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A single swallow : following an epic journey from South Africa to South Wales / Horatio Clare.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: London : Chatto & Windus, 2009.Description: 327 pages : maps ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780701183127 (hbk.)
  • 9780701183134 (pbk.)
  • 0701183128 (hbk.)
Subject(s):
Contents:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 598.826 CLA 1 Checked out 04/04/2024 T00515830
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A journey of 6,000 miles across two continents and fourteen countries is nothing to swallows: they do it twice a year. But for a writer and birdwatcher, this is the expedition of a lifetime. By trains, cars, buses, motorbikes, trucks, canoes, planes, one camel and three ships, Horatio Clare followed migrating swallows (Hirundo rustica) from reed beds outside Bloemfontein, where millions roost in February, to a barn in Wales, where a pair nest in May. From the slums of Cape Town to the palaces of Algiers, through Pygmy villages where pineapples grow wild, to the Gulf of Guinea where the sea blazes with oil flares, A Single Swallow is a journey through the modern world to the tune of an ancient rhythm. It is a story of old empires and modern tribes, of the horrors of power and the wonders of kindness. It includes a witch-doctor's recipe for stewed swallow, explains how to travel without money or a passport, describes a terrifying incident involving three Spanish soldiers and a tiny orange dog, betrays several swallow secrets and proves that Wales exists only because of Ryan Giggs. It also tests the wisdom of an ancient piece of hearsay: the Zulus say that those who follow the swallows never come back . . . Magical, inspiring, beautifully written with passion and purpose, A Single Swallow is a thrilling book about the intersection of the natural and the human worlds, sending shivers down the spine and lifting the heart.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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