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| Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents | 
| Author: Marty Essen
Publisher: Encante Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $1.99
You Save: $17.96 (90%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 1004508
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 455
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0977859975
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4
EAN: 9780977859979
ASIN: 0977859975
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Condition: New, unused book.; bkcs
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 16-19 of 19 | | « PREV | | |
 Interesting January 20, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
From the title of the book I had expected this to be about some of the strange and wonderful creatures around the world. Although it does have some information on various creatures the author has encountered and even has a section of photographs of assorted creatures it is much more of a travelogue than anything else. Having said that, it is an excellent travelogue and written in a style that remains interesting throughout the book. The places where the author traveled in this text are Belize, the Amazon, Australia, Canada, Antarctica, Borneo, Europe, and Zimbabwe. Filled with fascinating facts it is a trip with the author where you feel you are there and part of the group. An interesting read Cool Creatures, Hot Planet is a recommended read for anyone interested in traveling the world through a book.
Interesting memoir of travels to all seven continents January 6, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book reads like a memoir of international trips taken by author Marty Essen and his wife, Deb. Initially, Marty and Deb simply wanted to take their first vacation together in years, and only after Marty began sharing some reflections from their first trip to Belize in their local newspaper did he get the idea of writing a book about traveling to all seven continents. This is no ordinary travelogue, however. Marty and Deb had no interest in tourist hot spots, duty-free shopping, and the like. Rather, their main goal was to incorporate as much contact with wildlife as possible into each of their trips, and thus all of their destinations were well off the beaten path: Madre Selva Biological Station in the Amazon, Eungella National Park in Australia, the small town of Inuvik within Canada's Artic Circle, etc.
Marty comes across as a sort of layman's Steve Irwin (in fact, I had just started this book at the time of Irwin's death in September and had to take a break from it for awhile). Although interested in virtually all types of creatures, his first love is herpetofauna, mainly snakes. He describs his reptile encounters with an infectuous, almost child-like enthusiasm. His love for these and other animals also results in a high amount of silliness at times, and his writing is frequently peppered with pretty goofy jokes. Whether you find him funny or not, you're almost cetain to find Marty and Deb's adventures, some of which were quite dangerous, to be fascinating reading.
Marty's love of the natural world also results in an occasional tendency towards preachiness. He expresses his disdain for litterers, hunters, and virtually anyone else who he believes to be having a negative impact on our planet and those who live here. Furthermore, Marty and Deb began their two and a half years of travels just before the United States invaded Iraq, and thus Marty frequently speaks of his preference for peace as well. Personally, I didn't mind his editorial comments, but some readers might, especially readers whose own opinions significantly differ from those of the author.
One disappointment I did have in the book was the lack of a more complete photographic record. Early on, Marty identifies wildlife photography as his main travel interest, and indeed, much of the book focuses on his efforts to capture his various encounters on both film and digital cameras. Although there is a selection of photographs in the center of the book, there are only about 10 photos featured for each continent, which seemed woefully insufficient given the breadth of experiences the author and his wife shared. It was actually quite frustrating to read about Marty's heroic efforts to photograph a certain animal only discover that for whatever reason, that photograph hadn't been included in the book.
Overall, I found this work to be both interesting and educational. I think it is most likely to appeal to nature enthusiasts who enjoy travel; those searching for a more traditional travel guide may want to look elsewhere.
There are rare travelers who enjoy interacting with wildlife including snakes! December 14, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Some travelers love cruises, while others enjoy romantic getaways to far away places. And there are the rare few who wish to observe and interact with wildlife. Marty and Deb Essen fall into this latter category.
This daring couple decided one day they would like to trek the world in search of rare spiders, venomous insects, snakes and other animals that ordinary people would have nightmares about. Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents recounts how Marty and Deb traveled the world through seven continents over a period of three and a half years satisfying their curiosities.
According to the introduction, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents grew from a much shorter version of some of Marty and Deb's travels written for some newspapers. It didn't take too long for Marty to realize that writing about wildlife encounters on all seven continents would be a perfect subject for a book.
However, this book is not just about wildlife encounters, but rather it is a serious attempt by a venturesome couple to extract a more profound meaning from the different landscapes, exotic animals, birds, plants and people they met along the way as they traveled through Belize, Australia, Canada, Antarctica, Borneo, Europe and Africa. It is also a reminder to all of us to refrain from snap judgments, as just because a country may be different than the USA, it does not necessarily follow that its people and landscape are inferior.
Our journey with the Essens begins in Belize that sits on the Caribbean Sea with Mexico. It is here where they were required to hike through thick jungle where some of the terrain was so steep that at times they had to scramble on all fours. While navigating the jungle they witnessed leafcutter ants, poisonous butterflies, and the cowfoot tree. According to the Essens, the cowfoot tree is a large funnel-shaped tree with needle-sharp growths covering its trunks that made it the nastiest looking tree they had ever seen. The Essens were successful in seeing most of the major animal species in Belize and Marty even had the opportunity to sneak up on a jaguar stalking a spider monkey- he even has photos to prove it.
It didn't take the Essens long after returning from Belize to plan their second adventure to the Amazon. It is here where we learn how one of the guides hand caught a 7 1/2 foot-long python and handed it to Marty. He was amazed as to how strong the snake was as it wrapped itself tightly around his arm that his fingers began to tingle from lack of circulation.
The Essens didn't forget about my own country, Canada, and they motored with their two dogs in a 1999 Ford F-150 pickup from their home in Montana through Glacier National Park, the Provinces of Alberta and British Colombia and unto the Alaska Highway that led them to the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Along the way they encountered moose, black bears, wolves and caribou. Other trips described in the book include Antarctica, Borneo, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe Marty caught a 10 1/2 foot python without assistance and as he recounts, this was the climax of his snake-catching adventures.
Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents certainly packs a great deal of information into its four hundred and fifty five pages.
My one gripe about the book is that at times I felt its richly detailed stories were too overwhelming and it would have been more effective if the book were broken up into two or three volumes. It also would have been helpful if maps were provided illustrating exactly where some of these adventures had taken place.
Nonetheless, the book does have a great deal of merit and should prove to be a great read for those who enjoy adventure travel.
Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures
 An adventure of a read September 27, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a beautiful book, beautifully designed, beautifully edited, and more or less beautifully--well, enthusiastically--written with a nice selection of color photos in the center. True, Marty Essen could have left out a detail here and there--the book is 455 pages long--but when you're chronicling the adventure of a lifetime and agonizing over what to leave in and what to leave out, you naturally leave it all in, including the corny, slightly off-color jokes, the reconstructed dialogue and the atmospheric interior monologues. I think everybody who knows Marty Essen will be glad he didn't overly censor himself because one of the many things that shines clear in this fascinating book is his irrepressible personality.
Almost always up early like a kid on Christmas morning, camera in hand, Essen throws himself into snake hunting, spider adoration, mud trekking, river swimming, mountain climbing, iceberg hopping, and close encountering with hippos, crocs, vipers, and literally hundreds of other wild creatures. I'll tell you one thing, I sure would NOT want to have to foot the bill for developing the photos. Judging from the text my guess is he took tens of thousands of photos along the way. Too bad there was room in the book for only 85 of them, but they are excellent shots of himself, his pretty wife Deb, some animals and plants and some people they met.
But what really counts here is Marty Essen's love for adventure and for the flora and fauna of our planet as is his determination that he miss nothing during his trek through seven continents and some islands with intrepid wife Deb at his side, more than carrying her load. (Lucky guy to have a wife like that. But I wonder how she feels about his revealing that she snores! See page--never mind!)
Clearly, Essen has taken travel writing to a new level. Call it eco-tourism and travel-logging combined with the spirit of Charles Darwin aboard the Beagle. Essen takes notes, collects specimens (but lets them go after the photo op), and turns his notes into a narrative. He's a modest but accomplished kind of writer, combining light humor with some right sharp barbs at ungreen types in the White House and elsewhere. He trades "No Newt is Good Newt" T-shirts in the Amazon for spears and dugout paddles while doing something I wish more Americans aboard would do--that is, show that Americans care about the planet and its people, its cultures and its wild life and not just about exploiting its resources.
Okay, now I must confess some of the jokes really were funny, although I think I'm glad I didn't have to hear the improvised lyrics to some popular songs that Essen dreamed up--e.g., to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" after getting covered with penguin poo in the Antarctic:
"I am Guano Man!
"Na, na, na, na, naaa
"Na, na, naaa, naaa!" (p. 218).
Here are a couple more examples of Marty's humor: He and Deb are canoeing down the Zambezi River in the heart of Zimbabwe, when a hippo rises out of the water and chomps through their canoe, throwing them onto the river bank. This inspires Essen to title the chapter, "Hippo Canoe and Zimbabwe Too." (For those readers not intimately familiar with US history, this recalls the election slogan of President William Henry Harrison and his running mate John Tyler in 1840: "Tippy Canoe and Tyler, too.")
Then there's this from page 252: He and Deb are in Borneo hiking a muddy trail high above a river. His feet slip out from under him, but he saves himself by grabbing onto a small tree. He remarks to Deb: "Remember the movie Romancing the Stone, when Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas were caught in the jungle rainstorm? I thought for sure I was going to reenact their mudslide scene--minus the face-first landing between Kathleen Turner's legs, of course."
Bottom line: an adventure of a read, replete with vivid detail about not only the plants and animals, but about the people and politics of the countries visited told openly and even innocently by a man whose love for the planet and its creatures is obvious and infectious.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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