Lonely Planet Africa: On a Shoestring (Africa on a Shoestring, 8th ed) [Paperback]

Hugh Finlay (Author), Geoff Crowther (Author), David Else (Author), Mary Fitzpatrick (Author), Paul Greenway (Author), Andrew Humphreys (Author), Ann Jousiffe (Author), Frances Linzee Gordon (Author), Jon Murray (Author), Miles Roddis (Author), Sarina Singh (Author), Deanna Swaney (Author), Dorinda Talbot (Author), David Willett (Author), Jeff Wi8Lliams (Author)

Book Description

Series: Africa on a Shoestring, 8th ed | Publication Date: January 1998

Covering 54 countries, this text is designed for all budgets and provides a comprehensive guide to the region. It includes: cultural, political and historical notes; travel advice; information on border crossings and visas; and advice on health, safety and local transport.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Vast in size and history, with equally vast potential for rewarding experiences and red-tape hassles, Africa more than any other continent requires a solid and reliable guidebook for anything other than the most superficial of visits. It is the sort of information-packed guide at which Lonely Planet excels. Weighing less than two pounds but covering 55 countries, Africa on a Shoestring has 240 maps, up-to-date visa and border advice, language glossaries, safety information, background history, politics, culture, and ecology, plus the necessary inside intelligence on places to stay, what and where to eat, the sights worth seeing, and where the Internet cafés are to be found. It's a priceless volume for the intrepid African traveler. --Stephanie Gold

Product Details

• Paperback: 1055 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 8th edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864424817
• ISBN-13: 978-0864424815
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,030,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good overview, but hampered by magnitude of region, March 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Africa: On a Shoestring (Africa on a Shoestring, 8th ed) (Paperback)

Too much material! The result is a very superficial glance at every country in Africa, without enough substantial detail to truly aid travelers in many given regions. I used the book while traveling through Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Congo (Zaire). Chapters dealing with Ethiopia and Congo were noticeably deficient. These chapters not only lack information, but often provide erroneous information which can be much more aggravating and perhaps dangerous. Other chapters dealing with Uganda, Zanzibar, and Kenya, particularly Nairobi, were well-written, accurate, and helpful.

My overall feeling is that a traveler would be much better equipped by purchasing the regional guides published by Lonely Planet, such as East Africa or West Africa... not this huge, all-encompassing guidebook. For countries not covered, such as Ethiopia or Djibouti, check out Rough Guide or Moon Publications. All of these options offer much more current information than provided here.

If you take a look at LP's Guidebook to Kenya, you will see that it alone has 384 pages! It is simply impossible to condense this into a single worthwhile chapter in the Africa on a Shoestring Guide.

I still gave the book four stars based on the simple fact that it provides excellent maps of the major cities and destinations in Africa and at least a framework for orienting yourself in a given place. If you are backpacking and need to save space, this book does help you out immensely, which is probably its intended function. Just don't put too much faith in it for providing accurate, current details on lodging, transport, or the current "scene."

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not recommended, May 15, 2001

By 

Ronald Warninger (Yakima, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Africa on a Shoestring (Paperback)

I bought this book for my trip to Kenya Uganda and Tanzania. I thought that I might want to travel to Ethiopia or down to Zambia and Zimbabwe....this guide is much too condensed to be helpful, and most travelers I met hated this guide and would borrow or end up buying the LP East Africa guide. You would be much better off buying a regional guide rather then this monster. Just the weight of the book alone isn't worth carrying around with you. I actually ended up ripping this book to shreads and keeping only about ten pages of it then buying the more in depth East Africa Guide.

Don't get me wrong, I love the lonely planet guides. Just not this one. I can whole heartedly recomment the East Africa guide and the Trekking East Africa guide.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction, October 20, 2005

By 

EugeSchu "be-bop" (WI USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Africa on a Shoestring (Paperback)

As others note, the continent is too large to contain in one book for travel purposes. What this book does is give an EXCELLENT intro to history, culture, people, cities, regions,
and tourist attractions/locales/interests. Gives the mind a framework for Africa and potentially to guide decisions about vacation options. For actual travel, more specific literature is needed, but this book is an excellent opening to understanding and contemplating Africa. I was enthralled!