5 comments about Adventuring in Southern Africa: The Great Safaris and Wildlife Parks of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Malawi, Lesotho, and Swaziland.

1. Prior to my trip, I purchased 4 travel books on Southern Africa then found this guidebook at the Miami airport. It was by far the most accurate and contained all the "need to know" information. Unlike the others, it contained excellent hotel and activity descriptions plus gave detailed information on each region. Sure you want to know some local history but I'm more interested in where to stay, where to eat and what things I can do. At the end of the trip, I left my first 4 guidebooks in Botswana and brought this one home!



2. This book is full of interesting and pertinent travel information; it is a MUST for anyone interested in game-viewing and travelling in southern Africa. The author gives best times to travel depending on what you want to see, and for each country, lists brief history/present politics, places to stay--easily accessible to remote--and how to get there and what you may see. He also gives a comprehensive packing list, medical info, and tips on game viewing. Out of the 4 books I bought on southern Africa, this is the one I referred to most often. This book, coupled with The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals, is an invaluable southern Africa traveller's necessity.



3. This book is an outstanding resource to be read prior to traveling to South Africa. It covers many different aspects of what the experience will entail. These include the history, etiquette, positives and negatives of each type of travel, various diseases and safety precautions one should take. In addition, he thoroughly delivers every aspect of each south african country...ie. countryside, animals, weather, and history. This book in interesting, exciting, and educational!



4. This book is an outstanding resource to be read prior to traveling to South Africa. It covers many different aspects of what the experience will entail. These include the history, etiquette, positives and negatives of each type of travel, various diseases and safety precautions one should take. In addition, he thoroughly delivers every aspect of each south african country...ie. countryside, animals, weather, and history. This book in interesting, exciting, and educational!



5. ...I bought this book to make plans for a trip to Zambia but the chapter about this country is only 40 pages long, both verbose and superficial. Don't get fooled by the "Adventuring" in the title, unless your idea of adventure is to hop by plane from lodge to lodge at $200 or $300 a night. More importantly, except for the park entrance fees, this book doesn't list any price at all (I got them from two other, excellent, travel guides). Comments on cheaper accomodations are few and disenchanted. The maps are equally few and over-simplified (the roads don't even appear!...) Finally, I looked at the chapters about the other countries and it certainly didn't change my opinion about this book. Note also that the date of the last edition (October 97) makes it relatively outdated.

No comments about Southern Africa: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Southern Mozambique (Traveller's Wildlife Guides).

5 comments about At the Mercy of the River: An Exploration of the Last African Wilderness.

1. For the price of the book, I got a great trip to Africa! Truly a wonderful read about a place that I may never actually be able to go to except for in this book. Thanks for the tour.



2. book in excellent condition



3. Peter Stark was invited to join a small expedition kayaking the Lugenda River in Mozambique: a river no white man had ever kayaked, still largely unmapped and wild. At The Mercy Of The River: An Exploration Of The Last African Wilderness tells of his adventure down the river, providing high adventure for armchair travelers with 'you are there' action. From croc-infested waters to reflections on great explorers who also explored the region, At The Mercy Of The River will have you on the edge of your seat, sharing fellow explorers' journeys in a fine blend of history and modern adventure.



4. Pilots say that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. The same might be said of "wilderness adventure". Peter Stark walked away from a trip down an untraversed African river, but it was a close thing. Dumped in the river, beset by crocodiles, hippos, a black mamba and a dodgy stomach, Stark lived to relate his tale. He tells it well, with all the passion of a survivor. A map and photographs, and even a bibliography provide visual accents to the narrative. With no small research flavouring the account, the story is an exciting read.
   
   Stark was contacted by a lady in Botswana to be the "recorder" of a "first". Cherri Briggs, an "adventure company" owner, wanted to descend the Lugenda River in Mozambique. Briggs was assembling a kayaking team to make the first trip down an unknown tributary of the Rovumba which empties into the Indian Ocean. Having made a hasty survey flight, Briggs told Stark that there were rapids but their skill level was unknown. Although at forty-eight years old and with a family, Stark shed his misgivings to join the team. Four other men had been recruited for a journey that would prove the need for care in selecting exploration teams.
   
   Travelling by canoe or kayak, even in company, offers opportunity for introspection and reflection. In company, perhaps such travel demands it. Stark, no stranger to wilderness travel, had years of canoe experience. Clashes with leaders of the expedition were inevitable. Wilderness travel in case such as this can mean many have "leadership" roles. In this case, Cherri was the expedition leader, but Clinton took the lead in finding the best kayak path. "Following the leader" in one instance led Stark to the edge of a ten-metre waterfall. Truly, one false move would have had him "at the mercy of the river". His experience got him and his partner out of difficulty, but it was a close thing. It eroded the relationship between Stark and Clinton. The breach was patched, however and the trip continued. Hardly, however, uneventfully.
   
   Stark was a newcomer to Africa, most of his wilderness trips taking place in North America. He had much to learn, and tried earnestly to do so. The book is spiced with personalities and accounts of African exploration. From the fabled trips of Ibn Battuta to Dr Livingstone, Stark explains how outsiders entered the African scene over the centuries. "Discovery", conquest, wealth and religion all played their various roles, sometimes intermingled. Stark's use of these stories is unusual. Most of them are presented as if he's suddenly driven to remember them while otherwise unoccupied. They make wonderful reading, but their contribution to the Lugenda journey is nil. That's not really a flaw, since the purpose of the book is as much Stark's personal discoveries as is the river passage. The one map and many photographs add further sparkle to this lively account. It's worth your time for its information, its glance into the mind of an adventure journalist, and for its snippets of exploration history. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]



5. I read this in preparation for my own trip to southern Africa. Peter Stark is a wonderful writer with humble authenticity and believable emotional descriptions. He captured the insecurities of the community he traveled with and was quite honest about his own fears. I plan to read more of his work.

No comments about D & S South Africa (Diving & Snorkeling).

No comments about Kruger National Park Travel Map Fourth (Globetrotter Travel Map).

1 comments about The Trouble with Africa.

1. Though this artist is, first and foremost, a talented painter; much to my delight, he is also an excellent writer. His writing is vivid, thoughtful, and candid; his stories, fascinating. Lucky for us that this painter tried his hand at writing and shared the Africa he knows with us!

No comments about The Rough Guide to South Africa Map (Rough Guide Country/Region Map).

No comments about Botswana Travel Pack (Globetrotter Travel Packs).

No comments about Insight Guide East African Wildlife (Insight Guides East African Wildlife).

1 comments about Lois Rides Again: Across Africa the Tricky, Sticky Way.

1. what an incredibly brave, upbeat, amazing person Lois Pryce is. Difficult and dangerous enough to ride Africa top to bottom, doubly so for a solo rider and for a woman, yet ride it she does with grace. I admire that, unlike many western travelers, she does not insulate herself with money or celebrity, rather she is a natural person who has this tremendous desire to experience Africa. Lovely, entertaining, insightful, amusing, she is a great travel writer and great adventurer