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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Sloppily edited, inaccurate information and riddled with errors, July 30, 2008
This review is from: Congo (Bradt Travel Guide) (Paperback)
Note: This review refers to the Katanga, Central Congo and Kinshasa chapters and the chapters with general information on the country, as I have visited only the aforementioned places.
Two details from the Kikwit and the Ilebo chapter make me wonder how carefully the information in this guide book has been researched. The guide book says that there are a Hotel A and a Hotel BCD in Kikwit. In reality there are no hotels with these generic names in Kikwit, and it is very unlikely that they ever existed as no one in Kikwit had ever heard of the Hotel A and the Hotel BCD. But what one can find on the web is a travel map of Kikwit, drawn and published by a traveller who has been in Kikwit in 2007 (google for steve is lost). On this map this traveller has labeled what is the Hotel Walir with A and a row of hotels (flophouses in reality) with B, C, D.
Another example, from the Ilebo chapter. Again, on the travel map one finds the Hotel da Palma, and the prices for the different room types are listed - Ordinary, Suite and Apt. What one can find in the Bradt guide book are a Hotel Palma, a Hotel Apt, a Hotel Suite, and a Hotel Grainary (which is probably corresponding to the ordinary on the travel map - the handwriting on the travel map is not clearly legible.). Of course, in reality no Hotel Apt, Hotel Suite and Hotel Grainary exist in Ilebo and it is very unlikely that they ever did as the guys of the DGM (Direction general de migration) had not heard of these places (and they are the ones who should know even if the most obscure place in Ilebo).
Apart from these embarrassing coincidences, much of the information is inaccurate, the book is riddled with errors, and the maps are only approximate (especially true for the Lubumbashi and Likasi map).
Even taking into account that there are no other guide books on the Congos and that writing a guide book on these two countries is not an easy task, overall this guide book can hardly be recommended. The general information on history, nature and culture is decent (though not much information on demographics and the arts), but there is nothing one cannot find on Wikipedia. There is not much practical information, and what practical information one can find is in large parts inaccurate (though the Kinshasa chapter is somewhat better than the Katanga and the Central Congo chapters, albeit at the price of being a bit thin and incomplete). Of course information can change, but some things never change such as the street layout or the location of historical buildings. Given that in many instances the Bradt Congo does not even get these things right makes me doubt that changing circumstances are the reason for the poor quality of the practical information in this guide book. In fact, the fifteen year old Lonely Planet Central Africa was sometimes a more reliable guide than the two month old (at the time of my travel) Bradt Congo.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Companion for The Congos, August 7, 2008
This review is from: Congo (Bradt Travel Guide) (Paperback)
Sometime back, when preparing for my maiden voyage to DR Congo, I wrote about the Bradt Congo guidebook. It has the distinction of being the only recently-printed guidebook on Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as the Republic of Congo. It's also the only one in English that is current, being that Lonely Planet's 'Zaire' guide is a bit out of date. Now that I am back from gallivanting around DR Congo, I can give the book its due.
The author, Sean Rorison has done a fine job of covering a massive area with poor transportation and next to no infrastructure. As I mentioned in the previous article, he doesn't mess around when talking about the situation there. He goes in to great detail of all the restaurants, hotels, and history really well. The background provided in the book is a great summation of the history and current situation of DR Congo that prepares the traveler for what they are about to experience once setting foot in the country.
Of course, DR Congo it's not for the easygoing traveler who thinks that Prague is really crazy to visit because it's "scary" Eastern Europe. Unlike a book on say, Hawaii, Rorison doesn't work to sell the reader the destination but actually prepare them for the trip. In essence, it does what a lot of guidebooks are missing the point of doing these days (I'm looking at you, Fodors).
It lays out pretty much everything that's touristic to see in any of the towns, which is not that much. It also gets in to the practical aspects of getting around the country, which are not easy. This is one point that might need to be developed more in a future edition (if there is one) is that one of the only airlines that was safe to fly on, Hewa Bora, has not really ever been that safe to fly on and got a whole lot less safe in April and should not be flown on if one enjoys living.
Other basics are covered well, including hospitals (try not to go), women travelers (not advised to go solo), embassies (register with yours there), and Article 15 (a remnant of Mobutu times that is an unstated law essentially allowing mass corruption).
But in closing, despite my small nitpicks, this is a great guide to the Congos. Rorison and Bradt could have easily have done a halfwit job since they're heading in to a region that has next to no competition, but in the end, they produced a very worthy guide that is a gleaming example of what Bradt does best in that they cover regions that are undiscovered.
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2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accurate Writing on a Moving Target, August 11, 2008
This review is from: Congo (Bradt Travel Guide) (Paperback)
Without a doubt, writing about a locale as either of the Congos is a daunting task. Rorison does so with aplomb.
The book, one of the few I have ever found on the area, covers general background and history and local logistical details well. It is clear from the details that the author has actually traveled to the area he is writing about - a small but critical fact that has sadly been forgotten by other travel writers of late.
I was drawn to the writing about Pointe Noir and other travel to cities and villages along the Congo River. While certainly, the author makes a strong argument for getting into the interior of the country, I was sold on the idea of exploring the Congos simply by way of the river.
My only criticism is that two large large diverse countries is a bit much for a single author and a single book. However, someone had to do it and Rorison has. Furthermore, with any area of the world with the amount of instability that exists in Central Africa is going to be a hard target to hit, as a great deal of the information from the area will be disposable, at best.
Rorison produced a solid travel book on an often neglected area of the world. To get the background information and small details that would be indispensable to travel to the area, you couldn't do better than the Brandt guide.
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