This is the story of the author's flight across western Africa with a hired pilot David Young. Their ultralight, "Pegasus," looks essentially like a hang-glider with a rear propellor, controlled by the bar. Starting in Cameroon, they head north to Niger, and then west to Senegal. The author leaves nearly all the flying to the pilot, but takes a few lessons at the end so she can finish the story, "I had perhaps earned the title of pilot." It is a bit strange that she didn't learn to fly before the trip. Fortunately, however, this leaves her plenty of time to be an engaged traveler, and the pages are filled with amazing stories of all the places she explored. For example, in Niger she finds some giant dinosaur bones, watches some dances, and finds hippos in a canoe. She is always willing to make a diversion, and visits a salt mine (almost leading to disaster as they get lost in the desert), pygmy settlements in Cameroon, Timbuktu, sugar plantations in Senegal. They have few major problems, but continually have to deal with being mobbed by crowds on their landing (in one case in Niger after Dodwell shoots off flares to help Young find a place to land after dark). Dodwell traverses cliffs near Bandiagara, in Mali, visiting some of the old villages built high in the cliffs. The writing is matter-of-fact, written like a slightly abridged journal, and it could have used some more aggressive editing. ( )