The Last Wilderness
Neil Ansell,
Hachette, £18.99
ALONE
in the dead of night on a deserted beach, miles from civilisation and with no mobile phone reception, Neil Ansell paces the sand.
He is in too much pain to sleep. In the throes of a severe angina attack he has no choice but to wait it out. So he passes the time studying the stars.
Despite his heart condition and progressive hearing loss Neil, 58, immersed himself in Scotland’s North West Highlands for his third book’ The Last Wilderness: A Journey Into Silence. Clearly not risk-averse, he is, by his own admission a “terrible optimist.”
It’s an approach that has paid off in the past.
As an award-winning investigative TV journalist and dad-of-two he has tracked Rwandan genocide suspects and covertly filmed the illegal trade in dog meat in the Philippines, all in the firm belief he would fare well. His faith was again rewarded that long night on the beach.
“Everything people enjoy comes with a certain element of risk. You have to decide whether the reward is worth it,” he says. And the highs were immeasurable.
Over of a year, Neil who’s childhood dream was of becoming a wildlife writer, made five solo walking trips, each lasting a week, into the remote Rough Bounds of Knoydart, to the districts of Moidart, Morar and Arisaig.