Product Description

Those looking for a concise yet informative, visually breathtaking yet affordable East African safari need look no further than this spectacular field guide. Featuring full-color photos of 475 common species of bird, mammal, snake, lizard, insect, tree, and flower, Wildlife of East Africa takes us on an exquisite one-volume tour through the living splendor of the main national parks and game reserves of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Many of the species included--from pelicans to plovers, ostriches to elephants, from the daintiest of antelopes to cattlelike giants, from leopards to lions, baboons to gorillas, chameleons to crocodiles, acacias to aloes--also inhabit neighboring countries. The selection was based on the personal experiences of the authors, wildlife experts who have been leading safaris in the region for more than twenty years.

Each species is illustrated with a photo and a detailed entry on the facing page; the text is commendably rich for such a compact guide. This information enables the particular animal or plant to be identified by such traits as size, plumage or pelage, color, and shape. An opening section on wildlife photography provides helpful tips on the best type of camera, film, and lenses to use, techniques, and codes of conduct. Wildlife of East Africa is a must for anyone considering a first-hand look at, or simply daydreaming of, the elegant, enormous, or exotic wildlife of East Africa.

• Covers the main parks and reserves of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, plus surrounding countries
• 475 common species of bird, mammal, snake, lizard, insect, tree, and flower--from ostriches to elephants, leopards to lions, baboons to gorillas, chameleons to crocodiles, acacias to aloes
• Full-color photographs and detailed entries describing each species
• Written and illustrated by wildlife experts who have been leading safaris in East Africa for more than 20 years
• Tips on wildlife photography, techniques, and codes of conduct

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62448 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-22
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
David Hosking is a wildlife photographer who, with his wife Jean, runs the Frank Lane Picture Agency, one of Britain's oldest natural history photo libraries. A coauthor of "Wildlife of the Galápagos", his work has appeared in numerous publications. He also runs Hosking Tours, a company specializing in nature photography holidays. Martin B. Withers is one of Britain's finest nature photographers. He has traveled extensively throughout the world in pursuit of natural subjects for his photography and as a tour leader with Hosking Tours.

Customer Reviews

Nice Guide but lacking
The photography information is useful, but this information can be found in any number of photograpy books or magazines. These pages could be utilized to include more information on East Africa, such as eco-systems, climate, maps of the region(s) covered.

Tabs or color coded pages would be useful to quickly reference the different sections (birds, plants, mammals, etc.) There is no delineation that is easily visible if you are in a hurry.

When traveling in Africa luggage space and weight is always a major concern. This book is compact and convenient, it is in fact an honest pocket guide.

Better books out there
We bought this book and National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife. The Audubon book was much better. I regret purchasing this book - I feel as though it was a waste of money and suitcase space. We only looked at this book to compare it to the Audubon book to see where this book was lacking. This book is slightly smaller than the Audubon book, but not enough to justify purchasing this one instead of the Audubon book.

Great travel reference
We travelled with this book in east Africa and found it an easy to follow and useful basic reference book while on the road. I found the photographs useful especially for basic bird identification. The book held together for us and was a good size and weight for carting around.