Discover GEEO’s recommended books to read before you travel to Kenya. Our book club is a way for travelers to learn through literature about the places they’ll be visiting.
These are some of our favorites about Kenya, so if you’re heading there, take a look (the GEEO book club is not a required element of our programs, just a bit of added fun)! We hope you will enjoy the books we have selected and they will enhance your experience.
You should be able to find most of our selections through the links below and in your local library system as well. Do you have any feedback on our selections or suggestions for additions? Contact us and let us know!
Recommended books to read before traveling to Kenya:
Fiction:
- The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Tears of the Maasai by Frank Coates (Amazon)
Nonfiction:
- A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
For those looking for more suggestions, here are some other books you may want to consider:
- Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- True at First Light: A Fictional Memoir by Ernest Hemingway (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Happy Valley: The Story of the English in Kenya by Nicholas Best (Amazon)
- The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood by Elspeth Huxley (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior: An Autobiography by Tepilit Ole Saitoti (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- West with the Night by Beryl Markham (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- One of Them: My Life Among the Maasai of Kenya by Eti Dayan (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Mama Panya’s Pancakes by Mary Chamberlin and Richard Chamberlin, illustrated by Julia Cairns (children’s book) (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (children’s book) (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
Bonus recommended films and videos to watch before traveling to Kenya:
GEEO travelers can register with SIMA Academy for free using a unique access code that we provide after our programs end. Feel free to contact us if you would like to receive the access code early. For this program, we recommend watching A Thousand Suns, Goodwill Dumping, When The Time Comes, and Supporting Entrepreneurship in Kenya. SIMA Academy utilizes the storytelling power of award-winning global short documentaries to nurture globally competent and socially active learners worldwide.
GEEO utilizes both Bookshop.org and Amazon Associates links for the above-suggested books. If you purchase a book through one of the links above, you’re supporting us as a nonprofit and helping more teachers travel through GEEO!