Africa Travel Books

There are many Africa Travel Books; this is a great collection of some of them, although I do have the say, it's a small collection. Just some of my favorites! 

For our special list on BOOKS ON KENYA, please CLICK HERE! Most of the books in this list are very recent releases. We are updating them as they come along and are fit and deserving to be added to these outstanding accounts of personal experiences.

We are sending you with these Africa Travel Books on journeys from Cairo all the way to Cape Town, the immense amount of sand in the Sahara through Mali, Zaire (D.R.C.), Uganda and eventually down to South Africa.

A life of one incredible woman, who grew up in Somalia to become a supermodel, the story of a incorrigible wanderer, who volunteers in Ghana for a while, a favor to a friend to pick up a Land Rover in C.A.R. (Central African Republic), which should be only a matter of a few weeks, but ends up to be a 3 months travel adventure and a love story for Africa and childhood in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Zambia and Malawi.

Africa Travel Books are perfect for giving you a feeling on how different this continent really is from everything we know. So are AFRICA TRAVEL GUIDES . They will provide you with the latest and most detailed information to finalize your trip.

Get ready for some amazing, awesome Africa Travel Books and Life Adventures!!

And further down you will find links for some fantastic Travel Magazines!

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 absolutly 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. This is one amazing book, let me just add a few praises:
“A stunning piece of work. There is an amazing depth, breadth and grace of fine writing in this book. It will reside permanently in my memory. No one should dare say the word ‘Africa’ without reading it.” -Jim Harrison
“Mesmerizing. A sweeping, poetic homage to Africa” -Publisher Weekly (Starred Review)

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

Synopsis:
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

Publisher Comments:
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

Publisher Comments:
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

Publisher Comments:
"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

NOW, if Travel Magazines are more your thing, keep scrolling.....

Travel Magazines

Travel Africa Magazine

Offers extensive travel information, including: book reviews, astounding photos, various cultural/origin reviews, African safari tours/lodges, interviews with amazing world travelers and much more. They have four issues a year and you can read up on past articles on their website for free as a guest. Other areas can only be accessed if you register with them.
www.travelafricamag.com

Africa Geographic

Has 11 issues a year and gives you lots of updates on what different Conservation Groups do in various areas of Africa. They also have wonderful articles on Photographic Tips and fantastic pictures/photos. Their website has a lot of free information and great travel narratives.
www.africa-geographic.com

ITN International Travel News

Looks almost like a news paper and comes out ones a month, which is most likely why the information is more current than most glossy type magazines. It pretty much talks about everything related to international travel, different place, travel insurances, internet cafes and lots more. There is a good advertising selections on travel tour operators and a section where you can ask questions to fellow travelers. This is a very inexpensive magazine (~ $2.50 per issue) for the considerable amount of information they provide.
www.intltravelnews.com

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