Central America Books - Page 6

Explore Costa Rica, 5th Edition

Harry S. Pariser

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fun to read and indispensable 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

We found this to be an indispensable guide with a plethora of detail and much information not found in other guidebooks. In fact in might be too much information for some folks. We really enjoyed the author's sense of humor, as well as the extensive background information provided. For example, we learned a great deal about the rainforest and other ecosystems, history, culture, and economy. We also were able to find some great local restaurants as well as several ecolodges that we did not find elsewhere. The book contains thousands of website URLs and e-mails and this was a tremendous help in planning our trip, as was the additional tips and online update found on the publisher's website. The color photos are great also! If you are interested in getting off of the tourist track, then Explore Costa Rica is the best guide we've found to bring along!

Editorial Review:

Travel with award-winning travel guide author Harry S. Pariser around Costa Rica and experience its wonders! Dive and snorkel off the coast of the remote Osa Peninsula. Experience the Caribbean coast with its rich Jamaican culture. Visit the small hotels of the Pacific Coast and the Nicoya Peninsula and remote lodges in the heart of the rainforest. Dine everywhere from gourmet restaurants to local sodas. Ascend by rope and pulley into the rainforest canopy, explore caves, surf, kayak, canoe, bungee jump, mountain bike, trek, or just lay back on a beach, relax, and watch the monkeys at play. Internal air flights, bus travel, ferry schedules, what to do, what to avoid. Studying Spanish, volunteer programs, and sustainable tourism. Maps, photos, web sites, useful tips. Humorous, informative, educational, detailed. There's no other guide quite like it!

Frommer's Panama (Frommer's Complete)

Kristina Schreck

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great Travel Book For Non-Shoestring Travelers 2 out of 5 stars.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful.

On a recent trip to Costa Rica and Panama we took Lonely Planet's Costa Rica and Frommer's Panama. If you are a traveler who carries a backpack, takes local buses, and stays in hostels and small hotels, this is not the book for you. During our trip from we felt that Frommer's Panama was nearly useless to use as a guidebook at all, especially coming from the very informative Lonely Planet's Costa Rica. The Frommer's guide would work great for families with medium to large budgets, cruise ship passengers, businessman, or travelers looking for a more luxury and shuttle van and all inclusive tour type of experience in Panama. This book really only talks about the expensive hotels and activities. All the sample travel itineraries are catered to people who can spend a few hundred a day on their adventure. Smaller towns are not covered (many are not even mentioned) and there are no maps showing you where the internet cafes, laundry, or even banks are. The book only talks about the sit down restaurants when there are tiny sodas sprinkled throughout every town with wonderful and cheap food. In short: Not for backpackers, but fine for room-service types.

Editorial Review:

Frommer's. The best trips start here.

• Listen to a free Panama podcast from Frommers.com

Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer.

• Expert advice on the best beaches, bird-watching spots, and ecolodges, as well as recommendations on what to see and do in Panama City.
• Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not.
• Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip whatever your budget.
• Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.

Find great deals and book your trip at Frommers.com

Portrait of the Panama Canal: From Construction to

William Friar

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An excellent short and concise history of the Panama Canal. 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Not only does Friar present a wonderful historical synopsis of the Canal, he also paints a verbal picture of life as a child growing up in the Canal Zone. The photographs of the Canal are some of the best I have seen. The captions are not "one-liners," they actually describe the what the reader is seeing in the photograph. The reader should come away with a very good knowledge of Panama Canal history and an understanding of how the Canal operates all within the 2 to 3 hours it takes to read the book.

Highly recommended for cruise passengers 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I read this book prior to transiting the Canal. It covers history and operations in precise detail and the numerous dramatic photos make it a wonderful souvenir of the Canal. There are other books that are very long and heavy to take with you.This book has all the information in easily readable style for those who don't have time for a thick book on this subject. Reads like an adventure story.

Editorial Review:

Completely revised and updated in time for the Centennial Anniversary of breaking ground for the Panama Canal, this lively collection of historic and contemporary photographs and informative and insightful text dramatically showcases one of the true wonders of the world.

Choose Panama . . . the Perfect Retirement Haven (Second Edition)

William, G Hutchings

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Looking for the next chapter in my life. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I'm a baby boomer and actively looking for a warm, hospitable place to retire. My budget limits the choices, and I don't want to work for Wal-Mart or someone else to supplement my retirement benefits. I've been hesitant to look at foreign countries as a place to begin my next chapter in life, but this book has convinced me to look at Panama.

In this book, I learned Panama welcomes retirees with financial incentives, and I was surprised to learn the currency is the US dollar. The information in this book is well organized and full of facts about recreation (I'm a golfer and fisherman), medical care, and insurance. The moderate housing costs, wonderful climate in the highlands, and the detailed immigration requirements made me appreciate the prospects of actually living in Panama. I am planning to visit the country soon to determine first hand if this is the place to begin that next chapter.

Editorial Review:

Panama is a desireable and affordable retirement option for the 76,000,000 people in he U.S. who will be retireing in the next five years. Choose Panama gives details on visiting Panama (transportation, lodging, places to visit, immigration, recreation, cost of living, currency, housing, etc.) - as well as details on customs, people, andaffordable housing.

Waterproof Yucatan Map by ITMB (International Travel Maps)

ITMB Publishing Ltd

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Editorial Review:

Folded color road and travel map. Scale 1: 500,000. Distinguishes roads ranging from expressways (free/toll) to tertiary roads. Legend includes railways, tracks, trails, international/domestic airports, points of interest, archaeological sites, beaches, caves, gas stations, reefs, national parks, temples, camp grounds, museums, forts, shipwrecks, sinkholes, border crossings, churches/monasteries, other archaeological remains, trailer parks, airstrips, viewpoints. Includes extensive index.

Exploring Costa Rica 2008/9

Writers and Photographers of The Tico Times

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Brimming with solid information 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Now in its sixteenth edition, Exploring Costa Rica 2008/9 is the up-to-date repository of need-to-know travel and cultural information assembled by the staff and contributors of The Tico Times, Central America's leading English-language newspaper. Written by people who live and work in Costa Rica, Exploring Costa Rica 2008/9 is brimming with solid information, from laws that anyone contemplating retirement in Costa Rica must know to common real estate pitfalls to the best restaurants and hotels, recommended activities, and much more, categorized primarily by geographical zone and secondarily by price range. Colorful maps and photographs and an easy-to-use index round out this "must-have" for anyone looking to get the most out of a Costa Rican visit.

Editorial Review:

The most up-to-date complete guidebook on Costa Rica in the world! The 16th annual effort of the writers and photographers of The Tico Times, Central America's leading English-language newspaper, Exploring Costa Rica 2008/9 is the most complete, concise and information-filled guide available on this fascinating, peaceful country that we call home. Our writers who live and work here year round use their travels and first-hand insight and love of this country to fill in the factual and cultural information often missing in other guides.

Fodor's Central America, 3rd Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides)

Fodor's

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Fodor’s. For Choice Travel Experiences.

Fodor’s helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insightful tools you need to experience the trips you want. Although you’re at the helm, Fodor’s offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. It’s like having a friend in Central America!

· Updated annually, Fodor’s Central America provides the most accurate and up-to-date information available in a guidebook.

· Fodor’s Central America features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so you make the choices to plan your trip of a lifetime.

· If it’s not worth your time, it’s not in this book. Fodor’s discriminating ratings, including our top tier Fodor’s Choice designations, ensure that you’ll know about the most interesting and enjoyable places in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

· Experience Central America like a local! Fodor’s Central America includes choices for every traveler, from lounging on the beach in Honduras or scaling Mayan ruins in Guatemala to browsing open-air markets in Nicaragua, and much more!

· Indispensable, customized trip planning tools include “Top Reasons to Go,” “Word of Mouth” advice from other travelers, and tips to help save money, bypass lines, and avoid common travel pitfalls.

Visit Fodors.com for more ideas and information, travel deals, vacation planning tips, reviews and to exchange travel advice with other travelers.

Mexico & Central America Handbook 2009, 17th: Tread Your Own Path (Footprint Central America and Mexico Handbook)

Peter Hutchinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent for independent travelers 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Footprint does a great job covering this region of Latin America in a single volume. The pages are thin enough to pack a comparable amount of information as found in 5 different Lonely Planet guidebooks. The accommodation listings are succint but helpful, and the descriptions of the attractions are intelligently described. It would definitely be the book to bring for someone traveling in multiple countries. I have been disappointed with some of the Footprint guides for other regions of the world, but I loved their guide for Mexico and Central America.

Editorial Review:

From Baja California to the Darien Gap, Footprint’s 17th edition of its acclaimed guide to Mexico & Central America takes you along the Ruta Maya, through beautiful colonial cities and sleepy villages, to deserted beaches and lush rainforests, providing up-to-date recommendations for all budgets on where to sleep, where to sample tequila and eat tortillas, and the lowdown on all the region’s best fiestas.

The Rough Guide to Costa Rica 5 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

Jean McNeil

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Editorial Review:

Make the most of your time with The Rough Guide to Costa Rica, the definitive companion to this peaceful destination. The full-colour section introduces Costa Rica’s highlights, from the spectacular sunsets at the Pacific coast beach of Sámara to taking a boat ride passed the luxuriant tropical vegetation and colourful wooden houses that line the Tortuguero Canal. Using informed accounts, clue-up on all the remote beaches, active volcanoes and wildlife-rich parks, plus all the unforgettable sites of the capital city, San Jose. The guide features practical tips for exploring the outdoors from trekking the lush cloudforest reserve at Monteverde to rafting down the rivers of Valle Central. There are plenty of practical tips on all the best accommodation, transportation, shops, bars and clubs and an insightful background on Costa Rica’s wildlife, politics and culture. Explore the best of Costa Rica with the clearest maps of any guide.

A Bird-finding Guide to Panama

George R. Angehr, Dodge Engleman, Lorna Engleman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Published in Association with the Panama Audubon Society, a BirdLife International Partner

A Bird-Finding Guide to Panama is an essential tool for anyone traveling in search of Panama's spectacular birds and natural attractions. With more than 970 species and a growing infrastructure of good roads, eco-lodges, and restaurants, Panama is a premier birding and nature tourism destination in the neotropics. The country's unique geography, small size, and varied habitats make it easy to see a vast diversity of birds within a short time. The isthmus is a crossroads for the hemisphere's birdlife--Panama's varied avifauna includes such Central American specialties as the Resplendent Quetzal in its western highlands, while in the east, in San Blas and the Darién, species more characteristic of South America such as the Blue-and-gold Macaw are found.

Divided into three geographic sections (Canal Area, Eastern Panama, and Western Panama), this bird-finding guide provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on Panama's best birding sites. Features include detailed site descriptions, directions, road and trail maps, and bird lists, as well as listings of birder-friendly hotels and restaurants. In addition to a comprehensive species list for the country, the book also contains information on where to find more than 360 species of special interest.