Nature Unpacked: The traveller's ultimate bush guide to Southern Africa, by Megan Emmett
Nature Unpacked: The traveller's ultimate bush guide to Southern Africa, by Megan Emmett. Briza Publications. Pretoria, South Africa 2018. ISBN 9781920217402 / ISBN 978-1-920217-40-2
Nature Unpacked: The traveller's ultimate bush guide to Southern Africa, by Megan Emmett is a humble attempt to provide insight into the world and ways of savanna wildlife found in the southernmost reaches of Africa, both in moist and more arid areas, including behaviour and adaptation.
Nature Unpacked: The traveller's ultimate bush guide to Southern Africa, by Megan Emmett offers practical, interpretative information on the most commonly encountered species and attempts to disseminate information in an accessible, understandable manner complemented by galleries of explanatory photographs. This compendium eliminates the need to have several different reference books on hand and while it does not attempt to be a typical identification guide, the visual spreads assist with both the deciphering of animal behaviour and the recognition of species. Statistics are summarised in blocks for ease of reference and even sounds associated with the different species can be accessed through the Callfinder® function. Nature Unpacked offers itself as a travelling companion to those visiting southern Africa for the first time or for the tenth. It is also the ideal companion for those who live and work within her extent. It is a must-have for any and all amateur naturalists and is based on the kind of information field guides are groomed to disseminate to their safari clientele. These guides need to be well-rounded naturalists to accommodate the varied interests of their clients and the starting point is always to address the commonest of subjects in all fields. With a foundational knowledge of the common topics, aspiring naturalists are then able to grow their body of knowledge over time by delving into the more authoritative reference works. But if all that is required is something to provide a little insight into the animal or bird in front of a traveller, then this book fulfils that purpose too, in a way more technical field guidebooks may not. Whatever the context, whomsoever the reader, it is the author's experience that a little knowledge and understanding of nature engenders a perpetually growing desire to learn more. Time spent observing, reading and experiencing the wonders of the bushveld accumulates and amounts to a passion that burgeons and a soul well fed. May all your adventures in the outdoors, accompanied by Nature Unpacked, be amazing and fulfilling.
How to use Nature Unpacked: The traveller's ultimate bush guide to Southern Africa
The chapters hove been colour- -coded for ease of reference and every chapter is prefaced with a table of contents. Simply flip to the desired section and choose the species about which you'd like to learn more. Blocked and icon information is available in the mammals and trees sections, providing technical details in a concise, easy-to-reference form. The interpretative images direct the reader's eye to the different topics on the selected species so you can read whichever paragraph is of interest to you without having to wade through the entire body of text. The sections on birds, reptiles, frogs and invertebrates focus more broadly on the biology of the group but also offers species-specific information that is interpretative rather than purely technical. The Briza Callfinder® can be used to listen to animal and bird sounds, as well as to the pronunciation of scientific names. The Call finder unlocks sound from the printed page. Switch the Callfinder® on and, holding it in a vertical position, simply touch any image or text where you see this icon. Where the icon appears on a photograph, the Callfindef will play the animal's sound. Wherever the icon appears next to a name, you can listen to the pronunciation of the animal or plant's scientific name (see box below for more about scientific names). [...]
Nature Unpacked: The traveller's ultimate bush guide to Southern Africa, by Megan Emmett.
Title: Nature Unpacked
Subtitle: The traveller's ultimate bush guide to Southern Africa
Author: Megan Emmett
Photography: Shem Compion
Publisher: Briza Publications
Pretoria, South Africa 2018
ISBN 9781920217402 / ISBN 978-1-920217-40-2
Softcover, 17 x 24 cm, 384 pages, 900 colour photographs, Callfinder® Ready