Book Review: *African Chronicles* by Fernando Duclos

Hi! We really miss traveling, don't we?

I can’t wait to experience that wonderful excitement of searching for tickets, checking layovers, comparing prices, and that delightful thrill when you book them! I can’t wait to create a Google Drive spreadsheet and start organizing hotels, flights, and trains (yes, I love making spreadsheets)! I can’t wait to be at the airport and feel that wonderful thrust as the plane takes off!

I hope we’ll soon be able to dream of trips and flights again… but while we wait, we can travel a little through reading.

Lately, I’ve been reading *African Chronicles* by Fernando Duclos. Fernando Duclos is an Argentine writer, well-known on Twitter as @Periodistán (I recommend following him because he posts some incredible threads), and in this book he recounts his 8-month journey through Africa.

The chronicles begin in Addis Ababa, and with a fresh perspective, free from prejudice and preconceptions, we journey alongside the author through various African countries and cities. Ethiopia, Somaliland, Burundi, Zimbabwe, safaris, khat, and impromptu soccer matches… the stories are an invitation to travel to incredible places and immerse ourselves in a part of African history, current events, and culture.

It’s refreshing to read a narrative free from the condescending view we often have of Africa, and with each chronicle, we feel the author’s emotions and sensations as he encounters each new destination. A beautiful way to travel a little!

The physical book isn’t available in Uruguay, but you can buy it on Amazon for the Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Fernando-Duclos-ebook/dp/B07XZG7G49

In 2020, Fernando Duclos published a new book, *Un argentino en la ruta de la seda* (An Argentine on the Silk Road), in which he travels through Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. This book isn’t available as an ebook yet, but it also looks very interesting. As soon as it’s available, I’ll be reading it!

See you next time!