ACHUKA Book of the Day 26 Jun 2020
From time to time we recommend a title aimed at adults that we believe will be of interest to the ACHUKA readership.
I loved reading true accounts by explorers and scientists when I was a boy, borrowing books randomly from both the adult and children’s shelves at two different public libraries. Everyone loves lemurs, and a good number of teenagers dream of a career studying wildlife. This book would make a good gift for any young person with such an aspiration.
It’s a memoir and an exotic adventure story, a surprise journey of self-discovery, and a deeply personal appreciation of a place that’s unlike any other. At age twenty-five, Canadian graduate student Keriann McGoogan traveled into the wilds of Madagascar to study lemurs in their natural habitat and to set up a permanent field site in the remote northwest–a site to which she could later return to do research for her PhD in biological anthropology. Despite careful planning, the trip spiraled out of control. Food poisoning, harrowing backcountry roads, grueling hikes, challenging local politics, malaria, and an emergency evacuation would turn a simple reconnaissance into an epic adventure.
Keriann McGoogan has a doctorate in biological anthropology and a master’s in primatology. Today, while holding down a day job, McGoogan volunteers as a board member for Planet Madagascar, a nonprofit that aims to conserve Madagascar’s unique biodiversity while also helping the local Malagasy people.
