Product Description

Bradt's fully illustrated wildlife guides focus on regions of the world particularly celebrated for their amazing and often unique species. With spectacular photography or exclusive watercolour drawings throughout, each visitors' guide provides an introduction to the region's principal flora and fauna alongside suggested wildlife itineraries, practical information on when to go and what to take, and photography tips. Written in a deliberately engaging way, they offer something different from dry field guides, and will appeal to the interested layman as much as the wildlife devotee. Ideal as a lightweight companion to any wildlife trip they also make a handsome souvenir.
Most wildlife guides focus on single groups of animals, but here in Mike Unwin's informative and reader-friendly handbook we have a wide selection of insects, birds and mammals in one handy volume. Excellent photography and a well-written text covering identification as well as behavioral insights make for yet another outstanding guide in the Bradt series. For visitors and wildlife lovers not wanting to lug an entire reference library on safari, this welcome addition to African wildlife guides is the essential companion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20524 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
"...a highly focused view of the best wildlife..."SX Magazine"A book like this is a must if you are going on safari. It's an invaluable guide." --Abroad Magazine

'Bradt Travel Guides simply have the best wildlife coverage of any of the popular guide books.' --BBC Wildlife

'Bradt Travel Guides simply have the best wildlife coverage of any of the popular guide books.' --BBC Wildlife

About the Author
Mike Unwin divides his time between editing natural history books, writing, photography and illustration. He has previously lived in both Zimbabwe and Swaziland, which have acted as a base, enabling him to explore Southern Africa in depth.

Customer Reviews

Ranger in your pocket!
If you think that going on safari should consist of more than lazily ticking off a lion, a hippo and a zebra before heading for the barbeque, this is the book for you. It takes you deep into the bush and opens your eyes in the way that a ranger in the field might do, from explaining the breeding habits of turtles to advising what to do if charged by a lion. The writing is infused with enthusiasm, and has a lightness of touch that keeps you reading - it's therefore ideal for whetting your appetite before you go, keeping you company while you're there, and offering a nostalgic reminder when you get back.

The book is wide in scope, covering mammals, birds, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians as well as habitats, tracks and how to go about a safari. But astonishingly for a book you can slip into your pocket, it offers much more than a brief overview. Unless you are a specialist, this is all you would really need to appreciate everything you see (other than a field guide to birds, which you would need for identification purposes). Both the photography and illustrations are superb. I'm off to South Africa in a few weeks, and my copy is already dog-eared.

The business!
Southern Africa has to be one of the best wildlife-watching destinations on earth, with far more to see and enjoy than can be packed into the average two-week itinerary. This new wildlife-watching guide will help visitors make the most of this animal extravaganza. Mike Unwin, who obviously loves the area and its animals, takes us on a lively, quirky tour of the wildlife, highlighting the 'greatest hits' but not neglecting the less well-known but no less fascinating species and groups. The book also has plenty of travel advice and information on animal tracks and signs. It's illustrated with a wealth of beautiful colour photos, and many of the author's own superb line drawings. It's wonderfully inspiring - I can't wait to road-test it in the field.

Lovely photos clear text
I am very pleased with the guide it is a handy size and should be very easy to use for identifying animals,insects and birds when I go to South Africa. Lovely photos and a clear text well laid out.