Venezuela, 4th: The Bradt Travel Guide [Paperback]

Hilary Dunsterville-Branch (Author)

Book Description

Series: Country guide | Publication Date: February 1, 2003

Emphasizing ecotravel, this guide describes the wide-ranging opportunities for travelers exploring a country easily accessible from the United States. Possessing nearly 100 species of hummingbird alone, Venezuela has a fantastic array of wildlife--capybara, tapir, sloths, anteaters, armadillos, and vampire bats are just a few of the animal species which can be observed in their natural habitats, while a host of birdwatching locations are detailed.
Find an impressive 43 national parks, including the marine parks of offshore islands, and 20 natural monuments including table mountains, with suggestions for hikes through cloudforests to Andean glaciers and the chance of spotting rare orchids. Take a trip to Angel Falls, travel to the Orinoco Delta wetlands where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean, visit the region where the Warao ¿canoe people¿ live, or try out a wide range of sports: from caving, climbing and cycling to diving, sailing and windsurfing. Margarita Island--the "Pearl of the Caribbean"--and a good range of beaches are also covered for the traveler wanting to follow in the footsteps of Robinson Crusoe and enjoy desert-island seclusion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Information which is vital to the newcomer or prospective traveler is all here"
--Royal Automobile Club, UK

From the Back Cover

Deeply beautiful and readily accessible, Venezuela makes a great destination for visitors of all budgets. Away from the highly populated north are vast tracts of untouched wilderness, and this guide shows you how to explore them thoroughly and responsibly.
Take a river trip to Angel Falls or a hike through cloudforest to the glaciers of the Andes. Watch birds in the wetlands, search for giant anteaters in the national parks or relax on a desert island retreat. Bradt's Venezuela provides details on these activities and more, together with practical information to ensure your visit is memorable for all the right reasons.
Inside you will find: detailed coverage of national parks and natural history; information on adventure sports, including caving, climbing and diving; essential Spanish, with Venezuela-specific usage; over 80 clear maps and town plans.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides; 4th edition (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841620548
• ISBN-13: 978-1841620541
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,038,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > Travel > Latin America > South America > Venezuela

More About the Author

A journalist and traveller, I went to Venezuela for a two-week holiday and was so blown away by the people I met and the places I visited, I ended up staying for 12 years.
Along the way I bathed in the spray of Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall, trekked to the Lost World table mountain of Roraima (four times), rafted down jungle rivers with wonderful indigenous guides and swallowed my fear of heights to paraglide at impossible heights in the Andes. I also took my first faltering steps of salsa in Venezuela and learnt the lingo by watching slushy soap operas.
The results of my adventurings are gathered in the Bradt Guide to Venezuela, an exhaustive and comprehensive guide to where to go and what to do that is my small way of giving something back to a country that has given me so much.
I hope others who read the guide are encouraged to follow in my footsteps and explore this incredible country.
I am now based in the UK and it tugs at my heart strings some nights that I am too far from Choroni to hear the tambores on the malecon.
Fortunately my job as a journalist in England allows me to follow Venezuelan and Latin American developments and keep my Spanish up to scratch. The UK is also a good place to do research and meet other like-minded Latin-America-philes for proper rum and salsa sessions.
No matter how many trips I take back to Venezuela, I always find something new and unexpected, a dish I've never tried before, a mountain never climbed, something exciting that the world needs to know about. It's that kind of country.
To keep up to date with my articles on Venezuela visit my blog at www.venezuelanodyssey.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last a practical guide, February 25, 2000

By 

Jon Hendrikson (Denver Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guide to Venezuela: The Bradt Travel Guide (Paperback)

Hilary Dunsterville Branch's guide to Venezuela is the best guide out there in the market. I've just got back from a month backpacking around the country and I wish I'd bought it before I left the States. As it was I was lucky enough to bump into a French couple that gave me their copy in Merida in the Venezuelan Andes. After three days traveling with Branch's book I dumped my Lonely Planet Guide in the trash. Not only does she give you the practical details on off the beaten track beaches like Choroni, Santa Fe and Morrocoy but she gives you the run down on the cheapest places backpackers can stay. The history was good and easy to read. She got me up to the top of Mount Roraima and her section on the Rio Caura is excellent. What can I say. Thanks to this guide I now know that a month isn't long enough to spend in this incredible tropical country. I'm going back again next year and I'll be taking Branch with me.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most accurate and informative travel guide to Venezuela, April 26, 2006

By 

Christopher J. Sharpe "Chris Sharpe" (Caracas, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Venezuela, 4th: The Bradt Travel Guide (Paperback)

Venezuela is a long-overlooked paradise for backpackers, adventure travellers and special interest visitors like hikers, climbers, rafters and birders. The same size as neighbouring Colombia, but with half the population, Venezuela's natural environment is in good shape. The north of the country harbours 90% of the population, leaving the huge southern states of Amazonas and Bolivar with one of the lowest population densities in America. Indeed, without roads or railways, this area forms part of the world's largest tropical wilderness. Add to that the largest area under protection of any country in the Western Hemisphere, 43 national parks (two of them over 30,000 sq. km) and one of the top ten largest protected areas in the world (the 84,000 sq. km Alto Orinoco-Casiquiare Biosphere Reserve) and you can see why Venezuela is an exciting place to visit.

It is fifteen years since the first edition of the "No Frills Guide to Venezuela", written by Hilary Branch and published by Hilary Bradt. Since then, this book has been at the forefront of travel guides to Venezuela. The key to its success is simple: the author lives in Venezuela and regularly travels to the places she describes. The book is therefore much more accurate - and more exciting! - than say the rival Lonely Planet or the Footprint Guide. This 2003 edition stretches to 538 pages, yet it is still compact enough to be portable. The text is succinct and readable. Hilary distils her experience into the every section of the book from an expanded treatment of Caracas to detailed information on hiking in Roraima and travelling up the River Caura. There are plenty of maps to help the visitor too. A strong conservation focus is welcome, with information about wildlife and habitats, environmental issues, conservation projects and NGOs. Definitely the book the discerning visitor should acquire for a successful trip to Venezuela.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough information on Venezuela, September 19, 2005

By 

M. Becki - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Venezuela, 4th: The Bradt Travel Guide (Paperback)

The guide contains a lot of details on where to go and how to find things. Opening hours are not always as given in the guide. You might find places open at other times and closed at the times indicated.
Not many pictures but very good information on sites i.e. historical background, ...