EcoTraining Guides & Guardians in South Africa asked its online students around the world what they’re reading these days — what books inspire them, challenge them, or make them long for the African bush. This is what they said:

Texan Lee Bellware recommends The Flame Trees of Thika and The Mottled Lizard by Elspeth Huxley, who spent her childhood in Kenya.

Lisa Fugard chose The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen, a book that’s actually set in the Himalayas but makes for great wildlife reading anywhere on the planet. Matthiessen also penned Sand Rivers, set in Tanzania’s immense Selous Game Reserve.

On the lighter side, Dozer Carinus recommends Wet Breams by Zimbabwe author Bill Taylor, Floriane Vacherand suggests the The Sex Lives of Cannibals by Maarten Troost, and Sam Koschi advocates Don’t Look Behind You! by veteran African wildlife guide Peter Allison.

Among the students’ other favorite books are How the Zebra Got Its Stripes by Léo Grasset, A Game Ranger Remembers by Bruce Bryden, The Sheltering Desert by Henno Martin and Dangerous Beauty by Mark C. Ross.