Books On Safari
Join me as we journey around the world in our book club. This month we are heading out for an African safari!
In Rescue Agent for Sarah, a routine vacation turns wild when city girl Sarah finds herself stranded in the bush—until a rugged animal rescue agent comes to her aid. Romance, danger, and the fight to save endangered wildlife collide in this heartfelt adventure. For a cozier mystery with a twist, Sleuth on Safari delivers a suspenseful getaway as Naomi tries to solve a murder on her dream safari tour before the killer strikes again.
Two journeys, one unforgettable destination!
Book Club Pick – African Safari
Rescue Agent for Sarah by Jenna Brandt
What is Rescue Agent for Sarah about?
Brody Stillwell grew up in South Africa, but his parents moved back to the U.S. when he was a teenager. Ever since he left, he missed the majestic beauty and the friendliness of the people in the captivating land. Two years ago, when the chance to return as a rescue agent with the Wild Animal Protection Agency presented itself, he accepted without hesitation. He’s proud of his excellent track-record of repelling poachers, but now his perfect streak is threatened when a group of criminals are targeting a herd of elephants.
When Sarah Foster booked an African safari tour as her next vacation, she had no idea it was going to lead to her being robbed and abandoned on the side of an isolated dirt road with hyenas and lions prowling nearby. Luckily, a handsome agent for a local animal protection group comes to her rescue, taking her to their facility where she finds out all about their work. While there, she finds herself not only falling for the endangered animals, but the rescue agent who does their protecting.
Will Brody open his heart to a city girl? Will Sarah decide to move her life to Africa? And will Brody be able to stop the poachers before time runs out?
Jenna Brandt on Literary Escapes Podcast
Want to know more about Jenna and her books? Listen to the conversation on the Literary Escapes Podcast! Check back later this month to hear my interview with Jenna.
Author Interview with Jenna Brandt
Companion Book
Each month we choose two books to read from our destination. Here’s the second book!
Sleuth on Safari by A. R. Kennedy
Genre: Cozy Mystery
A bargain deal on a safari + one dead body = An adventure no one could plan for. Naomi and her estranged sister are off on a trip of a lifetime—an African safari, a bucket list trip for Naomi on which she got a last-minute deal. Naomi thinks traveling with her sister will be the worst part of her African safari until she finds one of their fellow travelers, the unlikable Dr. Higgins, dead. She gets more adventure than she bargained for when she starts investigating what she thinks is murder but the luxury lodge says was a tragic accident. She only has a few vacation days, and a few game drives, to find the killer.
More Books Set on Safari in Africa
If you’re craving more literary escapes set in Africa, we’ve got you covered with a diverse list of additional titles. From memoirs to mysteries and even a thriller, these stories offer something for every reader.
Which book will you choose for a literary escape to Africa?
Tea, Scones, and Malaria by Katlynn Brooke
Genre: Memoir
Tea, Scones, and Malaria is the phenomenal true account of one girl’s extraordinary upbringing in the rough and feral bushveld of 1950s and 60s Rhodesia. Moving from one makeshift camp to the next, the family follows Dad, a bridge builder for the government, deep into the heart of elephant and cheetah country.
“We ran barefoot in the bush, and swam in crocodile-infested rivers. We shared our camps with snakes, scorpions, and jerrymunglums. There was no electricity, no hospitals, and no schools in the bush. How I survived it all, I will never know.”
Hilarious, touching, raw, and deeply honest, this memoir records the journey from child to teenager to woman against the backdrop of a vanishing world, as Rhodesia begins its long and tumultuous transition into the independent country of Zimbabwe.
Pursuing Giraffe by Anne Innis Dagg
Genre: Memoir
In the 1950s, Anne Innis Dagg was a young zoologist with a lifelong love of giraffe and a dream to study them in Africa. Based on extensive journals and letters home, Pursuing Giraffe vividly chronicles the realization of that dream and the year that she spent studying and documenting giraffe behaviour. Dagg was one of the first zoologists to study wild animals in Africa (before Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey); her memoir captures her youthful enthusiasm for her journey, as well as her naivete about the complex social and political issues in Africa.
Once in the field, she recorded the complexities of giraffe social relationships but also learned about human relationships in the context of apartheid in South Africa and colonialism in Tanganyika (Tanzania) and Kenya. Hospitality and friendship were readily extended to her as a white woman, but she was shocked by the racism of the colonial whites in Africa. Reflecting the twenty-three-year-old author’s response to an “exotic” world far removed from the Toronto where she grew up, the book records her visits to Zanzibar and Victoria Falls and her climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. Pursuing Giraffe is a fascinating account that has much to say about the status of women in the mid-twentieth century.
Mrs. Pollifax on Safari by Dorothy Gilman
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Now the incredible Mrs. Pollifax has been sent on a safari to smoke out a very clever international assassin whose next target is the president of Zambia.
“Just take a lot of pictures of everyone on that safari,” the CIA man told her. “One of them has to be our man.”
It sounded simple enough. But it wasn’t. Because shortly after Mrs. Pollifax started taking pictures, someone stole her film. And right after that she was kidnapped by Rhodesian terrorists. And right after that—well, read for yourself. . .
Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith
Genre: Cozy Mystery
In this story, Precious Ramotswe deals with issues of mistaken identity and great fortune against the beautiful backdrop of Botswana’s remote and striking Okavango Delta.
Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi head to a safari camp to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest who has left one of the guides a large sum of money. But once they find their man, Precious begins to sense that something is not right. To make matters worse, shortly before their departure Mma Makutsi’s fiancé, Phuti Radiphuti, suffers a debilitating accident, and when his aunt moves in to take care of him, she also pushes Mma Makutsi out of the picture. Could she be trying to break up the relationship? Finally, a local priest and his wife independently approach Mma Ramotswe with concerns of infidelity, creating a rather unusual and tricky situation. Nevertheless, Precious is confident that with a little patience, kindness and good sense things will work out for the best, something that will delight her many fans.
Whatever You Do, Don’t Run by Peter Allison
Genre – Memoir
In the tradition of Bill Bryson, a new writer brings us the lively adventures and biting wit of an African safari guide. Peter Allison gives us the guide’s-eye view of living in the bush, confronting the world’s fiercest terrain of wild animals and, most challenging of all, managing herds of gaping tourists. Passionate for the animals of the Kalahari, Allison works as a top safari guide in the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta. As he serves the whims of his wealthy clients, he often has to stop the impulse to run as far away from them as he can, as these tourists are sometimes more dangerous than a pride of lions.
No one could make up these outrageous-but-true tales: the young woman who rejected the recommended safari-friendly khaki to wear a more “fashionable” hot pink ensemble; the lost tourist who happened to be drunk, half-naked, and a member of the British royal family; establishing a real friendship with the continent’s most vicious animal; the Japanese tourist who requested a repeat performance of Allison’s being charged by a lion so he could videotape it; and spending a crazy night in the wild after blowing a tire on a tour bus, revealing that Allison has as much good-natured scorn for himself.
The author’s humor is exceeded only by his love and respect for the animals, and his goal is to limit any negative exposure to humans by planning trips that are minimally invasive—unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way!
The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis
Genre – Thriller
Odelia Babel, CEO of a sustainable fashion empire, is about to marry for the second time—to a man twenty-five years her junior. Asher Bach is the thirty-something designer of Odelia’s luxury clothing line, the darling of every high-fashion journalist, and madly in love with Odelia.
Eager to celebrate her nuptials with her nearest and dearest, Odelia invites her adult children, her daughter-in-law, her grandchild, and her best friend/assistant to an all-expenses-paid luxury safari at Leopard Sands in South Africa, the Babel family’s favorite vacation spot. In its soil, they have deep roots—and even deeper secrets.
It seems like the perfect trip, but not everyone is thrilled for the happy couple. Amid game drives in the bush and bonfires beneath the desert stars, tensions among the family threaten to boil over. And then, the morning after a big fight with her son Sam—and hours before the wedding—Odelia is found murdered. Sam is immediately the prime suspect, but he claims he has an ironclad alibi—he was with his twin sister, Bailey. Only Bailey is nowhere to be found…
As the heat roils, desperate poachers and ferocious animals lurk, and dark motives fester, it becomes clear that whoever killed Odelia isn’t quite finished yet, and the rest of the Babel family is their prey.
Even MORE Books Set in Africa!
Check out these two podcast episodes (and show notes) for even more books set in Africa.
Episode 75 – Books Set in South Africa
Episode 4 – Guest Book Escape to South Africa
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