrey Tayler went to Africa and traveled the Sahel which is the lower half of the Sahara Desert.  It is a barren, unwelcoming place and the people are mostly Muslim.  There are areas that are quite fundamentalist with strict Sahari law and other places that are more relaxed.  Regardless, in almost every place he went, the American government was disliked and scorned.  

Tayler traveled as the native people did.  He used taxis, moped, camels, small boats and cars with huge holes in the floors.  The travel almost always took more time than he expected and he often had to pay extra at borders to get his passport stamped.  The annual wind was blowing and there was constant dust and debris.  Food was sometimes wonderful but often poverty level as he ate with those he traveled with.  

One thing that was surprising was that he encountered slaves in several places.  In some places, it was a remnant of slavery with two distinct classes, nobles and slaves who never intermarried even if the slavery was not in place anymore.  In other areas, there was slavery where the people enslaved worked for those who were the masters.  Although outlawed, in the rural areas there is no one to report it to and no one to enforce the laws against it and it endures.

Jeffrey Tayler was the Russian correspondent for The Atlantic for many years and also contributed to NPR's All Things Considered.  He has written eight travel books, mainly focusing on Russia and Africa.  In this book, he discusses the disparity between other countries and the bleak existence he encountered in these areas of Africa and how it is the foundation for an eventual uprising and revolution.  This book is recommended for readers who enjoy travel writing.