Going Native in Tenerife [Paperback]

Andrea Montgomery (Author), Jack Montgomery (Author), Debbie Jenkins (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2008

Much more than just a tourist guide, Going Native in Tenerife goes further to give you a native's eye view of this beautiful and diverse Spanish island. Inside you will discover: * hidden treasures beyond the tourist hotspots * a brief look into Tenerife's past and future * intimate guided tours of key towns and cities * personal photographs from the authors' travels * a guide to Tenerife culture and celebrations * tips for staying for a weekend, a week, a month, a year or the rest of your life * much, much more... 'Going Native' guides are written with a rare type of traveller in mind... longer term visitors who want to become a true part of their new home. So, whether your stay is a month or a lifetime this guide will give you everything the tourist travel guides won't.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This is the fourth book in our "Going Native" series. The first was "Going Native in Murcia", the second was "Going Native in Catalonia" and the third was "Going Native in Alicante". We're keen to hear from other expats living in Spain keen to write the "Going Native" guide for their home region. So be sure to get in touch!

From the Author

One of the questions that some people might ask when looking for a travel guidebook will be, `will it include the sort of things that I like to do and see?"

Obviously that's a very subjective question...

I have an instinctive love of beautiful scenery and love exploring the countryside; the wilder the better. For most of my adult life I worked in Manchester and saw it change from being tired and run down to becoming one of the UK's most vibrant and beautiful cities; so I guess what I'm saying is that I love cities too. I enjoy wandering about art galleries, museums and gardens. However I equally enjoy messing about in theme parks, swimming in azure seas and chilling on beautiful beaches.

Being a foodie, eating is more than a necessity; it's a pleasurable hobby. However, although I positively salivate at a beautifully presented cordon bleu meal in a plush restaurant, or a simply cooked, but delicious fish straight from the fishermen's boat in a harbour-side restaurant, I wouldn't turn my nose up at a home made beefburger full of fresh herbs.

Sometimes I reckon you can't beat a fine wine in a stylish pavement café as the sun goes down... until I'm quaffing mojitos in a lively Cuban bar with pumping Latino music watching the beautiful people salsa sexily around me till the early hours.

At other times I revel in the thrill of the energetic fiestas which seem to take place every month with street parties filled with smiling people in traditional costume/fancy dress/DJs and cocktail dresses that go on till dawn. But then again it's hard to beat the wave of shared emotion felt when someone starts singing `Ave Maria' during traditional festivals, or brotherhoods in masked outfits silently march through the streets during Easter processions in La Laguna.

I could go on, but I suppose the point is this, if you're looking for a diverse guide to Tenerife and you enjoy any, some, or all of the above things I've mentioned, Going Native in Tenerife should be just the guidebook you're looking for.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Lean Marketing Press (December 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905430493
• ISBN-13: 978-1905430499
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,841,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do not buy this Kindle-edition, November 10, 2010

By 

Pix (Norway) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Going Native in Tenerife (Kindle Edition)

The text is good, but as a guide it is impossible to use. There is no navigating tools, no table of content to click and no index to click. I would not recommend this Kindle-edition to anyone. It is wasted money. There should be a "warning" in the presentation.

UPDATE ONE MONTH LATER: I warned about the Kindle-edition about this book. I bought the paperback-edition to be able to use index and jump back and forth in the book. This paperback-edition was also a great disappointment. The whole book looks like it is type set in the 60s. It is typically a selfpublished book with very bad design. It is, I am sorry to say, pure amateurism. So I have to warn about this edition too. Do not waste your money, the price is way too high, about $15 too much.

It is not only the design of the book that is bad. Although the book si well written, this reader is disturbed by the author's and contributor's descriptions about the natives of Tenerife - I will call it predujice against the gentle natives of Tenerife. One simple example is when they write about driving and drivers. They descibe them as reckless drivers. That is simply not true. The Tenerifeños are probably the most considerate drivers in Europe. It is the Scandinavians, Britons and Germans who are the reckless drivers in Tenerife, not the natives (of course every country has the testosterone filled youths as do Tenerife). I am from Scandinavia and spend three months each year in Tenerife; I speak from experience.

And the authors do not tell you about the real "native" places. For example they do not tell about the best fish restaurants in Tenerife, situated in the south in the small fishing village of San Miguel de Tajao (this IS a fishing village, they have their own fishing boats). You do not get more native in Tenerife then this small village. And they also do not mention restaurants like Casa Tómas, Garrafones and Rodeo (in the north) where the natives meet and eat very good food at reasonable prices - served with the wine from the restaurants's own vineyards. And they do not tell about the excellent winery in the south; Cumbres Abona where you can buy the best wines, especially the one called Flor de Chasna which is excellent with seafood - made at the winery. I suspect the authors have not been so much around Tenerife. They have probably just read other guide books and papers like Teneife News and Island Connecion, with some inspiration from the equaly bad book "More Ketchup than Salsa". That is sad.

Conclusion: Do not buy this book, either in paperback og in kindle. Both are made to make easy money for the authors. I am also an editor of books, and can spot amateurism when I see it.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars some good information but poorly organized and difficult to navigate, December 7, 2009

By 

J. Golden - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Going Native in Tenerife (Paperback)

Going Native had a few decent recommendations, but overall I found it very difficult to find anything in the book. The majority of the content is organized geographically, but there's no index so if i want to look up a particular city i've heard of, i first have to figure out where it is in the book (north, east, south, west ...sometimes a matter of interpretation!) which is frustrating. It seems like the book covers almost every city and town on the island. Seems like a good idea on the surface, but the end result is that most of the towns got only brief paragraph mentions, which meant after a couple of hours in a town you were out of options and had to drive to the next town before the book became helpful again.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best to Go Native not naked, February 10, 2009

By 

Sunslave (Sussex, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going Native in Tenerife (Paperback)

This book scores on two important levels as a take-along travel book. First it is short and pithy, so no tedious chapters of endless detail to wade through before you get to the hard stuff. It takes you straight into your surroundings. Second, it is written in a very friendly, conversational style. This makes it very accessible, like having a knowing friend alongside you pointing out the features as you stroll along. You can read this on the plane going over, then refer to the relevant pages when you're 'going native'. It's also an easy read on your tour coach or in the pavement cafe as you sip your cafe con leche. If you can't manage a personal Tour Guide this is a very affordable alternative. The next edition could manage a few more pictures. Why not submit yours. The author might be grateful. And you might become famous.