Safari guide Jeff Williams has brought together a treasure-trove of stories of dramatic events that occurred whilst guides were leading parties through the bush on foot. Often these were recounted during evenings sitting around a campfire with friends and guide colleagues, swapping yarns and sharing their experiences. Frequently guests were there listening enthralled, shocked and amused in equal measure and sometimes the telling of the tale evoked vivid images.A walking trail in the bush is the ultimate adventure for a visitor to wild Africa and it is the skill and experience of their guides that allow them to do this safely. These walks highlight the essence of the bush - the sights, sounds, and scents that still embody the Africa of the past. Nevertheless, there are occasions when, in spite of the guide's best efforts, unplanned confrontations with potentially dangerous animals occur. Usually these end comfortably with only an adrenaline rush for guests to carry home or publish on social media. But occasionally things become much more dramatic.The reader will hear of potentially perilous situations involving encounters with charging lions, angry elephants, cantankerous buffalos, curious rhinos and, worst of all, the animals' and humans' greatest enemy, poachers. There is the bushman guide who walked over 20km through the night with an inexperienced young girl, successfully handling an attack by a hyena, avoiding elephants and finding shelter and sustenance. Another very young guide used a hugely unorthodox and personally dangerous technique to rescue a guest literally from the jaws of death. Sadly, the real African bush is shrinking in size and is under serious threat from the increasingly populated and developing modern world. Some may be able to visit these precious remnants in person but this book provides a window into the specialized field of walking safaris for the armchair reader, the seasoned world traveller and even a stimulating reminder for those who have done it before. Whether you are an armchair explorer or an old Africa Hand there is drama, excitement and even laughter: they are all here.

As thrilling as any novel, as taut and exciting as any adventure story, Peter Hathaway Capstick’s Death in the Long Grass takes us deep into the heart of darkness to view Africa through the eyes of one of the most renowned professional hunters. Few men can say they have known Africa as Capstick has known it—leading safaris through lion country; tracking man-eating leopards along tangled jungle paths; running for cover as fear-maddened elephants stampede in all directions. And of the few who have known this dangerous way of life, fewer still can recount their adventures with the flair of this former professional hunter-turned-writer. Based on Capstick’s own experiences and the personal accounts of his colleagues, Death in the Long Grassportrays the great killers of the African bush—not only the lion, leopard, and elephant, but the primitive rhino and the crocodile waiting for its unsuspecting prey, the titanic hippo and the Cape buffalo charging like an express train out of control. Capstick was a born raconteur whose colorful descriptions and eye for exciting, authentic detail bring us face to face with some of the most ferocious killers in the world—underrated killers like the surprisingly brave and cunning hyena, silent killers such as the lightning-fast black mamba snake, collective killers like the wild dog. Readers can lean back in a chair, sip a tall, iced drink, and revel in the kinds of hunting stories Hemingway and Ruark used to hear in hotel bars from Nairobi to Johannesburg, as veteran hunters would tell of what they heard beyond the campfire and saw through the sights of an express rifle.

When local contacts tipped off Nigel Barley that the Dowayo circumcision ceremony was about to take place, he immediately left London for the village in northern Cameroon where he had lived as a field anthropologist for 18 months. The Dowayos are a mountain people that perform their elaborate, fascinating and fearsome ceremony at six or seven year intervals. It was an opportunity that was too good to miss, a key moment to test the balance of tradition and modernity. Yet, like much else in this hilarious book - the circumcision ceremony was to prove frustratingly elusive.This very failure, compounded by the plague of caterpillars of the book's title allows Nigel Barley to concentrate on everyday life in Dowayoland and the tattered remnants of an overripe French colonial legacy. In the meantime, witchcraft fills the Cameroonian air, a man is lied to by his own foot and an earnest German traveller shows explicit birth-control propaganda to the respectable tribespeople. Beneath the joy and shared laughter in this comic masterpiece lies skilful and wise reflection on the problems facing people of different cultures as they try to understand one another. A Plague of Caterpillars is the second in Barley's trilogy of anthropological journeys that began with The Innocent Anthropologist and ended with Not A Hazardous Sport (all published by Eland).

Everything you need to know for your first trip to the African bush, including how to track a rhino on foot. But don't get too close! This set of ten WOW! Facts books is aimed at readers aged 10-14 who have a much younger reading age of 7.5-8. There are a range of interesting subjects covered including Ice, Mystery Beasts, Amazing Animals of the Rainforest, How to Explore the African Bush, Sherlock Holmes, Daredevils, Fighter Planes, Midfield Heroes, The Secrets of Magic and Rock Bands. Amongst this variety, reluctant readers are guaranteed to find something to spark their interest and even encourage further reading.

The world's most acclaimed travel writer journeys through western Africa from Cape Town to the Congo.

Set in the African bushveld in the late 1950s and early1960s, this side-splitting tale features a delightful array of wacky small-town characters. The three elder Dalton cowpokes are members of a gang dubbed the Messina Dalton Gang, after the infamous Wild West Dalton Gang. The youngest Dalton cowpoke, six year old, David, calls himself Gunslinger and his main ambition in life is to become a recognized member of the gang. Together with his African Pawnee sidekick- Tokoloshie-Two-Feathers, and his three-legged Jack Russell dog, Jock, Gunslinger tries hard to impress, but continually messes up. It is a wonderful, laugh-out-loud tale to the touch hearts of all ages!

Searching for something more than her high-flying life as an information technology executive, Sharon Pincott traded her privileged first world existence to start a new life with the Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe: the country's flagship clan of over 450 wild elephants. This biography follows the passionate wildlife conservationist from her home in Australia to the new one she discovers in Africa and chronicles her daily life, from cherishing incredibly intimate encounters with these gentle giants to coping with accusations of being a spy. Written with engaging humor, warmth, and a deep, tangible love of Africa's wildlife, this captivating collection of bush tales offers a further glimpse into the wonders, and grim realities, of choosing a life less ordinary.

This spectacular new anthology reads like a "Who's Who" in the history of wild sport in Africa. This fascinating book brings together the writings of such legendary authors as Ernest Hemingway, Robert Ruark, Theodore Roosevelt, and Peter Capstick, in addition to some of the finest contemporary outdoor writers. What links all of these great African adventures--both fiction and nonfiction--is their appearance in Sporting Classics at one time or another over the 30-year history of the award-winning magazine. Sporting Classics Africa, edited by Chuck Weschler, will showcase more than 50 illustrations by Bob Kuhn, widely hailed as the world's foremost wild animal artist.