No comments about Caribbean Ports of Call: Western Region, 9th: A Guide for Today's Cruise Passengers (Caribbean Ports of Call: Western Region).

5 comments about The Rough Guide to the Dominican Republic 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. I just got back from a 10 day trip to the DR. I found this guide amazing right up to the second to last day when I lost it on the beach. I had checked other guide books out from the library but when it came time to go this was the one I ordered.



2. This is a very thorough and helpful guide to the Dominican Republic. I used it in combination with the Lonely Planet guide and together they gave me everything I needed to know about the country, accommodations, eating, getting around the country, etc.



3. i read this book from cover to cover. the history of the country is outlined in an easy to follow format. thanks to this guide, i have a two month educational trip planned to DR.



4. I just returned from 16 days in the DR. I found this guide untrustworthy and wrong. I spent the first 3 days hiking Pico Duarte and then was based for 2 weeks in Santiago. To give you an idea of the level of error, the map of Santiago on p. 264 shows the Centro Leon in one place, the description on p. 269 gives another location: neither one is correct. Now, my travels were off the beaten tourist path--I only spent 4 hours at a beach. But that's why I chose the Rough Guide. In general the guide was written for travellers who rent cars, but everyone (including the guide) recommended against them. Guaguas are great!
   
   Here are the errors in the order I encountered them:
   p. 281 The Finca Altagracia does not accept overnight guests except on a long term stay. If you do manage to get a motoconcho to take you on the mountain road to get at their gates at night, they will not let you in and you will have to go to any farmhouse in a nearby village that's big and kind enough to take you in. The next morning they will tell you that they have been meaning to tell the guide that they got it wrong.
   p. 287 Duarte's face is not sculpted onto the rocks. Clearly the writer or editor has never been to the summit of Pico Duarte.
   p. 274 There *may* have been mines down the road leading to "La Cumbre de Juan Vegas", but the locals do not know of them, and my hour's hike to the end of the path did not find them. Currently there are mines off of a road about 3-4 kilometers further North. The turn is to the EAST right after the police station. Ask a motoconcho to take you to the mines. They are about 1 kilometer down the road, but hard to find on your own.
   p. 269 The Centro de Recreo and the Palacio Consistorial are NOT on the North side of the park--on the west side.
   p. 269-70 The Centro de Cultura is not where they say it is either.
   p. 277 The Charcos de Los Indios is criminally overrated. I moved heaven and earth to find it, asking many locals and spending a whole day. The locals did say it is better when the waterfalls have more water, but the prose in this section should be toned down. I can send pictures of the place.
   That's all I have time for now.



5. Excellent information on what we were hoping for. Great and I aould recommend it to anyone interested in getting aropound in the Dominican Rerpublic.

1 comments about Lonely Planet Eastern Caribbean.

1. Whew-w-w. This is a great entry in a great series of travel books. Thick (thick!) with useful information. The consistent format, the amount of information, the compact physical size of this book make it a must carry reference guide for the Caribbean traveler!

3 comments about Frommer's Cuba (Frommer's Complete).

1. Frommer's Cuba was my first guidebook purchase ever!! And what a great buy. I had done most of my travel research online or through word of mouth but with Frommer's, I was able to not only get detailed information of the sites of the country, I was also able to choose between several different options. I like how they categorized the different places within the book so you don't have to waste time with options that are out of your price range or out of your interest.



2. an avid reader, writer, and traveller, i believe religiously in the value of a good guide book. if i were to judge all travel guides based on my experience with Frommers Cuba i would be an atheist. Every major point proved to be the complete contrary. my guess is that the previous revue was written by someone from frommers. honestly, this book did not ruin my vacation, but if i had not realized from the beginning how wrong the information was, it would have completely destroyed my time in cuba.



3. Just returned from 8 days in Havana and have to say that the guide is for people who have 2 or less days. I originally purchased the Moon guide as well but did not want to cary it around. Lots of missing info and way too general. I returned to re-read the Moon guide and have to say it is way more accurate and in depth. The sections in the back about the music is helpful.

5 comments about After the Dance: A Walk Through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti (Crown Journeys).

1. "After the Dance" by Edwidge Danticat, is a celebration of the beauty, history and power of African culture in the diaspora of Haiti. Edwidge Danticat's writings stand on the shoulders of great writers such as Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes and Walter Mosley. "After the Dance" champions the day to day experiences, joys, and challenges of people of African ancestry as they celebrate Carnival in Haiti. By accurately telling their story in "After the Danice", Edwidge Danticat paints a multi-sided portait of a community in transition, and as with any great writer, the truth she speaks about one community , informs our understanding of all communities. "After the Dance" is an excellent work by an excellent writer...



2. Until this short, entertaining book, part memoir and part travelogue, I'd never read much of anything positive about Haiti. Years of political strife and the Duvalier dictatorships have certainly taken its toll on this densely populated third of Hispaniola (the rest is the Dominican Republic), but apparently Haiti is ready for tourists again and there's much to attact us there. Carnival, those jubilant and reckless days before Lent, would be a grand time to go. Like similar celebrations in Rio, Venice, and New Orleans, this a festival of the bizarre and the ridiculously sublime. Danticat is a fine writer and portrays her native country and countrymen with clarity and passion. This is part of Crown Journeys, a very promising new series of travel essays, written by some of our finest contemporary authors. Educating and entertaining; makes you want to book passage on the next flight or ship.



3. It's always refreshing to read about the Caribbean, especially when it involves carnival and when the recount is being done by such a great writer. I must say that at times I felt like screaming that this woman really does not know how to let loose and really enjoy carnival. Just imagine if she were in Trinidad instead playing j'ouvert, and doing carnival for 2 days straight!! Nevertheless, I liked the fact that she paid careful attention to detail and incorporated much historical content into the novel.



4. You are given a challenge that harkens back to your childhood ---return to carnival and write about it. You think about the consequences, and perhaps second guess yourself for allowing someone to even suggest going back to deal with the demons that sent you packing in the first place. Such is the case that the author contemplates in this installment of The Crown Journeys, a new series that has authors writing about different places around the world after traveling them on foot.

   While acquiescing and taking the walk that spawned this book, Edwidge Danticat doesn't disappoint. In recent years she has fast become a media darling and one of Haiti's rising stars in literature. Here she shares with her readers a poignant and compelling view of the Jacmel Carnival, one of the Caribbean's major carnivals --- rivaled with and compared only to Rio and Trinidad. She gives insight and deep-rooted analogies of historic content, exploration of the land in and around her hometown of Jacmel, and the traditions of the people themselves as a true native would tell it.

   The old adage of "there's no place like home" will always have a sense of purpose when coming back, and relative to the aforementioned, Ms Danticat gives the readers something to digest. Along the way she visits a cemetery and reveals what she thinks of them: �I have always enjoyed cemeteries. Altars for the living as well as resting places for the dead they are entryways, I think to any town or city�the best places to become acquainted with the tastes of the inhabitants, both present and gone�.

   She also references Jacmel�s uneven history via the landmarks she remembered as a child; gives a detailed explanation of how the masks and costumes play a major role based on age-old fables; and revisits the hills and rainforests with stories supporting political drama(s) relative thereof. The customs, social life, and other ménage of experiences associated with carnival represents an expressive attitude that inspires the people of this proud nation a reason to shun struggle, forget present troubles and escape to the wild hedonistic, but sexual suggestive party that bring out carnal knowledge at its best.

   The one thing that got my interest early on in this narrative is the fact that she was scared off from celebrating the rituals associated with this celebration by a family member. How she has dealt with it over the years --- and the decision to face this challenge is worthy reading. In the process she�s able to rediscover herself and shed inhibitions in embracing this festive time. Witness the reckless abandon as she describes the freedom she now can express without remorse. I feel that readers will feel as mesmerized as I was --- and feel as if you were there too.

   --- Reviewed by Alvin C. Romer




5. Carnival is one of the defining events of the Haitian year, and nowhere is it celebrated with more verve than in the seaside town of Jacmel. The Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat never had the opportunity to attend carnival. Thus, as an adult, she returns to Haiti, to Jacmel, to experience what she missed in childhoood. This book is an account of Danticat's trip back. This is a travel essay, but at the same time, it's so much more. After the dance is a travel narrative, a memoir, and a history, of Haiti and of the carnival. A beautifully-written homage to the carnival, the book spins out in multiple directions, telling stories, and full of descriptive imagery. This is quite a short book, and given all of the things the book tries to do, it doesn't do any of them completely. Instead, we get snatches and tidbits of histories and memories, and the book is a pleasure to read. Danticat uses Carnival and its activities as metaphors to discuss larger events and issues in her own and Haiti's past and present. This is a book one should read to get a taste of Haiti. It's not necessarily comprehensive, but it paints a brillaint picture.

3 comments about Belize : Land of the Free by the Carib Sea.

1. A few months ago I visited Belize with my mom and we had a super great time. It is the most beautiful rainforest and the ocean reef is one of the biggest in the world. The book Belize shows all the natural beauty of the country as well as the many cultural groups including Mayan Indians, Creole, and Garifuna people which is a new culture formed of the mixture of African and American Indian people. The book Belize is full of beautiful color photographs and really gives you a good idea of what the country is like.



2. BELIZE: LAND OF THE FREE BY THE CARIB SEA by Thor Janson is without question one of the most beautiful photographic books I own. I have not visited Belize yet but as I look at the stunning images in Janson's book It has me dreaming of a mid-winter get away to this little country flanked by the Caribbean Sea. The book includes an excellent introductory text which takes the reader all the way from pre-historic times up to the present day and describes in detail all the different cultural groups which make up the rich fabric of contemporary Belezian society. The bulk of the book is comprised of photo layouts including extraordinary shots of wild animals such as jaguars and manatees, ancient Mayan ruins, cultural events (such as the wild Belize City carnaval), peaceful rural scenes, beautiful children, rainforests, savannahs, and pine forests, and plenty of charming, happy, smiling faces giving the impression that Belize must be a very warm, inviting place to visit, indeed. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and this excellent book by Thor Janson contains more than 150 extraordinary photos which combined give the reader a real "feel" of what life is like in the diminutive, peaceful nation of Belize.



3. I bought it for my boyfriend who is from Belize and he loved it. Beautiful pictures.

5 comments about The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapade.

1. In "The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapade" Lynette Chiang wrote about her adventure biking in Cuba. Originally from Sydney, Lynette travelled light with a bicycle that can be folded, a tent, and a few other necessity items for travelling. It was a great way for Lynette to learn about the culture, food, and people in the country. Even though she was a foreigner with U.S. dollars, Lynette was determined not to travel the way Castro expected tourists to; paying exhorbitant amount of money for hotel or food. Most of the time, she stayed with families or friends that she people she met recommended or just if the rooms were cheap. She was able to learn a lot about Cuban families and their way of life in Cuba.
   
   What I like most about the book is that the author was candid about her observation of Cuba, of the poverty and at the same time of the friendliness of the people. Unlike some foreigners, she did not romanticize Cuba. It was most fascinating to read about the characters she met along her journey, which I thought was definitely the highlight of her travelogue. However, I wish that the author shared more about her personal life, and what brought her to Central America in the first place. This would have made the book even more engaging than it already is. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Cuba and the Cuban people. A fantastic summer read.



2. I recently rode my Bike Friday with Lynette and some 40 other "Friday" enthusiasts through the historic towns of Southern Arizona, so I was pleased to find that the personality that exudes from her every pore was clearly revealed in this entertaining, funny, bittersweet, educational account of her biking through Cuba. I can't think of a better way to spend a couple of hours (whether or not you like biking and travel) than to view Cuban everyday life through Lynette's perceptive and objective eyes. The only thing better would be to actually take a bike ride with Lynette.



3. I like bicycling books with a lot of bicycling in them, and there isn't all that much bicycling in this book. That notwithstanding, it's a really good book. This lady is observant and perceptive, not to mention brave and adventurous. She is also, at times, wickedly funny and doesn't spare herself when it comes to pointing out human foibles and follies. I thought I got a real flavor of Cuba from the book as well. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys real life adventure stories.



4. When I picked up this book I thought I'd get a quirky and fun read about a solo woman bike rider traveling and learning about Cuba. Well, it IS that, but it's so much more. It's about a unique woman riding a unique bicycle (Bike Friday), getting deep into the country through living with locals. At the same time, she lets the reader into her life journey, shattering expectations about what a successful Asian woman growing up in Australia should be doing with her life.
   
   If you're adventurous, or if you've ever fantasized about getting on a bike to ride into the sunrise/sunset, or if you're simply looking for a book that you can't put down, this is the one. And guys, check it out. Her grueling bike rides--not to mention boat rides during severe storms--will impress even the toughest bikers.



5. This travel tale about a diminutive gal on a small wheeled folding bike in Cuba hits a home run. Lynette's brutally honest account of her feelings and course of action taken during this trek is wonderful reading. This story is something which I believe many people dream of yet few actually do. Myself included.

1 comments about Insight Pocket Guide Cayman Island (Insight Pocket Guides Cayman Islands).

1. I bought this book for a 4 day trip to Grand Cayman - so I've actually not used the sections for Little Cayman and Cayman Brac - but found it concise and accurate enough to make the most of my four days. It was a suprise to go to the turtle farm and find a bar and a diveshop instead - but they had just relocated across the street due to hurricane damage they suffered. Overall, this is one of the many Insight Guides i own and they're generally pretty good; I would recommend this book for short/easy trips.

1 comments about Fodor's Puerto Rico, 4th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides).

1. This book was so valuable on our trip to Puerto Rico! It included a lot of information about hotels, restaurants, and activities. I would buy Fodor's for any vacation to any place!

3 comments about Insight Guide Trinidad & Tobago (Insight Guides Trinidad and Tobago).

1. I used to live in Trinidad and Tobago, and I can tell you ... this is the absolute best travel book on Trinidad. The folks at Insight Guides really do their homework on whatever country they're covering, and this is no exception. The pictures are amazing. Each section ... covering history, music, food, etc ... is well-researched and quite entertaining. They tell it like it is, good or bad.
   
   I often read this book when I'm "homesick" for my expat life in Trinidad, and I feel as though I've taken a small vacation there.



2. This is simply the greatest informational book on T&T. Wonderful color pictures and descriptions. Spot-on!



3. All in all I was disappointed with this book. I purchased it as a guide around T&T, but it's not very useful for that. It's a great source of information about Trinidad, as far as the history and culture, but don't waste your money if you're looking for a solid guidebook. The best book by far was the Rough Guide to T&T. I spent 9 days there and the Rough Guide was literally my Bible, I didn't go anywhere without it. If you're planning a trip and need a solid guide book for where to stay, where to go, and how to get around, don't purchase the Insight Guide. If you're into colorful pictures and historical information, this is the book for you.