---
product_id: 27545488
title: "The Ringtone and the Drum: Travels in the World's Poorest Countries Paperback – October 16, 2012"
brand: "mark weston"
price: "$92"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/27545488-the-ringtone-and-the-drum-travels-in-the-worlds-poorest
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# The Ringtone and the Drum: Travels in the World's Poorest Countries Paperback – October 16, 2012

**Brand:** mark weston
**Price:** $92
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Ringtone and the Drum: Travels in the World's Poorest Countries Paperback – October 16, 2012 by mark weston
- **How much does it cost?** $92 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/27545488-the-ringtone-and-the-drum-travels-in-the-worlds-poorest)

## Best For

- mark weston enthusiasts

## Why This Product

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## Description

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## Images

![The Ringtone and the Drum: Travels in the World's Poorest Countries Paperback – October 16, 2012 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514pphF4iNL.jpg)
![The Ringtone and the Drum: Travels in the World's Poorest Countries Paperback – October 16, 2012 - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31NZYjZ7iOL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Transports you
  

*by S***S on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 25, 2012*

Great read. Weston transports the reader to a dynamic region of Africa that gets sparse attention despite a rich history which is intertwined with the cultural development of Europe and the Americas. Weston weaves a wonderfully readable narrative uncovering thick histories and spectacular cultural beauty in a region that has had so much taken from it and made its imprint on all corners of the Atlantic.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    You travel with the author.
  

*by E***Y on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 13, 2017*

Good portrayal of the countries described. Depressing but realistic.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Juju, guilt and so much more in West Africa
  

*by T***N on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 4, 2015*

"West Africa is nobody's idea of a dream holiday destination" - so opens The Ringtone and the Drum by Mark Weston; Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and and Guinea-Bissau are the world's poorest countries. Mark's wife Ebru is persuaded to accompany him on this trip, to a part of the world where you can neither retreat into the comfortable cocoon of a Western hotel chain to get a breather, nor is detachment possible - your physical and psychological distance is stripped away and you are dragged into the pulsating mêlée.Guinea-Bissau is a small, poor, forgotten country where very few tourists or business people come, and this 'Eden' was disrupted by slavery and colonialism, and where nowadays poverty's cruelty permeates everyday life; malaria is still the biggest killer. Touring Guinea-Bissau in a "sept-places" (seven-seater) Peugeot, Mark and Ebru meet all manner of folk, both indigenous and in-comers, who have settled there, from Evangelists who are spreading the word to other Westerners; and there is a tremendous amount of historical information that permeates the text. Details of the drug running that the Colombians specialise in, the trade in shark fins.... as a reader it feels a special experience to have shared in so many encounters.Next stop was Senegal and even getting there involved such hazards: potentially negotiating a no-go area, where decades old rebellion still festers; or taking any of the West African Airlines, most of which are banned from European airspace because of safety issues. Heading on to Dakar, the capital of Senegal, the couple seems to really warm to the city although there was a very scary encounter that Ebru goes on to elucidate below. And I must say, at TF, we were transported to a place that is a "happy blend of Mediterranean France, sub-Saharan Africa and the coastal cities of Morocco and Algeria"....Sierra Leone is again really poor, with one ATM in the whole country, few medical facilities and a capricious world of diamond mining that attracts many of the inhabitants, both native and incomer. Diamonds account for half of Sierra Leone's exports. Did Johnny and Lucy, incomers hoping to make their fortune, ever leave the country with more than they came with, we wonder?And the final country, Burkino Faso is totally land-locked and is beset with tremendous poverty. The mean age is young, and one in three women on average will produce a child every year (compared with Spain where it is one in forty); and it is here that the author is brought low by the condition known as Soudanite, a fearful state of mind brought on, in essence, by the stresses of the culture and by the psychological impact of the way of life in West Africa. In fact Ebru was so concerned at one point, that she hid their penknife in case he became delusional - very frightening to imagine. This condition seems to come about because of a way of life that is so alien to Westerners, the constant harassment, the invasion of personal space, the roaring temperatures that suck the life-blood, compounded by the harmattan wind, and the ever pervading "guilt" that travellers to the area start to feel. As a result the couple decided to shorten the planned 6 month sojourn by a couple of weeks.As a reader of this book, I shamefully admit I first had to look up the countries to see exactly where they were. The author has done a compelling job of bringing this part of the world to life, in all its rawness, interwoven with snippets of historical background and geography, and he has a wonderful style of writing that really flows. All things considered though, I just KNOW that I am a soft traveller and therefore it has been a delight to visit a part of the world, through words and personal experience, that that many of us are ever unlikely to ever visit.

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*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-02-25*