teresaandgreg

I am looking for suggestions for good books on african safaris, good first person accounts of being on safari. As an example, one that I really enjoyed was "Death in Africa: True Stories from a Safari Guide" by Mark C. Ross. I've been to Amazon.com and the only things I see out there are field guides (which I already have) and books on hunting safaris (which I do not want to read). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

SusanLynne

Teresaandgreg, there are numerous books out there. I would suggest the following: "Dangerous Beauty," by Mark C. Ross; "The Shadow of Kilimanjaro" by Rick Ridgeway; "I'd Rather Be on Safari," by Gary Clarke, "Cry of the Kalahari" and "Eye of the Elephant" by Mark and Delia Owens (about their years in the bush doing research, but wonderful experiences they have!); "Dancing With the Witchdoctor" by Kelly James; "The Africa Diaries: An Illustrated Memoir of Life in the Bush" by Dereck and Beverly Joubert (well noted documentary filmmakers) Those are just a couple I can think of off-hand. By the way, when are you returning to Africa? You told me of some of your camping experiences during your last trip, and it looks like I may try some semi-luxury camping in the Serengeti in October!

teresaandgreg

SusanLynne, thanks for all of the great suggestions.

We are going back to Tanzania in Feb of 2006. Wish we could go back before then, but gotta save that money first, you know. We chose February because we want to see Tanzania when it may be a little greener time of year, plus Teresa wants to see the babies, and we both want a chance of seeing the migration.

We are going to take basically the same trip as we took in Sept 02, mobile camping in Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti.

You will absolutely love the mobile camping. But I warn you, you'll never want to experience Africa any other way once you've spent time under canvas.

sundowner

I've read the Mark and Delia Owens books and although they were researchers rather than tourists I loved their books.

I don't know if you want to read about modern day safaris or just any safaris but my favorite books are written by Osa and Martin Johnson. The following is copied from the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum website:

"In the first half of the 20th century an American couple from Kansas named Martin and Osa Johnson captured the public's imagination through their films and books of adventure in exotic, far-away lands. Photographers, explorers, naturalists and authors, Martin and Osa studied the wildlife and peoples of East and Central Africa, the South Pacific Islands and British North Borneo. They explored then unknown lands and brought back knowledge of civilizations thousands of miles away through their films, writings and lectures.

From 1917-1936, the Johnsons set up camp in some of the most remote areas of the world and provided an unmatched photographic record of the wildernesses of Kenya, the Congo, British North Borneo and the Solomon and New Hebrides Islands. Their equipment was the most advanced motion pictures apparatus of the day, some of it designed by Martin Johnson himself.

When the young adventurers left their home in Kansas to explore and photograph these lands, little did they realize that they would provide the world with a photographic record of the African game of unimagined magnitude and beauty. The Johnsons gave the filmmakers and researchers of today an important source of ethnological and zoological material which would otherwise have been lost."

I have several of their books that I picked up on ebay. You can also buy books and films (the films are amazing!) thru the museum website.

hlphillips2

Of course "Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "Out of Africa" are popular reads, though we weren't fond of either of them. We read and enjoyed "Born Free," "The Shadow of Kilimanjaro", "Ghosts of Tsavo", "Cry the Beloved Country" (especially if going to South Africa)... and my husband is reading and enjoying "My Traitor's Heart" about apartheid. "Lions of Tsavo" and "Man-eaters of Tsavo" I've also heard are good, but can't recommend them first hand.

We also devoured several movies, good & bad: "The Ghost and Darkness", "Out of Africa", "The Serengeti" (IMAX version), "I Dreamed of Africa", "Nowhere in Africa", and "The Lion King" (I enjoyed translating the Kiswahili names), and "The Gods Must be Crazy."