OK, I went to Borders tonight, and also spent time on amazon.com, but cannot determine which book(s) to purchase to help plan exactly where we should go for 3 weeks in Kenya/Tanzania. No camping, but no luxury accommodations required. I think the Rough Guides are out, and Africa on a Shoestring is several years old. Anyone have good experience with Lonely Planet guides for this sort of itinerary planning? After we choose where we want to go, we will contact a tour operator--any recs from folks? Thanks again--this is for Sept/Oct 2008.

<b>Northern Tanzania - The Bradt Safari Guide</b> and <b>Rough Guide to Tanzania</b> for TZ. Cross reference the lodges/camps and operators they mention with those names you find on this board. That should narrow down the list of operators you might want to contact. Give them your dates, budget and where you might want to stay. They will come back with a proposal that can be adjusted up or down depending on the properties you choose. And they should suggest which properties to stay at based on the season.

And don't rule out &quot;camping&quot;. Some these camps are not what you may think.

moondoggie, I quite like
Northern Tanzania : The Bradt Safari Guide with Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar
http://www.bradt-travelguides.com/de...asp?prodid=145

It was published in May '06 so is fairly up to date.

If comparing Lonely Planet, Bradt and Rough Guide, I'd say my preference is Bradt.

Have you read the New East Africa Trip Report Index yet? That'll give you tons of trip planning info. You could also check your local library to see if they have a copy of the Bradt guide (or others) before purchasing one.

Well, I went through several different publishers - Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, Bradt, and Fodors (of course). What's most important is picking whoever has the last update. I like Rough Guides best, and while I usually prefer Lonely Planet, they tend to focus on the lower budget.

I actually got two (Lonely Planet and Rough Guides), and cross-referenced tbe information. I'd also do reading in the bookstore to check against other books. I don't think you can rely on one source of information.

I've also looked at Mark Noltings books which are fine for general information, but a bit lacking for specific planning. I also like Travel Africa magazine.

Quite honestly, this forum was the best source of information, followed by Africa Dream Safaris, Africa Travel Resource, and the Go-Safari websites.

I trust you guys! So i just ordered two Bradt guides, the Northern Tanzania and the Kenya. I'm sure I 'll have more questions after get/digest them. Thanks to all.