Murphy, DervlaIN ETHIOPIA WITH A MULEJohn Murray (286 pp.)$15.95June 15, 2004ISBN: 0-7195-6511-1

A travel memoir much unlike the usual breed of travel books.

A map outlining Dervla Murphy’s travels in Ethiopia leads off the book, giving the reader a preview of the coming pages. Various lines criss-cross to and fro across Ethiopia, indicating the modes of travel Murphy utilized, ranging from jet plane to foot, and also including treks by bus, Land Rover, truck and a mule named Jock. Ethiopia is located in Africa, near the coast; the modern version of the country is about five times the size of Britain, with a 500-mile coastline bordered by the Red Sea. Ethiopia lies a mere 250 miles from the Equator, divided into fourteen provinces with exotic names such as Tigre, Wollo, and Begemdir. Murphy’s journey takes place in the Ethiopia of nearly 40 years ago, in 1966-1967. She prepared for the trip in December of 1966, in the coastal city of Massawah. Her “walking tour” backpack weighed fifty pounds and included essentials such as a one pound water bottle, medical supplies, half-a-dozen notebooks, Husky jackets, pants and socks and a strong pair of boots. Non-essentials included a Shakespeare anthology, Tom Jones and W.E. Carr’s Poetry of The Middle Ages. Her long trek covers many miles, over a period of a little over 3 months. She writes of the trip in diary style, with an entry for each date. Some of the entries are short and rather abrupt, while others go into long, rambling detail. All provide absorbing descriptions of the people, places and customs of this far-away African country. Her sharp, vivid descriptions bring the native people to life; for instance, one paragraph describes “fly-covered infants” and the “filthy bare-footed throng.” Most appealing of all are her honest descriptions of her own feelings and experiences against the backdrop of a place that is totally alien to her in the beginning. Murphy makes herself an integral part of the narrative, and makes no attempt to build herself up in the process. She’s not a heroic figure, simply a woman who has a yen for traveling and is determined to add Ethiopia to her long list of strange and exotic lands she has crossed.

A travel memoir that is actually interesting to read.