Of the two books recommended in this post, one is necessary if going on safari. Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, by Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe is the bird book we used when on safari back in December 2004. Our Kibo Safari guides, Alex, Pascal, and James now have their own copies. The second book, The Tree Where Man Was Born, by the great naturalist writer Peter Matthiessen, is readable before, during, or after your safari. If read after, Matthiessen will bring your entire experience back to life once back to your home country. Enjoy your safari and if you are fortunate enough to have Alex, James, or Pascal as your guides, please say Ndugu Habari Zenu for me.
P.S. Some readers might be more familiar with Matthiessen's other excellent works: At Play in the Fields of the Lord, a thriller set in the South American jungle, and The Snow Leopard, a story of the quest for one of the world's most elusive big cats, the snow leopard in the Himalayas.
