Ben Chase is a young American journalist working in a volatile African country. After experiencing a harrowing mock execution, Chase meets David Mather, a charismatic relief worker, and agrees to accompany him on an unusual journey. Mather believes that a mysterious group of African nomads - the Maji - are the descendants of the legendary Lost Tribes of Israel. His conviction leads him to organize an expedition to find the tribe.

Joining Mather are Chase, an anthropologist and his wife, a handful of guides, and an African shaman.

As they travel north through a chaotic, war-torn country, these modern pilgrims encounter soldiers and guerrillas, a deranged family of neocolonials, and a city ravaged by an unexplained plague. Mather thinks that the Maji possess secret wisdom that will restore his troubled belief in God. But when the search for the elusive veiled tribe draws the group into the hostile Northern District, Chase must balance Mather's apocalyptic vision with his own changing perception of this dangerous world.