Bluewater Walkabout: Into Africa, Finding Healing Through Trauma by Tina Dreffin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bluewater Walkabout: Into Africa was written by Tina Dreffin. It’s a book about sailing around the world. The book starts with a three-month planned trip from South Africa to the Caribbean. Tina wants to inspire people to go on their journey, even if they don’t have a sailing boat. The book is also about family, how difficult it is to raise teenagers, how she got over her fear, not being ashamed, and South Africa.

Her mother taught her about travel by letting her read books and magazines about different places. This sparked her interest in other cultures and customs. However, she learned about sailing when she took a boat with her husband, Peter. Sailing requires a lot of patience and knowledge about the sea. She was fascinated by navigating using only the stars and the wind. From then on, she was hooked on travel and exploring new places.

Tina’s husband, Peter, taught her love could be a great experience. They have two sons that they also traveled with. She had some tough times with the boys as they grew older and were influenced by their friends.

Overall, this book is about sailing, wandering, and being amazed at the wildlife in South Africa. There were a few near-death or almost-death experiences with animals. However, the author and her family had an incredible experience.

I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars (rounded up). The book began with loss and shame; I expected more talk about that. But the book is mainly about the wildlife in South Africa and sailing. Overall, the book is informative but could be more engaging. It would be more interesting if you were familiar with sailing life.

As a reader, I enjoyed learning about the wildlife in South Africa and the country’s politics. Even as late as 2002, President Mbeki spread misinformation about AIDS in South Africa when 1 in 10 South Africans had HIV or AIDS. He even denied free drugs that could help.

I recommend this book to people who love adventure, enjoy books about travel, love wild animals, want to learn what an African safari would be like, and want to know more about South Africa.

Although I expected the book to be mainly about the loss and shame from the introduction, it was mainly about the author’s experiences with wildlife and sailing. While I found this information interesting, I would have liked to see more about the author’s inspiration in South Africa. But overall, the book was informative and gave me a better understanding of what it is like to travel through South Africa.


View all my reviews