Four Corners

Kira Salak undertook an epic, solo jungle trek across the remote Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea—often called the last frontier of adventure travel. Traveling by dugout canoe and on foot, confronting the dangers and wonders of a largely untouched world, she became the first woman to traverse PNG. Salak stayed in villages where cannibalism was still practiced behind the backs of the missionaries, meeting mysterious witch doctors and befriending the leader of the Free Papua guerrilla movement (OPM), who fought against the Indonesian occupation of Western New Guinea.

The New York Times Book Review selected Four Corners as a Notable Travel Book of the Year, writing, Kira Salak is tough, a real-life Lara Croft. Book Magazine called her the gutsiest—and some say craziest—woman adventurer of our day. Edward Marriott proclaimed Four Corners to be a travel book that transcends the genre. It is, like all the best travel narratives, a resonant interior journey, and offers wisdom for our times.

Now published as an eBook for the first time by Restless Books, Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea is a must-read for world travelers and adventurous spirits.

Praise for Four Corners

A luminously written, thoughtful account of a solo crossing of Papua New Guinea….Salak’s story offers vivid and informative commentary as it describes a region whose interior was only first explored in the 1930s….Exemplary travel-writing.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Kira Salak is tough, a real life Lara Croft…unlike many travel writers, she is hip to her inner workings.”
—The New York Times

“The book is tense and packed with action, but it’s also deeply thoughtful: Why does she do the things she does? When will she stop pushing herself? Determined as she is to be tough, tougher than any man she encounters, Salak is also forced to confront the role gender plays in her travels.”
—Outside Magazine

“A gripping adventure story….A consistently interesting and well-written memoir.”
—Publishers Weekly

Kira Salak won the PEN Award for journalism for her reporting on the war in Congo, and she has appeared five times in Best American Travel Writing . A National Geographic Emerging Explorer and contributing editor for National Geographic Adventure magazine, she was the first woman to traverse Papua New Guinea and the first person to kayak solo 600 miles to Timbuktu. She is the author of three books—the critically acclaimed work of fiction, The White Mary , and two works of nonfiction: Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea (a New York Times Notable Travel Book) and The Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred Miles to Timbuktu . She has a Ph.D. in English, her fiction appearing in Best New American Voices and other anthologies. Her nonfiction has been published in National Geographic , National Geographic Adventure , Washington Post , New York Times Magazine , Travel & Leisure , The Week , Best Women's Travel Writing , The Guardian , and elsewhere. Salak has appeared on TV programs like CBS Evening News, ABC's Good Morning America, and CBC's The Hour. She lives with her husband and daughter in Germany.