THE TRAIL TO KANJIROBA

A self-reflective journey from despair that the Earth is dying to the realization that even a world irrevocably changed by humanity is beautiful and worth protecting.

It is easy to fear the future when the air is heating up, the seas are rising, and species are disappearing in the ongoing sixth extinction. But where there is hope—not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that it makes sense, regardless of the outcome—there is a reason to care. In his latest, Pulitzer Prize finalist deBuys brings many of the most appealing attributes of memoir and travel and nature writing to bear on humanity’s most significant existential crisis. In 61 brief chapters, which read like travel journal entries, deBuys weaves together geological and evolutionary histories and studies of the planet’s peoples and biodiversity within the context of his participation with the Nomads Clinic, which provides medical care to communities in Nepal’s remote Upper Dolpo region. The author makes a convincing case that even if we cannot cure the ills we have wrought on the Earth, we should still care for it—and for ourselves—as best we can. In the shadow of the Himalayas and its rapidly melting glaciers, the clinic’s medical team brings hope, care, and the rare antibiotic to people living otherwise happy and rewarding lives. While climate change is dire and possibly even irreversible, deBuys finds beauty and solace nonetheless. “My work has taken me to badly disturbed environments where losses are high and prospects for improvement slim,” he writes. “But most of these places have also overflowed with beauty. They have fundamentally changed how I see the world. Studying the climate system has had a similar effect, revealing the complexity of the natural world in new and deeper ways.” The author includes a helpful glossary of terms that may be unfamiliar to many readers.

A pleasing ray of positivity regarding the planet’s present and future.