Best books about hunting in Africa

[rookhawk]

@MT Griz after all that, I got a note from Abebooks merchant saying the $1 book was missing/lost/already sold. So I never got the 21 days book you recommended.

I'll keep looking for it though. I doubt you'll owe me the $1 as all the recommendations on this forum for literature have been rock solid.

 

[Phil Valliant]

Through jungle and desert William Astor chanler

 

[Erny]

I have several but my absolute favorite is Hemingway's The Green Hills of Africa.

 

[MT Griz]

"Footsteps of an Ivory Hunter" By Ian Nyschens and Cheryl Nyschens Morck. Not quite as good as "Months of the Sun" but still a good read.

 

[fourfive8]

I have several but my absolute favorite is Hemingway's The Green Hills of Africa.

Yes, no one could "paint a picture" of Africa with words quite like Hemingway. He was the master of the narrative dialogue. And Ruark, who no doubt viewed Hemingway as his mentor, picked up similar writing skills and styles.

Also, I really enjoy Capstick, who some unfortunately view as a fraud simply because he recorded and retold stories of others in addition to relating his own experiences. As I've learned about different parts of Africa I've also learned to appreciate his writings even more. And he has to be considered a master of the simile. Since his wife was his primary editor she likewise deserves a great deal of credit for his success. If you pay attention to the details of his work you'll notice he always credited those experiences he wrote about to those who lived them and did not plagiarize the experiences of others. So, I don't understand nor agree with the "fraud" label. While it's likely Capstick spent quite a bit of time "researching" some of his material in haunts like Riley's in Maun, I really can't hold that against him either. Where better to talk to such a wide variety of people! After all, Hemingway was also known to frequent various depots of the adult beverage for research purposes.

I think I'll re-read some Bell or Selous before turning in...

 

[bilmcc]

guys, I'm buying a swath of these books. In case you're cheapskates like me here is a great place to buy:

Www.abebooks.com

It's a network of mom and pop used book stores all over the world. They will show you dozens of copies in various editions and conditions in various locations. You decide how lousy of a copy you'll tolerate and then buy. The website processes the secure payment for the independent dealers.

It rocks! I've bought books for $1, I've found $10,000 books for $1200. Everything under the sun.

Abebooks has been around for over 20 years, and I have heard good things about them. Never found anything I was looking for there. Amazon bought them in 2008. I don't know if or how that has changed them.

 

[rinehart0050]

I'm a huge fan of Steve Christenson's two books:

From the okavango to the plains of east africa

and

From the Congo basin to the highlands of ethiopia

The books cover all the big 5 in multiple iterations and his pursuit of all the spiral horns. He hunted at a unique time, with stories of tracking leopard on foot through the Kalahari, hunting dukier in Liberia with Bob Speegel, surviving multiple leopard charge, uncovering a slave market while buying some ivory carvings, hunting the mountains of Ethiopia while a war raged in the low lands, etc etc . Prolific photos in both books and he's a great story teller.