Mara-Serengeti: A Photographer's Paradise [Hardcover]

Jonathan Scott (Author), Angela Scott (Author), Caroline Taggart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001

The Mara-Serengeti is a vast tract of land lying astride the Kenya-Tanzania border in Africa. This book celebrates the diversity of life to be found in the Mara-Serengeti: the great predators, the wonders of the migration, the people. It is a book of personal memories and favorite photographs of animals that the authors have followed throughout their lives--the ultimate safari.

Jonathan and Angie achieve an intimacy with their subjects that is born of infinite patience and insatiable fascination with the lives of the animals and the people. This book is a tribute to their accomplishments and a lasting record of a land that is truly A Photographer's Paradise. For wildlife lovers, photography buffs, and those interested in Africa.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Beautiful pictures connect two new books celebrating the wildlife of Africa.

Coppard has moved beyond the savannas in Kenya to travel the deserts of Namibia, the rain forests of the Congo basin, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and the kopjes of South Africa. Four chapters cover the basic ecology of Africa, beginning with a succinct overview of the geology and landscapes found there. Climate and natural vegetation each receive a chapter, driving home the immense diversity found in a continent the majority of which lies within the tropics. The final introductory chapter provides an informative listing of the major national parks, listed country by country. The second, larger section examines Africa's wildlife, divided taxonomically into surveys of the hoofed animals, elephants, carnivores, primates, reptiles, and birds. Overall, the text provides good basic information and an excellent introduction to Africa and its wildlife, but the true strength of the book is the collection of stunning photographs chosen to illustrate the text.

The Mara-Serengeti ecosystem may be the most famous, and most photographed, place in Africa. Straddling the Kenya-Tanzania border, this vast complex of grasslands, rocky kopjes, and rivers is traversed by one of the world's great migrations, as hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebras trek the landscape following the rains and the grasses they bring. Scott was born and raised in England, but since coming to Kenya 25 years ago and marrying native-born Angie, he has made his home in Africa. Living near the Masai-Mara Nature reserve, the authors focus on the wildlife and landscape of these seemingly boundless plains in this striking collection of photographs. Introductory text, graced with the author's drawings, sets the scene for each section of images concentrating on one element in the ecosystem. The somewhat steep price might make this an alternate selection, but the magnificence of the photographs makes the cost well worth it. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Jonathan Scott studied zoology at the Queen's University of Belfast before traveling overland through Africa in 1974. He has written and illustrated 12 books on African wildlife. He appears regularly on television in Europe and North America including the highly acclaimed BBC Discovery wildlife series "Big Cat Diary." In 1994 he was awarded the Cherry Kearton Award by the Royal Geographical Society for his photographs of African wildlife. Angie Scott was born and raised in Africa and shares Jonathan's enthusiasm for East Africa, its people and its wildlife, and together they work as a highly productive team. When not on safari, Jonathan and Angie spend their time with their children, Alia and David, at their home in Nairobi, overlooking the beautiful Ngong Hills.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Fountain Pr Ltd (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863433987
• ISBN-13: 978-0863433986
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #585,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > History > Africa > Tanzania
  • #42 in Books > Travel > Africa > Tanzania
  • #52 in Books > Travel > Africa > Kenya

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the Photo Safari!, June 18, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mara-Serengeti: A Photographer's Paradise (Hardcover)

Mara-Serengeti captures the essence of living in the Mara-Serengeti region in a way that you would not experience in a dozen safaris to Africa. The images of predators, prey, wildlife migrations, and the Masai bring you close up during moments of blazing color in the sky and dramatic action in the grasslands. The images are improved by thoughtful essays that draw on the photographers' many years of experience with these subjects.

The animal photographs are mostly grouped by subject and include lions, leopards, zebras, wart hogs, impalas, cheetahs, wildebeest, hyenas, crocodiles, vultures, and wild dogs. The subjects are usually of animal families, migration, killing, and eating in often symbolic settings for these activities. The Masai images come at the book's end, sort of completing the evolutionary progression of the food chain.

You probably have heard of the Serengeti. It's a vast grassland in Tanzania, and is now protected as the Serengeti National Park there. The Masai Mara National Reserve is in neighboring Kenya, and the two lands are connected geographically, if not politically. A map in the book will display all of this for you. This site is the area where humans probably first walked the face of the Earth, and the dwindling of these remarkable spaces marks the potential for us to lose our ability to visualize our roots.

The name, Serengeti, in Masai means "land of endless space." The closest we have to this habitat in the United States that I have seen is the brief enclosure in the wild animal park that the San Diego zoo maintains near Escondido, California.

The action photographs impressed me the most. These show predators literally flying and spinning in the air just before they land while the terrorized prey wheels desperately away. The action is captured almost like a key play in a sporting event. That's pretty typical of the photography here. The images emphasize action and perspectives that you do not yet have, and this book will add wonderfully to your sense of the special nature of the grasslands of Africa.

After you have finished expanding your vision of natural selection, I suggest that you think about the ways that our lives are enhanced by understanding our origins and how our lives are not. How can we draw inspiration from nature and stand in our most meaningful role?

Look for what few have seen . . . always! Truth will emerge from your trial.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most beautiful book ever published, April 5, 2003

By 

Rita Thornton www.ritathornton.com (Fort Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mara-Serengeti: A Photographer's Paradise (Hardcover)

Having been to this area of Africa three times, twice in the Masi Mara and once to the Serengeti this book brings me back over and over again to this heaven on earth. The combination of drawings, photographs, and writing of Jonathan and Angela Scott are outstanding. This is my all time favorite book. The love these authors feel for this area and the animals and people who live there comes through on every page. For anyone who has the slightest interest in wild animals, ecology, photography, art, travel or Africa this book is a must have. Awesome!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Journey, September 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mara-Serengeti: A Photographer's Paradise (Hardcover)

This book was more than I had hoped for. The moments captured are extrordinary, some of the best photos of African Wildlife I have ever seen. I haven't read the text yet, but the captions by the photos are very informative and contain little interesting tidbits I didn't know. I have a lot of coffee table books and this is definitely a favorite.