The Amazon, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide [Paperback]

Roger Harris (Author), Peter Hutchison (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bradt Travel Guide the Amazon | Publication Date: February 2003

The Amazon is one of the most exotic, mythical, and famous regions of the globe and the ultimate destination for explorers. Much of the region remains incompletely charted, while the discovery of new species in the Amazon jungle makes it the best place on earth to observe the wonders and diversity of evolution first-hand. A detailed, illustrated natural history section is dedicated to the secret life of Amazon plants, animals of the "Emerald Forest", and the water world of the river basin. Under constant battle against commercial encroachment, travelers are advised how to keeping their own impact on The Amazon to a minimum with guidelines on eco-tourism. A thorough background on the indigenous tribes and settlers helps provide a complete understanding of the region's peoples.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This Bradt guide to the Amazon describes every aspect of travel in this unique South American region... this is an indispensable guide.' Reviewers Bookwatch '[an] all-encompassing guide.' The Independent 'With this book, you'll be able to capture the adventure of Amazonian exploration for yourself.' Wanderlust --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

The world's greatest river flows from its source high in the Peruvian Andes through mountains, cloudforest and lush rainforest to its final destination on Brazil's eastern shores. Long associated with exploration and adventure, the Amazon is also rightly treasured for its biodiversity.
Whether you are taking a leisurely riverboat trip or organizing your own expedition, wish to learn about the area's flora and fauna or the people living along the river's route, this book is invaluable.
This guide includes: all countries of the Amazon Basin and Orinoco; detailed natural history and expanded sections on national parks; revised information on tours, hotels, lodges, restaurants and attractions; towns with the best access to the river; new appendix of internet resources.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 468 pages
• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides; 2nd edition (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184162070X
• ISBN-13: 978-1841620701
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"You'll go far, Roger." The words ring in my mind from when a teacher spoke to me at grade school many years ago in Zambia. Little did I know the literal meaning of what she said! I was raised in Africa, having emigrated from England in 1966. After Zambia, our family moved to Malawi, followed by Zaire (now the Congo) and eventually Nigeria. Into adulthood we went our separate ways. My parents returned to England, while my brother went to Australia and my sister went to Chile. Travel is in our genes, it seems!

In 1992, I came to the United States to study biology and then, through the twists and turns of fate, led natural history and photography tours mostly to the Amazon, but also to the Galapagos and Africa. I returned to Zambia and Malawi to show folks the wonders and beauty I had been lucky enough to experience as a child.

I turned to writing more or less by accident. I'd always been an avid reader, and enjoyed writing, but never considered it as a career, considering it too risky. So I had chosen biology as a career, but realized the world of academia was too constrained and formal to suit my wayward personality. Writing meshed with my interest in photography, as I'd been using a camera since my late teens. This led to my first (and now venerable) website Jungle Photos (junglephotos.com), which features hundreds of images and accompanying information on the exotic wildernesses I have travelled through.

In between tours in the 1990s I gathered together enough material to write a travel guide to the Amazon, since nothing like that existed at the time. In 1997, Bradt Travel Guides published the first edition of "The Amazon: The Bradt Travel Guide." It went through two more editions, with the third published in 2007. But when the thought of a fourth edition arose, I realized the world had changed, and conventional travel guides were being slowly made obsolete by the ubiquity of information online.

Bradt suggested a new approach, "Amazon Highlights," as the second of their new series, to help folks choose from the plethora of tours and tour operators, rather long lists hotels and tourist attractions. A year later as I write "Amazon Highlights" is at the printers. As part of the new publishing model, I created a dedicated companion website for the book: amazontravelbook.com It contains resources, wildlife checklists, and lots of juicy tidbits that just couldn't fit in the book. Please take a moment to visit the site and feel free to ask any questions about my travels, writing or just to get advice and info on how to explore our amazing world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the money; an excellent guide and resource, March 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Guide to the Amazon (Bradt Travel Guide the Amazon) (Paperback)

As an author who has published two guidebooks myself (and as a critical reader and user of guidebooks), I highly recommend Harris and Hutchison's The Amazon. This book is really two guides in one: Practical advice on where to go, where to stay, what to see and do, etc. and a valuable natural history companion. Biologist Roger Harris provides fascinating and highly readable information about the flora, fauna, and cultures you may encounter in a well-organized fashion. Not to mention thumbnail sketches of history, climate, language, health issues and other subjects of interest. The writing is rich enough to classify it as armchair travel but the hard information provided makes it practical and well worth the reasonable investment. We bought it before our trip, used it extensively during the expedition, and still refer to it now that we are home. As a writer, I'm envious of the product; as a reader I'm satisfied.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BEST IN CLASS, THOUGH NOT THAT GOOD, April 1, 2006

By 

Denis Benchimol Minev "Amazonia" (Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Amazon, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide (Paperback)

Among all guidebooks I have seen on the Amazon, this one did the best job of gathering information and putting it in an easily readable fashion.

The book is divided among the different countries in the region. Knowing the attractions mainly of the Brazilian Amazon, I can say that about half of the businesses, phone numbers, addresses, etc. are outdated. It is to be expected, since this guide was published 4 yrs ago. The Brazilian section is good, with good advice especially on the surroundings of Manaus. It also provides good advice on what to bring and what to look for in the Amazon, which is useful and timeless.

To someone considering a trip to different places in the Amazon, if you want to get just one guide, I would recommend this one. If you are going to just one place, perhaps as a second guide book this would help, but I would not rely too heavily on the companies listed there, many of them no longer exist.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, fascinating, wide-sweeping 'book-to-take-with-you', February 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Guide to the Amazon (Bradt Travel Guide the Amazon) (Paperback)

THE AMAZON Great rivers, vast impenetrable jungles, exotic lost cities and remote tribal people are the kind of images most of us conjure up when the Amazon is mentioned. But there is more to the region than this. I liked the way this book gives the adventurer, traveller or dreaming reader a resource that reveals some of stuff of myth, mystery and legend - while also providing the nitty-gritty detail of how to get there, what to do, what to see, moving around (from first class river boats, internal airlines, buses and taxis through to hitch-hiking) - and how to enjoy what could well be the experience of a lifetime.

The authors' challenge was to encapsulate an area three-quarters the size of the continental United States in a handy book. A task in which I think they succeed. The book in four sections. The first orientates us with an overview across the entire vast region. You will find: a brief history, getting there, what to take, descriptions of the people, sleeping and eating, climate, river regimes, planning an expedition and such like. For most travellers, the tropical forest will be an alien environment, so specific attention is given to health and personal safety - a topic that crops up in down-to-earth detail throughout the book. When snakes are mentioned for instance, you'll find advice on recognising those that are poisonous - and what to do if in the rare event you are bitten. And of infamous piranha we read with relief that their "attacks have injured people, but records show not one fatality."

Whereas the typical guide might describe the architecture and art, the next section enables the traveller, be it by river-boat and canoe, by trail-walking or by road, to grasp the detail of the forest's architecture, the 150ft high trees and the surrounding super-abundant natural art. You can marvel at nature's beauty - the orchids, flowers, ferns, floating meadows, and all manner of lianas and vines. And that's just the flavour of the flora. There is also a guide to the fauna - the animals of the canopy and forest floor, the birds like parrots, toucans, hummingbirds, plus a host of other exotic avian creatures. With the rivers so ubiquitous you are helped to identify reptiles, amphibians and the fabulous fishes. Most of the common insects are covered too.

Tucked away for the traveller to find are the forest's human inhabitants - so there is also information about these more ancient folk who have evolved a way of life, a culture that has adapted them to hard task of living in the dense jungle.

But those journeying through the region will need to go through at least one of the Amazon countries. So the third part of the book consists of a series of mini-guides. These give all the basic data any visitor will need. For each of the eight nation-states (and colony of French Guiana) there are the essential facts and figures - including how to access Internet - as well as introductions to the major towns and cities: where to stay (first class, middle and budget), eateries and the like. Outline maps of the countries and larger scale street maps of the bigger towns and cities will help readers find their way around.

Being monolingual I particularly appreciated the short English-Spanish and English-Portuguese 'survival' glossaries (with pronunciation keys) and the list of books for further reading.

Did the writers meet the challenge? I think so. Wisely the authors included extracts from other travellers and experts - so the drawings, maps and colored photographs are interspersed with boxes and sections that help to present a more balanced view of what travelling and staying in this vast region might actually be like - warts and all.

There is a downside. While prices are given in US dollars and many distances given in miles alongside their kilometre equivalent, most other numeric information is given in the more scientifically correct metric system. Also perhaps, I would have welcomed a few more light-hearted anecdotes about the area. As a seasoned traveller with over 45 countries under my boots, this is the kind of guide I would want study thoroughly before I went. I would also want to keep the book with me in my back-pack or suitcase to help me relish the ever changing surroundings. It's the kind of guide that will make your time in the region safer - and so much more pleasurable, exciting, rewarding and memorable. Buy it. It will be an investment.