By Roxanne Reid
‘This is a delicious book. It evokes things we love about the country around us. It conjures up places that soothe the soul. Its huge fault is that ... well, people are going to read it. And then where will all our best-kept secrets be?’ So said author and TV presenter Denis Beckett in his foreword of A Walk in the Park, which takes readers on a road trip in and around South Africa's national parks. Now an updated 2nd edition e-book has been published.
‘This is a delicious book. It evokes things we love about the country around us. It conjures up places that soothe the soul. Its huge fault is that ... well, people are going to read it. And then where will all our best-kept secrets be?’ So said author and TV presenter Denis Beckett in his foreword of A Walk in the Park, which takes readers on a road trip in and around South Africa's national parks. Now an updated 2nd edition e-book has been published.
If you read the first print edition, the stories are the same, but the contacts and lists of things to do in and around 12 of South Africa’s national parks are now bang up to date. If you haven’t read it at all, here’s something to whet your appetite.
From the Kalahari to Mapungubwe, from Cape Town to the Kruger National Park, and from the Garden Route to the Karoo, follow my journey through 12 national parks in South Africa, meeting fascinating people and finding adventures. I promise I won't bore your pants off: this ain't no dry catalogue of the ecology and topography (huh?) of the parks. Rather, it's a dynamic string of experiences both inside and outside the parks. You'll find real people, activities, cultural heritage and food, all peppered with interesting facts and spiced with humour.
From the Kalahari to Mapungubwe, from Cape Town to the Kruger National Park, and from the Garden Route to the Karoo, follow my journey through 12 national parks in South Africa, meeting fascinating people and finding adventures. I promise I won't bore your pants off: this ain't no dry catalogue of the ecology and topography (huh?) of the parks. Rather, it's a dynamic string of experiences both inside and outside the parks. You'll find real people, activities, cultural heritage and food, all peppered with interesting facts and spiced with humour.
Part nature guide, part travelogue, it can be read like a story book because Reid writes in a chatty and accessible way. Her candour and self-deprecating humour is disarming. A well-priced, helpful, fun guide for adventurous spirits. Sawubona
When writing the book, I had two aims. The first was to entertain and inform the average armchair traveller (or even couch potato) who wants to live vicariously. That’s why you’ll find answers to some intriguing questions like why your partner is more dangerous than a black mamba, vultures need a spin doctor, and a barnacle has a penis that’s 20 times longer than its body.
You’ll keep on reading to discover the adventures behind chapter names such as ‘Prozac for the soul’ and ‘Vulture burgers’. Land Roving
My second aim was to provide practical ideas for people who want to get up off their bums to road trip around South Africa and do things for themselves. There are nearly 300 ideas to choose from, so you should find at least a handful to wrap a holiday around – where to catch up on some cultural history, enjoy good food or a relaxing sundowner, and of course some more extreme adventures like paragliding or skydiving. And lots of stuff in between – a horse trail, a wilderness hike among lions, elephants and creepy crawlies, a Tarzan-and-Jane swing among the treetops, a 4x4 trail, even a walk in the Kalahari desert with a Bushman tracker who has a gazillion-gigabyte memory of fascinating stuff.
It will get you itching to travel and that’s more important by far than knowing what to pack. Leisure Wheels
How and where to buy the e-book
You can buy the fully updated Walk in the Park e-book from Amazon worldwide for US$7.41. In South Africa the total price will be about R100. Given the price of books these days, that's a steal.
Although you need to have (or create) an Amazon account, you don't need a Kindle reader; you can download free apps to read it on your computer, smart phone or tablet. With Christmas just around the corner, you can even buy it as a gift for someone else. Hint, hint.
Listen to my interview about SA's national parks with a radio station in the UK.
Find or buy the book here: A Walk in the Park: Travels in & around South Africa's national parks
Like it? Pin this image!
You can buy the fully updated Walk in the Park e-book from Amazon worldwide for US$7.41. In South Africa the total price will be about R100. Given the price of books these days, that's a steal.
Although you need to have (or create) an Amazon account, you don't need a Kindle reader; you can download free apps to read it on your computer, smart phone or tablet. With Christmas just around the corner, you can even buy it as a gift for someone else. Hint, hint.
Listen to my interview about SA's national parks with a radio station in the UK.
Find or buy the book here: A Walk in the Park: Travels in & around South Africa's national parks
Like it? Pin this image!
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
