An account of the perilous 3600-mile journey - without compass or map - across the vast Amazonian Basin, from the Andes of north-west South America through the tropical jungles of the lowlands to the dense forests of the Mato Grosso in Brazil. In February 1993 Benedict Allen became the first Westener to make the crossing at its widest point. Benedict Allen's plan in setting out to cross the Amazon Basin was to place his life in the hands of the remote Matses, the "jaguar people" - Indians who aspired to all the grace and strength of the powerful cat, tatooing their faces with jaguar stripes and placing bamboo spikes in their no0ses to resemble whiskers. From the foothills of the Ecuadorian volcano Cotopaxi he descended into Columbia and "forbidden" cocaine traffikers' country. Eluding a hitman from a drug gang, he entered Peru and made contact with the Matses. For two months he was taught how to make hunting traps and learnt the properties of plants. Then Benedict, jokingly dubbed "The Man Without fear" by the Indians, had to put his newly acquired knowledge knowledgr to the test.

Through Jaguar Eyes: Crossing the Amazon Basin

Benedict Allen

Travel

HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd

This is Benedict Allen's first book - a tale of triumphs, mishaps, dangers and sheer bloody-minded endurance but, at another level, an exploration of the Amazon's dark themes of allurement and exploitation. At the age of 22, inspired by a youthful aspiration to be an explorer, Allen set out to travel from the mouth of the Orinoco to the mouth of the Amazon. But as he stumbled through the Amazonian jungle, he was soon confronted by the harsh reality of his isolation in the midst of potentially perilous territory. Mercifully, the experience of living in the rainforest among indigenous Indians taught him how to survive - a skill of which he soon found himself to be in considerable and urgent need.

Mad White Giant

Faber&Faber

This is the story of Benedict Allen's extraordinary quest to immerse himself in the heart of New Guinea, and learn the secrets of the people's harmonious communion with the forest. Living among missionaries in West Papua, he heard talk of the mysterious Obini, and set out on an arduous journey to meet them - only to find himself fleeing for his life in the jungle. Undeterred, he sought out members of a tribal crocodile cult who would permit him to take part in their traditional initiation rites into manhood, and finally became the first white man to be honoured with this privilege. But this was the beginning of a punishing ordeal, as Allen joined his fellow initiates in seclusion for weeks, enduring crocodile markings being carved into their skins, until finally, pushed to the limits of endurance, they came to embody the "crocodile spirit".

Into the Crocodile Nest : A Journey Inside New Guinea

From the vast island of Sumatra, Benedict Allen brings back the strangest of travellers' tales concerning black-maned ape-men as Theodore Hull - octogenarian survivor of Japanese labour camps - entices him onto the trail of the Gugu. A tangle of folktales leads Allen to the aboriginal Kubu people who can guide him into the highlands where the ape-men screech all night long, shaking every fibre of the forest. But the twentieth century is encroaching, and Kubu say that the Gugus' rage can no longer be appeased by traditional gifts of tobacco. Allen ventures into the dark, living forest, watched by unseen eyes . . .

Hunting the Gugu

Into the Abyss

Faber and Faber Limited

The Proving Grounds

Australia & South Pacific

Flamingo

The author recounts his experiences exploring the South American jungle between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers and describes how he was forced to flee for his life from his former guides

Travel Writing

Futura Publications

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Benedict Allen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Benedict Allen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Benedict Allen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Through Jaguar Eyes: Crossing the Amazon Basin

Mad White Giant

Into the Crocodile Nest : A Journey Inside New Guinea

Hunting the Gugu

Into the Abyss

The Proving Grounds

Mad White Giant