This week we took a walk out of Eden with National Geographic. In 2013 Paul Salopek set out to retrace ancient global migration on foot. This journey will take him a total of 10 years. Even now, Paul is in the fifth chapter of his odyssey and is exploring the River lands. Paul’s hope was to rediscover humanity and take a slow intentional to learn what our ancestors went through and discovered along their journey.

I explored the first chapter, Out of Africa, which documents Paul’s travels through Ethiopia, Djibouti, and the Red Sea crossing. This leg of the journey took him around 5 months to complete. There are many interesting stories that Paul Salopek includes but my favorite post in the chapter was Bones atop Bones: Walking through a colossal Graveyard. the Afars still involved their departed ones in daily life. They talk to them, play, and argue near the memorial sites, they even sometimes use them for navigation. There is a beautiful and precise procedure for the creation of these gravesites and it displays the beauty and honors the Afar people see in death.

The next chapter in the journey is the Holy Lands. In this chapter Salopek travels through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, West Bank, and Israel. My favorite article in this chapter is Lawrence’s Ghost. At Al Zureb Fortress Paul Salopek was haunted by thoughts of Thomas Edward Lawrence, otherwise known as, “Lawrence of Arabia”. Renovation of an old Ottoman fort recovered old artillery shells and other artifacts from the Arab revolt. This made Salopek wonder what Saudi Arabian’s thought of the old British spy and he was told that he has a mixed reputation. Lawrence was a spy, but the Arabs won his heart when he arrived, he was facing an internal divide. It is an incredibly interesting article and definitely worth the read!

In the third chapter, Autumn Wars, of this journey Salopek explores Cyprus, Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. My favorite article in this chapter is Pistachio Mafia. When Salopek was in Nizip, Turkey he encountered a piece of pistachio industry. He and his guides had to be escorted through this small part of their journey because local farmers would think they are part of the “Pistachio Mafia”. Each tree is worth at least $300, so it very tempting for thieves to steal the lucrative nuts. Farmers keep shotguns within reach at all times, farmers have been shot and killed by these thieves. Unfortunately, the laws protect the thieves and the farmers would have to sell their farms to defend themselves in court. I never knew hard core the pistachio industry could be and it’s a fascinating look into these farmer’s lives.

The Walk out of Eden is a fascinating journey and I will definitely check in to see where the rest of the journey takes Paul Salopek.

Article by Becka Bloom.