Reading List
FIELD GUIDES
Birds of East Africa
Terry Stevenson & John Fanshawe
Compact and comprehensive, this guide to 1,388 species of birds in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi features 286 excellent color plates, range maps and notes on habitats and conservation. A veteran tour leader, co-author Stevenson lives in Kenya.
Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals
Jonathan Kingdon
A conveniently compact edition of Kingdon's gloriously illustrated Field Guide to African Mammals. The guide includes abbreviated information on identification, distribution, ecology and conservation status and 480 outstanding color illustrations and maps.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife
Bunny McBride, Duane Schlitter, Richard Estes & Peter Alden
This comprehensive photo guide covers 850 birds, mammals and reptiles of Africa. With range maps and a good country-by-country overview of habitats and parks.
The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals
Jonathan Kingdon
This stunningly-illustrated, comprehensive field guide by a leading authority includes over 500 of Kingdon's exquisite color paintings. Fully revised and updated with more than 1,100 species.
MAPS
Rwanda/Burundi Map
ITMB
A detailed, folded map of Rwanda and Burundi.
GUIDEBOOKS
Bradt Guide Rwanda
Janice Booth & Philip Briggs
Part of the British series, this practical, detailed travel guide to Rwanda focuses on nature (especially gorillas), history and culture.
Lonely Planet East Africa
Hugh Finlay
This practical guide to East Africa features maps, a good overview of culture, history and nature. Covers Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania.
The Traveling Nature Photographer
Steven Morello
Morello's handy guide to exploring the natural world through photography includes chapters on preparation, equipment (especially lenses), weather, exposure basics and composition.
NATURAL HISTORY
Gorillas in the Mist
Dian Fossey
Fossey's highly personal, detailed account of the ecology and behavior of the mountain gorilla of Virunga based on her 13 years among "the greatest of the great apes."
The Shadow of the Sun
Ryszard Kapuscinski & Klara Glowczewska
The veteran journalist looks back on his three decade-long odyssey through Africa in this classic, remarkable memoir. Kapuscinski captures the impossible extremes of the continent, recounting its beauty and brutality with an unfailing generosity of spirit.
Among the Great Apes, Adventures on the Trail of Our Closest Relatives
Paul Raffaele
Acclaimed nature journalist Raffaele's epic journey to survey the last remaining great apes living in the wild takes him from the orangutans of Borneo to the central African highlands where he gets up close with mountain gorillas, chimps and bonobos.
Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes
Pamela S. Turner
An illustrated overview of the work of Dr. Felicia Nutter and the Rwanda's Mountain Gorilla Project, geared for grades five to eight. With excellent color photographs throughout.
In the Kingdom of Gorillas, Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land
Bill Weber & Amy Vedder
A gripping account of conservation, ecology and politics in Rwanda's Virunga Mountains by the husband-and-wife team who worked with Dian Fossey in the 1970s.
The Impenetrable Forest
Thor Hanson
Hanson recounts his time in the Peace Corps in Uganda and his work to establish a gorilla trekking program in the Bwindi-Impenetrable Forest, home to not just half of the world's mountain gorillas but also to chimpanzees, colobus monkeys, elephants, giant forest hogs and rare forest birds.
The Myth of Wild Africa
Jonathan Adams & Thomas McShane
The authors, associated with the World Wildlife Fund, demolish the romantic fallacy of an untouched continent where animals roam freely in sanctuaries. It's a no-holds-barred critique of old-style conservation in Africa.
The Year of the Gorilla
George Schaller
A vivid tale of adventures among the gorillas of the Virunga volcanoes of Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda -- a wonderful account of field work under trying circumstances by a great wildlife biologist.
World Atlas of Great Apes and Their Conservation
Julian Caldecott
This handsome, authoritative natural history of bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans, published in conjunction with The Great Ape Project, features essays by leading scholars, color photographs and maps.
HISTORY & CULTURE
We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, Stories From Rwanda
Philip Gourevitch
The gut-wrenching story of Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, looking backward from the horrific genocide of 1994 to deep-seated historical causes (and Western inaction). Gourevitch offers both an insightful chronicle and extraordinary stories in this award-winning report.
Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles
Richard Dowden
Africa editor of The Independent and The Economist, Richard Dowden draws on decades of experience in this multi-faceted, vivid portrait of contemporary Africa -- an Africa that, Dowden effectively argues, can only be developed by its own people.
Mountain Gorillas
Gene Eckhart
Featuring 200 intimate color photographs, this up-to-date, captivating portrait reveals the gorillas of Bwindi National Forest and Virunga Volcanoes, their biology, status and hope.
The Blue Sweater, Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
Jacqueline Novogratz
Inspired by the discovery of a boy in Rwanda wearing her own blue sweater (name tag still sewed inside) 11 years after she donated it to Goodwill, Novogratz relates the inspiring story of the creation of the trailblazing Acumen Fund and her work empowering the power around the globe.
The Scramble for Africa
Thomas Pakenham
Absorbing and meticulously researched, this in-depth history of the Victorian land grab in 19th century Africa includes excellent portraits of the egomaniacal personalities who overran the continent.