No comments about Amrica Latina: Despertar de un Continente (Ocean Sur).

5 comments about The Rough Guide to Argentina 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. The Rough Guide to Argentina (2nd edition published in January of 2005) is the best guide available for the entire country. I phrased it this way because Time Out Buenos Aires (published July 2006) is by far and away the best guide for the city of Buenos Aires.
   
   If you are a little leery of purchasing a guidebook printed almost two years ago I would recommend purchasing Time Out Buenos Aires as well because it seemed that only in Buenos Aires have things changed so rapidly that a newer guide would be necessary.
   Having said that you certainly can get away with just having The Rough Guide (just know that prices have gone up - which happens with all guide books).
   
   When comparing The Rough Guide to Argentina to Lonely Planet Argentina (the only real competition since Fodors, Frommers, and Bradt just don't compete) I can easily recommend Rough guide over Lonely Planet. The Rough Guide simply has more information (it has 372 MORE pages than Lonely Planet has). A few times I found that I'd read about a very intriguing and little known attraction in the Rough Guide only to find it missing altogether in Lonely Planet. I know that most guides are striving to also highlight the off the beaten track activities as well as the major ones and The Rough Guide achieves this in a much better way than Lonely Planet.
   
   I don't fault Lonely Planet for this because they produce good travel guides (especially in Europe), but it seems that they made the decision to not go as in depth as The Rough Guide has in South America (since I also found the same to be true with the Chile and Peru guides).
   
   The maps are very easy to use and more intuitive than Lonely Planet's, but it would be nice for Rough Guide to copy LP in printing the elevation and population of cities and towns.
   
   All areas of the country are represented well in the guide. Some are a bit more heavily detailed but it does not come at the expense of others.
   
   The "Basics" section is very detailed in highlighting entry requirements, transportation, health and safety issues, etc. There is also a lengthy discussion on the history of Argentina, it's peoples, culture, political system, food, etc.
   
   You will definitely not be disappointed after purchasing this guidebook.



2. I agree with pretty much with what has been said in the reviews below. The Rough Guide is a better value from the Lonely Planet, if nothing else for the additional number of pages (a third) that allow the authors to get into more detail on the history, politics and minutiae of places to stay and see.
   
   There are a few problems or personal recommendations I would make, or emphasize. The Guide is absolutely on target by recommending not to bring travellers checks. Not only are the banks loth to take them (only a minority actually do, the maximum is $100 per day) but there is an extraordinary amount of paperwork and they charge enormous fees. I brought most of the checks back home. There is a problem with Argentinian ATMs not listed in the Guide. Most ATMs use a 4 letter code and do not recognize 4+ codes from the USA or European debit/credit cards. You will quickly recognize and love the small minority that do (such as the Columbia Bank).
   
   The maps were very helpful to me.
   
   Some of the places described in the book were apparently never visited by the Guide's researchers, who must have relied on second-hand info from tour operators or Information agencies. A case in point is the Baritu National Park and its launching pad, the village Los Toldos, which are described from a standpoint of someone who has never been there.
   
   In general, I would say that the country is best experienced if one avoids organized tours. Argentines are a warm, interesting and interested people. It is one thing to sit in the bus with a bunch of Europeans and gringos and another to sit together with the locals... indigenous ladies returning from the market, old men in old hats, groups of seductive young women... you will see more of the land and experience more of the people. If you visit Iruya (which I thoroughly recommend), don't just stay for a couple of hours before returning to Humahuaca; i suggest renting a room in the village (for ridiculously low proces) and staying for a couple of days.
   
   There is very little about other countries and potential issues involved in crossing the borders. This goes for Brasil, Bolivia and Chile.
   
   Still, this is the guide to get. Enjoy the travels.



3. book arrived much earlier than other I'd ordered at same time, great condition, but extra box packaging is not necessary. Books like that only need padded envelopes.



4. I liked this better than the Frommer's guides, but I think the Lonely Planet guide does a better job. As a traveler on a student's budget, I didn't find this particular guide to be that useful or user-friendly. It IS informative and can be useful (language section, brief culture/history section, health section, etc.) but as I said, it wasn't right for me.
   
   I suggest the Lonely Planet guide to Argentina.



5. Three things:
   1. I have not yet been to Argentina so I have not verified my conclusion.
   2. I have not seen other Argentina guide books.
   3. I have a shelf full of other guide books for other countries and this is quite simply the best and most comprehensive travel guide I have ever seen. In the future I will consider Rough Guides first above all others, then evaluate.

No comments about The Guiana Travels of Robert Schomburgk, 1835ÃÂ1844: Explorations on Behalf of the Royal Geographical Society, 1835ÃÂ1839 (Works Issued By the Hakluyt ... Issued By the Hakluyt Society, Third Ser).

No comments about Travellers Ecuador & The Galapagos Islands (Travellers - Thomas Cook).

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.

No comments about State Parks of the South: America's Historic Paradise : A Guide to Camping, Fishing, Hiking, & Sightseeing.

No comments about Discover! America's Great River Road: Saint Paul to Dubuque.

No comments about National Geographic Guide to America's Outdoors: Southeast (NG Guide to America's Outdoor).

No comments about National Geographic Guide to America's Outdoors: Southern Rockies (NG Guide to America's Outdoor).

2 comments about Spectacular Galapagos (Spectacular).

1. The author moved to the Galapagos Islands at the age of two and spent over thirty years exploring their natural wonders: Spectacular Galapagos is an oversized presentation pairing a natural history text with spectacular full-page color photos of the Galapagos creatures, blending a coffee table presentation with scientific facts. Highly recommended: Spectacular Galapagos is an astonishing visual wonder in and of itself.



2. I treasure the time I spent in Ecuadór's Galápagos Islands, "Las Islas Encantadas". Tui De Roy has managed to capture the essence of these wondrous islands as much as can be done photographically and make them accessible to everyone. A wonderful gift for those who love nature, or those who have been there.

   For those who are going there, add Michael Jackson's book on the natural history, Paul Humann's book on the underwater and Barry Boyce's guide book. Tui De Roy's book will whet their appetite and serve as a vivid reminder after the trip is over.