Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Madagascar & Comoros

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

 

 

I am writing this review after having been unfortunate enough to have to travel with this book in Madagascar for 2 months.

It must be one of the very worst Lonely Planet guides ever.
It is a result of several personal disasters: the original author died while writing it, leaving the publisher to fly in another author with zero experience to finsish the book. And that one broke her leg upon arrival, proudly announcing she had researched the title on one leg!
Well, that one leg certainly did not take her very far.

To start with, the book only covers the most superficial overview of the country. It lacks any real insight into the culture and history, and even the coverage of sights is so limited that I found more info on things to see in the local tourist office publications!

Now for the practical info, which is what most people buy Lonely Planet guides for.
This is even worse!
The maps are awful. Even the simple walking tour map of the capital has streets and attractions misplaced on it, making it obvious the author has never walked it on that one leg.
Hotel recommendations? I have very soon given up even reading them! For the budget category, the recommendations are totally useless, with much better value options readily found by simply looking or asking around. For the higher end, I often found that hotels described as the best in town were now ages old, run-down and certainly not the best in twon for at least a decade!
Transport? Now this is where sheer laziness and carelessness is most obvious! More often than not, totally different (as much as 10 times!) fares are given for the very same journey depending on at which of the 2 towns it starts/ends in you look up in this book. The very same road may be described as excellent (correct) from the north, but as awful (outdated info) from the south. In fact I am very surprised that LP's usually very strict editors failed to pick all these errors!

And I could go on endlessly...
But in short, if you are going to Madagascar, whether on an organized tour or as a backpacker, you should definitely avoid wasting your money on this book! Its sole English-language competition the Bradt Guide to Madagascar, is far more informative and accurate. In fact this is not much of a secret any more. Unusually for any country, I saw hardly anyone else in Madagascar travelling with Lonely Planet, with almost everyone using Bradt.

This book should never have left the publisher.
The only reason I gave it 2 stars is that if you simply can not get hold of the Bradt guide (as I could not in Asia) this one still gives you the most basic ideas about what to see and how to get around the country.

I don't regret buying this because there aren't too many guides to Madagascar. But there is simply no personality to this book. If you are looking for some names/addresses, this would suffice. Otherwise, the Bradt guide blows this Lonely Planet guide away.

We used this guide, along with 2 other guides of Madagascar and we found this guide to be the least valuable of the 3 (a bit outdated, not into depth)

My husband and I bought this book a couple of years ago, as we were going to Madagascar with the Peace Corps. When we got to Madagascar, we realized that everyone else had bought the Bradt guide, which is far superior to this book. We ended up using an old copy of the Bradt guide whenever we were travelling around the country, because this Lonely Planet didn't get us very far. If you are planning to get off the main tourist routes, this book is all but useless.
So, you might want to check out your other options before you buy this.

Writing a review of a travel guide that one has not yet used presents fundamental difficulties in judging the usefulness, accuracy, and validity of the information given. Nonetheless, I have lots of experience using guides and, further, I have the 2007 edition of Hilary Bradt's Madagascar book to compare with the Lonely Planet publication. To begin with, the Lonely Planet guide is of a smaller format and shorter in length than Bradt. It covers an additional subject, the Comoros. The net effect is a more surface treatment of the sights and regions of the country, but a heavy emphasis on such practical aspects as where to stay and eat and how to get around. There are excellent maps of towns and small local areas. Lonely Planet authors give opinions about destinations that have become too popular for their own good and suggest itineraries. One irritating feature, however, is the index. Numerous times, when I attempted to look up a place, I could not find it until I studied the two-page color map at the beginning of the book (you have to have an idea where in Madagascar this place is) and found out how it was listed. For example, I couldn't find Isalo until I looked under Parc National d'l'Isalo. Overall, I believe that the Lonely Planet guide to Madagascar is an indispensible companion, but I believe, too, that the Bradt has so many other assets that the two books complement each other and I would not want to travel in Madagascar without either of them.

Picked this book as a reference for a 3 month stay in Madagascar. It is informative and comprehensive, yet small enough for the limited luggage allowed. It will be a valuable resource for a relatively unknown region.

Great book - detailed and very informative.

Recommend for anyone going to Madagascar as backpacker or on guided tour