Lonely Planet West Africa @ richardeward.com

Lonely Planet West Africa
by Mary Fitzpatrick, Andrew Burke, Greg Campbell, Bethune Carmichael, Matt Fletcher, Frances Linzee Gordon, Anthony Ham, Amy Karafin, Kim Wildman, Isabelle Young
from Lonely Planet Publications

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Decent info, but presented awkwardly.
  This is an adequate guide, but was disappointing in a few areas. Firstly, it is not geared to someone making a comprehensive West Africa trip but rather reads like a collection of individual country guides. It's OK if you are going to just fly in a hang out in a single country, but planning cross border itineraries is a chore. There could be better integration for the area.
  Secondly, using the maps and references to them is a bit taxing. Place names that would likely be obsure to the reader are... more info

• From a returned Peace Corps Volunteer
  This book is practically the bible for W. Africa travel. I lived and worked in W. Africa for 3 years (2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer) and I never went anywhere without consulting LP. The information is as accurate as anything out there. It offers you suggested itineraries and "off the beaten path" suggestions as well as the traditionally touristy destinations. Many parts are less objective than other parts and the writers tend to harp on corruption. But W. Africa is a pretty corrupt place in general. If... more info

• SMEARED BY DEROGATORY PHRASES
  Indeed, this book ("Lonely Planet West Africa") did a good job in outlining many of the popular tourist attractions that are located in this Sub-Saharan region of Africa. I also appreciated its details on several tourists' trails, accomodations, means of transportation, and so on. However, I was very disappointed to note that (just like the "Lonely Planet Africa on a Shoestring") this book is full of discouraging comments. Some of the phrases Lonely Planet used in this book are quite offensive.
  For sure,... more info

• Good for a shoestring traveller, one-sided at times
  I once said I would never buy a Lonely Planet guide again, so disappointed I was with their Iceland and Greenland book which was poorly researched, inaccurate and full of rabid anti-American rhetoric.

  For my trip to Ghana, it was, however, a choice of only three books available: a semiprofessional Bradt's Ghana (not a guidebook really, more an amateurish newsletter), supremely boring Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. I bought them all in the name of research.

  I would say Lonely Planet is best of them all,... more info

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