Egypt (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
by DK Publishing
from DK Travel
Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide
by Peter Allison
from The Lyons Press
Egypt (Country Guide)
by Matthew Firestone
from Lonely Planet
Discover Egypt
Find a Cairo coffeehouse to suit your own style; unwind, chat and inhale deeply over a sheesha
Forget hot springs: try a hot sand bath in the middle of the desert
Take belly-dancing lessons from the most famous teacher in Egypt
Relax in the soft light of early morning on a Nile cruise
In This Guide:
Five authors, 295 days of research, hundreds of touts and a week-long scuba course
Special chapter on cruising the Nile: choose from timeless feluccas and splendid dahabiyyas, the Rolls Royce of their era
Illustrated Pharaonic Egypt chapter by world-renowned Egyptologist Dr Joann Fletcher brings the ancient rulers to life
Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveller suggestions
Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass
by Isak Dinesen
from Vintage
Out of Africa is Karin Blixen's love letter to the country she called home for nearly 20 years. Arriving in British East Africa (now Kenya) from Denmark in 1914, Blixen--Isak Dinesen was her pen name--was immediately seduced by the landscape of the Ngong hill country, not to mention the animals and people who inhabited it. Her descriptions bring this wonderland alive for readers: out on safari, she recalls the movements of a group of giraffes, "in their queer, inimitable, vegetative gracefulness, as if it were not a herd of animals but a family of rare, long-stemmed, speckled gigantic flowers slowly advancing." Blixen laces into her reverie the account of her coffee plantation--which ultimately succumbed to high altitude, droughts, and tumbling international coffee prices--and tales of her friendships with other colonials in Nairobi. But one should read her memoir for the stories she tells of cooking with her Kikuyu chef (who almost never ate any of the European delicacies he so expertly created), adopting an abandoned infant antelope, flying over the countryside in her lover's plane--"the greatest, most transporting pleasure of my life on the farm"--and watching the children of her tenant farmers collect at her house each day at noon for the spectacle of her cuckoo clock.
Though some of her references to native Africans will likely make today's readers uncomfortable, Blixen can also be perceptive, particularly in her articulation of the differences between European and African culture and her excitement over what she learns from "her" Africans. It is not long before she is attuned to the rhythms of nature: she can foresee when the rains will come, can spot the new moon before anyone else on the farm, and knows exactly what the silence of night should sound like. Though her sorrow is almost unbearably palpable when at last--after the collapse of the farm, the loss of her lover, and the war looming--Blixen leaves Africa, the reader will close the book richer for her sojourn. --Jordana Moskowitz
With classic simplicity and a painter's feeling for atmosphere and detail, Isak Dinesen tells of the years she spent from 1914 to 1931 managing a coffee plantation in Kenya.
Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown
by Paul Theroux
from Mariner Books
In Dark Star Safari the wittily observant and endearingly irascible Paul Theroux 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, aid workers, missionaries, and tourists. What results is an insightful meditation on the history, politics, and beauty of Africa and its people, and "a vivid portrayal of the secret sweetness, the hidden vitality, and the long-patient hope that lies just beneath the surface" (Rocky Mountain News). In a new postscript, Theroux recounts the dramatic events of a return to Africa to visit Zimbabwe.
Out of Africa (Modern Library)
by Isak Dinesen
from Modern Library
In this book, the author of Seven Gothic Tales gives a true account of her life on her plantation in Kenya. She tells with classic simplicity of the ways of the country and the natives: of the beauty of the Ngong Hills and coffee trees in blossom: of her guests, from the Prince of Wales to Knudsen, the old charcoal burner, who visited her: of primitive festivals: of big game that were her near neighbors--lions, rhinos, elephants, zebras, buffaloes--and of Lulu, the little gazelle who came to live with her, unbelievably ladylike and beautiful.
The Random House colophon made its debut in February 1927 on the cover of a little pamphlet called "Announcement Number One." Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, the company's founders, had acquired the Modern Library from publishers Boni and Liveright two years earlier. One day, their friend the illustrator Rockwell Kent stopped by their office. Cerf later recalled, "Rockwell was sitting at my desk facing Donald, and we were talking about doing a few books on the side, when suddenly I got an inspiration and said, 'I've got the name for our publishing house. We just said we were go-ing to publish a few books on the side at random. Let's call it Random House.' Donald liked the idea, and Rockwell Kent said, 'That's a great name. I'll draw your trademark.' So, sitting at my desk, he took a piece of paper and in five minutes drew Random House, which has been our colophon ever since." Throughout the years, the mission of Random House has remained consistent: to publish books of the highest quality, at random. We are proud to continue this tradition today.
This edition is set from the first American edition of 1937 and commemorates the seventy-fifth anniversary of Random House.
Tanzania (Country Guide)
by Mary Fitzpatrick
from Lonely Planet
Discover Tanzania
Spy on vultures in their nests as you float over the Serengeti in a hot-air balloon
Watch villagers slip by along the shoreline as you cruise down Lake Tanganyika
Rest your elbow on a sack of vegetables as you rattle south on the Tazara train
Jump off a dhow into Zanzibar's warm shallows, and snorkel among shoals of fish
In This Guide:
Give something back: packed with community tourism spotlights and sustainable travel recommendations
Special chapters on trekking and safaris to help you choose the best operators
New color wildlife section with all the facts about both predators and prey
Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates, and traveler suggestions
Swahili: Lonely Planet Phrasebook
by Martin Benjamin
from Lonely Planet
To Pack for East Africa
--binoculars for spotting zebu
--down jacket for the climb up Kilimanjaro
--mosquito net for camping on the multi-day safari
--this phrasebook for everything else.
Our phrasebooks give you a comprehensive mix of practical and social words and phrases in more than 120 languages. Chat with the locals and discover their culture - a guaranteed way to enrich your travel experience.
Bill Bryson's African Diary
by Bill Bryson
from Broadway
“Here is a man who suffers so his readers can laugh.” — Daily Telegraph
Bill Bryson travels to Kenya in support of CARE International. All royalties and profits go to CARE International.
Bryson visits Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, the charity dedicated to eradicating poverty. Kenya is a land of contrasts, with famous game reserves and a vibrant culture. It also provides plenty to worry a traveller like Bill Bryson, fixated as he is on the dangers posed by snakes, insects and large predators. It is also a country with many serious problems: refugees, AIDS, drought, and grinding poverty. The resultant diary, though short in length, contains the trademark Bryson stamp of wry observation and curious insight.
Egyptology
by Ian Andrew
from Candlewick
Discover the wonders of ancient Egypt through a fascinating journal from a lost expedition — a treasure trove of fact and fantasy featuring a novelty element on every spread.
Who can resist the allure of ancient Egypt — and the thrill of uncovering mysteries that have lain hidden for thousands of years? Not the feisty Miss Emily Sands, who in 1926, four years after the discovery of King Tut's tomb, led an expedition up the Nile in search of the tomb of the god Osiris. Alas, Miss Sands and crew soon vanished into the desert, never to be seen again. But luckily, her keen observations live on in the form of a lovingly kept journal, full of drawings, photographs, booklets, foldout maps, postcards, and many other intriguing samples. Here are just a few of EGYPTOLOGY's special features:
— an extravagantly gilded cover, featuring a raised Horus hawk pendant with three encrusted gems
— a playable game of Senet — ancient Egyptian checkers — including board, pieces, original-style dice, and rules
— a souvenir booklet showing how to read simple hieroglyphs
— a scrap of textured "mummy cloth"
— a facsimile of the gilded mummy mask of King Tut
— a gilded eye-of-Horus amulet with a "jewel" at the end
Rich with information about life in ancient Egypt and peppered with Miss Sands's lively narration, EGYPTOLOGY concludes with a letter from the former Keeper of Antiquities at the British Museum, explaining which parts of this unique tale may be accepted as fact, which are guided by legend, and which reflect the author's delightful sense of fancy.
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