We’ve listed a few of our favorite books about Botswana and the region you’ll be travelling in. Most of these are available in large bookshops (especially those that specialize in travel or international books), by mail order, and from Internet sites.

Botswana: Passport’s Regional Guides of Africa by Peter Comely  (Guidebook)

Both colorful and practical, this guide describes Botswana in absorbing detail.  Its features include a concise introduction to Botswana profiling the country and its people, an “Advisory” at the end of each chapter summarizing the region’s main attractions, climate, accommodations, and best times to visit.

Okavango: Africa’s Last Eden by Frans Lanting (Nature)

Lanting is a trained ecologist and he takes great care to describe how the river interacts with the dry lands that surround it. Lanting’s photographs are stunning, capturing many incredible wilderness interactions i.e. lionesses in mid hunt, elephants preparing to charge.

The Safari Companion: A guide to watching African Mammals by Richard D. Estes, Daniel Otte (Nature)

A well-researched reference book describing over 100 African mammals and their behaviour. Written with the safari traveller in mind, it’s the definitive guide to watching African mammals.

Botswana: The Insider’s Guide by Ian Michler (Guidebook)

“The book is beautifully designed and well researched, and is an all-in-one guide to things like overlanding, delta safaris, the country’s history and people, accommodation (whether you’re roughing it or insist on being carried about in a silk hammock), and the arts, crafts, music and festivals to look out for.” – Sunday Independent

Newman’s Birds of Southern Africa by Kenneth Newman (Nature)

The standard field guide to birds in southern Africa, it covers most species found in Botswana. Featuring hundreds of large color plates, a comprehensive checklist, and revised information on habitats and distribution.

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction)

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is a series of eight novels written by Rhodesian-born author Alexander McCall Smith. The Ladies Detective Agency agency is located in modern-day Gaborone, capital of Botswana. Its founder is a fictional Motswana woman, Mma Precious Ramotswe, who features as the stories’ main detective. The novels are about the adventures and colourful different characters as they are about solving mysteries, Smith’s gently ironic tone is full of good humor towards his lively, intelligent heroine and towards her fellow Africans

Other books in this series:

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (1999)

Tears Of The Giraffe (2000)

Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)

The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)

The Full Cupboard of Life (2004)

In The Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004 – also known as The Night-Time Dancer)

Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)

Botswana Travel Guide by Globetrotter (Guidebook)

Its small size makes it very portable. Written with the first-time visitor in mind. Globetrotter guides recommend worthwhile sights and places of interest to visit; offer advice on where to stay, eat and shop and which excursions to take.

Hunting With the Moon: The Lions of Savuti by Dereck and Beverly Joubert (Nature)

Dereck and Beverly Joubert have lived among lions for most of their lives. Few people are on such intimate terms with these amazing animals, and fewer still are the naturalists who can claim to have seen, their nocturnal forays. This is an extraordinary book, filled with stunning images, fascinating facts and observations.

Zimbabwe: Passport’s Regional Guides of Africa by Paul Tingay (Guidebook)

Concise and fact-filled and beautifully illustrated, this wonderful guide is loaded with practical tips and covers Zimbabwe’s main tourist regions.  Includes an overview of Zimbabwe’s land, people, history, economy and government.

Lonely Planet Namibia by Deanna Swaney (Guidebook)

From one of the most well-respected guide book publishers, this thorough guide covers everything from the culture of the Namibian people to the wildlife you’ll see on safari.  Includes 50 maps.

Audubon Field Guide to African Wildlife by Peter Alden and Dr. Richard Estes (Nature)

A newly published, authoritative natural history guide by two distinguished authors.  This book thoroughly covers mammals, reptiles, birds and insects in one volume.  Peter and his team describe the climate, landscapes, and wildlife of Botswana and 57 other African countries.  Maps show park locations and country borders, and hundreds of color photos are incorporated.

History of Southern Africa by J.D. Omer-Cooper (History)

This readable history of the region is exhaustive in scope, covering the earliest settlements of Khoisan and Bantu-speaking peoples through to the collapse of apartheid in the 1990s.  The recent history of Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and the newly independent Namibia are included.

Harvest of Thorns by Shimmer Chinodya (History)

A brave book that looks at the road along which Zimbabwe has traveled from the old white dominated Southern Rhodesia, through the Bush War, to the new black regime.

Burning Shore by Wilbur Smith (Literature)

One of a series of highly enjoyable novels from Zambian-born writer Wilbur Smith, this romantic adventure tale is partially set on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast.  The story follows a shipwrecked French widow’s love affair with an Afrikaner outlaw in the Namibian desert.