At the Mercy of the River: An Exploration of the Last African Wilderness.

To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Maybe freedom really is nothing left to lose. You had it once in childhood, when it was okay to climb a tree, to paint a crazy picture and wipe out on your bike, to get hurt. The spirit of risk gradually takes its leave. It follows the wild cries of joy and pain down the wind, through the hedgerow, growing ever fainter. What was that sound? A dog barking far off? That was our life calling to us, the one that was vigorous and undefended and curious.

so important to the future of space exploration and space travel.

To see him ski is to see fluidity, as if he were a droplet of water trickling down a rough plaster wall.

[A sane person would have turned down the assignment.] And all this risk for what? ... To satisfy my selfish sense of curiosity? To write a magazine article?