Lonely Planet Panama [Paperback]

Scott Doggett (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lonely Planet Panama | Publication Date: November 2001

Takes a look at Panama's national parks and hiking trails and the new canalside resorts and coast-to-coast passenger trains. Provides a guide also to the adventurous activties such as snorkelling, kayaking and surfing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 2 edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1864503076
• ISBN-13: 978-1864503074
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #984,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Travel > Latin America > Central America > Panama

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful... if you don't have anything else, January 31, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Panama (Paperback)

I spent six weeks in Panama last summer (2001): 4 weeks on Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro (and surrounding areas) and 2 weeks traveling around the rest of Panama. This book is a useful reference if you don't have anything else - especially if you don't speak Spanish. It provides a lot of valuable information on hotels, both budget hotels and very expensive ones. However, I often got the impression that Doggett is somewhat of a yuppie traveler. For instance, in the chapter on Bocas del Toro, he spends a paragraph or two trashing the bat cave found between the town of Bocas and Boca del Drago. I imagine he was so busy whining about the smell of the cave and the shriek of the bats that he did not stick around long enough to discover that there is a SECOND bat cave, very close to the first. This second cave contained an astounding variety of biodiversity, including a giant boa constrictor. Hands down, this cave was one of the most incredible natural wonders that I saw on my entire trip. If you are a traveler who is more into roughing it and seeing lush primary rainforest (even if it means tromping through rainforest with mud up to your knees), then this lonely planet guide may not be adventurous enough for you. Fortunately, in spite of the differences of opinion I had with this guidebook, I still had an amazing time in Panama. The rainforest left me speechless, the people were always friendly and helpful, everything is much less expensive than in the U.S., and there are fewer tourists in Panama than in Costa Rica. Still, I would recommend looking for a different guidebook before you settle on this one.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Guide, but Politicized and Ethnocentric., October 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Panama (Paperback)

Lonely Planet, probably has the most up-to-date, comprehensive, practical guide for Panama, currently available. Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Unfortunately, Lonely Planet, failed to edit the author's crude, narrow-minded, self-righteous, self-serving commentary. The author also glosses over or totaly ignores pertinent information. Personal politics and self-aggrandizement have little, if any place in a travel guide, and when it exists in such a publication, it suggests a lack of empathy for, and or understanding of, other people and their cultures. The shortcomings of Lonely Planet's guide, noted above, mar an otherwise excellent publication. For the typical "Ugly American" wanting to "Do" Panama, the Lonely Planet guide should prove more than adaquate. If on the other hand, you are an open-minded traveler capable of independent thought, you might consider, also obtaining, "Getting to know PANAMA" by Michele Labrut, a former press attache to the French Embassy in Panama. Written with class, mature intelligence and a sense of respect for Panama and it's People, "Getting to know PANAMA", not only fills the gaps in the previous guide, it is also an excellent travel guide in it's own right and an outstanding source for unbiased information.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Valuable guide, but some inaccuracies, October 20, 2001

By 

J. Turner (Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Panama (Paperback)

I am a big fan of LP travel guides. I always rely on them heavily when I travel. However, I was disappointed in this one. It was great for planning the trip, and it lives up to the LP standard, but barely.

This book has some inaccuracies, but given the changes in Panama I'm sure it is to be expected. I tried to call up several of the local guides that were listed in this book, but the phone numbers were out of order or they had moved on to bigger and better things.

I ended up hitting the highlights of Panama and leaving in three days for Costa Rica, instead of the week I originally planned.

Still, this book is a great source for information about the history, culture, restaurants, hotels, etc. However, my advice would be to purchase a supplemental guide book or two.