SANParks.org Forums

I recently bought Geological Journeys: A traveller's guide to South Africa's rocks and landforms, by Nick Norman and Gavin Whitfield. It's published by Struik, ISBN 1-77007-062-1.

It's designed to be a companion for car journeys, and has a chapter for each of the major national routes (N1, N2, N17, N3, N4, N7, N12, N14), for major cities (Greater Joburg, Cape Town and Durban) and for tourist areas of geological interest (the Great Escarpment, KZN Drakensberg and the Little Karoo). The introduction that explains basic geological terms and concepts, and lovely photos, maps and diagrams accompany the text throughout.

The book is not specifically about SANParks, but includes geological information about many parks, including TMNP, KNP and Augrabies. The general geological information is also of relevance to those visiting parks, and will be of interest to anyone who'd like to understand the natural world around us better.

Geological Journeys is clearly written and it's a book that I'll definitely be taking in the car as drive around the country. I would really recommend this book.

Yes, it is a good book.

It is however very limited, simply because of space constraints! How do you cram all the interesting geology of SA (even only those on the main routes) in to one book? You simply can't!

It might have been better to publish a few books, each taking a certain area of the country.

Also, the terms get a little difficult at times for us - the un-initiated.

However, despite these comments, it is worth buying!