Mini Book Review: Crazy River

Crazy River by Richard Grant

With a reckless curiosity, Grant sets out to raft an unexplored river in Tanzania. Arriving in Zanzibar he makes his way to the mainland with the help of a local street smarts golf pro. As Grant travels East Africa, he relates the history of East Africa through the travels of Burton and Speke in the 19th century. He also relates an abbreviated story of the travels of Stanley and Livingston.

After running the river, he explores and speaks with the locals of Burundi and Rwanda -- the scene of genocides in 1994. He arranges an interview with the Rawandan president who operates as dictator to keep peace in the country. Checking with the Rawandan peoples, they say that if the president were to die tomorrow, the genocide would begin once again.

Throughout the book, Grant questions the continuing aid and handouts to the East African countries. In spite of the thievery, corruption, and encountered diseases, Grant survives to the end to write his view of East Africa -- where it was and where it may be going.