While we were able to find a great deal of information about southern Africa on the Internet, as mum noted in her post last week, we are a family of readers so it wasn’t surprising that we started to dig for books about the area and the animals we were going to see.

Here’s a short list of book we’ve found entertaining and useful in the planning process.

Fodor’s The Complete African Safari Planner, 1st Edition: With Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa & Tanzania (Full-Color Gold Guides) Very useful for planning, especially the checklists in the back and the section on Victoria Falls. We started with the basic plan to visit Mashatu in Botswana, so we didn’t need all the information about the other destinations as much as you might if you were starting from a blank slate, but if you do, it’s in this book. We probably won’t bring it with us, though. Our itinerary is pretty settled and it’s extra weight we don’t need.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison.  A quick read and very very funny.

When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy. I haven’t read this one yet, but my mom highly recommends it.

Field Guides that I am bringing with me:

Birds of Southern Africa (Princeton Field Guides) by Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton. I’m not a serious bird watcher but I do enjoy them.

The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates by Richard D. Estes

UPDATED: And one that Sandy is bringing (see her comment):  Wild Ways: Field Guide to the Behaviour of Southern African Mammals by Peter Apps

Other Books that may be going in my carry-on to read on the trip:

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive and The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. I read the first six books in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series quite a while ago;  since they are set in Botswana, I recently picked up number seven Blue Shoes and Happiness to get in the mood for the trip. These books are the next two in the series.