Field Guide to National Parks and Game Reserves of East Africa – a useful guide

Authors: Chris and Mathilde Stuart
Number of pages: 248
Year published: 2018
Published by: Struik Nature
Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-77584-062-6

So, you may be wondering why I am reviewing a book that has an image of a lion hunting zebras on the cover on the website SuperBirders. The answer is simple. It is a great guide to many birding locations in East Africa. The countries covered in this guide to the national parks and game reserves of East Africa are Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, all of which are great birding destinations. If you are going on a birding trip to the region, then you should consider buying this book.

Around 58 game reserves and other conservation areas are included. For each one there are the following sections:

• Lie of the land
• Brief history
• Geology and landscape
• Climate
• Vegetation
• Wildlife
• Birds
• Reptiles and Amphibians

The book is written by husband-and-wife team Chris and Mathilde Stuart who are probably the most prolific authors on African wildlife in recent years.

What I liked

This book is absolutely packed with photos, maps, and information. Just flipping through it will make your pulse race and leave you wanting to get in touch with your travel agent! The layout is good, and I like that the species names are highlighted. There are numerous images for each location including lots of photos of birds. The last section of the book is title “Identification guide” and features thumbnail illustrations of a variety of fauna and flora including birds.

Anything that I didn’t like?

I really can’t find fault with this book!

Final thoughts on this guide to the parks and game reserves of East Africa

This book is a great aid to planning a birdwatching trip to East Africa. It is definitely not a field guide to the region, and you will probably want to skip the sections that talk about boring things such as lions, leopards, and elephants. More seriously, this is a great guide to the best birding and game viewing locations in this rather special part of Africa. I would definitely recommend