Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica (3rd Ed.) [Paperback]

Christopher P. Baker (Author)

Book Description

Series: Costa Rica Handbook, 3rd ed | Publication Date: December 1998

A narrow bridge separating the Caribbean fro m the Pacific, Costa Rica is a land of volcanoes, dense fore sts and diverse wildlife. This is a guide to the nation''s pe ople, history, natural beauty, its cities, parks and other a reas of interest. '

Product Details

• Paperback: 785 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Pub; 3rd edition (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566911249
• ISBN-13: 978-1566911245
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,986,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher P. Baker (1955-) was born and educated in Yorkshire, England, studied at universities in London and Liverpool, and has lived in California since 1980. He has since established himself as one of the world's leading travel writers & photographers and is considered the world's foremost authority on travel and tourism to Cuba and Costa Rica. He has authored and illustrated more than 30 books for such publishers as Dorling Kindersly, Frommers, Lonely Planet, Moon, and National Geographic, etc., including guidebooks, literary books, and his acclaimed coffee-table book, "Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles." His writing & photography have appeared in more than 200 international publications, from National Geographic to Newsweek. His literary travelog "Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba," won both the Lowell Thomas Award as 'Travel Book of the Year,' and the North American Travel Journalist Association Grand Prize. In 2006, he won the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award 'Travel Journalist of the Year,' and has also been named 'Travel Journalist of the Year' by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (2005) and Jamaica Tourist Board (1998). He posts twice-weekly blogs at www.moon.com/blogs/cuba-costa-rica and promotes himself through his website: www.christopherbaker.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Can Only Afford One Book This Is The One To Buy !, January 18, 2000

By 

KWaller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica (3rd Ed.) (Paperback)

We purchased the 1999 edition directly from Moon (it was so new Amazon had not received it yet) hot off the press ! We also purchased several other competitors guidebooks to take with us. The Costa Rica Handbook came back from the trip very worn! Of all the books, this one has the most travel information, the best maps, most useful suggestions and funny traveler's stories that were relevant to our trip. We tried using and referring to the other books many times while in Costa Rica, but we found ourselves reaching for the Costa Rica Handbook by Moon time and time again! If you can only afford to buy one book with information on travel to this country buy this one! One shortcoming you should conisder before buying this book - it contains little about wildlife...you will need to purchase another book that contains pictures and identification information about animals, plants, insects, birds, etc. of this country if your primary purpose for going is to sight animals and birds native to Costa Rica ! Another note: If you are planning on driving outside of tourist areas you might want to learn a little Spanish...we speak intermediate Spanish and while I was in the country, I couldn't help thinking that someone who had no knowledge of the Spanish language would find traveling by car and stopping outside of tourist areas (lodges, restaurants and gas stations) a bit confusing (they speak almost no english outside of tourist areas)...Know your road signs in Spanish! it helps a lot - buy a beginner's guide to Latin American Spanish with a tape so you can hear pronounciation.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica (3rd Ed.), March 28, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica (3rd Ed.) (Paperback)

Having lived in Costa Rica and traveled there many times and, having purchased copies of most of the Travel Guides written about Costa Rica during the past ten years, I consider this by far the best, most comprehensive travel guide I have ever read. Many travel writers give you bits and pieces of information based on their preferences ... preferences which may/may not be yours. This writer provides a vast array of information about an exceptionally beautiful country so that you can make your own choices.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Travel Guide, March 1, 2004

By 

Stuart Davis (Arlington, Va. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica 4 Ed (Paperback)

We have just returned from a four-week trip to Costa Rica. We bought three guides to plan the trip: the Moon Handbook, Lonely Planet, and Footprint. Of these the Moon Guide was by far the best. Author Christopher Baker has a great way of identifying interesting places to stay, eat, and visit and helping the reader visualize what they are like. As a result we discovered mnay exceptional places to stay and found that his desciptions were right on target. If you are planning more than a one-week quicky to Costa Rica this is the guide to plan your trip.