Geological Journeys – A traveller’s guide to South Africa’s rocks and landforms by Nick Norman and Gavin Whitfield If you’ve ever driven down the N1 past Laingsburg towards Matjiesfontein, you’ll have noticed a distinctive white, crystal-like band in the rocks “standing above the surrounding countryside like a low, cream-coloured farm wall.” And if you’re anything [...]

The Story of Earth & Life – A Southern African Perspective on a 4.6-billion-year Journey by Terence McCarthy and Bruce Rubidge If you’re going to explore South Africa, two things: the people and the landscape. There’s plenty of easily accessible information about the people, and lots (and lots and LOTS) about the animals, birds, insects [...]

Field Guide to the Cradle Of Humankind by Brett Hilton-Barber and Prof. Lee R. Berger The thing about the back roads of South Africa is that they’re very often remarkably close to our main centres – a fact which this superb and well-illustrated guide perfectly illustrates. You’ll find The Cradle of Humankind – the Sterkfontein, [...]

A Guide to Sterkfontein and the Cradle of Humankind by Brett Hilton-Barber and Prof. Lee R. Berger By concentrating on just one site, this book becomes the baby brother of the more comprehensive Field Guide to the Cradle Of Humankind (by the same authors). You’ll want it if you’re in a hurry. But when it [...]

Bird Calls For Beginners by Doug Newman This small book lists just 60 of South Africa’s birds – but it comes with a CD of amazingly clear recordings of their calls, and this is what makes it valuable. Just one thing: the new bird names. I think the ornithologists have kind of forgotten the basics. [...]