No comments about Spanish All Talk Basic Language Course (4 Hour/4 Cds): Learn to Understand and Speak Spanish with Linguaphone Language Programs (All Talk) (All Talk).

5 comments about The Baja Catch: A Fishing, Travel & Remote Camping Manual for Baja California (3rd Edition).

1. This book saved me $$$$ on 1st fishing trip to Baja. Above that, it saved me much frustration and lent tremendously to the overall success of the trip. Have recommended it to many people headed for the beaches of Baja.

   I have engineered, designed and built my own Baja trailer and would like to share this with the authors for any upcoming editions of this "Bible".

   Also, I would like to see a review of the Porte Boat mentioned with the tin and inflatable boats. I have used this boat in Baja, Northwest mountain lakes, Puget Sound and Southeast Alaska (both freshwater and saltwater shoals). Please contact me for futher comments.

   Again, many thanks for this guide. Incidentally, my success is from Punta Chivato to south of Loreto using Mulege as a base.




2. This book is hands down the best book on fishing and on Baja I have ever found, and I have looked long and hard. Color pictures would be nice for the 4th addition, but they are by no means necessary.



3. I bought this book hoping to get some insights for my up coming trip to the Cabo/Baja area. I was very disappointed. The book is FAR MORE a campers guide than a fishing guide. Inspite of being a 3rd edition the pictures look VERY OLD! And judging by the tackle, lures, boats and vehicles in the pics they all seem to have been taken in the 70's. As to fishing info, very general at best. Very little on specific tackle, riggings etc. And the "best times to fish" calendars conflict completely with just about all other guides (at least for the areas I was interested in). If you plan to trailer a camper or camp out it seems to have a lot of info on camp sites. But if you're looking for a Baja fishing guide, save your money.



4. The best, simply the BEST, most comprhensive guide to camping and fishing a place that I have EVER seen. I would never go down there without having read this book. The camping info is 100% accurate, and the fishing tips are not bad either. I have found exactly the species of fish in certain areas as indicated on their maps numerous times. The fishing calendars are not too bad, but I would not rely on them 100%- there is a lot we don't know about how the fishes of the Sea of Cortez move up and down the coast. As the authors state in their book, if you go where they say, do what they do, and fish with what they suggest, there is absolutely NO WAY you won't catch fish every day you are down there. This is an absolute must for people wanting to camp on the beach and fish near shore. If you are not into fishing, or prefer to fish offshore for billfish etc., then as the authors are quick to say, you are better off with a different product.

   This is truly the final word on Baja fishing from a small boat. Period. You are stupid if you go down there without having read this first. Period.




5. 2 buddies and I sailed from San Diego to Los Cabos and were given this book before we left. It was absolutely right on with just about everything and we were able to skip all the "trial and error" that comes with fishing. There is nothing like hooking into those stubborn Dorado or even cruising the bays and catching Bonito on steelhead tackle. This book was a lifesaver and if you plan to fish in Baja this will be worth its weight in gold. Don't forget the LONG needle nose pliers!

1 comments about New Mexico Map (State Maps-USA).

1. All the route information you could want while traveling through
   the State Of New Mexico and then some.
   Excellent !

3 comments about Mexico's Volcanoes: A Climbing Guide.

1. RJ did a great job with this book. I used it way back in 1988 to climb the 3 big ones and found it absolutely accurate. He's got some great tips in there too!



2. The book has a comprehensive list of routes for each mountain, it also provides good advice for begineers. However, there are two things I don't like form this book: 1) Need an update to reflect latest changes (Popo for example) 2) The book looks too simplistic, the format is ver bad for the type of information. The book has very few quality photos and the routes are difficult to follow.

   I wish I could find a more up-to-date book about these beatiful mountains




3. I am an experienced world traveler and mountain climber who used this book in 1999. I must say, I have never been so disappointed with a travel book in all my life. A few points: in the little town of Tlachichuca, Secor leads you to ONE person for climbing assistance. Knowing that, they take FULL advantage of climbers, grossly overcharging for services. Two: Secor's route descriptions are seemingly detailed but upon use are revealed as painfully inadequate. For instance, at Citlaltépetl, Secor makes not one word of mention regarding "la lengua", the tongue of the glacier, which turns out to be the most difficult part of the whole ascent. Finally, and this is the most personal and non-important point to a casual reader, I don't like Secor's decision to follow the poor precedent set by the Mountaineers of favoring non-indigenous peak names. Thus as Tahoma and Koma Kulshan became Rainier and Baker, the majestic Citlaltépetl is reduced to Pico de Orizaba. All in all, this is a good start (given the lack of anything better) but definitely make sure that every piece of information used from this book is followed up by a second source to avoid certain rip off and/or disappointment.

2 comments about Oaxaca: The Spirit of Mexico.

1. Oaxaca: The Spirit Of Mexico is a heady, joyous celebration of Mexican life and culture. A vivid, coffee-table extravaganza packed cover to cover with gorgeous, full-color photographs taken by Judith Cooper Haden are embellished with insightful text commentary by Matthew Jaffe. Highly recommended reading for the armchair traveler, Oaxaca is a wondrous book brimming with festive spirit and a deep connection to Mexico's rich past and exciting future.



2. I purchased this book for a ten year old girl who is facinated with Oaxaca as I also am. I also purchased one for myself, it is a beautiful book and something wonderful to share with others. The illustrations are beautiful and very colorful, it depicts Oaxaca and their people as they truly are.

4 comments about Lost Gold and Silver Mines of the Southwest.

1. I wrote the original book in 1963 (as Lost Desert Bonanzas) to mark 25 years of Desert Magazine lost mine stories. The main appeal was Norton Allen's great cartography (this is the only kind of map book that gets better as the maps are outdated by freeways and etc.). I would like input from treasure-seekers, but all I know about the particular lost mines is recounted in the book.



2. What is a book about lost mines without maps? The maps in the book were neat. Maybe the gold is still there?



3. This is a good read just to fire the imagination on a cold winter night. It's also a good one to get filled with bookmarks, margin notes, dog-ears, and fingerprints on the bookshelves of serious treasure-hunters. Buy it.



4. This book has some really interesting stories about the Southwest, but I wish is had more detail about the locations of starting points and landmarks. Obviously, it discusses *lost* places and things, but it would help to have a better, more detailed and up-to-date description of where to start looking for them.

5 comments about Good Food in Mexico City: A Guide to Food Stalls, Fondas and Fine Dining.

1. I was so excited to see that someone who loves to eat had finally written a guide to street food in Mexico City! This book is everything for which I had hoped. Nick Gilman shares personalized, specific information how to find the places, what to expect once there and explains food terms to clarify their culinary differences. Nick made me feel like I was one of his friends visiting him in Mexico City and he was telling me about some of his favorite places for food, giving all the insider details. I have already circled and underlined all the places where I want to eat so it will be like one treasure hunt after another.



2. My wife and I spent a week in Mexico City and without exception we had great experiences with this guide. We went to several Fondas and tried some of the restaurants as well.
   Dollar for dollar this guide added the most benefit of any we bought to our enjoyment of this trip.



3. This little guide entertained me, and helped us find some otherwise lesser known Mexico City dining spots. I like its personal, quirky character.
   
   It does need a good going over by a more demanding editor to clean up a few flaws, such as missing items on the maps. There are key listings, in some cases, but no corresponding locator number on the map. The maps are very small scale and of low quality.
   
   But, overall, it's a good buy for the Mexico City food aficionado.



4. This is the book I was hoping for. My best memories of Mexico tend to be of and around food. Planning another trip to Mexico City, I've been through the mainstream guidebooks, which are generally out of date and written at "arm's distance" from the food, the restaurants and the people who prepare it. Not the case with this book. I now have more options for great food than I will have time to exercise. Cantinas that serve free botanas (appetizers) with drinks? Yes. Particularly good food stalls in the mercados? Check. Maybe a quality Spanish restaurant in El Centro? Got it. Let's see, I know one night I'll want birria for dinner. Luckily Taqueria Tlaquepaque is around the corner from my hotel, and it's open until 9 p.m.
   If you're going to visit Mexico City (or live there now) and like good food, buy this book. For making reservations at fine dining restaurants to finding a great cup of coffee on the spur of the moment, this book can't be beat.



5. In my opinion food is one of the most important experiences in travel. It is always so disappointing to me to have a mediocre meal when the chances to experience great and new food are so few. This book is very helpful as it contains a glossary of many of the more foreign dishes as well as a great guide by type of dining experience as well as cuisine. With a city the size of Mexico City it is great to have such a comprehensive and conscientious guide that is so portable at the same time. I am looking forward to visiting old favorites as well as exploring new ones with this books assitance. Also great is the list of websites in the back. This is a great resource for planning to make the most out of any visit to one of our favorite cities in the world.

4 comments about The Forgotten Peninsula: A Naturalist in Baja California.

1. This is one of the books that first drew me to Baja california years ago. Unfortunately much of what Krutch saw has inevitably been swept away by the rising tide of tourism & development, but enough remains that Krutch's lyrical prose is more than a eulogy, one can still find some of teh magic that he describes so well here. I would strongly reccomend this book to anyone planning on visiting Baja California and/or anyone who is interested in the intersection between natural history and literature -one gets both here.



2. This is the book we use on NOLS expeditions, and we have to literally carry these books. It is worth carrying.



3. You would think that with a subtitle like "A naturalist in Baja", you could expect this to be a nature guide to the area. You would be mistaken. Instead, this seems to be some sort of discourse on the human development of Baja California by a naturalist who has decided to play amateur sociologist. Most of the comments on the natural history of the region amount to a dry listing of the local plant life. The final chapter is prescient in its questioning of the sustainability of economic development, but the prose throughout the book suffers from awkward syntax and seems stilted even by 1961 standards. The description of the roads and towns is now so outdated as to be only of historical interest
   I was looking for a nature guide written in narrative style to take along on my first trip to the region, and this is definitely not what I had in mind. Aside from the grey whale and sea lion, this work does not even mention some of the marine animals for which the area is so famous - such as the whale shark and manta ray. If you're looking for a literate exposition on the Baja experience, consider instead John Steinbeck's classic Log form the Sea of Cortez. Although written even earlier, it remains timeless.



4. I first read Joseph Wood Krutch in an introduction he wrote to "Walden and other writings". Undoubtedly Thoreau influenced Krutch's world view and philosophy (so much so you would say that he evolved from a drama critic to a naturalist, although no doubt both of these interests occupied him concurrently at least for some portion of his life).
   
   The Forgotten Peninsula is a fine book by a naturalist. Krutch described the desert plants and marine animals as well as the human and natural history of Baja California based on several trips he made (some the "hard way" by 4-wheel vehicles, some the "easy way" by plane). The descriptions are crisp and vivid, if somewhat detached. I deduct one star because sometimes I wish he was a little more emotional, more personal and more passionate in his writing -- maybe this is why another reviewer thinks it is a "dry listing" (actually it is much better than that). Perhaps he was too content with being (and indeed he may have intended to be) merely an observer.
   
   The last two chapters posed some profound questions about the place of the human race in nature and the virtue of progress. This is a book written almost 50 years ago, reading these questions in the context of what the world has become now gives one much to ponder. No doubt a lot of things described in this book may have long disappeared, but ironically Baja is forgotten no more (ever heard of or seen on ESPN Baja 500?). Yet reading the book still makes one want to go to Baja California (a place I have not yet been to) to see what little still remains there.

2 comments about Frommer's Portable Acapulco, Ixtapa & Zihuatanejo (Frommer's Portable).

1. I plan to bring this book along with us on our upcoming trip to Mexico. It is a quick read, and will be easy to flip to the section I need when out and about. I like it's portability and straight-forward reviews, however I have read similar desciptions in other books on the market covering this part of Mexico. So, based on some lack of originality, I've given it 4 stars instead of 5.



2. Wish there was more info on Ixtapa and Zihuat. Only 23 of the 170 pages covers this area.

5 comments about The Road That Has No End: How We Traded Our Ordinary Lives For a Global Bicycle Touring Adventure.

1. A fascinating couple who have risked it all to step outside of the box and launch an adventure of a lifetime. An interesting perspective of life on the road on bicycles and the challenges met in countires across the globe. Worth the time to read even if you never leave your easy chair!



2. I have just finished reading Tim and Cindie's book, and would like to make a few comments.
   
   First, they do a great job of describing the events and preparations leading up to the trip, the daily road conditions and its effect on their ability to cycle, their battle with the weather, and certain people they encounter along the way. Also, the pictures in the book are a marvelous idea!
   
   Next, there are a few things that would be nice to had added or taken away in the next book.
   
   As someone who is planning on doing this kind of a trip themselves in the next five years, it would be extremely helpful to have an itemized packing list of everything that was taken. It would be great to have it in the second book because the authors would have had a chance to work with the gear that they have and compare what they have now to what they began with. Additionally, it would also be helpful to write more about the exact prices of accommodation, exact prices of food when eating out, where and what kind of food was bought when cooking for themselves, how much it was, and how often it was done. I think one of the most pertinent parts about cycling around the world is the day to day living and "hunting" for food that does not occur back home in prosperous nations.
   
   I do think that the writing is a little simplistic. The good part about this is that it makes it easy to read for every level, but the bad part is that it does not leave much room for description. It would be great to hear more about smells, sounds, specific colors, the layout of certain interesting towns, etc. Additionally, phrases such as "I am sure" and "I believe" should be eliminated. They lead to statements of pure specualtion and since there is so much these two have experienced and seen, speculation is not necessary to add.
   
   Moreover, many things in the book state the obvious. For example, on page 70 there is a picture of a little boy named Francisco. The picture accurately describes his position and what he is wearing, but the authors describe the picture in detail on the same page. The picture could have been enhanced with more description of Francisco and his mother, and where he led them around the town.
   
   Overall, it is a wonderful book and a must read for anyone interested in doing major cycling, however, these suggestions would (for me) improve the second book.



3. I have to agree with other writers who have complained about the quality of the writing. I enjoyed reading it because the subject interests me. If you want to read some excellent books about bicycle touring in other countries try the following: "Spokesongs" by Willie Weir, "The Masked Rider" by Neil Peart, "Metal Cowboy" by Joe Kurmaskie, Odysseus' Last Stand" by Dave Sumboulis, or the classic "Miles from Nowhere" by Barbara Savage. Having commented on the less than stellar writing of this book however I would recommend going to their website where there is a wealth of information about the equipment they have used.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



4. This is a terrific adventure story. Tim and Cindie Travis have one adventure after another touring the world by bicycle. Unlike travel books that gloss over much of the trip to focus on a few highlights, this book gets you into the day by day travel adventure frame of mind. While several days might go by without a headline event, I loved following along and wondering what was around the next bend. The descriptions of people met along the way, and how they relate to Americans and foreigners in general are wonderful.



5. I have read both of their books , i am doing the same life changing leave it all behind trip in 2010, the stories are interesting and easy to read but i do agree with the others who say that there is a lack of detail, it is in the details that we as the reader are swept away to the places and times they are writing about. i have to visualize in my own colors some of the stuff Tim is trying to convey. I would however recommend this book highly to anyone who wants to get a glimpse of life outside of their bubble of a comfort zone.