A fantastic book on so many levels,being social,cultural and economic. Part "Lord of the flies" with an excursion into the continuing Aids crisis. Part indictment of the international aid organizations and their ultimate impotency. Part journey into the pain of love and loss and the trials of growing old.A treatise on the probable inability to relive the past no matter how beautiful the original experience. This is a book to smell and feel Africa and at the same time experience the differing viewpoints of the rich and the poor, the fed and the hungry, the traveler and the resident, and the huge clash of 1st and 3rd world outlooks. 5 star book!