Rick Ridgeway brings a unigue perspective to the history and the present problems which face the country of Kenya and its wildlfe. Although the authors thoughts and comments occur during his "hike" through Keyna from the top of Kilimanjaro, Tsavo east & west n.p., to the Indian Ocean, this is more than just a travel book. We are introduced to many of the historic persons who shaped what is currently the national park system in Kenya. We are also introduced to those who presently hold important positions within this system. The book provided an excellent discussion of the important issues in regards to the balance of nature/wildlife, economic concerns, and the local peoples. I found the discussions of the Waliangulu (elephant people) an excellent example of the problem which not only faces Kenya but other parts of Africa as well. For those with interest in this part of the world, this book provides a refreshing point of view.

I recently returned from Kenya and Tanzania where I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and went on a safari across the Seregenti and neighboring parks. Reading _The Shadow..._ has me longing to flee my desk job for good and head back to the wilds of Africa. The book brought back memories of the trip of a lifetime, from the icy cold of the oxygen-starved summit of Kili to the vast plains of East Africa and my only regret upon reading the book was that my safari was in a car -- an amazing experience, to be sure, but I envy Ridgeway his chance to experience Africa and its wildlife from the "real" perspective, the one man has always occupied... on foot and thus always on alert.

The book is a must-read for anyone who has been to or is contemplating going to East Africa; Ridgeway does a great job of discussing the history of the region and, in particular, the precarious balance between man and beast. The history of the conservation movement and cast of characters Ridgeway introduces is a wonderful way to learn more about the area and the people and policies that shaped its development. It's the latter focus, however, that makes me recommend the book even to those who've never been and never will be to Africa, because Ridgeway's ruminations about the interaction between man and nature, about what wilderness means to mankind, and, unfortunately, what mankind is doing to the last pockets of true wilderness that remain strike a chord that reaches far beyond the scope of his 250-mile walk. As he points out, North America once was "another Africa" with megafauna roaming wild just as the elephants and buffalo still do in Africa and, if we're not careful, the African wildlife may well go the way of all the large wildlife which mankind has driven to extinction.

In one sense, it's a rather depressing book because at the same time I found myself caught up in the excitement, reliving the adventure and planning my next safari, there's a faint undercurrent of despair, as Ridgeway visits the Waliangulu tribal village and finds their way of life disappearing, as he roams through the Rhino Free Range Area where the nearly-extinct black rhinoceros population is protected. But, as Ridgeway quotes "To despair of the entire situation is a reasonable alternative. But the unsatisfactory thing about despair is that besides being fruitless, it's far less exciting than hope." The excitement, and even the hope, of this seasoned adventurer shines through throughout _The Shadow of Kilimanjaro_ as he strides through one of the earth's last truly wild places.

Rick Ridgeway's account of his trek from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Indian Ocean is interesting enough on its own. But it is the frequent sidetrips along the way -- into Kenya's colourful colonial history, it's wildlife management and parks policies, and it's current political climate -- that make this book such a compelling read. What is the best way to ensure the long term survival of Africa's wildlife? Who owns the elephants? Should hunting be permitted? How big do reserves need to be? Is there a future for tribes whose traditional way of life included hunting? How can the Kenyan people share in the revenue generated by tourism? Ridgeway touches on these and many other questions, taking care to let the reader see the personalities and the politics lurking behind the strongly-held views of the main proponents in the debates. Anyone looking for a good introduction to the challenges and opportunities facing Kenya today could do worse than starting here. I read this book before visiting the country and found it an excellent preparation for the trip and a great jumping-off point for further reading.

I have used this book with my 7th graders for the last two years and I have had good results with my students. I stopped another book we were reading as a class right after September 11, 2001 and had my classes read this book. There are many great lessons in this book. The two boys are from different cultures, have different Gods, and different cultural beliefs. I used these topics to lead many interesting discussions not only about the book, but how our culture and other cultures see each other and have different ways of working out our differences. I HIGHLY recommend this book as a teacher.

I got this book after grocery shopping. I was looking in the multicultural section because I desperately needed a book for a project in school. I looked at it and I didn't really think it would be that great but it was so good that an hour later I was asking my mom to get me a new book! The ending wasn't that great but otherwise it was the best book! All of the charactors actions were surprising. I highly recomend this book!

I got this book at a reading festival that my school had. As sson as we left the festival, I started reading this book. I couldn't get my hands off it. When I finished it, 5 days later, I read it over again. Not only if this an adventure book, but it is also very inspiring.

Before I read this book, the only works of M.M. Kaye that I had read were the Far Pavilions and Shadow of the Moon. Both were excellent but I had seen her as more of a romance writer and was therefore surprised to learn that she has written mysteries as well. Death in Kenya is a very well-written mystery with a nice touch of romance but the best part is the atomosphere. Kaye does a masterful job of recreating Colonial Kenya at the end of WWII where many settlers were born and bred in the country yet clung stubbornly to their British roots. The world they inhabit is one of bungalows, afternoon tea parties, card parties at clubs, and hunts - this sounds old-fashioned even for the 1950's, but you recognize that the winds of change were already blowing over the remaining colonized countries and the white settlers were desperately trying to hold on to a disappearing lifestyle. The mystery itself is intruiging - Victoria Caryll, a young girl who had been born in Kenya but was subsequently sent to England for her education is asked to come out and be with her aunt, Lady Emily DeBrett. Victoria is reluctant because returning to Kenya would meen meeting her cousin Eden DeBrett, who she had been formerly engaged to. As a teenager, she had been in love with Eden when he had broken her heart by abruptly calling off their engagement and marrying another girl. However, her aunt prevails upon her to come. But as she is on her way out, Eden's wife Alice is brutally murdered and the story takes off from there. The mystery is interesting and genuinely suspenseful and reading about Kenya was amazing! Kaye had actually lived in Kenya and her love for the country and indeed all of Africa clearly comes through. Highly recommended!

I must tell all you that I enjoyed this just like I have enjoyed ALL OF HER BOOKS since I first read 'Far Pavillons'. She is the reason I still want to go to India! In "Death In Kenya" I could picture the setting having traveled to Africa in 1989 and I was fortunate to spend some time in the bush on safari and it was simply wonderful. Her books once again bring enjoyment to me. I am ashamed to admit that after I read 'Shadow of the Moon' I was sidetracked and never read any of the others, but I am making up time for the lapse now. "Death in Kenya" is thoroughly enjoyable and I am now looking forward to reading her "Golden Afternoon". How special!

I've read "Death in Kashmir", "Death in Zanzibar", and now "Death in Kenya". I liked them all, but found this one to be the most fun. It has a very good twist at the end, with the discovery of the murderer. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the M.M. Kaye "Death in..." books!

As a librarian and mother, it is about time an author writes books for young adults that have nothing to do with [love making], drugs, or dysfunction. Mr. Trout brings world issues to the attention of young adults while appealing to their sense of adventure. This particular book uses the written word to describe an area that not a lot of young people have ever seen, and while they read the book, the images of Africa truly come alive.

If you were just trying to decide whether to buy this book or not, I have one comment- BUY IT!!! It is a GREAT book that is fast-paced, often educational in a fun way, and thrilling- I LOOOVE this book series and i'm about to buy the third one, falcon of abydos, buh-bye!

PS: BUY IT!!!

Elephant Tears by Richard Trout released by LangMarc Publishing is the second book by this author. It is better than his first--if that it possible. This book will have the Young Adult audience begging to read more. The author's description of the African wilderness and wildlife is wonderful. The suspense he has added to it throughout the book made it a marvelous read. The MacGregor family adventures continued in this action book. I wondered how long it would take the three teenagers to get to safety. The intrigue of animal poachers, high tech equipment, and helicopters galore keep me on the edge of my seat. I can't wait to see where the next book takes this family of adventurers.

Karen Blixen says in this beautiful book, "I will not let thee go unless thou bless me." Her farm in Africa yielded both miracles and suffering. This book reveals Karen Blixen's Sunday self--gracious and self-deprecating, enlightened and insightful. She faces struggles we know: career challenges, marital conflicts, complicated loves, and unfulfilled desires. She is one of us. Linda Donelson, author of "Out of Isak Dinesen: Karen Blixen's untold story"

Those who loved this book as I do should also read Beryl Markham's alleged autobiography [actually a biography] "West with the Night", and also "The Lives of Beryl Markham" by Errol Trzebinski [Norton]. And, if you can find it, "Silence will Speak: A study of the life of Denys Finch Hatton and his relationship with Karen Blixen", also by Trzebinski. Out of print and hard to find, but worth reading. PS: needless to say, "Letters from Africa" and a couple of the good biographies of Dinesen.

It's difficult to find truly magical prose in today's publications. Recently, I was hungry for some poetic fiction and pulled this volume from my bookshelf. I'm so glad I did.

Karen Blixen writes with true insight and an artist's approach about her beloved farm in Africa. There's a paragraph where she wonders if Africa knows of her like she knows of Africa. What other author has ever asked that question? She also details the migration of buffalo, elephant and antelope with such majesty that the mind's eye can almost feel the ground move under their hooves.

If you're looking for a satisfying story that will entertain you for many nights, read "Out of Africa." You will not be disappointed.

I have both the big version and this version. Without doubt you need both. One for back at camp reading and the Field Version for, well, the Field. This is quite packable and the layout makes field Identification pretty easy.

A sign of environmental health and richness of biodiversity is the number of birds that a given area supports. Kenya then qualifies as a rich ecosystem with over 1,000 different species of birds.

This book was not around when I was a youngster living in Kenya but thumbing through it as an adult has brought back some fond memories of days out in the bush in Amboseli and Masai Mara or at lakes Nakura, Naivasha, and Victoria. Kenya is a birders paradise whatever your interest. There are fairly familiar Eurasian visiting seabirds and shorebirds and unique and beautiful East African sunbirds, weavers, rollers and bee-eaters. There are multitude birds of prey including the unmistakable tiny-tailed Bateleur Eagle and the most impressive hunting bird i've ever seen - the African Crowned Eagle. I can recall like it was yesterday watching one pluck a male colobus monkey right out of the tree tops. All of the birds are here in splendid color with the most appropriate profile presented to assist in making identification easy. You'll find the underside views of the birds of prey very useful.

While you probably won't see a Crowned Eagle on a casual birding visit to Kenya, any guided trip into the game parks will guarantee you at least 100 different species - probably in a single day! In the right locations, prepare to have your head on a swivel as the variety of birdlife you will behold has to be seen to be believed. You will find yourself regularly flipping through the pages of this book. This book is absolutely essential for your Kenyan trip.

I live and work in East Africa, and this is the book the park rangers all carry in their open Land Rovers. They cover it with canvas so it won't get beat up too fast, and it gets marked with brown circles from the thermos of coffee on the 06:30 game drive. Go to Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya for a long weekend with this book, and you'll come home with 150 species. Don't worry about the weight of the book, I started with the Collins field guide and had to buy my copy of Zimmerman in the middle of my first stay because I outgrew it. Buy Zimmerman to start with, you won't regret it.

There couldn't be two more different places than New York City and the lands of the Maasai in Tanzania. Tepilit Ole Saitoti's story of his journey in and between these two worlds is fascinating. I am looking forward to the update he is writing now that he is a Maasai Elder. This insight into another land and culture is a gift.

Excellent book, very accurate and really worth the money. It gives the picture of a boy growing up as a real Maasai and the new life in civilized world of Germany and USA - a man between two cultures and the difficult question to decide which way to go along. Makes yourself wondering about the way we Western people are living and gives a chance to see our world with other eyers.

After having visited the Maasai area some months ago a good opportunity to compare facts with my own experience and found it even more interesting. Go for it!

I read this book 12 years ago and was so moved that I wrote a letter to to the author - something I have never done before or since. I was so struck by his ability to navigate between two cultures that seemingly had little in common. His book is a testimonial to the flexibility of the human spirit and the power of education. Last week, out of the blue, I received a telephone call from the author. Apparently, he had saved my address all these years. Saitoti is currently in the US as a visiting scholar. He will be speaking in various institutions and he has just started writing a follow up to The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior (The Worlds of a Maasai Elder). I have just shown him these amazon reviews. He is sitting here beside me and
would like to take this opportunity to say: "Thank you to the reviewers of my book for such beautiful reviews and to amazon.com for posting such a wonderful display of my work."

If you've never seen Out of Africa or read any book about Kenya, this novel will give you a cursory overview of Kenyan history from 1919 to the present. It is easy to follow, its characters are uncomplicated, and it certainly never lacks for plot.

Using simple words and very short sentences, Wood presents the interconnected stories of three generations of two families--the African family of a shamba-living, fig-tree worshipping witch doctor and the veddy British Treverton family of aristocrats who have come to Kenya, taken over their land, and, not surprisingly, torn down the sacred fig tree to build a polo field. The British, as exemplified by Lord Treverton, are so arrogant and insensitive in the course of their decades of power, that the local population forms the guerilla Mau Mau secret society, committing all manner of murder and mayhem indiscriminately against both the British and those Kenyans who reject Mau Mau-style violence.

Eventually, of course, the Kenyans win their independence, but not before the reader is confronted with a series of other overtly dramatic and/or sentimental plot elements: a witch doctor putting a curse on the Treverton family, a wife steadfastly rejecting her husband's sexual advances from the beginning of her marriage, two mothers pretending for years that their own children do not exist, a lover hidden successfully for months in the garden, two passionate interracial affairs between "good" characters, a long-unsolved double murder, several suicides, secret betrayals, rapes, imprisonments, numerous love affairs both serious and casual, a gay relationship, and even the belief of a contemporary female doctor, who has straight hair and "creamy skin," that she is half Kikuyu. For good measure, there are also a couple of graphic sex scenes and a series of genital mutilations. The book is so unabashedly sensational and romantic that this reader found herself wishing the Mau Mau had been more successful.

Every book I have read by Barbara Wood is an amazing blend of history, romance, complex relationships, and situations fraught with difficulties and problems to solve. Her characters bind you to them as you share their joys and hardships.

The fascinating setting in "Green City" is the early 1900s in Kenya, and involves the conflict between the rich British Treverton family who wants to establish a profitable plantation, and the neighboring tribal medicine woman who curses them for invading her people's land. Tragedies befall the Trevertons, and they struggle through the uprising of the native Kenyans as they defy the British. Complicating things is the romance between the medicine woman's black son and a young white Treverton woman.

Meanwhile, we follow the heroine, Doctor Grace Treverton, who, separating herself from the aspirations for wealth of the rest of her family, dedicates her life to serving the tribes by providing them with medical care and schooling. Yet even this big-hearted and wise woman is not immune to danger from the revolting tribes or from romantic turmoil involving a married man.

Full of romance, danger, and political and family intrigue, this 700-page book never lost my attention for a minute!

I love this book!! I try to read it once a year. It follows two families in the newly colonized British Africa, one British and one native African, through three generations. Their story is moving, easy to follow, and at times brings me to tears. I don't want to give anything away, but if you are looking for a feel good book, then don't buy this one. If you like tragedies that end in triumph, then this is the book for you.

I have not yet travelled to Kenya, but I have read this book. The aspect of the book that I enjoyed the most was Ms. Vachon's "no big deal" approach to dealing with a very different environment and culture. She really put me at ease, particularly in regard to family travel.

The book was also very well organized into logical sections, making it easy to find needed information.

I had always dreamed of going to Africa, but my husband was terrified at the prospect. We bought this Kenya guide in hopes of getting some accurate information. We found it very organized and pleasant to read. Ms. Vachon's book relieved many of his fears and we used the book intensely in planing our trip. Every tip, review and suggestion she wrote turned out to be true. We really credit this book in helping us experience the trip of a lifetime.

Pretty comprehensive. Covers all the do's and dont's and lets you design the type of experience you want. Helpful that the author actually grew up there....

In the late fifties gifted painter Joy Adamson and her husband game warden George took three female lions cubs into their care (their mother had been killed by mistake). Having three young rambunctious lions around proved a bit too much. And after much heartbreak the Adamsons decided to send Elsa's sisters to a Zoo and keep only her. So Elsa was raised and eventually after several difficulties succesfully rehabilitated back into the wild, but her bond with the Adamsons wasn't broken. This is truly a classic book of friendship between humans and animals. Tenderly and delightfully written. I loved Elsa's interactions with the Adamsons and other animals. She's a very convincing ambassador for love between the species. And the many picures are endearing and indeed a delight to behold. The sequels Living free and Forever free show us how Elsa and her cubs got further on, and I loved them just as much. As for the Adamsons their experiences with Elsa would lead them to a life of rehabiliating the big cats back into the wild.

"Roooaarrr!" The ferocious lioness roared like thunder as the tiny bullet pierced through its thick golden hair. After the lioness fell to the rocky ground, a soft, almost scared, whimper rose from the deadly awkward silence. The lioness had had a cub. What should Joy Adamson do? Leave the cub on it's own where it could die easily in one night alone? Joy Ademson, the author of this book, Born Free, opened up a new wild door in my reading. She opened up a door into a room filled with real life problems, adventures, and emotions. This wasn't like any other book I'd read before. It was as if I was there, raising the tiny cub myself. I extremely loved this book. You'll read it in a flash, I did, and I'm not even a good reader. If you are an animal freak, you'll enjoy the little adventures this book fills in your head. Even if you're not an animal freak... well I didn't think I was either, until now.

When I was a child, Born Free had been recently published and made into a movie. I must have read the book twenty times, and it has had a lifelong impact on me.

Joy Adamson captures not only Elsa's story, but the Adamson's love of Africa, the people,the animals, the land itself. Through Born Free I learned of the complex personalities and emotions that animals have, just as we do. I learned that there are many ways to live your life - a job, a family and a suburb are not the only options.

Through the difficulty the Adamson's had in finding a suitable wild home for Elsa, that I learned that the world is under tremendous pressure from human expansion, and became conscious of our responsiblity to ensure survival for creatures who cannot speak to defend themselves against our incursions.

Born Free is sometimes treated as a children's book - as though that were some reflection of diminished quality. But the ideas and values I absorbed as a girl from Joy and George Adamson, from Elsa and her cubs, were complex and important -- they have been with me my whole life.

And I would bet that dozens of notable careers in wildlife preservation, ecological studies, veterinary medicine and zoology, were inspired by a visit to the movies one afternoon to see the story of Elsa, or by a dogeared library copy of Born Free with it's bright yellow jacket.

This is a wonderful, captivating book, which can be read for simple enjoyment. But I also hope that it touches people as deeply it touched me, and engenders some interest and concern -- if not active help -- for the tremendous difficulties the people and wildlife of Africa are facing today.