2 comments about The Smithsonian Guides to Natural America: The Northern Plains: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (Smithsonian Guides to Natural America).

1. I bought this book for a weeklong driving tour through North and South Dakota, and found this book invaluable. If you are interesting in the natural resources and park systems in these places, it has lotsa info you won't get in maps (especially many beautiful color photos) altho the advice given wasn't always useful.



2. I've been to South Dakota a number of times and have had many questions about the landscape, etc. This book has the answers and the pictures to go with it. I especially appreciated the glossary and the further-reading list.

No comments about Texas 2008 State Travel Guide: Map, Travel Information, Events, Big Bend Country, Gulf Coast, Hill Country, Panhandle Plains, Piney Woods, Praries and Lakes, South Texas Plains, Additional Information, Lakes, Reader Service Guide, State Parks, (Hunting and Fishing, State Forests, National Parks and Forests, Birds and Wildflowers, Index of Cities and Attractions, 2008 Edition, LIU010801).

1 comments about Argentina Residency and Retirement: How I Did It.

1. D. Johnsons' book about moving to Argentina is an honest description and practical step by step expression of her and her husband's experiences moving to an entirely different system of government and social customs. If you are planing on moving or retiring to Buenos Aires, this is a "must" read so you can anticipate all the encounters of this process in which D. Johnson so generously gave in this book. ARGENTINA RESIDENCY AND RETIREMENT: How I Did ItsJ. Marlow

No comments about Rand McNally Mississippi (State Maps-USA).

2 comments about In Bolivia.

1. It's my personal oppinion, and I believe from anyone in my country, or whoever made the big mistake of buying this book, and know a lot of Bolivia, more than this simple guy who only travel to my country seeking for get drunk any day, I hate the way he see my country, and talk about it.
   Also, I never heard, and I know a lot of Bolivian history, that we had 16 COnstitutions and 250 governments, whoever was his guide, or his informer... wasn't good at all
   If you really want to know about Bolivia, you will skip this story about his trip, acting like a burglar as any american does in my country.
   I hope this writer read my review, and think about his career, because is not a writer for sure, just a lier.



2. It's my personal oppinion, and I believe from anyone in my country, or whoever made the big mistake of buying this book, and already know a lot of Bolivia, more than this simple guy who only travel to my country seeking for get drunk any day, that you will hate the way he see my country, and talk about it.
   Also, I never heard, and I know a lot of Bolivian history, that we had 16 COnstitutions and 250 governments, whoever was his guide, or his informer... wasn't good at all
   If you really want to know about Bolivia, you will skip this story about his trip,that tell us about him acting like a burglar as any american does in my country.
   I hope this writer read my review, and think about his career, because is not a writer for sure, just a lier.

1 comments about Virginians at Home: Family Life in the Eighteenth Century (Williamsburg in America Series;).

1. This brief overview of colonial life in Virginia is both entertaining and instructional. Professor Morgan draws on numerous diary entries, letters and newspaper accounts to illustrate life in Virginia. Although most of the text is in regard to families living on plantations, there is plenty of information pertaining to farmers and townspeople as well as indentured servants and slaves. Chapters include: 1) Growing Up; 2) Getting Married; 3) Servants and Slaves; and 4) Houses and Holidays.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Cuba.

1. While Lonely Planet Cuba does a good job of discussing the country and its culture in an objective way, its discussion of hotels and entertainment is way off. Prices for hotels listed is correct, but reviews of the property and the surrounding area is terrible. In addition, the discussion of nightlife is ridiculously off - Cuba has very little nightlife!!!



2. In the LP, the layout for Havana/suburbs/outlying areas is very difficult to follow. maps aren't consecutive, and the division of restaurants vs paladars divided by neighborhood and separated by pages of other stuff is hard to manage when you just want to know "where to eat". However, if you're just visiting Havana, i suggest another guidebook: the Time Out Guide. the maps are in color, easy to access (at the back of the book), and there is much more up to date stuff on current events, social attitudes/mores, clubs etc.



3. This particular edition of LP Cuba will do you little good in the year 2005 and it's not necessarily all LP's fault as Cuba undergoes a metamorphosis every other day or so. So, go with another guide for more up to date information on currency and prices in general as well as legal casas.
   
   And specifically for the Hotel Lido: whomever wrote up the little ditty about how only the brave should stay there does a great disservice to that hotel.
   
   Finally, it would be nice if the author could actually stop blaming the US for 2 seconds and perhaps hold Castro accountable for something other than nothing.



4. ... the following letter was sent by us to LP after using the (then) fresh off the press LP Cuba in July 2004. We still did not hear from them.
   
   -A.
   
   Dear Madam/Sir:
   
   We have been avid travelers for the most part of our lives and cumulatively have entry stamps from over 140 countries to boast. For the past 10 years, we have primarily used Lonely Planet to aid travels around the world (see attached picture of subset of LP library).
   
   Imagine our surprise and disappointment when we toured Cuba in June with the LP Cuba (2004 edition). We have never been let down more by a travel guide in our entire lives. Of course, things change ... prices go up ... schedules evolve; but never have we seen a guide so off the mark. Here are a few reasons why LP Cuba is simply the worst guide we have ever used:
   
   1/ Biased Politics -
   
   Authors love for Cuba makes them overlook many negative aspects of both Cuban society and travel in Cuba. Neither of us are Americans and we do not support the American government sanction on Cuba or Americans traveling there. However, we fail to see the need to vilify each U.S. government action while simultaneously painting a picture of the perfect socialist State. True, Cuba has some of the best social indicators in the Americas - but please also point out the "Dollar is King" economy, the sad "apartheid" regime, which allows clubs/bars/cafés/restaurants and even whole islands with some of the country's best beaches to be exclusive domain of just tourists. How could the authors marvel at social indicators when you could sit at Hotel Inglaterra's patio, sip a mojito and gaze at the Cubans who cannot enter?
   
   2/ Biased Interpretations of Dangers -
   
   The section on Warnings, Scams, and Travel Advisory is the skimpiest we have ever seen. Why? Cuba still might be the safest destination to be in the Americas, but that's not saying much is it? Both my friend and I (and an informal survey pointed to over 70% of the tourists) were subject to daring robberies by some very skilled "jintero's" (our advice: please do NOT give rides to anyone - other than old people or women with small children - especially if crossing the circumference of metro Havana going from A1 to A4 highway). We never thought it would happen to two skilled travelers - but it did. As our informal survey indicates, our later conversation with many travelers indicated many who had been robbed, mugged, conned, etc. during their travels and almost all agreed to have let their guards down due to the lax coverage of security by the authors. In future editions of LP Cuba, PLEASE do not call "jintero's" as charming Cubans who need to be told off and do not write that the best solution is to become friends with one! Perhaps the author's personal experience(s) with a "jintero" clouded their ability to make rational judgements? "Jintero's" are EXTREMELY dangerous!
   
   Furthermore, the authors fails to point out the many tourist traps in most of the tourist towns - especially in Trinidad.
   
   3/ Biased Interpretation of Bureaucracy -
   
   Why is their no comprehensive section which deals with the level of bureaucracy and corruption that each tourist must face while vacationing in Cuba? In our experience, we were stunned at the need to pay bribes at the airport, at the car rental place (our advice: please plan from before and avoid the Transtur car rental agency in Copacabana Hotel near Miramar or going through Canadian agent A. Nash Travel Inc. in Ontario). After our robbery, we spent many hours in a police station trying to get a report done but it seemed that no one was willing to help. After having spoken to more than 10 officers over the period of 2 days, our report miraculously appeared when a $10 bill was slipped between our passports. I mean, don't get us wrong - from extensive traveling and by the virtue of one of the letter writers being from India, we KNOW bureaucracy and corruption - but Cuba took the game to a whole new level. Again for some reason, the authors were completely off the mark.
   
   4/ General Info, Maps, Prices, Numbers, Layouts -
   
   Prices go up; inflation is a part of daily lives. But how do you explain almost 200% price hikes between what's printed and the reality? These numbers are especially depressing given a/ this edition was hot off the press b/ the official inflation was running below 5-10% band c/ we traveled in low season and the prices listed were for high season. Our hunch that the authors never actually checked the prices and conduct the required background work was confirmed as we asked all the places we stayed at and NONE had the authors visit them in over 4 years!
   
   Worse than prices are phone numbers and access codes. I challenge the authors to call the numbers in the book - I am willing to buy them a plane ticket if calling the numbers gives the right destination more than 50% of the time. I know that's a low expectation rate to give someone a plane ticket, but that is exactly how inaccurate this guide is. E.g. try calling the numbers in Cayo Santa Maria. We asked the Department of Telecommunication if there had been any recent systematic changes in the telephone numbers and they answered in the negative.
   
   Outside these 2 main sub thematic issues, the maps in LP Cuba were highly inaccurate. One of our favourite reminders of Cuba was coming across many tourists at major junctions looking at the maps from LP Cuba trying to make some sense. Another was when we were driving through Santa Clara for one hour in search for a recommended wellness/massage place that does not exist anywhere close to where it is marked on the map (actually, none of the Cubans we have been asking has ever heard of the place). Furthermore, the new layout made it VERY hard to find things. Please go back to the old layout - it made more sense. I don't know if other readers had gripes but it was very complex going back and forth as opposed to the ease of the last format.
   
   Our hope from this letter is to encourage Lonely Planet to conduct a systematic review of their guide to Cuba. Moreover, it is to remind to LP that irrespective of their disclaimers, tourists do depend on them and basic expectations warrant the authors to conduct thorough investigations before sending a book to print. If there are any other questions, both of us are available via the internet to answer them. We sincerely hope LP takes our feedback into consideration and incorporates them into the next edition of its travel guide to Cuba.
   
   
   Warm Regards,
   MO, AD



5. Cuba is a fascinating country with a socio-political system all its own. Things also change rapidly, especially in the big urban centres such as Havana so it must be a difficult place to write a guidebook for.
   
   Lonely Planet seems to give their writers pretty clear rein when it comes to putting down their thoughts on paper regarding travel in whichever locale. This can lead to sections of illuminating wisdom. Often however the smug, ever so friendly, bantering style of their correspondents makes me wonder if one could survive a week in their company without belting them one.
   
   The Cuba guide doesn't fall into this category although a couple of the 'yeah baby' style sentences could do with being edited out. The information is generally accurate apart from currency and prices, then again this must be hard to get right in a country like Cuba where the economy operates on multiple levels. The maps at least broadly correspond to the actual terrain (not always the case in LP guides) and there are helpful sections on things like how to deal with Jineteros (a persistent problem for travellers to Cuba) and purchase cigars.
   
   My main gripe about the contents of the book was that there wasn't enough in it. For every decent bar or casa particular listed, there were several more that weren't, especially in Havana. I know Cuba is a small country, but it contains so much that a longer guide wouldn't be excessive.
   
   Overall, not bad, but a new edition is due out soon and for the time being travellers to Cuba may consider purchasing something more recent.

2 comments about The French Broad (Rivers of America).

1. Wilma Dykeman spent six months in the early 1950's, driving with her husband through the mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee to research this book. She spoke with local farmers and loggers, visited libraries and newspaper offices, and read numerous accounts of the history of the French Broad River bioregion. The result is a very solid history of the region, spiced with plenty of local color. Although her prose is at times dry, and although her attempts to include quotations and jokes from local people sometimes come off as awkward, her fidelity to the people who are the subjects of her book is unwavering, and she makes numerous insights about the region's history and future which remain true today. The chapter, "Who Killed the French Broad?" is particularly prophetic; no doubt Ms. Dykeman must be happy in her Newport, Tennessee, home to see that the river runs cleaner than it did back in 1955, when the book was first published. A classy book by a classy woman.



2. Received my book "The French Broad", and I am really pleased with the book. If I find a book that has a hand written message to someone, I am delighted. Really pleased with the book, and the arrival was FAST. Be back to see you...

No comments about Lonely Planet Ecuador Y Las Islas Galapagos (Lonely Planet Travel Guides).

No comments about Welcome to Colombia (Welcome to My Country).