Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Spring Reading 2015 Travels with Gannon and Wyatt: Botswana

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Having a mother who works for an airline makes it much easier for Gannon's and Wyatt's family to travel. When their mom gives them a list of destinations to pick from, they all settle on Botswana as the site of their next adventure. They plan to visit the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta, which will allow them to see the wildlife in two very different habitats. Just a day after landing, their Jeep is charged by a protective male rhino, but they manage to make it safely to the Bushmen village for a visit. But that danger seems mild compared to the news that there is a poacher preying on the animals in the Delta that they have come to observe. It seems like no matter where the boys go, someone who doesn't share their appreciation for nature is causing trouble.

The boys' journal entries as they describe their first taste of wildebeest stew, or how they noticed a child in the Bushmen village wearing a New York Yankees ball cap, give readers a sense of being in these faraway locations. Plants, animals, food, weather, language and customs - eventually it all makes its way onto the pages. And the photos of things like a traditional Bushmen hut reinforce the differences between the lifestyle of families back in the states and those in Botswana. The references to great explorers of the continent like Stanley and Livingstone can lead readers to accounts of expeditions from the past.

Fans of stories full of travel and adventure, with some danger and conservation topics mixed in, will enjoy this series.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Links for the book's website and the "Travels with Gannon and Wyatt" blog have been shared in previous posts.

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