Wild Coast : Travels on South America's Untamed Edge

by Gimlette, John

• ISBN13: 9780307272539
• ISBN10: 0307272532
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-21
• Publisher: Knopf

Summary

As he did for Paraguay in At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig(#x1C;a raucous blend of history, travelogue, and guide#x1D;- Cond#xE9; Nast Traveler),John Gimlette now does for South America#x19;s far-flung Guianese coast. Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana are among the least-known places in South America and, in John Gimlette#x19;s hands, among the most wildly intriguing. He takes us deep into this remote edge of the world, vividly describing the stilt-sitting coastal towns; torrential, often impassable rivers (there are literally thousands); and forests so dense that even today there are no roads through them. He reveals the region#x19;s surprisingly bloody history-including the infamous cult suicide at Jonestown-and introduces us to its inhabitants: from the world#x19;s largest ants to fluorescent purple frogs; from indigenous tribes who still live by sorcery to descendants of African slaves, Dutch conquerors, Hmong refugees, Irish adventurers, and Scottish outlaws; from high-tech pirates to hapless pioneers for whom this stunning, strangely beautiful world (#x1C;a sort of X-rated Garden of Eden#x1D;) has become home by choice or by force. A fabulously entertaining, eye-popping journey.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Town of George	p. 11
The Town of Jones	p. 53
The Golden Rupununi	p. 85
A Parliament of Ants	p. 137
The Bloody Berbice	p. 163
Good Morning, Suriname	p. 189
Paramaribo	p. 213
The Hinterlands	p. 237
The Last of the Colonies: Guyane	p. 287
Epilogue	p. 331
Afterword	p. 339
Sources	p. 341
Acknowledgements	p. 347
List of Illustrations	p. 349
Index	p. 351
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