The Ukimwi Road

The Ukimwi Road is the riveting account of renowned traveler Dervla Murphy's most intrepid journey yet - 3,000 miles by bicycle through the heart of sub-Saharan Africa, a region that has recently drawn the world's attention as an epicenter of the AIDS epidemic (ukimwi is Swahili for AIDS). Along her route - from Kenya through Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia to Zimbabwe - Dervla Murphy observed the harrowing problems of the people among whom she traveled. She witnessed the devastating effects of AIDS, drought and economic collapse on the land, as well as the skepticism of Africans about Western "development projects" and "aid schemes" which promise so much but deliver so little. She also discovered a wide range of reactions to AIDS, which has reached epidemic proportions in Africa, and which poses a new and mysterious threat to traditional family life.