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  4. Melissa Shales
Melissa Shales
Expert

Melissa Shales

Member of the SafariBookings Expert Panel

Country:
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Expert Reviews:
42 Reviews
Website:
www.melissashales.co.uk

Melissa Shales was brought up in Zimbabwe by parents who were enthusiastic travellers and spent many of her formative years bumping across dirt roads in highly unsuitable cars, tent on roof, indulging her mother's passion for giraffes. Although she now lives just outside London in the UK, Africa is in her blood and she returns as often as possible. During a long career as a travel writer and editor, she has written some 30 guidebooks for companies from Frommers and Fodors to Insight, Michelin and Dorling Kindersley, including books on South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania, winning three best guidebook awards. Melissa is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an Honorary Life Member (and former Chair) of the British Guild of Travel Writers and a Winston Churchill Fellow.

Expert Reviews 42 – Written by Melissa Shales

Botswana Botswana
  • Botswana country review
    4/5

    Botswana – A desert diamond

  • Chobe National Park
    4/5

    Chobe – home of ebony and ivory

  • Okavango Delta
    4/5

    The Okavango Delta – taking a punt on the Big Five

Kenya Kenya
  • Kenya country review
    4/5

    Kenya – middle earth

  • Aberdare National Park
    3/5

    The Aberdares – paradise in limbo

  • Amboseli National Park
    4/5

    Amboseli National Park – the weekend safari

  • Lake Bogoria National Reserve
    3/5

    Lake Bogoria – letting off steam in the Rift Valley

  • Lake Nakuru National Park
    4/5

    Lake Nakuru – rising water and rhinos

  • Lake Turkana
    3/5

    Lake Turkana – water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink

  • Masai Mara National Reserve
    4/5

    The Masai Mara – the million wildebeest march

  • Nairobi National Park
    3/5

    Nairobi – go wild in the city

  • Samburu National Reserve
    4/5

    Samburu – river of life in the thirsty plains

  • Tsavo East National Park
    4/5

    Tsavo East – pink elephants and man-eating lions

  • Tsavo West National Park
    4/5

    Tsavo West – go with the flow

South Africa South Africa
  • South Africa country review
    5/5

    South Africa – southern star

  • Addo Elephant National Park
    4/5

    Addo – elephants, penguins and the flightless dung beetle?

  • Amakhala Private Game Reserve
    3/5

    Amakhala (Private Game Reserve), South Africa

  • Augrabies Falls National Park
    3/5

    Augrabies – the place of Great Noise

  • Golden Gate Highlands National Park
    3/5

    Golden Gate Highlands National Park, South Africa

  • Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve
    4/5

    Hluhluwe-Imfolozi – the Eden of rhinos

  • Ithala Game Reserve
    3/5

    Ithala – river deep, mountain high

  • Kruger National Park
    5/5

    Kruger – lion country

  • MalaMala Private Game Reserve
    4/5

    MalaMala – the glamorous grand-daddy of game reserves

  • Mountain Zebra National Park
    3/5

    Mountain Zebra – haven from extinction

  • Phinda Private Game Reserve
    4/5

    Phinda – practically perfect private preserve

  • Pilanesberg Game Reserve
    3/5

    Pilanesberg – the Genesis project

  • Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve
    4/5

    SabiSabi – natural luxury

  • Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve
    4/5

    Sabi Sand - safari de luxe

  • Shamwari Private Game Reserve
    3/5

    Shamwari – wild Africa reborn

  • Spioenkop Game Reserve
    2/5

    Spioenkop – battlefield tour with added animals

  • Ulusaba Private Game Reserve
    4/5

    Ulusaba – top of the world

  • Waterberg Biosphere Reserve
    4/5

    Waterberg – weekend wilderness

Tanzania Tanzania
  • Tanzania country review
    5/5

    Tanzania – migration highway

  • Ngorongoro Crater
    5/5

    The Ngorongoro Crater – the lost world

  • Serengeti National Park
    5/5

    Serengeti – the great plains

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe
  • Zimbabwe country review
    4/5

    Zimbabwe – paradise in limbo

  • Hwange National Park
    4/5

    Hwange – the elephants’ stamping ground

  • Mana Pools National Park
    5/5

    Mana Pools – watery wilderness at the back of beyond

  • Matobo National Park
    4/5

    Matobo – a finely balanced world

  • Matusadona National Park
    4/5

    Matusadona – a drowned forest by a manmade sea

  • Nyanga National Park
    3/5

    Nyanga - Zimbabwe’s mountain playground

  • Zambezi National Park
    5/5

    The Zambezi - a thunderingly magnificent river

Most Popular Blog Posts – Written by Melissa Shales

  • Operation Noah: Rescue of the Kariba Wildlife
  • The Royal Giraffe: A History
  • Frederick Courteney Selous
  • Teddy Goes on African Safari Expedition
  • David Livingstone

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Australia AU
40 Reviews

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Anthony Ham
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Brian Jackman
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48 Reviews

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Christopher Clark
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Christopher Clark
United Kingdom UK
46 Reviews

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Emma Gregg
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Emma Gregg
United Kingdom UK
82 Reviews

Emma is an award-winning travel writer for Rough Guides, National Geographic Traveller, Travel Africa magazine and The Independent.

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Gemma Pitcher
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Gemma Pitcher
Australia AU
25 Reviews

Gemma authored several Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the guides to Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

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Harriet Nimmo
Expert
Harriet Nimmo
South Africa ZA
29 Reviews

Harriet is a zoologist with more than 20 years’ experience. She has the privilege of working with the world’s top wildlife photographers and photo-guides.

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Heather Richardson
Expert
Heather Richardson
South Africa ZA
11 Reviews

Heather is a British travel / conservation journalist, and has written for publications and broadcasters such as the BBC, Departures, the Telegraph and the Sunday Times.

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James Bainbridge
Expert
James Bainbridge
United Kingdom UK
19 Reviews

James is a travel writer and author of many Lonely Planet guides, including senior author of the guide to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.

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Kim Wildman
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Kim Wildman
Australia AU
44 Reviews

Kim is a travel writer who authored and updated over 15 guidebooks, including Lonely Planet's South Africa and Bradt's Tanzania guides.

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Lizzie Williams
Expert
Lizzie Williams
South Africa ZA
90 Reviews

Lizzie is a reputed guidebook writer and author of the Footprint guides to South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

› Full Bio & Reviews
Lucy Corne
Expert
Lucy Corne
United Kingdom UK
22 Reviews

Lucy is travel writer for a range of publications, including Lonely Planet's guides to Africa, Southern Africa and South Africa.

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Mark Eveleigh
Expert
Mark Eveleigh
United Kingdom UK
39 Reviews

Mark is a travel writer who grew up in Africa and has written over 700 titles for CNN Traveller, Travel Africa, BBC Wildlife and others.

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Mary Fitzpatrick
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Mary Fitzpatrick
United States US
14 Reviews

Mary is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including South Africa, Tanzania, East Africa and Africa.

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Mike Unwin
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Mike Unwin
United Kingdom UK
47 Reviews

Mike is an award winning wildlife writer, editor of Travel Zambia magazine and author of the Bradt Guide to Southern African Wildlife.

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Nana Luckham
Expert
Nana Luckham
United Kingdom UK
18 Reviews

Nana is a travel writer and author of multiple guidebooks, including the Lonely Planet guides to Africa, Zambia & Malawi and South Africa.

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Paul Murray
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Paul Murray
United Kingdom UK
15 Reviews

Paul is a travel writer, author of the Bradt guidebook to Zimbabwe and is closely involved in promoting tourism to Zimbabwe.

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Philip Briggs
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Philip Briggs
South Africa ZA
113 Reviews

Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.

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Stephen Cunliffe
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Stephen Cunliffe
South Africa ZA
87 Reviews

Stephen is a travel writer and avid conservationist whose work appears in prestigious magazines such as Africa Geographic and Travel Africa.

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Stuart Butler
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Stuart Butler
United Kingdom UK
41 Reviews

Stuart is a travel writer and author of numerous Lonely Planet guidebooks, including Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.

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Sue Watt
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Sue Watt
United Kingdom UK
34 Reviews

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Tim Bewer
Expert
Tim Bewer
United States US
21 Reviews

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› Full Bio & Reviews
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