These fantastic Africa Travel Guides offer the most up-to-date information to help you plan and organize your trip to Kenya or elsewhere in Africa.
The guides are regularly updated, usually every other year, ensuring you get the latest version. This is especially useful, as new attractions, hotels, and important travel tips are added regularly to enhance your experience.
You'll also find a Swahili Phrasebook in this collection, which proved incredibly helpful during one of my trips. I met a friend's family, and one family member, who is a teacher in Kenya, looked at it and thought it was excellent!
Kenya - The Rough Guide
Amazon Reviewer: A reader from East Lansing, MI USA
The Rough Guide Kenya is an indispensable travel guide and is useful for first-time and veteran travelers to Kenya. Sections on literature and history complement excellent, detailed, and often witty coverage of nearly the entire country. The best thing about this book is the author's attempt to introduce the reader to the social and political realities of modern Kenya which lie behind the facade of safaris and curio shops. - One of my favorite Africa Travel Guides book.
Kenya - Globetrotter Travel Pack, Guide & Map
Back Cover Copy:
This user-friendly travel map has been specifically designed for visitors as a practical and informative guide to Kenya. More than just a map, it includes large-scale projections of popular tourist destinations. It also includes places of interest, hotels and national parks, highlighted scenic routes, regional climate chart, full color photographs, language tips as well as a concise place names index. (5 x 10 folded, charts, regional maps, color photos) - It's a great little book in the Africa Travel guides section!
East Africa - Lonely Planet
Synopsis:
- safari chapter: the word on white-water rafting, camel, walking & bicycle safaris - expert special section on East Africa's endangered mountain gorillas - insightful section on regional peoples & cultures - covers everywhere from the beaches of Zanzibar to the wilds of Uganda
Covering everywhere from the beaches of Zanzibar to the wilds of Uganda, this Africa travel guides book features a safari chapter with information on white-water rafting, and camel, walking and bicycle safaris. of color photos. 117 maps.
Kenya Guide - Be a traveler, not a tourist by Elise Vachon
Amazon Reviewer: Steven Harris from Atlanta, GA USA
I had always dreamed of going to Africa, but my husband was terrified at the prospect. We bought this Kenya travel guide in hopes of getting some accurate information. We found it very organized and pleasant to read. Ms. Vachon's book relieved many of his fears and we used the book intensely in planning our trip. Every tip, review and suggestion she wrote turned out to be true. We really credit this book in helping us experience the trip of a lifetime.
Swahili Phrasebook - Lonely Planet
Synopsis:
(Chapters include a two-way dictionary, grammar and pronunciation sections, and key phrases for any situation, ranging from buying food in markets to trekking in the countryside. An essential tool for travelers to East Africa.)
*Not really a Africa travel guides book but indispensable*
This selection of Books on Kenya provides insight into the lives of local people and seekers from around the world, all hoping to find what they are searching for—whether it's starting a new life or experiencing a deep, unexplainable sense of belonging.
For some, it’s a calling to do meaningful work and support impoverished communities in whatever way is most needed.
There’s something about Kenya that’s hard to put into words, but these authors do an incredible job of capturing its essence in these Books on Kenya.
Perhaps you’re seeking more reasons to visit this remarkable country, with all its beauty and its challenges.
If you're not much of a reader, don’t worry—all of these books are available as e-books, so you can listen to them on your way to work and “dream about Africa.”
Now is the perfect time to grab a hot cup of Kenyan coffee (or tea) and Jifurahisha (which means "enjoy" in Swahili) as you dive into these wonderful books on Kenya!
I DREAMED OF AFRICA - Kuki Gallmann
As a child Kuki Gallmann dreamed of Africa. Born near Venice, Italy, she grew up listening to her father’s stories of the Sahara. Her first glimpse of Africa surpasses even her dreams. With Paolo Gallmann, her soon-to-be husband, she explores the dusty savannahs and rich wildlife of the land where she felt she always belonged. But, increasingly, Africa reveals its violent nature, and when Paolo’s life end tragically, Kuki is left with her son Emaluele, an unborn child, and 90,000 acres of Africa. What follows are years of recovery and hope scarred only by the accidental death of Emanuele. Through her indomitable courage and unending love for Africa, Kuki Gallmann has not only forged a new life for herself but has also founded a living memorial to her husband and son. - Out of all her books on Kenya, this is my most favorite one!
AFRICAN NIGHTS - Kuki Gallmann
Lyrical, beautifully written tales of life in Africa Africa evokes a deep sense of mystery. It is a place that retains what most of the world has lost: space, roots, traditions, awesome beauty, true wilderness, rare animals, and extraordinary people. In this wonderful and haunting collection of stories, Kuki Gallmann writes of her life in Africa, where every day brings challenge and adventure.
"African Nights" is a treasury of memories, in which fascinating people and places are brought to life. The healing powers Africa can have on those who embrace the land as a place of mystery, superstition, danger, and beauty.
JAMBO MAMA- Melinda Atwood
Amazon Reviewer: Denise Bonnell from Irvine, CA USA
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! Melinda is a wonderful and entertaining writer whose description of her life in Kenya was written with complete honesty and candor. I am afraid vanity would not have allowed me to be quite so honest. Her detailed accounts of her trials and triumphs kept me turning the pages.... She wrote with compassion towards the people she knew and loved there, and best of all, she wrote with a sharp wit and an incredible sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud often. It wasn't an easy thing she did, moving to Africa by herself for an extended period of time, for Africa and New York are as different as night and day. Melinda did, however, what so many others only think of doing...she followed her dream. For the reader who wants to learn more about modern Kenya, this book is for you. For the reader who wants a fun, interesting, informative, romantic, and heartfelt book to read, then don't miss this one. I highly recommend "Jambo Mama."
Bill Bryson’s African Diary
“Bryson is one of the funniest travel writers in the business.” -- The Globe and Mail
“Bryson is first and foremost a storyteller -- and a supremely comic and original one at that.” -- Winnipeg Free Press
Invited by CARE International, the author of "In a Sunburned Country" now visits Kenya and observes the many contrasts of Kenyan life, from the country's dramatic geography and famous game reserves to its postcolonial poverty and environmental problems.
There are many Africa Travel Books out there, and this is a wonderful collection of some of the best—though I must admit, it's just a small selection of my personal favorites.
Most of the books on this list are recent releases, and we update them as new ones come along that truly deserve a spot among these outstanding personal accounts.
These Africa Travel Books will take you on journeys from Cairo to Cape Town, across the vast Sahara, through Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and down to South Africa.
You'll experience the life of an incredible woman who grew up in Somalia and became a supermodel, the story of an irrepressible wanderer volunteering in Ghana, a favor to a friend that turns into a three-month adventure picking up a Land Rover in the Central African Republic, and a love story set against childhood memories in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Zambia, and Malawi.
Africa Travel Books are perfect for giving you a true sense of how different this continent is from everything we know. So are the Africa Travel Guides, which provide the latest and most detailed information to help finalize your trip.
Get ready for some amazing Africa Travel Books and life-changing adventures!
A Biography of the Continent: AFRICA - John Reader
In 1978, paleontologists in East Africa discovered the earliest evidence of our divergence from the apes: three pre-human footprints, striding away from a volcano, were preserved in the petrified surface of a mudpan over three million years ago. Out of Africa, the world's most ancient and stable landmass, Homo sapiens dispersed across the globe. And yet the continent that gave birth to human history has long been woefully misunderstood and mistreated by the rest of the world.
In a book as splendid in its wealth of information as it is breathtaking in scope, British writer and photojournalist John Reader brings to light Africa's geology and evolution, the majestic array of its landforms and environments, the rich diversity of its peoples and their ways of life, the devastating legacies of slavery and colonialism as well as recent political troubles and triumphs. Written in simple, elegant prose and illustrated with Reader's own photographs, Africa: A Biography of the Continent is an unforgettable book that will delight the general reader and expert alike.
AFRICAN VISIONS - The Diary of an African Photographer - Mirella Ricciardi
Publisher Comments:
"In her diary of her years in Africa, Ricciardi collects memories of places, people, and experiences in words and in pictures exuding joy, beauty, pain, and even horror. This great photographer (Vanishing Africa; Vanishing Amazon) presents an intimate account of Africa to the reader...with such sincerity that it may be experienced first-hand, unadulterated....Through stories and commentaries as well as pictures, the people emerge full of life and emotions, the landscape flows as the stage for their lives, and the reader gets a subtle lesson in history. Anyone interested in African adventure and travel should at least peruse this work..."
DARK STAR SAFARI - Paul Theroux
If you only have time to read one of the Africa travel books, that HAS to be the one. It's absolutely incredible!!!
Publisher Comments:
In the travel-writing tradition that made Paul Theroux’s reputation, Dark Star Safari is a rich and insightful book whose itinerary is Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town: down the Nile, through Sudan and Ethiopia, to Kenya, Uganda, and ultimately to the tip of South Africa. Going by train, dugout canoe, “chicken bus,” and cattle truck, Theroux passes through some of the most beautiful — and often life-threatening — landscapes on earth.
This is travel as discovery and also, in part, a sentimental journey. Almost forty years ago, Theroux first went to Africa as a teacher in the Malawi bush. Now he stops at his old school, sees former students, revisits his African friends. He finds astonishing, devastating changes wherever he goes......Seeing firsthand what is happening across Africa, Theroux is as obsessively curious and wittily observant as always, and his readers will find themselves on an epic and enlightening journey. Dark Star Safari is one of his bravest and best Africa travel books.
THE ZANZIBAR CHEST - Aidan Hartley
A Story of Life, love and Death in Foreign Lands by Aidan Hartley is the newest addition to our 'Safari Travel Books' section.
Synopsis:
Weaving together stories, his family's history, and his childhood in Africa, Hartley tells what he saw. "The Zanzibar Chest" is an enthralling narrative of men and women meddling with, embracing, and being transformed by other cultures in one of the most important examinations of colonialism ever written.
Mandela, Mobutu, and Me: A Bittersweet Journal of Africa - by Lynne Duke
"Mandela, Mobutu, and Me" is a clear-eyed account of the hard realities the author discovered, including the devastation wrought by ruthless dictators like Mobutu and his successor, Kabila. The murderous activities of warlords in the Congo, and the appalling indifference of Europeans and Americans to the legacy of their own exploitation of the continent make this an emotional read. But Duke also records the high-points, writing with warmth and admiration about Nelson Mandela and others who embody the visionary leadership that serves as an antidote to the chaos and killings. Most of all, she pays tribute to the irrepressible, generous spirit of ordinary Africans who, she reminds us, far outnumber the cruel and power-mad tyrants responsible for Africa's tarnished reputation.
I found this book hard to get into at first, but once involved, it was difficult to put down. Since the author is African American, this book will offer a unique perspective (There are very few African American journalists writing Africa Travel Books).
Looking for Lovedu - Ann Jones
Renowned feminist and intrepid travel journalist Ann Jones tells the story of her journey from one end of Africa to the other in search of the legendary Lovedu, a tribe ruled by a great rain-making queen and dedicated to the "feminine" ideals of compromise, cooperation, tolerance, and peace.
Setting out from Tangier in a battered old blue and yellow Land Rover, Jones and British photographer Kevin Muggleton face daunting challenges and painful encounters: shifting sand in the Sahara, severe food shortages in Mali, trigger-happy soldiers in Zaire, and a young girl in Mauritania who offers to give Jones her baby sister. Jones is perceptive, funny, moving, astute -- everything a good travel writer should be. You'll feel you're right there beside her, meeting the people, marveling at the physical beauty of the land, sharing the grand adventure. - Now this is one of the Africa Travel Books that literately gets you all across Africa.
DESERT FLOWER - Waris Dirie
Waris Dirie leads a double life -- by day, she is an international supermodel and human rights ambassador for the United Nations; by night, she dreams of the simplicity of life in her native Somalia and the family she was forced to leave behind.
Desert Flower, her intimate and inspiring memoir, is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered about the beauty of African life, the chaotic existence of a supermodel, or the joys of new motherhood. Waris was born into a traditional Somali family, desert nomads who engaged in such ancient and antiquated customs as genital mutilation and arranged marriage. At twelve, she fled an arranged marriage to an old man and traveled alone across the dangerous Somali desert to Mogadishu -- the first leg of an emotional journey that would take her to London as a house servant, around the world as a fashion model, and eventually to America, where she would find peace in motherhood and humanitarian work for the U.N.
Don’t let’s go to the dogs tonight - Alexandra Fuller
From 1972 to 1990, Alexandra Fuller, known to friends and family as Bobo, grew up on several farms in southern and central Africa. Her father joined up on the side of the white government in the Rhodesian civil war and was often away fighting against the powerful black guerrilla factions. Her mother, in turn, flung herself into their African life and its rugged farmwork with the same passion and maniacal energy she brought to everything. She taught her daughters, by example, to be resilient and self-sufficient, and she instilled in Bobo a love of reading and of storytelling that proved to be her salvation.
But Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight is more than a survivor's story: It is the story of one woman's unbreakable bond with a continent and the people who inhabit it, a portrait lovingly realized and deeply felt. - One of these Africa travel books that hard to put down.
Somebody’s heart is burning - Tanya Shaffer
"It's my life, and if I want to run from it I can", quips Tanya Shaffer. An incorrigible wanderer, Shaffer has a habit of fleeing domesticity for the joys and rigors of the open road. This time her destination is Ghana, and what results is a trans-formative year spent roaming the African continent. Eager to transcend the limitations of tourism, Shaffer works as a volunteer, building schools and hospitals in remote villages. At the heart of her tale are the profound, complex, often challenging relationships she forms with those she meets along the way. Whether recounting a perilous boat trip to Timbuktu, a night of impassioned political debate in Ghana, or a fumbled romance in Burkina Faso, Shaffer portrays the collision of African and North American cultures with self-deprecating humor and clear-eyed compassion. - Great addition to these Africa travel books.