|
Bradt Guide Venezuela
Ref: BRA080
The Bradt guide to Venezuela describes a wide-ranging array of opportunities, from river trips to Angel Falls and wildlife watching in the Llanos, to hiking through the cloudforests to the glaciers of the Andes. Venezuela focuses on the national parks and hiking trails with plenty of background information on local history and culture. Essential Spanish vocabulary, including local usage, 82 maps and town plans and minimum impact travel are featured to help ecotravellers make the most of their trip.
Book Reviews
"Information which is vital to the newcomer or prospective traveller… is all here"
-- Royal Automobile Club
"Best guidebook."
--The Sunday Times
About this Destination
Venezuela is home to nearly one hundred national parks and natural monuments, an almost bewildering variety of wildlife in the grasslands and rainforest, a long Caribbean coastline with both developed tourist resorts and uninhabited islands, and the snow-covered Andes. It is the most accessible country in South America with cheap flights available from both Europe and the USA and away from the highly populated north great tracts of wilderness beckon visitors of all budgets.
Author's Note, by Hilary Dunsterville Branch
Venezuela is an excellent gateway country to South America, with some of the cheapest flights to the continent routed through Margarita Island and the capital, Caracas. Travellers may take one horrified look and flee from this disordered city, but Caracas has its devotees and it is always important not to judge a country by its capital. The largest Venezuela cities are located near the Caribbean coast. Everything else is called the interior. Because 90% of Venezuelans live in the northern 10% of the land, much of the country remains delightfully free of urban blight, retaining local colour and traditions. There is some excellent backpacking and a variety of mountain scenery, from cloudforest to glacier, and in some splendid national parks. Away from the built-up coast, there are waterfalls, amazing birdlife, tablelands and savannahs - and a relative absence of international tourism. The exception is Margarita Island: a magnet for sun seekers, mainly from Europe and Canada. This guide emphasis ecotourism and is not intended as a complete guide to every city and all hotels. It has grown in response to reader's suggestions and requests, describing places of greatest interest to the more adventurous traveller.
Hilary Dunsterville Branch is a journalist, traveller and natural history enthusiast who lives with her family in the coffee hills south of Caracas. Her love of Venezuela's flora and fauna was passed on by her father, a well-known botanist and orchid expert.
£14.95
|
