Safari travel books really help you squeeze the most benefit out of your trip because if you know something about the animals and people you encounter there, you will probably enjoy it a lot more.

If your safari operator is up to scratch they will provide you with a lot of information, but an African safari book will have more comprehensive content that you can access at your leisure.

And safari books can be an invaluable aid in helping you prepare for your trip. It’s almost as good as having a travel agent at your beck and call 24 hours a day.

There are three major categories of safari book that you can choose from and the titles listed in each category are the top ones in that field…

1. Topical Guidebooks

The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals

Written by Richard D Estes this is a definitive book about the habits of African wildlife which will stand you in good stead when you come across animals on your trip.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife

Apart from the wildlife information and fantastic photographs, this guide also contains geographic and climate information about your destination. Written by Peter Alden, Richard D. Estes, Duane Schlitter, Bunny McBride.

2. Country Guidebooks

There are quite a few players bidding to be Nr 1 in this category but the guidebooks that come out tops from an African point of view are the Bradt Travel Guides.

They have amazingly detailed coverage of most things Africa and the people who write the guides are really passionate and knowledgeable about their subject. Here are a few of the titles they publish but they cover the whole of Africa with their full stable of guides…

Africa Overland
Southern African Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide
Tanzania with Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia
Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe, Northern Kalahari
Madagascar Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide
The Gambia

Another guidebook publisher with a very extensive African range and excellent content is Lonely Planet. Some of their popular guides are…

Africa on a shoestring
South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland
Healthy Travel Africa

Rough Guides has a more limited range of Africa books but what they do have is of a high quality…

Cape Town & the Garden Route
Swahili Phrasebook

3. Other Africa Books – Fiction

There are some Africa fiction books that manage to capture and communicate a measure of the magic, romance, wildness and unique character of the dark continent.

Reading these books will give you a foretaste of what it is about Africa that seems to get into peoples blood and engender a love of the place that draws them back again and again.

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town written by Paul Theroux is a magnificent story that takes readers the length of Africa by rattletrap bus, dugout canoe, cattle truck, armed convoy, ferry, and train. In the course of his epic and enlightening journey, he endures danger, delay, and dismaying circumstances. Gauging the state of affairs, he talks to Africans, aid workers, missionaries, and tourists. What results is an insightful meditation on the history, politics, and beauty of Africa and its people.

I Dreamed of Africa is Kuki Gallmans classic inspirational and moving book about her experiences in Kenya after she moved there permanently from Italy. This book was also turned into a movie starring Kim Basinger.

More top african-safari-journals.com/africa-books.html Africa books that will enormously enrich and aid your African safari tour.

A complete african-safari-journals.com/safari-packing-list.html safari packing list of what to take with you on your African safari.

Maine is famous for its seacoast, for lobsters, lighthouses and beaches. Many people drive up US RT 95 to RT 1 and through Portland, Freeport and Old Orchard Beach. While this is a great way to see the coast and visit the factory outlets in Freeport and Kittery, there’s much more to Maine than you can see from the highway or busy RT 1. Off many of the exits, just a few miles from the bustling outlets and busy highways, there are many lesser known roads that will thrill sightseekers.

One of the most spectacular scenic drives in Maine is the Schoodic Scenic Byway, which starts in the town of Sullivan. If you look out over Sullivan Harbor, you’ll be able to see the famous “Reversing Falls” and Mount Desert Island with its mountains in the distance. There are many scenic “turnouts” on this route and at Long Cove there’s even a picnic area with restrooms. While you eat, you can look out over the cove and may even see a harbor seal, lobster boats and many different sea birds.

The Porcupine Islands, Cadillac Mountain and Frenchman Bay appear as you near The Schoodic Area Chamber of Commerce Information booth at Mile 7, where you can get information on the area during the summer months. And shortly after that, you’ll turn right on RT 186, and head toward the Schoodic Point Loop Rd of Acadia National Park, one of the most scenic areas of the United States.

Before you reach it though, enjoy the views of the working waterfront in Winter Harbor, where lobster boats and fishing boats still leave daily and return with their catch. Park at the public pier and watch the action as the boats are unloaded, equipment is mended and boats are maintained.

Its bold shoreline is covered with massive granite rocks, tumbling down to the crashing waves of the Atlantic. Spray sometimes actually reaches the road and care must be taken if you decide to walk on the rocks, although the view is breathtaking and the salty air has an exhilirating tang you’ll find nowhere else.

Heading North again, you’ll leave the Loop Road and head back toward Gouldsboro, Birch Harbor and Prospect Harbor where the 27 mile long Byway ends. From there, you can head to Ellsworth for a meal at one of the many restaurants in the area, or stay at one of the many motels and hotels. Be sure to make a reservation well in advance during the summer months, because many people make this part of Maine their destination, and if you’ve driven the Schoodic Scenic Byway, you know why.

Lill Hawkins lives in Maine and writes about family life, home education and being a WAHM at hawkhillacres.blogspot.com hawkhillacres.blogspot.com Get the News From Hawkhill Acres: A mostly humorous look at home schooling, writing and being a WAHM, whose mantra is “I’m a willow; I can bend.”

I don’t want to be too cruel, or harsh on this subject, or debasing, for some may think
I have a slanted opinion perhaps on this matter, which I really call an up-front opinion, and it has to do with American travelers in South America; and I spend a lot of time in South America. This does not pertain to Peru, Colombia or Argentina, and a few other countries. But countries like Brazil and Paraguay, and a few others, I will not mention their names, they know who they are. The premise is Visas. So what’s my beef! Just this, they are greedy. Let me explain.

Six years ago I went to Brazil for eight-days that is all, the visa cost me $60-dollars. Now in 2007 I go back to Brazil it cost me $100-dollars (in Paraguay, it cost $45-dollars even if you only want to stay a day, and there isn’t one thing worth seeing there, even in the big city called Asuncion ((which is really not too big)), not one thing worth $45-dollars to see; the only thing you get for your money is a cheap hotel for the dollar, yes, once you look out the window, you will agree with me most likely, except if you were born there. Yet on the other hand, it doesn’t cost the South American a dime for their Visas (I know because my wife has never had to pay), only Americans, yes, just North Americans; why they charge Americans, is perhaps because they know they don’t want to live in Brazil, except if retired, there are no jobs, and little hope one would pay equal to America. The normal premise of a Visa, is to insure the person receiving it, does not stay in your country and take jobs away from citizens, and can pay his or her way while visiting; in most cases the Brazilian cannot meet these standards going to America, where everyone knows, Americans can afford to stay longer in a foreign country, and would not want to leave good old America, especially for most South American Countries, unless retiring, as I said before).

Anyhow, let me get on with my complaint, or better put, dismay at this situation. Mostly Brazil: I know they say ‘But we have a reciprocal Visa plan, monkey see, monkey do.’ Meaning, America makes it difficult for a person living in Brazil to get a visa to get into America. This is true, but if America did not have a policy like that, there would be no one left in Brazil, they’d all be in America (one must remember America is giving them aid, they are not giving it to us; if indeed it was reversed, I could understand their postion in this matter); like the Mexicans are doing, and the Asians in South East Asia are doing, and Cuba would like to do, and started to do, until we put a stop to it. It is no different than the West Africans (as they were doing) trying to invade Malta and Europe recently, trying to get on their shores, leaving their battered countries to start a new life, and they put a stop to it: the EU.

But here is my logic. They hurt themselves in the process, out of pride you could say, and to a neighbor that gives them between $800-million to $1.6-billion dollars a year–every year, and they slap the tax payer in America twice in the face. They grab the money and run like an elephant to the bank with it, and say, ‘…throw another $40-dollars on top of the already $60-dollars for the visa, it is simply part of the visa reciprocal program; thus, they get more money.’ It is a cheap way of slapping your neighbor in the face (as I just said, twice), who has just signed a billion dollar check for you (for nothing). If I had, but I don’t have of course, the power to stop these gift payments to South American Countries that slap our face, I would. Anyhow, the rhetoric we get back from them is this: ‘…you give more free money to Egypt, than us, your neighbor.’ They even say it as if they are hurt, so the beggar is complaining about the other beggar getting more. I can’t believe it.

See Dennis’ web site: dennissiluk.tripod.com dennissiluk.tripod.com

Because that’s just the way you are, you’ve already decided that your upcoming vacation will take place on the green, luscious, lovely island of Kauai in Hawaii. The only things you’ve yet to pencil in are the exact details of your accommodations. You’d like to be nearby a handful of tourist sites, but you’d also like to enjoy some privacy at the end of the day (or when a nap attack threatens to set in). The organized, time-saving, and basically smart thing to do would be to reserve yourself a vacation rental in the heart of one of Kauai’s most beautiful regions. Hint: consider Koloa.

For you, a recently refurnished, tastefully decorated town home located in the heart of Poipu resort area should do the trick. This is the sunny, dry, southern side of Kauai, and its features couldn’t be more ideal for creating the kind of vacation you seek. The average temperature is 78, the trade winds are at your service, and you’ll be within walking distance of beaches, shopping, restaurants, golf courses, and historic landmarks.

If this doesn’t sound like the makings of a fine getaway, then you’re a pretty tough one to please. Most people would find lodging that is named “Place of the Gods” to be quite acceptable, especially when you take into consideration the breathtaking view of Shipwreck Beach. Don’t worry, there aren’t actually broken-up vessels strewn about this stretch of shoreline, so nothing will impede your enjoyment of the smooth sand and gentle surf.

Spend some time in the water, as you probably don’t usually get to snorkel, swim, and float during a usual day at the office. Acquaint yourself with some friendly fish, take a few pictures to show your jealous friends later on, and order a pina colada and sip it as you thread your toes through the pearly white sand. It’ll taste a little better that way.

For more scenarios that will later serve as images for your relaxation techniques (remember the cocktails-on-the-beach the next time you’re stuck in traffic), you won’t have to try very hard. Charter a boat to do some whale watching. Go for a stroll through the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Book a hot stone massage at the nearby spa. Invite your partner out to the lanai in time to watch the sun go down. The choices are both endless and endlessly impressive.

You’ll be glad that you chose Kauai because it has a little bit of everything, just as Koloa has a little bit of all that’s good about Kauai. It’s like you’ve taken a large scale project (going to Hawaii) and scaled it down to a manageable level (staying in one of Hawaii’s best vacation rentals in a prime region). Good job, you. Every morning as you greet a new day, you’ll feel perfectly justified in congratulating yourself for your hard work.

And it really wasn’t that hard. It’s fairly easy to check out the vacation properties that are available, just go online, look at the stats, and ogle the pretty pictures. There will certainly be a handful that will jump out at you, and the hard part will be narrowing it down to one lucky home that gets to welcome you into its walls.

We all have our own little likes and dislikes when it comes to vacationing, so don’t be shy about going for what you really want. A Polynesian décor might make you smile or make you squirm, so check it out beforehand and you’ll end up happy.

Grills, internet access, ironing boards, and any other amenity you can imagine tend to be pretty standard for most Koloa vacation rentals, so prepare to feel pampered and to dread the day of your return to normal life. Ignore that feeling if you can, however, and enjoy every minute of your holiday. You’re lucky that you’re able to venture out to such a blessed locale, and the fact that you’re taking a little time to properly plan things out is a good sign.

In other words, your trip is going to be magnificent, and you deserve it. Book your