Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Botswana & Namibia (Multi Country Guide)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just saw that the Lonely Planet had a new 2010 edition of of Botswana and Namibia. I picked up the book, excited that the Lonely Planet was going to rectify its Namibia problems from the earlier edition, which I had bought when I first moved to Namibia in 2007. I have used Lonely Planet Guides many times for traveling, and they are usually my first source. The previous edition of the Lonely Planet guide was quite disappointing, as it was very limited and often inaccurate. The earlier book just doesn't give the right sense of Namibia, and is written as if the writers don't actually have a lot of experience traveling in Namibia. There were many inaccuracies, the prices were completely off and many of the places recommended were shut down. We used the Bradt guide as our main source for our extensive travel in Namibia, as it was much more accurate and provided a much greater range of options (particularly for camping!) While I am less familiar with Botswana, when using it to travel in Botswana, it also was less useful than other guides.

So it was a good time for a new edition. However, as I flipped through the new edition, I noticed right away that it had reviews of several restaurants in Namibia that have been closed since before I arrived in Namibia in 2007, both in Windhoek and Swakop. These would be easy to check out even on the Internet or with a few Skype phone calls. The Windhoek Restaurant Guide is also now online to check for accuracy. While other parts were updated somewhat, overall, this guidebook is still not up the the normal Lonely Planet standards and is another disappointment. I would still use the Bradt guide as my first choice, and use this as a supplemental guide. While no guide is perfect, this really is only so-so.

1-9-12

Though, I won't make it Namibia this year, Lonely Planet travel books are a great way to be introduced to the country you are about to visit. It has accurate informations about the country and glorious pictures! It would be a good book to review when I go next year. Thank you. It also arrived right on time.

Linda Seldow

This guide book is great. Our family is going to Namibia and Botswana to visit our daughter in the Peace Corp. and we have no idea about the country or the area. This book is exactly what we needed to plan our trip. We love it!!!!