Hunting Pirate Heaven

A chance meeting on the River Thames starts Kevin Rushby on a voyage in search of the lost pirate settlements that once existed on the islands of the Indian Ocean. Along the way he meets the crackpot dreamers, the tough settlers, the fighters and the failures who live on the islands now.

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Kevin Rushby's objective is to locate the descendants of the 16th century pirates who had carved kingdoms for themselves in the remote jungles of north-east Madagascar. Hitching rides on a motley assortment of freighters, dhows, yachts and fishing smacks, he sails up the African coast, then east towards his goal. It is a story full of incident: voyages to islands where forgotten Portugese forts lie covered in jungle, places where some have tried to shoot their way to paradise, and where the ever-present ocean can destroy lives and dreams as quickly as men and women create them.