The Dolphin's Tooth: A Decade in Search of AdventureFrom the bestselling author ofSand Dance. Stuck in an engineer’s cubicle, dutifully beginning the responsible adult life he was raised to undertake, Kirkby is tormented by doubts and boredom. In a fit of rebellion, he quits his job to bicycle the Karakoram Highway in northern Pakistan. He is twenty-two and absolutely clueless. Miraculously, hilariously, he survives — and discovers his life’s passion. Over the next fifteen years, Kirkby navigates an evermore uncertain and uncommon path, honing his skills on some of the most challenging expeditions the world has to offer. Whether it’s gun fights and crocodile attacks while running Africa’s Blue Nile Gorge, the rescue of a fallen sherpa on Mount Everest, evading capture in Myanmar’s forbidden tropical paradise, or learning to embrace the wilderness on the Tatshenshini River of Canada’s Arctic, Kirkby shares with the reader the excitement, doubts, insights, and even the uncomfortable self-knowledge that a life lived on the edge brings. |
Contents
Awakenings | 1 |
Escape from Engineering | 39 |
UnNatural History | 57 |
Copyright | |
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Abush ahead arrived base camp beach begin bike Blue Nile boats Canyon catch Cecilia Cedric centimetres Chang Tang Christine climb climbers coast coral Dangriga dark Derrick Doug drift drop Empty Quarter Everest expedition eyes feel feet Ferg fingers fish forest Garifuna gear Gilgit glacier hand head hour later hundred Island Jamie Johnstone Strait Jonesy journey jump Karakoram Highway Kawthaung kayaks kilometres Kirkby Knight Inlet land leave look Mergui Archipelago metres miles minutes months morning mountains Myanmar Myeik nearby never night pack paddle Pakistan pass peaks pile pull quickly raft reach river rock rope rush Saas-Fee sea kayaks sea-kayaking Shaun Sherpas shore shoreline silent skis sleeping slowly smiles soon spot stare stream summer summit Tatshenshini tent thick Tibet trip turn valley Vancouver waiting watch wave weeks whispers wilderness wind yells Zelalem