South American Handbook 2009, 85th: Tread Your Own Path (Footprint South American Handbook) [Hardcover]

Ben Box (Author)

Book Description

Series: Footprint South American Handbook | Publication Date: October 24, 2008

The South American Handbook is a legend in travel guide publishing. The one-and-only “Travelers’ Bible” has had its annual overhaul, giving you a comprehensive update of everything they ever needed to know about how to discover this fascinating continent. This new, 85th edition is unparalleled in its depth of coverage and takes independent travelers away from the well-trodden “Gringo Trail,” off into the wilds of the Andes, up the Amazon River, and onto deserted beaches.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ben Box has been series editor for the South American Handbook since 1989 and he has also been involved in footprint Central America & Mexico, Footprint Caribbean Islands, Footprint Peru and Footprint Cuzco & the Inca Heartland.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1872 pages
• Publisher: Footprint Handbooks; Other edition (October 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906098360
• ISBN-13: 978-1906098360
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.9 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #935,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Book but just not for me, June 1, 2009

By 

Greg Wilcox - See all my reviews

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This review is from: South American Handbook 2009, 85th: Tread Your Own Path (Footprint South American Handbook) (Hardcover)

This was a good book, lots of detail, but it just wasn't the book for me. One major complaint was that the book prices were all in US Dollars. Which is fine, but who knows what the conversion rate was when it was calculated (especially with the economy now). It would have been better if it was in the local currency also so you could convert it yourself if needed. The pages of the book were also very thin and I found myself tearing them when I was flipping through quickly.
There is a ton of information within the book, but it was too much info to deal with sometimes. Would be great if I was at each place for months at a time and I wanted to see everything, but I only had a few days so it was just a lot of info. Would have been nice to have some pictures.
Just as a minor note, there are ads spread throughout that are somewhat annoying.
But overall, it was a good detailed book if that is what you really want, but it was just too much for me.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars South American HandBook was Just OK, July 14, 2009

By 

Jc22ny "Jc22ny" (New York,NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: South American Handbook 2009, 85th: Tread Your Own Path (Footprint South American Handbook) (Hardcover)

Hey
This was my first Time using the South American Handbook and while I had used their individual Country/City Guide Before with little complaints I was highly disapointed with this Edition.I felt alot of the information needs to be updated I have done some research and have found they dont change alot of the info year to year.Their Maps lacked alot many times and while they did Great Job on certain chapters like Lima,La Paz,Buenos Aires
I felt they did a Crummy Job with their Paraguay,Salvador,Caracas Chapter.Some of their Restaurant/Hotel/Bar suggestions had closed years before leaving you many times with no option but to go find your own accomadation.This especially happend in smaller cities/towns where only 2-3 establishments were listed and totally dispointing to find all of them closed.Yes I understand they cant keep up month to month but c'mon they supposely update yearly then this should not be happening.
I will say I think the book did particurly well in Giving you the Basics of a country Like Entry/Visa requirements,Airline options into the country,Brief History Plus I loved the small size of the book..so due to these positive features the book didnt totally suck and gave it 3 stars.So Buyers Beware youre getting a mediocore Guide!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars no no footbook, September 19, 2009

By 

David W. Sudduth "in south america" (cali, colombia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: South American Handbook 2009, 85th: Tread Your Own Path (Footprint South American Handbook) (Hardcover)

This book is no good! I hate to say it but you need to get the Lonely Planet guide for South America. Footprint printed this edition without proofreading their maps. They have a description for hotels and restaurants but they don't appear on the map...as if there was a printing glich. This has happened for just about every map. The information is stale...don't buy this book!