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South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (Lonely Planet Country Guide)
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List Price: £15.99
south-africa.lehi.co.uk Price: £11.19
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 916
EAN: 9781740599702
ISBN: 1740599705
Label: Lonely Planet Publications
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 680
Publication Date: 2006-11-01
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications
Studio: Lonely Planet Publications
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Surprised at negative feedback - Was invaluable for me.
Comment: I am surprised at the negative feedback here. As a consistent user of Lonely Planet guides, I have to say that this ranked as one of the more useful country guides i have come across. Writing guidebooks must be a very tricky business - it is necessary to include such a vast quantity of information, while trying simultaneously to capture the feel and mood of a country in such a way that people know what to expect back home. This particular guide does an excellent job in this respect.
I spent one month travelling from Pretoria to Cape Town, taking a winding route through Swaziland and Lesotho. I had no schedule and went where I wanted when I wanted. And perhaps it is for this kind of travelling that this guide is most suitable - it doesn't necessarily tell you how best to combine two or 3 attractions for a short holiday, which is a travel agent's job, but rather it gives a very involved lowdown on most places of consequence in which you might find yourself.
The information was detailed and correct, with pleasingly accurate (both on facts and on less tangible factors - atmosphere, attitude, etc.) descriptions of places and accommodations, and some fantastic recommendations for restaurants, especially in and around Cape Town.
I can't imagine which towns the other reviewers are referring to when they talk about misplaced or underdone praise. I felt that the passion with which the authors wrote the book was well apportioned.
Customer Rating:
Summary: seriously flawed
Comment: I suspect the brief of the SA LP authors was the following: do the least amount possible to fill a couple of 100 pages and make sure that on each page, completely redundant information is included and useful, nay, vital data is kept out. To this end, the authors have succeeded, excelling themselves in every regard. For example, the maps are just terrible, rarely peppered with more than a few pieces of information. The Durban and KZN section is hopeless and indicative of a lazy author who couldn't be bothered to do more than the bare minimum.
I came back from Africa having had a great time, despite LP, having found some enjoyment in doing my own travel research. Pull your socks up LP, this is not your usual high standard that I have come to expect over the last 20 years.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Useful guide but not the best
Comment: As Lonely Planet guides go, I must admit this one was a little disappointing. Certainly the usual details of history, maps, accomodation, sites and restaurants are included. But somehow the guide doesn't really pick up on what South Africa's about... The details of game reserves was very disappointing and certainly much of the area that I visited was not covered in as much detail as I'd have liked. For a country with the scenery of the Drakensburg, the beauty of Cape Town and the wonder of the game reserves that's really rather surprising.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: I have been a fan of lonely planet books in the past and own quite a few of them. However, having just returned from a trip to South Africa where used this one heavily to plan the trip, I was pretty disappointed. In general there seemed to be too heavy an emphasis on the backpacking traveller and people who have lots of time for their travels (lots of details of 5-day hikes and things) as opposed to the general holiday(ing) traveller. I also think that there were just some significant misjudgments in their recommendations. There were several towns described as "choc-full" of activities that then proved to be pretty dull and others that were described as "historic" or "quaint" which had little to look at.
Finally, I also think that there was too much "worthiness" creeping in as well. I think there was an appropriate emphasis on township tours and the complex social situation in South Africa (the section on history was very good) but there was then also sideways digs at places the book perceived to be "tacky" or "artificial" when in some cases these were actually pretty well run tourist attractions. I am sure with more time and with a slightly hardier spirit I could have gone for some of the more "authentic" options the book outlined, but short of time and looking for some ease of travel I actually rather enjoyed some of the "artficial" places the book was so disparaging of.
Like I say- not one for the holidaying tourist- this is strictly one for the backpacker or gap year traveller.
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