Lonely Planet Africa on a Shoestring [Paperback]

Kevin Anglin (Author), Becca Blond (Author), Jean-Bernard Carillet (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet Africa | Publication Date: March 2004

Covering the countries on the African continent, 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

Review

…the book was once designed purely for travelers on a shoestring, but the new edition also has listings for more sophisticated or affluent travelers who prefer not to go the do-it-yourself hostel route.' --USA Today
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travelers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travelers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travelers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travelers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1084 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 10th Revised edition (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1740594622
• ISBN-13: 978-1740594622
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,049,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't head for Africa without Africa on a Shoestring in your pack, September 5, 2005

By 

Jason Brown "Africaddict" (Northern California, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

As someone who just returned from a solo tour(via local buses, trains and hitch-hiking) through Botswana, Zambia and Namibia with this book in my pack I feel I can review it more fairly than those who have simply looked it over while dreaming about a future trip.

While no single book can give an indepth look at every country, this one gives you all the information you need to travel through Africa on a budget. Best of all it is small enough to fit in your pack and well built enough to make it through the trip in one piece. I will be going back next year and this book will be coming along.

As you can guess, with only about twenty five pages per country, some info is glossed over or left out all together. Due to space constraints Lonely Planet left out some of the "where to go and what to see" advice but they made sure to include all the information relevant to transportation and lodging. If you need more indepth information you should buy one of the individual guides that cover each country you plan to visit along with Africa on a Shoestring.

My one gripe with this book is that it seems a bit too focused on the backpacker/camper type lodging. I personally prefere to travel like the locals and stay in guest-houses and cheap hotels and at times this book skips right over this information. The worst way to save three dollars a night is to pitch a tent on the ground instead of booking into a local guest house. When you stay at one of the urban campsites the only "culture" you are going to experience is provided by the young, loud, drunken tourists. Not my idea of fun.

If you are looking for a book that will make traveling in Africa trouble free you are going to be disspointed, that book does not exist and never will. In Africa almost nothing is easy and that includes travel. But that is part of the adventure.

If you want to see Africa without all the hassle then you need to talk to one of the travel agents who offer all inclusive tours for small groups in large overland trucks. You will get some nice photos but you won't really be traveling "in" Africa, you will be traveling "over" it, and you don't need any book for that.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as detailed as the previous edition, July 21, 2007

By 

M. Tran (Orange County) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Africa (Paperback)

I was traveling with the LP Africa on a Shoestring 6 months ago. I purchased this new edition to see how LP has updated it and I'm not impressed. I don't think they did much for the Southern Africa section except remove a few things like places to stay and cities that they didn't feel tourists would get to (ex: Barra in Mozambique, Nata and Ghanzi in Botswana). Don't even think about just taking this book when you're traveling (and I have seen travelers with only this book!). If you're planning just to do Southern Africa and/or East Africa, get the books LP has out for these two regions because they will be more detailed and meet friends along the way for more recent advice/info. I was surprised to find that some of the places I visited and enjoyed in Southern Africa were no longer in the new edition. The general country info and other advice in this book are still as good as the last edition (with more current events added) and I recommend it to anyone thinking about doing a multi-country trip to Africa. It is great for planning your travel destinations.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travel collections will find this a popular pick, October 15, 2010

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Africa (Multi Country Travel Guide) (Paperback)

Anthony Ham's AFRICA packs in over 250 detailed small maps and is the only guide for independent travelers to cover the entire continent. Fast facts, tips on where to see local culture and wildlife alike, and plenty of town-by-town descriptions for accommodations, food and more make this a thick but welcome take-along tote. Travel collections will find this a popular pick.