'For those who have been willing to spend time there, South America is the most amazing landmass of the planet. Wild chaotic scenery, wonderful beaches, unparalled mountain ranges, the planet’s densest forests and a riot of wildlife. Not to mention the people. Each country has a different people, one who listens to and responds to a different drumming, a different beat. These differences are not obvious on a first acquaintance. It requires time, close observance, an openness to different cultures from that of the visitor to realize there is a richness that will pass unnoticed by those who think their culture is the best. It requires time to realize there is no “best.” Pat’s book takes us to a South America that no longer exists. It spans those years immediately before the internet, when a phonecall via a crackly earpiece was the only way of spanning thousands of kilometres.

Social media didn’t exist, no-one had a mobile phone, and many South American families had a bed, a table and chairs, a gas stove, maybe a fridge and not too much else. The story of the eight months that Pat and Chris, who would become his wife, spent in six countries of South America are told in this important and engaging book. The different feel of each country and its people are offered to us as we accompany them in their travels. The interminable bus journeys, the dust and heat of the deserts, the excitement of jungle travel, the fear that an overloaded canoe might catapult its passengers into a crocodile and piranha-infested inky blackness - we can feel it all as we accompany them. The friendliness of so many people, the canopy of the heavens at night, the kaleidoscope of so many new and different experiences - they are all here for us to read and perhaps ponder upon.

Their trip was extraordinary in so many ways. They made a point of visiting remote places difficult of access, rarely visited by foreigners, well off the normal tourist itinerary. Today, with instant access to the whole world, it is difficult to realize how adventurous and trail-blazing was their immersion in such different realities. Eight months is a long time to spend in cultures very different from one’s own. Pat and Christine are to be congratulated for having been able to bear the cold and heat, the ups and downs of such an extended stay with an attitude in which the positives far outweighed the inevitable negatives. For those of us who have lived in South America for many years, their journey and insights bring us back to the wonderful, swirling and indescribable realities that are – South America.'

Michael Mahoney SM