Footprint South American Handbook 2003 [Paperback]

Ben Box (Author)

Book Description

Series: Footprint South American Handbook | Publication Date: November 2002

This 79th edition covers the whole of the continent, from Argentina to the Guianas, and offers up-to-date travel information for all budgets and all ages. It includes ten adventure highs - from base-jumping to white water rafting - while providing background information on ancient civilizations, archaeology and culture, along with essential information on exchange rates and dialling codes, emergency numbers, hotel and restaurant price guides. New to this edition is a double page, full colour front map illustrating highlights of each country.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A legend - reliable, succinct, authoritative." National Geographic Traveler

About the Author

BEN BOX Ben has been the editor of the South American Handbook since 1989 and associate editor for many more years. In this role he has travelled to almost every corner of Latin America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1488 pages
• Publisher: Footprint Handbooks; 79th edition (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1903471354
• ISBN-13: 978-1903471357
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 4.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,992,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Guide for those needing info on many So. Am. countries, January 4, 2003

By 

Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Footprint South American Handbook 2003 (Paperback)

I have only been in five of the fourteen countries covered in this handbook, but of those I have travel through, I found this all-in-one guide to be succinct, reliable and valuable. That said, it does not replace the comprehensiveness of a specific country guide. Basically, this handbook is a digested compilation of the specific country handbooks that Footprint produces. Thus, if you are only visiting one or two countries, buy those handbooks. If you are going to explore South America and want only one guide, this guide will be valuable.

Each country section is condensed, comprehensive and reliable. Though smaller towns will be omitted, the most important cities, towns and sites will be covered. Each country has been segmented into regions, as noted by the country's map, and within each region Footprint covers the top two, three or four cities or towns in a region. Basic travel information is given at the beginning of each country.

As with all Footprint Handbooks this guide has excellent color maps. In the back of the guide you will find ... exceptional color maps of South America. Also, throughout the book, I found the b&w maps of regions and cities to be very good.

Another impressive aspect of this guide is found at the beginning, in the 'Essentials' section, where there is a very good discussion of bringing and using a car/SUV throughout South America. This section also includes information on motorcycling and a section on cycling throughout South America.

Though each country section does have a 'futher reading & useful websites' section, this is very basic. The section on health/vaccination is bare bone basic.

On the "downside" I often found that the brevity of the restaurant and lodging remarks were so terse (or no remarks at all) that they were not helpful, i.e.,. Hotel Barros Arana (Chile):modern, or a restaurant remark: good not cheap, or a hostel: helpful. Also I find the intrusive paid advertisements for hotels, tour companies, hostels, calling cards and travel
services throughout the book (a half-page, a full-page, a quarter page) offensive. The purchase ... should be more than enough to make a profit, but Footprint chooses to afflict its readers with uninvited advertising to increase its profits.

For those using glasses, the small type that the publishers uses will cause you to strain to read in low or poorly lighted areas. Also, the pricing for accommodations is a cumbersome rating system that could be simplified. It is not user friendly. There is no pricing guide for restaurants.

That said, this is an adequate, to very good, guide for those who are going to visit a multitude of countries while in South America. The information is current and reliable. Especially recommended for those that plan to motor through South America. Recommended