An experienced travel guide reflects on the wonders and dangers of East Africa as he recounts his encounters with the natural beauty of Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Uganda and describes the devastating and deadly 1999 attack by Rwandan guerrillas on a tour group he was leading in Uganda. First serial, Talk magazine. Ross was born and raised in the U.S. but longed for and dreamed of Africa. After college he moved to Kenya and became a full-time safari guide, leading tourists to the best views of the resident wildlife and teaching them about the ecology of East Africa. This idyllic life changed dramatically in March 1999, when Rwandan rebels kidnapped him and four safari clients, along with other tourists, in Uganda. By the end of the day, two of his clients and six others had been murdered and the rest traumatized and brutalized. The horror of this experience totally changed Ross. The events of March 1999 form the beginning and the end of his narrative, bracketing a moving account of a life spent doing what one loves most. Ross tells of how he came to Africa, what life is like on an extended safari, and of the numerous animals he and his clients observed. The immediacy of this memoir will linger long after it is read. Nancy Bent Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Amazing memoir...with gorgeous detail." -- The Stranger, Seattle "High adventure [that] leaves the reader breathless. Filled with loving descriptions...framed by wrenching sorrow." -- USA Today "[Mark Ross's] memoir moves well beyond the tragic events that inspired it to give a visceral sense of Africa's ambiguities." -- Outside magazine A harrowing and somewhat surreal account of life on the distant fringes of civilization. -- Kirkus Reviews Mark C. Ross spent his summers in the mountains of Montana, Wyoming, and Washington, working as forest fire fighter before moving to Africa and becoming a full time guide based in Kenya. He has been working as a guide and pilot for over twenty years. He spends part of each year in Colorado. His original essay, "The Last Safari", first appeared in Talk magazine, and was included in The Best American Travel Writing, 2000, edited by Bill Bryson.