Best South Africa Travel

A hilarious, highly original collection of essays based on the Botswana truism: “only food runs!” With a new introduction and new material from the author In the tradition of Bill Bryson, a new writer brings us the lively adventures and biting wit of an African safari guide. No one could make up these outrageous-but-true tales: the young woman who rejected the recommended safari-friendly khaki to wear a more “fashionable” hot pink ensemble; the lost tourist who happened to be drunk, half-naked, and a member of the British royal family; establishing a real friendship with the continent’s most vicious animal; the Japanese tourist who requested a repeat performance of Allison’s being charged by a lion so he could videotape it; and spending a crazy night in the wild after blowing a tire on a tour bus, revealing that Allison has as much good-natured scorn for himself. A hilarious chapter recounting a troubled thousand mile trek through the Kalahari Desert finds Allison trying to wave down a passing truck in the middle of the night: "I realized that the driver would have seen what looked like a very animated sage bush with pasty white hands growing from it... he'd probably go straight to a witch doctor... and ask if there was a curse on him."

Full-colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - including local customs, literature, history, art, politics, landscapes, music, cuisine Free, convenient pull-out Cape Town map (included in print version), plus over 75 colour maps Covers Cape Town, the Garden Route, Hermanus, Knysna, Durban, Maseru, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Kruger National Park, Limpopo, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, North West Province, and more. Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalize your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing. Looking for more extensive coverage? Carillet has a degree in translation and in international relations.

After witnessing firsthand the devastating consequences of AIDS on the population, especially the children, the couple started volunteering at an orphanage that was desperately underfunded and short-staffed. His wife, a savvy black woman whose father escaped the Jim Crow South for a new life in the industrial North, would not be deterred in her resolve to welcome Chipo into their loving family. For Tucker, the only full-time American correspondent in Zimbabwe, the declaration was a direct threat to his life and his wife’s safety, and an ultimatum to their decision to adopt the child who had already become their only daughter. Then, in 1997, Neely, a white Mississippian, and his African-American wife, Vita, were posted to Zimbabwe, where the AIDS crisis was feeding an unprecedented wave of sick and abandoned children. "The scale of death, and the depths of misery it entailed, defied the imagination even for someone like me...." Neely and Vita volunteered at an overwhelmed orphanage in the Zimbabwean capital, where diarrhea and pneumonia were killing babies at an alarming rate. With temporary permission to take her home, Neely and Vita threw all available resources toward saving her life: round-the-clock feedings, good doctors, medicine and a clean, warm environment. Intermittently, he returned to Harare to deal with the rigid, arrogant social-welfare bureaucracy and the horrible sadness of the children dying in the understaffed orphanage.

Hike to the summit of Table Mountain, enjoy the diverse wildlife at Kruger National Park, or power down in a traditionally designed rondavel; all with your trusted travel companion. Full-colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - including local customs, literature, history, art, politics, landscapes, music, cuisine Free, convenient pull-out Cape Town map (included in print version), plus over 75 colour maps Covers Cape Town, the Garden Route, Hermanus, Knysna, Durban, Maseru, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Kruger National Park, Limpopo, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, North West Province, and more. Looking for more extensive coverage?

Hike to the summit of Table Mountain, enjoy the diverse wildlife at Kruger National Park, or power down in a traditionally designed rondavel; all with your trusted travel companion. Full-colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - including local customs, literature, history, art, politics, landscapes, music, cuisine Free, convenient pull-out Cape Town map (included in print version), plus over 75 colour maps Covers Cape Town, the Garden Route, Hermanus, Knysna, Durban, Maseru, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Kruger National Park, Limpopo, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, North West Province, and more. Looking for more extensive coverage?

A hilarious, highly original collection of essays based on the Botswana truism: “only food runs!” With a new introduction and new material from the author In the tradition of Bill Bryson, a new writer brings us the lively adventures and biting wit of an African safari guide. No one could make up these outrageous-but-true tales: the young woman who rejected the recommended safari-friendly khaki to wear a more “fashionable” hot pink ensemble; the lost tourist who happened to be drunk, half-naked, and a member of the British royal family; establishing a real friendship with the continent’s most vicious animal; the Japanese tourist who requested a repeat performance of Allison’s being charged by a lion so he could videotape it; and spending a crazy night in the wild after blowing a tire on a tour bus, revealing that Allison has as much good-natured scorn for himself. A hilarious chapter recounting a troubled thousand mile trek through the Kalahari Desert finds Allison trying to wave down a passing truck in the middle of the night: "I realized that the driver would have seen what looked like a very animated sage bush with pasty white hands growing from it... he'd probably go straight to a witch doctor... and ask if there was a curse on him."

In 2001, Sharon Pincott traded her privileged life as a high-flying corporate executive to start a new one with the Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe. Elephant Dawn did that for me - an intense read, inspiring and moving... Over an incredible 13 years this tough-as-teak lady developed a valuable understanding of all 17 extended family groups that make up the greater 500-strong herd. '[Sharon Pincott] formed one of the most remarkable bonds ever with wild elephants. 'An inspirational book full of adventure and emotions, showing true courage and determination of an exceptional woman who lived 13 years with elephants in Zimbabwe facing daily the adversity that only her passion for these gentle giants could overcome.'. [Elephant Dawn] is full of... accounts of [Sharon Pincott's] deeply intimate bond with the elephant families... She has risked so much for elephants and it is a gift to us that we can now read this moving account of her thirteen years in Zimbabwe fighting to save a population of elephants she came to know intimately.'. Cynthia Moss, world-renowned Elephant Specialist, celebrated in BBC's Echo of the Elephants. '[ Elephant Dawn ] is hard hitting, and factual, a story that everyone should read... Memories of so many things that happened in Zimbabwe, with elephants, other wildlife, politics and day to day life, flooded back to me as I read... 'After 13 years living among 500 wild elephants, Pincott is telling her story in Elephant Dawn...The locals called Pincott Thandeka Mandlovu, which means 'much-loved Mother Elephant', and believed she had special magic... With more and more elephants being killed every year, perhaps magic is the only thing that can save them. I would say this is essential reading for anyone interested in wildlife conservation and especially elephants, but this book isn't just about that: it is essentially the story of a person, so committed that they are willing to give up nearly everything to follow their heart and stand up for what they believe in, no matter what. 'The story of one woman and her elephants...Sharon gave up her career in Australia in 2001 to travel to Zimbabwe to give her full attention to the conservation of the Presidential Herd in the Hwange Estate in western Zimbabwe. It was not a good time for Zimbabwe but the elephants needed her... For 13 years Sharon struggled against everything that a troubled Zimbabwe could throw at her...[Elephant Dawn is] a book that one should read, particularly now, when the elephants of Zimbabwe are so much in the news.'. '...a good read with high points, sadness and gritty determination... We need more Sharon Pincotts' to fight for nature from global warming to elephants, they are all connected.'. John Asquith, 50 years in natural resource management, environmental advocacy and wildlife habitat conservation, Australia. '[Sharon Pincott] has done this [elephant work] as a labour of love, unfunded and alone, in a less than friendly country where white people are easily dispensable, certainly according to Robert Mugabe ...

Co-authors Daniel Austin and Hilary Bradt have guided mesmerised visitors on more than 30 trips to Madagascar and their personal anecdotes and unparalleled knowledge, combined with input from around 50 experts, make this the most informative and indispensable guide on the market. 'This is no ordinary travel guide, but a lively, informative, amusing and sensitive account to be enjoyed from cover to cover'. 'The tenth updated edition of MADAGASCAR is a 'must' take-along and travel planner for any destination-bound traveler, and offers itineraries for all budgets and a focus updating all information on how to get to and travel through Madagascar.....A 'must' for any planning a visit to Madagascar!'.

The Medina -- the Old City -- of Fez is the best-preserved, medieval walled city in the world. While on vacation, Australian photojournalist Clarke and her husband were bewitched by the exotic city, deciding to return and begin a search for a riad (a large home with an inner courtyard) to renovate. Readers get to tag along while Clarke deals with Kafkaesque bureaucracy, maneuvers delicately through relationships with neighbors, contractors and construction workers, and goes back to school to improve her French.

Colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, art, literature, cuisine, etiquette, sports, politics, landscapes, wildlife, architecture Over 102 maps Covers Cairo, the Nile Valley, Minya, Luxor, Esna, Siwa Oasis, Western Desert, Alexandria, Suez Canal, Red Sea Coast, Sinai and more. Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing. Anthony Sattin is an award-winning journalist and the author of several acclaimed history and travel books.

Colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - including customs, history, religion, art, music, dance, politics, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine Over 50 maps Covers of Dar es Salaam, Mt Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Zanzibar Archipelago, Stone Town, Lake Victoria, the Serengeti Plains, Selous Highlands and more. Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing. Looking for more extensive coverage? Butler is the foremost expert on Virginia in the War of 1812, having recently written the first book on the state's role in the war, "Defending the Old Dominion in the War of 1812."

These are just a few of the 101 jaw-dropping sightings, scrapes and encounters in this collection of extraordinary true stories from the roads, camps, picnic sites and walking trails of South Africa’s Kruger National Park, as told by the very people who experienced them. There are no game ranger tales here – each and every story happened to an ordinary Kruger visitor doing what over a million tourists do in this spectacular reserve each year. :: Over 420 Kindle pages of extraordinary, hair-raising, unusual, hilarious and jaw-dropping safari tales. :: Astonishing photographs of many of the incidents. :: All stories 100% true - and could happen to YOU! :: Find out what it is like to be stormed by a lion, attacked by an elephant, bitten by a deadly snake or chased by hyaenas. :: A thrilling read whether you're a Kruger veteran or a safari dreamer. :: Discover for yourself the wildlife magic that draws over a million tourists to this spectacular piece of Africa each year. I can't think of a better way to experience the Kruger than through these fireside stories" Andrea Weiss , founding editor of go! "Best book ever written about Kruger National Park ... Had me gasping in astonishment, laughing out loud and even shedding a few tears" Dana Atkinson , author of Traveling Africa: A Woman's Guide. Prepare to giggle in disbelief, tut in despair, and turn pages like you're clicking on cat videos" Kulula Airlines Inflight Magazine. Prepare to giggle in disbelief, tut in despair, and turn pages like you're clicking on cat videos" Kulula Airlines Inflight Magazine. "Jaw-dropping stories ... A bedside book, travel companion, dip-into, read-anywhere compilation of joyful encounters laced with terrible warnings" North Coast Courier. The idea for this collection of 101 extraordinary tales from the Kruger National Park arose purely from envy. I am, however, always flabbergasted by the tales of other visitors, recounted - with perhaps a smattering of exaggeration - in rest camps in the evenings, or shared through open car windows when I've asked, 'Seen anything interesting today?'. When I first set about collecting stories for the book four years ago, I never anticipated the sheer wealth of incredible tales, accounts and anecdotes I would receive. But each one, I hope, captures and shares a little of the wonder and the thrill we all feel when we pass through the gates, full of anticipation of what lies ahead, into the great expanse of one of Africa's greatest treasures. The criteria for selecting the stories were simple: they should all be extraordinary in one way or another; they should all take place in the Kruger National Park itself, not one of the adjoining reserves of Greater Kruger; they should only take place on any of the publicly accessible tourist roads, rest camps, picnic sites or walking trails; and importantly, they should primarily be the tales of ordinary Park visitors like you and me - not game rangers, field guides or any of the other lucky people who work and live in the Park.

The book includes an extensive glossary, as well as tips on wildlife photography, a list of organizations working to protect African wildlife, and advice on where and when to see the animals. Estes, who is affiliated with Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institute as a research associate, spent over eight years doing fieldwork in Africa and over 17 years leading safaris. Estes first covers the characteristics of families and subfamilies and then goes into even more detail on the individual species, charting behaviors one can expect to see and the usual context or meaning. Estes, who is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute as a research associate, spent over eight years doing fieldwork in Africa and over 17 years leading safaris. Estes first covers the characteristics of families and subfamilies and then goes into even more detail on the individual species, charting behaviors one can expect to see and the usual context or meaning.

Readers will shed a tear at her losses and laugh at her predicaments in this sometimes hilarious, often heartbreaking, true story that gives a moving and often shocking insight in to the earlier life of the much-loved travel author famed for her humour and her honesty. Susie recalls a 1950s childhood in post-war London's every shade of grey and the splendours of Africa as, with her glamorous mother and father, she boards a ship bound for exotic, technicolor Kenya. Then in its final decade as a colony, Kenya was peopled with larger-than-life characters who had helped to forge its identity. Each time it seems things cannot get any worse, they do as the popular travel author lifts the lid on her own, often shocking, behaviour in her quest to protect herself and those she loves. Rebellious, lonely and self-destructive, it is a small grey horse named Cinderella who saves Susie from herself and brings her the love she craves. ' There is something very special about this book and the way the reader is instantly drawn into Susie's world and the appalling people and situations she had to endure.'. Filled with candid humor and insights, this authentic tale captures one woman's incredible coming-of-age journey.'.

In the tradition of A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun , acclaimed English travel writer Tahir Shah shares a highly entertaining account of making an exotic dream come true. Investing what money he and his wife, Rachana, had, Tahir packed up his growing family and bought Dar Khalifa, a crumbling ruin of a mansion by the sea in Casablanca that once belonged to the city’s caliph, or spiritual leader. When Shah, his pregnant wife and their small daughter move from England to Morocco, where he'd vacationed as a child, he enters a realm of "invisible spirits and their parallel world." In the March 2006 issue of The Atlantic , Terry Castle faced his addiction to the shelter magazines and furnishings catalogues that drive the "billion dollar business of home improvement." Travel writer Tahir Shah ( In Search of King Solomon's Mines ; Sorcerer's Apprentice ) possesses the same idealistic (and some critics say naïve) pursuit of greener grass through domestic upheaval. Though less intrepid souls might not care to live there, reviewers insist a few nights at Dar Khalifa in the company of such a talented writer is time well spent.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, art, literature, cuisine, etiquette, sports, politics, landscapes, wildlife, architecture Over 102 maps Covers Cairo, the Nile Valley, Minya, Luxor, Esna, Siwa Oasis, Western Desert, Alexandria, Suez Canal, Red Sea Coast, Sinai and more. Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing. Anthony Sattin is an award-winning journalist and the author of several acclaimed history and travel books.