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Safari travel books in truth aid you squeeze the most gain out of your trip because if you know something when it comes to the animals and humans you encounter there, you will in all likelihood receive pleasure from it a lot more. If your safari operator is up to scratch they will provide you with a lot of information, but an African safari book will have more comprehensive content that you may access at your leisure. And safari books may be an worthful aid in helping you prepare for your trip. It’s closely as good as having a travel agent at your beck and call 24 hours a day. There are three major categories of safari book that you may choose from and the titles listed in each category are the top ones in that field… 1. Topical Guidebooks The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Written by Richard D Estes this is a definitive book regarding the habits of African wildlife which will stand you in good stead when you come throughout animals on your trip. National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife Apart from the wildlife data and fantastic photographs, this guide also holds geographic and climate data in regards to your destination. Written by Peter Alden, Richard D. Estes, Duane Schlitter, Bunny McBride. 2. Country Guidebooks There are rather a few players bidding to be Nr 1 in this category but the guidebooks that come out tops from an African point of view are the Bradt Travel Guides. They have amazingly elaborated coverage of most things Africa and the humans who write the guides are actually passionate and welleducated with regards to their subject. Here are a few of the titles they publish but they cover the whole of Africa with their full stable of guides… Africa Overland Southern African Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide Tanzania with Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe, Northern Kalahari Madagascar Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide The Gambia Another guidebook publisher with a very broad African range and magnificent content is Lonely Planet. Some of their ordinary guides are… Africa on a shoestring South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland Healthy Travel Africa Rough Guides has a more fixed range of Africa books but what they do have is of a high quality… Cape Town & the Garden Route Swahili Phrasebook Detailed guidelines on how to with great success go on a self drive safari in eleven of the top reserves in Southern Africa like the Kruger National Park, Etosha, Pilanesberg, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, Kgalagadi Transfronteir Park, Addo Elephant Park, Ithala, Mkhuze, Mlilwane, Malolotja and Mountain Zebra National Park. Written by Bruce Whittaker. 3. Other Africa Books – Fiction There are a heap of Africa fiction books that manage to capture and commune a measure of the magic, romance, wildness and distinguishable reputation of the dark continent. Reading these books will give you a foretaste of what it is regarding Africa that seems to get into peoples blood and engender a love of the place that draws them back again and again. Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town written by Paul Theroux is a splendid story that takes readers the length of Africa by rattletrap bus, dugout canoe, cattle truck, armed convoy, ferry, and train. In the course of his epic and enlightening journey, he endures danger, delay, and dismaying circumstances. Gauging the state of affairs, he talks to Africans, support workers, missionaries, and tourists. What results is an perceptive meditation on the history, politics, and beauty of Africa and it is people. I Dreamed of Africa is Kuki Gallmans classic inspirational and moving book regarding her experiences in Kenya after she moved there permanently from Italy. This book was also turned into a movie starring Kim Basinger. Most helpful customer reviews 187 of 192 people found the following review helpful. Theroux travels with Africans in conditions which are unspeakable for those of us accustomed to jet travel, high speed trains and air-conditioned vehicles. He meets with many of Africa’s literary icons, numerous dignitaries, and contacts from time spent in Africa 40 years previously. He is also not afraid to use his renown to gain access and audience where the rest of us would have no chance. Combine these factors with his considerable literary skill, and the result is an unrivalled publication.
His descriptions (notably the sunset on the East African plains) are breathtaking without being long-winded. He is able to contrast this with descriptions of squalor, hardship, the disintegrated infrastructure of the towns, and the transport used to travel between them . The various colleagues and friends he visits along the way, including the vice-president of Uganda, represent Africa’s intellectual and political elite. Mostly, these people are enlightened, pro-active and deeply aware of the problems facing their countries. It is encouraging to read their discourse, as it is so easy to dismiss Africa as the stereotype of disenfranchised paupers governed by despotic tyrants.
His time spent in Africa during the 1960′s was a time of liberation. Nationalist movements were gaining momentum, and Africans were giddy at the prospect of independence from their colonial overlords. Theroux is almost certainly unique in that he witnessed the Africa of then, and the Africa of now (but nothing of the in between) and is able to communicate his observations to a large, receptive audience. This perspective adds another level to the book which sets it apart.
Much is said about charities, missionaries and NGO’s, both by Theroux, and the various others who have reviewed this book. I agree entirely with Theroux’s observations. I found that the personnel working with these agencies seemed disdainful towards those of us who were really enjoying Africa, and often arrogant towards those they were professing to help. Their efforts nurture some of the most contemptible qualities of the African condition, turning them into subjugated beggars rather than empowering their independence. The deployment of aid does not improve lives, but merely provides the necessary resources required for reproduction – more aid recipients, all now living at the previous, lowest common denominator. Much of the aid is taken by the local chiefs, and is traded in the markets (lest we forget, America fought a battle in Somalia over this very issue, see the movie `Black Hawk Down’). It may seem anathema to our sensibilities that Theroux is so scathing of these worthy men and women who have given up so much to go and help the dispossessed, but if the aid is counter-productive, even if only by Theroux’s estimation, then he has the right (obligation?) to communicate it to us.
Theroux is particularly scathing of one missionary whose efforts involve reforming the `sinful’ ways of African prostitutes. In the USA prostitution may be a crime, but in Africa, he points out, it is the only channel of independence and financial freedom for women. It should be considered criminal that we are going there and preaching some dogma based on our value system, which is intended to deprive them of their livelihood. And this goes to the root of the issue, Theroux says. We are trying to solve their problems from our perspective, while driving around in a fancy white Landcruiser, the value of which is the entire life’s earnings of a whole African family. African problems need African solutions run by Africans (with help from outside if necessary). They need dignity, empowerment and education – not grain, medicine and preaching. I think Theroux does a great job of communicating this – even if it does ruffle some philanthropic feathers in the process.
Why didn’t I give the book five stars? Well, I feel that Theroux didn’t give sufficient credence to the majority of proud Africans who lead the free and happy existence to which we all aspire. As a white traveler in Africa one is continuously exposed to the `Give me money’ syndrome. But this represents only a minute percentage of the population – those who await foreign travelers at bus stations, hotels and markets. These hustlers are a by-product of most societies – there were 8 million in Los Angeles by my last estimation. It took me at least two months of cultural immersion before I was able to transcend this exposure, and meet real Africans who were interested in my travels and reasons for being in Africa – people who I had to seek out. Indeed, most Africans are contented, hard-working individuals unaffected by the tribulations of modern western society, let alone of their own autocratic governments whose influence over their own population is token compared to what we are used to in the west. African society thrived for millennia before the ancestors of western society even left the continent. It is cultural arrogance to assume that we need to impose our new-found values on them. Sure there are pockets of famine, abusive dictators and colonial fall-out – but for the vast majority of the continent’s population, life goes on unabated. It is mostly their exposure to our society (fancy white landcruisers, satellite TV etc.) that might give them cause to kowtow. It is Theroux’ failure to acknowledge this, or at least comment upon it, that I feel is the only shortcoming of an otherwise outstanding account. 66 of 70 people found the following review helpful. 24 of 25 people found the following review helpful. I’m prompted to write this review by one of the reviews already posted here, which accuses Theroux of negativity and a dislike of people. I had the opposite impression. He does indeed see much to be disturbed by in Africa–any compassionate person would be disturbed by it. Civil society has broken down in many of the countries he visits. Poverty, disease, crime, and corruption beset the cities, and Theroux shows clearly how aid workers who come to help, and the missionaries who want to foist their beliefs on the Africans, often make things worse. He is opinionated and sometimes testy, which makes his account interesting, never a dry recital of facts. He talks with people wherever he goes, and most important of all, he listens to them. As a result, he learns what few outsiders ever do, and gives us a view of Africa–a place he loves–that is a fascinating, deeply unsettling revelation. Dark Star Safari Overland From Cairo To Picture Dark Star Safari Overland From Cairo To Pic Dark Star Safari Overland From Cairo To Image Dark Star Safari Overland From Cairo To Image Dark Star Safari Overland From Cairo To Picture Dark Star Safari Overland From Cairo To Image |
An Accurate Portrayal Described with Literary Prowess
Armchair Traveler
