No comments about Spanish Language Phrases.

3 comments about Around Cape Horn.

1. This book came to light recently, and is one of the good ones. Many tales of adventure on tall ships give a general view of a sailor's life. This one gives the account of a boy who grew into a man on his voyage to the phosphate mines of Chile. Once in the Pacific, a few bad ideas led to danger for the author and agravation for his captain. Descriptions of moonlight on the breast of a sail, or how the weather clew was raised on an overtaking iron vessel that passed below their stern - are poetry without the writer realizing. A book not to be passed over, but passed around to your friends.



2. Reading this book started me on the search for others like it. Recently, I read Sailing Ships of New England by George Francis Dow, another famous boat builder. If you're interested in this sort of thing, I highly recommend it. It's full of great illustrations and makes for a great follow-up to Around Cape Horn.



3. Much has been recorded about the American clipper ships and the British tea clippers of an earlier era and even more about the windjammers, mostly British or Scandinavian, of a later era, but very little, to my knowledge, of the size and type ship featured in this book, that is to say a medium sized (880 tons), American, workaday cargo bark of the 1890's closely related to the downeasters. The author, previously known mostly to a select group of ship model builders for his master works on that subject, is one I have admired for most of my life. I now find he has also written an authentic narrative of his first voyage to sea in 1892-93, when he had the audacity to pass himself off as an able bodied seaman when in fact he had no experience except small boat sailing. How this story remained hidden and unpublished for over 100 years is beyond me, but thankfully it is no longer hidden and is out there for all sailing ship lovers to savor and put on their shelves near Alan Villiers, Basil Lubbock, Richard Henry Dana, Felix Riesenberg, Arthur H. Clark, Course, Learmont, Stenhouse, Barker and others.
   
   The bark James A. Wright had a surprisingly small twelve man crew for a square-rigger almost 200 feet long including two bully mates, typical of the era, eight seamen, one cook and one boy. No mention is made of a bosun, sailmaker or carpenter. The skipper was a hard-nosed Cape Codder with a soft streak, untypical of the era.
   
   The narrative includes most of the usual ingredients of a Cape Horn voyage, gales, cold weather, poor food, deplorable conditions in the fo'c'sle, but also some rare ones written from the observant eye of an artist. For example stealing fresh water from the cask with a straw made from the author's sketch pad paper, the harrowing near collision with another ship while the mate slept on watch, rat hunting, bringing the pilot's cutter alongside with the ship having considerable headway, dirty dishes and dirty laundry and of course the arcane details of sail handling. The chapters are all headed with authoritative sketches by the author some made during the voyage others evidently reconstructed later on. The additional bonus of the ship's scale drawings and rare photo when new are something for model builders to study and refer to as they read the book.
   
   The only fault I could find with Davis' narrative was his insistance on referring to the ship's speed as "knots per hour" instead of just "knots." This error is repeated two or three times in the book and is understandable because of his lack of formal knowledge of navigation. In fact many seagoing people make the same mistake.
   
   I highly recommend this book to ship lovers, readers of authentic sea stories, maritime history and rousing adventures. The author's grandson is to be complimented for finally bringing the old manuscript to light and turning it over to a skillful editor who had the wisdom to maintain the author's vernacular. Anyone who has ever seen a Charles G. Davis ship model in person or read his ship model books will not be surprised at the equal amount of affection shown to the record of this first sea voyage.

No comments about Fodor's Chile, 3rd Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides).

2 comments about Voyaging: Southward from the Strait of Magellan.

1. Armchair adventurers who love sailing, roughing it through forests, bogs and mountains in strange lands, and meeting new people in brief encounters will love "Voyaging," by Rockwell Kent. The book begins with a shocking confession in the Introduction, and carries the reader through 184 pages of high excitement and magnificent descriptions of one of the most desolate and forsaken places in the world -- the area about Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America.
   
   The book's main characters are (1) Kent, about 40; (2) his mate, a Norwegian of 26 years who started his life by shipping to sea under his father when 14, who after a few months of beatings jumped ship, cursing as he went, apparently never to see his father again; (3) a lifeboat, which Kent bought for $20 and named Kathleen, and with a group of tradesmen modified to include cabin, mast and rigging for sails; (4) the West Wind, which whistled ceaselessly and tossed the little boat about dangerously, and (5) a menagerie of people along the way who extended hospitality, most with loving kindness, a few with malice.
   
   A touching moment came on Bailey Island when Kent asked 20-year-old Margarita García, the name of her three-month-old suckling daughter. The baby has no name because she has not been baptized, Margarita replied. There in that inhospitable land Kent converted a dirty hovel into a cathedral and "baptized" the child, giving her his wife's name Kathleen Kent García. Kent writes that Father García, a murderer who earlier was released from a nearby prison after serving time, said "the ceremony had pleased him particularly as it was in truth the baptism of his child."
   
   Characteristically, Kent illustrates the book well with black-and-white drawings of the stark landscape, and a few portraits of his new acquaintances. He also includes several maps by which the reader may follow the men's attempt to sail around Cape Horn -- an adventure that did not always go according to plan, as the reader will discover. -- Allen Long, Arlington, VA.



2. Although Rockwell Kent is mainly known as an artist and illustrator he also deserves a fine reputation as a travel/adventure writer. This book describes his months of small boat sailing and trekking in the islands and channels of Tierra del Fuego at the very southern tip of South America.
   This was in the 1920's, a time well before ecotourism became a business. Going off on an adventure had a very different meaning: no reliable maps, no aerial photos, no GPS, no satellite phone to let you bail out when it got a little tough - it was actually dangerous out there. The book lets you in on an experience probably unobtainable in the modern world.
   The wonderful illustrations by Kent are a bonus, but the style is more grandiloquent than his classic "N by E".

2 comments about Chile: The Bradt Travel Guide.

1. (Planeta.com Journal) -- The most comprehensive guide to Chile. Burford explores the length and (very narrow) breadth of Chile to capture the mind-boggling diversity of a country that encompasses the world's driest desert, towering snow-capped mountains and the lush coastal rainforest of Patagonia.



2. I got this info from Bradt-travelguides website: typical of the entire line, it's 688 pages · 8 colour photos · 79 maps.
   So be aware that this is no "Insight" guide, with plenty of photos to help you decide what to see.
   I wish AMAZON would include info like this on all travel books. Require the publisher to provide an outline of book.

5 comments about Chile, 5th (Footprint - Travel Guides).

1. This is the detail "travel agenda and planning guide" you want to determine hotel, transportation and other location detail. It is very much similar to a Frommer's Guide.
   
   It is sorely missing color and story. Therfore it is boring to read. That's why I only gave it four stars. But Chile guides are not plentiful. This is designed to be more of a reference guide and it is good at that. Don't expect to get enough info on geography, history, politics and the people of Chile.
   
   The good news!! For the information missing in this guide, you should definitly get the "Insight Guide" "Chile & Ester Island" (Discovery Channel). This book has the color and information to give a Chile novice all they need to know about Chile's geography, history, people and politics. I could not put it down until I read all the way through it.
   
   These two books are the absolut perfect combo for the first-time Chile traveller or Chile novice and really should be sold in a package. In tandem they cannot be beat.
   Get these two and you have the perfect travel guide package.



2. I do not recommend this guide, the info its not accurate and not updated. The places recommended in the guide often do not exist (specially hostels and vegeterian restaurants mencioned). Also prices can be really different than those mentioned.
   An important detail is that some hostels and pensiones said to be "clean" are definitely not, be aware specially if you are in Puerto Montt.
   If you travel off season you may experience difficulties finding travel guides and tours in chiloe. There is only one tourist agent working off season in castro, if you ask you'll get to him, but his agency, he owns an hostel and a simple hotel as well, are not pointed in the guide even though he is the only opcion one can get to visit the chiloe national park during winter-fall months.
   About travelling into southern Chile without passing through Argentina the guide offers almost no information about bus schedules and local bus companies or ferries which are more than scarce off season (sometimes there are busses and ferries schedules only once a week. During the summer (dec-jan-feb)its different and won't be an issue.



3. I just returned from a month of living in Santiago, Chile, learning Spanish, and living with my Footprint guide to Chile. I read a lot of the book before arriving and everything it had said and recommended was right. I was living in Santiago and it gave tons of things to do, stay, eat, and see in the city. I was also traveling on weekend. Things like, skiing in the Andes, visiting Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, Cajon del Maipo, and taking a trip to the island of Chiloe in the south. Everywhere I went I would read the guide book beforehand and I would arrive and walk around and really have a strong grasp of where things were as well as what to do and what to avoid. There are good detailed maps of all the main cities/towns as well as some of the more popular smaller towns too. The descriptions of places like hostels and restaurants are 100% accurate. I was able to look at other guide books in Chile when I would bump into another traveler. Many times, when someone else had little or no information on something, we would look it up in my book and there would be plenty of information on it. I took this book with me every morning I left my apartment in Santiago and everywhere I traveled. If you are thinking about buying this I strongly recommend it.



4. We used this book for 2 months as we traveled around the southern half of Chile. For the most part, the book is excellent and the recommendations are solid. The descriptions of the parks and trails are well done and useful. The advice on what to do in each region is well informed. The only problems we encountered with this book were that several phone numbers in the book were just wrong. Hostal Nancy in Puerto Natales comes to mind. I don't think it even had the right number of digits. The other problem, which was minor, was that the metro stops were not positioned correctly on the Santiago maps. Go try to find the Bella Artes metro stop using the maps in this book. It's two blocks from the museum but the book makes it look like it's next door. It's not even on the same street.
   
   These few problems aside, the Footprint series remains the best choice for Chile and South America. We had many opportunities to use the Lonely Planet carried by other travelers and, well, it's just bad. Terrible maps. Footprint has the best maps, especially the multi-page country map at the back of the book. There is also more information packed into the Footprint and the quality of the materials and printing are superior. Rough Guide is also worth considering. If you are only going for hiking/camping/trekking, consider Footprint Patagonia.
   
   4 stars for being better than the overrated Lonely Planet. But not perfect.



5. Prior to my honeymoon, in which I surprised my wife, I bought and studied 5 different Chile travel books to prepare for the trip. This was the best one I found and the one that I actually took with me on the trip. It had the best local information which I appreciated because I wasn't interested in staying at a Hilton in Chile.
   
   The author is from Valparaiso and there were places in the book that we visited and loved that weren't even mentioned in the other books. Best of all the author loves Chile and it's culture and you can tell by his writing and advice. If only get one book on Chile, get this one.
   
   If you're simply going to visit Vina del Mar and stay in a time share or plan to stay in an American-chain hotel then you may not enjoy this book. But you won't really get to see Chile, either.

5 comments about Rounding the Horn: Being the Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives--a Deck's-eye View of Cape Horn.

1. With the wind in its sails, this book glides like a clipper ship. Otherwise, in sailor terminology, it can be the doldrums.
   The author took it upon himself to experience firsthand the hardships and rigors of Cape Horn and then interweave these wanderings with its history, flora/fauna, climate and geography.
   I found the historical accounts of Magellan, Drake, Darwin and many others in this harsh environment extremely fascinating. Especially gripping and understandably predictable, were the numerous failed attempts of missionaries to establish themselves amongst the indigenous people.
   His own meanderings, although descriptive and worthy, are somewhat overplayed and a disappointment after such colorful portrayals of past explorers and events.
   Overall a good read of a very unusual and mysterious geographical region.



2. We are faced with so many books on problems - whether it's Iraq. or a neurotic hero of heroine trying to make the best of a bad situation, or how to make (or save) a buck or any one of a thousand problems which help to sell books - it's a joy to read a book like this where a very literate author sits back and tells us in excellent and descriptive prose a fascinating story about Cape Horn and its environs, its geography, what it's like there, its history, its native people and how it is to sail a small boat in these stormy rockbound deceptive dangerous Patagonian waters.
   
   I don't know how I found it, but I had read a part of it when it was first published and had put it down for some reason. Then, just the other day, I picked it off the shelf and read it. Finished it last night and now I can't wait to tell you to go out and buy it and read it too. It's a delight. You'll freeze in the sleet and wind of Cape Horn weather. You'll be right there with the explorers who found a passage there and then you'll see and feel the worst with the resolute skippers who drove their ships into the teeth of the worst weather in the world to succeed or perish in an attempt at transit. If you're really interested it's got a great bibliography too. Go get it and read it. No kidding. Unless you're some kind of a wimp you'll love it!



3. This is one of my favorite books of all time. Similar in style to Tony Horwitz's "Blue Latitudes" and "Confederates in the Attic;" the author weaves the awe inspiring beauty of the place and it's important and poignantly tragic history together with his own personal experience exploring it in a chartered sailboat.



4. Great description of a current acount of sailing around Cape Horn, interspersed with historical accounts of journeys around the Horn. It's amazing that people in small wooden boats without modern navigational aides would attempt such a harrowing journey



5. I devoured this book in record time... one of those travel books that is so well written that one can't wait to get back to it. Eating, sleeping, being polite to household members etc. come to be unwelcome distractions. I strongly recommend it for anyone who would like general knowledge of this part of the world in a very readable format. It gives biological, botanical, historical, economic, and human perspectives, and it's a damn good read.

No comments about The History of Chile (Palgrave Essential Histories).

2 comments about A Peace Corps Profile.

1. A most incredible man, this Kirk Hackenberg. To have gone through two terms in the Peace Corps seems to be unusual enough but to live to tell about it under the circumstances is quite another story. His adventures were death defying on several levels. Interesting to see how governments can actually interfere with and hinder the good intentions of those concerned with the well-being of people in their own countries. A bit of a history lesson as well!



2. Wow, this is tough. Every volunteer has a unique story as amazing as that may seem.
   Kirk writes about his time in Nicaragua and Chile. While I enjoyed reading his memoir, I have to say it lacks detail and the structure is too linear. He tends to jump quickly to another topic without a lot of development. I wanted to know what food he ate, what the country people's lives were like among other things and that is rarely included.
   I'm glad I read it and feel like I got to know a very unique and admirable individual.
   A lot of Peace Corps memoirs are silly and self-indulgent. This is, sadly, the opposite - terse and serious. If I had to choose one book this probably wouldn't be it. I read Moritz Thomsen's Living Poor before I went to S. Korea as a volunteer and recommend it before this good but sparse book.

1 comments about Chile - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette (Culture Smart).

1. This book is a great insight into understanding Chilenos, their customs, traditions and how we can get the most out of a visit to their country. How to be a smart traveler without being thought of as another ugly american.