4 comments about Moon Handbooks Argentina.

1. I really like this guide. They spend a lot of time giving you useful information instead of flashy, full color photos. The photos can be nice sometimes, too, but if you really just need detailed information for planing a trip, I recommend this guide.



2. Moon Handbooks Argentina is an all-purpose guidebook for business and recreational travelers to this great South American nation. Suggested plans for exploring the entire nation in twenty-one days, traveling with focus on nature or overland routes, historical tours, a fifteen-day art and architecture viewing, a tastebud excursion through wine country and more are just the beginning. Sections point out the highlights and quality resorts in various different provinces, as well as the most effective means of travel, and offer capsulized background information on Argentina's land, flora, fauna, cultural landscape, environmental issues, history, economy, and more. A listing of internet resources rounds out this recommended guide for anyone determined to see Argentina's beauty with their own eyes.



3. Moon is going head to head with Lonely Planet and Rough Guides and it losses badly.
   
   Do not let the 2004 publishing date fool you. The information in this guide was gathered in 2001/2002. Buenos Aires prices have seriously changed since then and this guide has nothing about these changes. All of the hotel and restaurant rates in this book are irrelevant. Some prices have changed up to 300%! For example, in Buenos Aires, the NH City Hotel is quoted in the guide as being $97 per night. When I went there I was quoted $270 per night. A serious difference.
   
   For all of Buenos Aires the guide lists only 14 restaurant recommendations. Imagine a guide for New York City with on 14 restaurant recommendations! Then, restaurant recommendations are poor selections in comparison to other guides. The writing about restaurants (and accommodations) vacillates between being trite and meaningless. For example, one of the 14 restaurants the guide recommends is a pizzeria (go figure) which says... "unchanged since the days of Carlos Gardel, whose photos line the wall." That's it. From that you will make a decision?
   
   Also, the maps in this guide are very difficult to use. Unlike other guides that give you separate maps for restaurants and accommodations, this guide crams everything on one map: hotels, restaurants, sights to see, etc. You spend far too much time trying to figure where something is ... folks, there are much guides than this one. In short - avoid this guide.
   
   If you are ONLY going to Buenos Aires, then, just for B.A. then take Fodor's `Argentina' (4th edition). Fodor's has very good maps of the city and it has great recommendations for accommodations. Caveat: only use Fodor's `Argentina' for Buenos Aires, outside of the capitol Fodor's crashes and burns. The best all around Argentina guide is Rough Guide Argentina 2005. This guide is Not Recommended.



4. Moon Handbooks have always been useful to me on any trip. They not only cover all the usual stuff you find in a guidebook, but also the unusual and out-of-the-way things you'd otherwise miss. Unless you stay in a condo or all-inclusive hotel and never leave, you should always take a MOON GUIDE with you!

No comments about The River Plate Republics Argentina Paraguay Uruguay (Invitation to Travel).

No comments about Argentina North and Uruguay Map by Nelles (Nelles Maps).

5 comments about Patagonia: At the Bottom of the World.

1. I bought this book hoping it would help me in planning my upcoming trip to Patagonia - no such luck. Basically, Chapter One contains the author's dryly written noodlings from his trip diary - which, by the way, follows the typical tourist trail itinerary that your local travel agent could beat after putting in 45 minutes of research. The rest of the book has the quality of downloads from the web and excerpts from pamphlets left over from museum visits. Maybe the book was just the author's half-hearted attempt to recoup some of the cost of his trip (good for him, bad for me). Wow! What a waste of time.



2. In "Patagonia: At the Bottom of the World" Dick Lutz reminds us that to the European navigators who first discovered it, Patagonia was a strange region inhabited by giants, cannibals, and mysterious beasts. Occupying the tail of South America that stretches southward toward Antarctica, it remains even to the modern world a, little-known, off-the-beaten-path, sparsely inhabited region. Although politically divided between Chile and Argentina, Patagonia has a special climate, unique wildlife, and strange, and sometimes violent, history all its own. In this highly portable 206-page guidebook Lutz covers just about every aspect of this peculiar region including its history from the days of explorers and adventurers like Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Francis Drake to the Patagonia of today. An appendix includes Charles Darwinýs account of his 1834 trip to the region later published in The Voyage of the Beagle.
   The book opens with Lutzýs own account of his experiences as part of a tour to the region. You might want to read this chapter last, since the body of the text is broken up by notes that refer you to later sections of the book, and they can be intrusive. They occur only in the first chapter, so if you read this chapter last, you won't have to spend your time flipping back and forth. Still, leading the book off with this chapter is an excellent idea since most visitors to Patagonia will probably travel there as part of a similar tour group, and this lets them know exactly what to expect.
   The remaining chapters in the book cover the region's environment, history, people, wildlife, and just about everything a traveler might want to know. One other bit of information is not confined to a single chapter but permeates the whole of the book and that is the author's own love of the area. There is no question that Dick Lutz considers Patagonia one of the most beautiful places on Earth. He enthusiastically describes mountains, the towering glaciers that tumble into the Strait of Magellan, and the region's interesting and diverse animal life.
   He doesn't, however, gloss over the hardships the region endured throughout its early history: acts of genocide carried out against its native population, the ruthless exploitation of its forests and mineral wealth, its dubious record as a popular spot for penal colonies. As recently as the early 1970s, the political enemies of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet were confined to a prison in the area.
   In short, Patagonia is a place like no other on Earth, and to take you there, youýll find no better guide than this author. Dick Lutz has four previous books to his credit and writes skillfully and well. The book, quite honestly, could have benefited form a better proofreader, but most of the errors are typographical rather than textual. Despite this minor annoyance, Patagonia: At the Bottom of the World contains much solid information, and you would have to search far to find a more compact and useful guidebook. If travel to Patagonia is on your agenda, this is a good one to slip into your carryon.



3. Fabulous non-fiction Adventure. Lutz combines historical and geographic reference with his own personal tales of trekking to Tierra del Fuego. Especially good information on Charles Darwin's voyage of the Beagle, the animal life and fauna, and the native cultures.

   Particularly interesting is the information on the now extinct native Fuegian tribes that once roamed the area who some believed to be a near sub-species of Homo Sapiens, perhaps Late Cro-Magnom or even Neandertal. Actually, I would have liked to see even more in-depth info on this badly neglected topic.

   Also, good info on the Argentinian and Chilean villages that dot the region which could prove very helpful to travelers. Great photos. Fantastic cover art. Though, there are a few typographical errors here and there. Could be cleaned up a bit for a second edition.

   Eric Dondero, Author, Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book




4. How often do you come across a book that is really disappointing? And when it is was it your fault because you chose it because of its misleading cover picture or its contents page? Dick Lutz, asserted writer of several books on animals and out-of-the-way geographical regions has provided us with some reading which must be below the expectation of even an average book consumer. His personal account of a trip to Patagonia with a certain tour operator might well have paid for his fare, however, it leaves much to be desired in the way of writing. Simplistic, badly-put together sentences many of which are semantically ill-formed make reading a continuous strain. "We then got into the zodiacs for a ride around Tucker Island. This is a bird paradise so we refrained from landing in order not to disturb them." (p.14)
   
   What is meant to be helpful advice for a future would-be traveller to the place unfortunately does not go beyond a rudimentary enumeration of lengthy bus rides between unnamed destinations and occasional lunch menus. "We took the small boats to shore where we were met by buses and vans that took our group through the town of Porvenir and also to an estancia (ranch)." (p.15) Sentences like the following would not go uncorrected by any editor with a minimum of pride in their occupation and one must wonder if this book received a second reading by anyone at all before going into print. "The drive through the countryside was different from what we had seen until now." (p.15) and "After driving awhile and seeing some more astounding vistas we next visited another spectacular locale." (p.17) At some stage the reader must ask themselves if the book was intended for children and incredulously reads on page 79: "Since there is a Lesser rhea, it follows that there is also a greater rhea."
   
   The chapters on the land, its history and its people certainly provide the unitiated reader with much new and useful background information although also here textual continuity is sporadic and superficial. Quotes are not always sourced and the few photographs receive no comments. The book does, however, have a good word index and provides an extensive bibliography.
   
   Should you buy this book? Only if you really need to.



5. This book is absolutely fascinating from start to finish! It's extremely well-written, and the author shows great insight, perspective, and knowledge. It's simply eloquent. I bought it for myself, and also as a gift book for two friends. It will enchant anyone.

No comments about Provincia de San Luis Argentina by Automapa.

No comments about Ciuadad de Cordoba City Map (Argentina) by AutoMapa.

No comments about Touring Argentina: Peninsula Valdez (Conocer Argentina).

No comments about All the best in South America, west coast;: How to get the most out of your trip to Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina (A Sydney Clark travel book).

2 comments about Argentina Road Map "Rutas de Argentina" by AutoMapa.

1. We are traveling to the Patagonian lakes region next week. I ordered four Argentina/Patagonia maps to compare them: ITM's Patagonia, Rutas de la Argentina, Rough Guide Map Argentina, and Map Guide Patagonia. I ended up keeping the Rutas de la Argentina and returning the others. Argentina Road Map "Rutas de Argentina" had the clearest graphics despite the fact that the southern half is at a slightly larger scale than the northern half and most of its competition. We plan to use this for road navigation and hope it will do the trick. It does not cover any of Chile beyond the frontier.



2. I purchased this map b/c I was taking a trip to Patagonia and would be renting a car. I was unable to find any maps with real details of the roads in the El Calafate, El Chalten, Puerto Natales area. Guess what, this map doesn't have anything better than what you'll find on line. AND I realized after my trip it was out of date, showing dirt roads where they are paved, not showing smaller roads, not clearly marking border crossings. I opened it, looked at it for 10 seconds and decided I should return it (didn't even bother bringing it on my trip).
   
   If you're going to Patagonia, get a map there - the car rental place will have MUCH better maps.

1 comments about Patagonia: Natural History, Prehistory and Ethnography at the Uttermost End of the Earth (Princeton Paperbacks).

1. A short review in the magazine _Nature_ (9 Oct 97, p 557) has a cool picture and says "gripping read and lavishly illustrated." END