African Animal/Bird Guide Book and Checklist
 

I'm looking for a book and checklist with pictures of African animals I might see on my Tanzanian safari in August. Any suggestions?

I'm sure you will hear from lots of experts, but I really liked "Wildlife of East Africa" by martin Withers and David Hosking. It is relatively compact, which I liked. While the guide had a huge bird book with more birds, my book was smaller, lighter and easier to use. It is half birds, half animals, and has just a couple of pages of trees too. I think it included about 98% of the wildlife we saw, but was much smaller and lighter than the 'expert' books.

It doesn't specifically have a checklist, I don't think.

I bought a safari journal by boyd norton off amazon for $4. It has pics and also has a checklist, it is pretty compact too.

At SEA/TAC airport currently...en route to TZ (reading the journal)

I got an iTouch. For this little thing you can download the entire Sasol South Africa birdguide:
http://www.appstorehq.com/sasolebird...hone-80271/app

I haven't found any East Africa birdbooks yet.

You can also get the The Kingdon Guide to African Mammals: http://www.appstorehq.com/thekingdon...hone-84893/app

The Wildlife of Southern Africa: http://www.appstorehq.com/wildlifeof...hone-80307/app

eSnakes: http://appshopper.com/reference/esna...outhern-africa or at http://download.cnet.com/eSnakes-of-...-75023177.html

eTrees: http://download.cnet.com/eTrees-of-S...-75023298.html

Let me know if you know of any others. The search function at the App Store really sucks.

When in Tanzania and Kenya, we used Chris and Tilde's 2007 Field Guide to Mammals of Southern Africa, that we had purchased for an earlier trip to SA. ISBN: 978-1-77007-404-0. It had most of the animals that we saw in Kenya and Tanzania. It does not have a checklist but is otherwise an excellent book.

Safarimama: <i>I haven't found any East Africa birdbooks yet.</i>
We used the Stevenson and Fanshawe 2002 "Birds of East Africa" ISBN:978-0-691-12665-4, which we found to be excellent. Unfortunately, it does not have a checklist in the back, so we printed one off from one of many birding sites that provide one. The soft-covered book is a tad heavy, but it was the best of the books we looked at. Robin

Sorry Robin, I meant to say: I haven't found any East Africa birdbooks yet for the iTouch! That sure is a handy little thing, smaller than a cell phone. The iTouch bird-books even have sounds of most of the birds! I love it. Way to go!

Ah, I wondered - I was certain that you must have a EA bird book in your collection. :-d Robin

Thanks everyone, good selection to check out. On my way to the bookstore!

A very good one is: "Safari Compagnion" by Richard Estes also as preparation for a safari.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...panion&x=0&y=0

A handy one on mammals:
Tracks and Tracking. It's on Southern Africa but pretty much valid for all safari destinations - as long as animals are not endemic ;-)

http://www.amazon.com/Photographic-T...4966422&sr=1-8

For birders: No clue. Sorry

SV ((@))

Just returned from safari in southern Tanzania. We had The Safari Companion and Birds of East Africa here at home before our trip. However, both are way to heavy to carry along. The guides will know each and every bird by sight with only a glimpse. Each camp handed out a checklist for birds and wildlife. Most camps/lodges have libraries filled with bird books for you to consult at the end of the day and all our guides had massive bird books in the safari vehicle. My advise, don't bother taking books along. Too much added weight that you really don't need.