Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Malawi, Mozambique & Zambia (Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia)

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I bought this book before I went for a four month stay in Zambia. I soon realized that 'Zambia' on the cover was in small type for a reason. The bulk of the book is on Malawi, and the author gives very little detail to the Zambia section. I was quite disappointed, as I was glad simply to FIND something with 'Zambia' written on it! There was useful information in the Zambia section, but the Kwacha amounts were far off the mark, due to high inflation rates. I found myself constantly having to flip back to the Malawi section of the book to see if relevant information could be found there.

This is a good book - I've found most Lonely Planet books to be excellent, though - but if you're looking for a great deal of information on Zambia itself, this is not the book for you.

This book, to use a cliche, was my Bible while I was in Malawi. The information is good and generally accurate. Except for Lilongwe, I found the summaries on the cities to be a little too short. Also, since the kwatcha (Malawian currency) has recently been floated, the prices are all quite a bit off.

"Lonely Planet: Southern Africa" is more complete (it covers the entire area from Zambia and Malawi to South Africa) and more recent (September 2000).

LP is second to none in practical travel advice. This guide makes no exception. We were the first to actually use the guide book even a little before the publication date. We used it in all three countries. The only thing I might critisize is that Malawians are really not *that* friendly (Zambians are), but opinions differ about this. Prices in $ would be better.