Tanzania Wildlife Safari, How to prepare

Reading:

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The following is list of PUBLISHED BOOKS for your possible reading, including Field Guides and Maps. If Title has * before it, it means they can be purchased as ON-LINE EDITIONS (Kindle/IPad or iPad with Kindle app)

Thomson Safari’s website offers an extensive reading list for adults and children. Some titles will excite you right away and you’ll want to read them before you go. Others will take on special meaning after your return. A few, very few, may be helpful to pack for the trip.

This is where Kindle/iPads shine. Less than 2 lbs. Bring charging cables and to protect them, look at OTTERBOX online for your device. You'll see what they can do to protect your Kindle/iPad in Africa.

Safari njema book site

Safari Njema 'Good Safari' was written to help people prepare for their upcoming safari, to alert them to the dynamic environment they will observe. Can be read online free by clicking on BLUE TITLE BOOK SITE. Written by Lucy & Ken

Scroll down for CHILDRENS BOOKS

To Read Before you Go:

Africa’s Great Rift Valley by Nigel Pavit; Abrams 2001
This is a large format book and it takes a large format book to carry the photographs of this subject.

*Monkey in the Mirror by Ian Tatersall; Harvest 2003
This very readable set of essays puts early hominid discoveries and the field of paleontology in perspective for the lay reader.

*Speak Swahjili, Dammit! by James Penhalgon: Kindle Edition www.united writers.com
This autobiography describes growing up in an isolated part of Tanganyika in the 1960's just as it was becoming Tanzania. It is funny as well as insightful.

*Whatever you do Don't Run by Peter Allison: The Lyons Press, 2008
This amusing misadventure of this Australian driver guide will increase your respect and appreciation for the Thomson Drivers.

*Facing the Lion by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola: Natioanl Geographic 2033
This autobiography of a young Maasai boy from Kenya illustrates the challenge of growing up in a tribe that is proud of its heritage yet changing with exposure to the western world.

*Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai: Anchor Boors, New York, 2007
Autobiography of the Nobel prize-winning Kenyan woman reveals her remarkable courage in a culture that did not appreciate the leadership abilities of a woman nor the critical need for trees.

*The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwanmba, Harper Collins Books, 2009
Autobiograghy by a young boy from Malawi is an amazing tribute to human ingenuity. It tell how he built a windmill, harnessing electricy for his village.

*Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway: by Ernset Hemingway, Scribner, 1935
This classic is a good way to get a perspective on safaris in Africa, then and now.

Cry of the Kalahari, by Mark and Cordella Owens: Houghton Mifflin, 1984

Eye of the Elephant, by Mark and Cordella Owens: Houghton Mifflin, 1992

*Secrets of the Savanna: 23 Yeear in the African Wilderness by Mark and Cordella Owens: Houghton Mifflin, 2006

The above 3 books tell of their adventures in researching lions and elephants in Africa.

Serengeti II, Management and Conservation of an Ecosystem, A.R.E. Sinclair (ed.): University of Chicago Press, 2004

Serengeti III, Human Impacts on Ecosystem Dynamics, A.R.E. Sinclair (ed.): University of Chicago Press, 2008

Lucy’s Child by Donald Johanson; Early Man 1989
In this book Johanson describes his discovery, at Oldupai Gorge of a fossil skeleton believed by many to be the first Homo species. You’ll be right there!

The Journey of Man by Spencer Wells; Princeton 2003
Wells describes the genetic odyssey of humans. How to distinguish what is really known from what is only speculation! An important book.

Serengeti Natural Order on the African Plain by Mitsuaki Iwago; Chronicle 1950
One reason I love this paperback collection of superb photographs is that he captures many of the animals in motion.

*The Safari Companion by Richard Estes; Chelsea Green 1999
This field guide may be one you’ll want to take with you. In any case we’ll have copies with us in the LandRovers for you to refer to. A glance through it before hand will give you a good sense of the richness of the animal behavior you’ll observe.

Maasai by Tepilit Ole Saitoti and Carol Beckwith; Abrams 1980
You’ll probably come home curious about the Maasai you’ve visited and this book written by a Maasai, records the past and present of these people as well as acknowledging the changes in their culture today.

Some books to whet your appetite?

Stories, essays and fiction- This may be just what you need on the plane or in the evenings.

West with the Night by Beryl Markham; North Point 1983

*Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen; Modern Library 1992
Beautifully written memoirs and love affair with Africa. The words are wonderful.

Longing for Darkness by Isak Dinesen; Chronicle Books 1990
All 3 of the above books are so beautifully written that you may want to read them again and again.

*The No.1 Ladies’Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith; Anchor 2002
This is for fun. There are four books in this series. Even though they take place in Botswana they capture a spirit and flavor of Africa and are simply a pleasure to read

HISTORY

Africa A Biography of the Continent by John Reader; Knopf 1997
This is a big, thick book but thanks to concise chapters, each starting with a striking black and white photo and an introductory synopsis you can read through it easily and learn a great deal.

The Africans by Ali A. Mazrui; Little Brown 1986
This book, originally written to accompany a PBS tv series, is almost twenty years old but we still turn to it often to help us understand the continent’s complicated past.

Africans; A History of a Continent by John Iliffe; Cambridge University Press 2002
This is also a history of the continent from the origins of mankind to the South African general election of 1994

To Take With You, possibly: Vehicles have many Field Guides. Ken will have Field Guides as well.

MAP:Nelles Map, ISBN 978-3-86574-073-1

Swahili Phrasebook with two way dictionary by Benjamin, Mironko and Geoghegan; Lonely Planet 1998

Fieldguides (Each vehicle will be equipped with a varied collection of fieldguides)

The Safari Companion (see above)

National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife; Knopf 1995
This is a great comprehensive field guide. You’ll see almost everything pictured in it. Doesn't contain everything but if you just take ONE fieldguide, this may be it.

Pocket Guide to African Mammals by Jonathan Kingdon; Academic Press 2004

This book sets the standards. It's small and light weight.

Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Stevenson and Fanshawe; T&AD Poyser LTD 2002
A book for the serious birder. We’ll have copies with us.

Children's Books:

Older children (9-16)

The Storyteller's Beads by Jane Kurtz; Gulliver Books, Harcourt Brace & Co, New York 1998

Memories of Sun by Jane Kurtz; Greenwillow Books 2004

Very young (7-9)

Babu's Song by Stephania Stuve-Bodeen; Lee & Low Books Inc, New York 2003

My Rows and Piles of Coins byTololwa M Mollel; Clarion Books, New York 1999

Fatuma's New Cloth by Leslie Bulion; Moon Mountain Publishing 2002

Older children (9-16)

The Storyteller's Beads by Jane Kurtz; Gulliver Books, Harcourt Brace & Co, New York 1998

Memories of Sun by Jane Kurtz; Greenwillow Books 2004

Most of these might be available at your local library to peruse before hand.

Links:

The books below in BLUE are small books written by Lucy kirshner and Ken Pauley, mostly for children with the exception of SAFARI NJEMA. You can read them online. No need to purchase them unless you want one for yourself. That's not why we wrote them. Just CLICK on the TITLE in blue.

The Blind Men and the Elephant. book site

This is an illustrated version of John Godfrey Saxe's famous Indian legend.

The Next Generation. book site

This is a collection of images of Tanzanian animal babies and their parents.

Kwa nini? book site

"Kwa nini?" in Swahili means "Why?". This book was written especially for young Tanzanian children and for young children everywhere.

Safari njema book site

Safari Njema 'Good Safari' was written to help people prepare for their upcoming safari, to alert them to the dynamic environment they will observe.

Safari Ni Hatua: young adult Novel

"A Safari is One Step' is a fictional account of a safari, based on many real adventures the author has enjoyed.

Distant Relations, Shared Adaptations

This book coompares African animals to insects in a New England back yard in order to appreciate the evolution of ALL our ancestry.

Simama, tafadhali!

Often while on safari, we are asked to "Stop, Please"by clients, driver guides and ourselves, in order to scrutinize something more closely . Is it a termite mound or a male lion? And it often is.

Colors and Patterns of Tanzania - Birds

This coloring book, the first of several to come, focuses people's attention on what they are observing. We believe sketching in journals sharpens future observations.

http://home.comcast.net/~kenpauley