Reviews (1)

Lonely Planet scores again!
Just like the rest of the Lonely Planet tour guide books - it's awesome!Everything is the same in this book as the others, except it's about South Africa.So, if you liked their other tour guide books, as I do very much, you'll like this one too.Check it out! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Lesotho    5. Republic of South Africa    6. Swaziland    7. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (5)

Great guide, esp. in comparison to the LP
I lived in SA for about 5 months. We had both the LP and the Rough Guide and although it was nice to have both, I would recommend the Rough Guide if you were just going to choose one book. I found the Rough Guide to be a little more accurate in the prices listed and the organization to be far superior to the LP. The LP was helpful with more general information, but the Rough Guide provided more information on the little, out of the way places. If you plan on using hostels, it is imperative to pick up a Coast to Coast after arriving. It is a compelation of hostels, organized by area, that is put out by the hostels of SA. It also includes hostels in Swaziland, Lesotho, and Mozambique. Most hostels involved with the book have free copies that you can take.

Tells you all you need to know
A well researched book giving all the tips and hints that one needs to know about South Africa. The book doesn't waste your time by making recommendations and then slating them (as other guide books tend to do).

Excellent companion
Accurate and well-researched book. The recommendationsare generally spot on. Nicely written, it's like travelling aroundwith a friend who really knows the place. As someone who lives in South Africa, it's reassuring to know that there are books that are able to talk frankly about the crime situation without getting into a froth of paranoia. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Reference - Guides (General)    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Lesotho    7. Republic of South Africa    8. Swaziland    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Travel / Africa   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Lesotho    5. Republic of South Africa    6. Swaziland    7. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (6)

Verbose and superficial: a waste of money
...I bought this book to make plans for a trip to Zambia but the chapter about this country is only 40 pages long, both verbose and superficial.Don't get fooled by the "Adventuring" in the title, unless your idea of adventure is to hop by plane from lodge to lodge at $200 or $300 a night.More importantly, except for the park entrance fees, this book doesn't list any price at all (I got them from two other, excellent, travel guides).Comments on cheaper accomodations are few and disenchanted.The maps are equally few and over-simplified (the roads don't even appear!...)Finally, I looked at the chapters about the other countries and it certainly didn't change my opinion about this book.Note also that the date of the last edition (October 97) makes it relatively outdated.

Outstanding and thorough book about South Africa
This book is an outstanding resource to be read prior to traveling to South Africa.It covers many different aspects of what the experience will entail.These include the history, etiquette, positives and negatives ofeach type of travel, various diseases and safety precautions one shouldtake.In addition, he thoroughly delivers every aspect of each southafrican country...ie. countryside, animals, weather, and history.Thisbook in interesting, exciting, and educational!

Outstanding and thorough book about South Africa
This book is an outstanding resource to be read prior to traveling to South Africa.It covers many different aspects of what the experience will entail.These include the history, etiquette, positives and negatives ofeach type of travel, various diseases and safety precautions one shouldtake.In addition, he thoroughly delivers every aspect of each southafrican country...ie. countryside, animals, weather, and history.Thisbook in interesting, exciting, and educational! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Africa, Southern    3. Guidebooks    4. Safaris    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Wildlife watching    8. Active outdoor pursuits    9. Southern Africa    10. Sports & Recreation / General    11. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Guidebooks    3. Lesotho    4. South Africa    5. Swaziland    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Republic of South Africa    9. Southern Africa    10. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    2. General    3. Swaziland    4. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Subjects:  1. Swaziland    2. Travel writing   

Reviews (1)

They're getting there...
I used the 3rd edition of this guide on my first trip to South Africa in 1999. Back then, this guide would recommend places to stay in the most dangerous streets of Jo'burg, and guarantee the readers that the area was even safe to walk around at night. A taxi driver in Jo'burg told us he was appalled at their reccommendations on where to stay and where to go out, saying they were simply too dangerous, especially for white backpackers. The guide also had an aggressive attitude towards any predominantly white bars or clubs dismissing them as "artificial"... as if the only option was to go out in Shebeens.Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Guidebooks    3. Lesotho    4. South Africa    5. Swaziland    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides   

Subjects:  1. Afrikaners    2. Biography    3. Description and travel    4. O'Neil, Owen Rowe    5. Swaziland   

Reviews (10)

A must have book!
While travelling in SA for 4 motnhs I found this book amazingly helpfull. It had the best advices on how to save money, it had the best maps...I acctually knew more than the buss drivers sometimes and ended up advising them...hostels recommandations were great too. I have been looking into other guides to SA and found this one to be the absolute best.

The Blind leading the Blind
This must be one of the worst researched books ever written. IT IS OUT OF DATE! Too many places mentioned have closed down 3 years or more before printing. An unacceptably high number of telephone numbers are wrong. Advice given is quite out of date - this can be costly in Africa! This guide is badly rated by just about anyone that have used it.Of an estimated 600 or more pax that i have met that have used this ancient "bible" about 5% said it was OK, the rest hated it. I cannot recall 1 person saying that they have found it useful. I would seriously recommend that anyone contemplating buying this online first compare this with other travel books available. Pick a couple of things that interests you and compare the different guide books. Not Recommended at all.

Atrocious - worst book in the series
This book is an absolute dud and rates/deserves zero stars. Not only is just about all the information 3 years old, but this pathetic attemp misinforms travellers about everything especially safety. It would seemthat this is just a reprint spiced up with one or two new details. I'vebeen in tourism in SA 8 years and was astounded while reading sections.Places gets recommended you wouldn't see me dead in like an all nightSteers fast food place in Durban centre for example - a definite/guaranteedredistribution of wealth waiting to happen. Then in Jo'burg 4 hostelsmentioned after each other have all been closed for 3 years or more. Iwouldn't even have picked up on that but the traveller who had the booktried them when arriving and he wasted about half an hour. He said he wasalso going to dump the book after i brought him up to speed on the Durbansection. To Jon Murrays' defense (though i haven't met him) i don't thinkhe is the guilty party. To my knowledge he hasn't even been in SA since1996. But Jeff Williams has - a whole 3 weeks since 1996 of which heapparently spend 5 days in Swaziland. His political views on SA is wellknown in the industry here as is his alcoholism and his unprofessionalism.Although he has been tolerated up to now he will not be in future - notafter this publication. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Atlases    3. Lesotho    4. Road Atlases    5. Road maps    6. South Africa    7. Swaziland    8. Travel    9. Travel - Foreign    10. Travel Guides   

Reviews (1)

Small Countries for a Small Reader
As a small person (4'10"), I have always had a fondness for smallcountries. As a geographer, I enjoy knowing about places most people havenever heard of. And as a veteran armchair traveller...Well, this book couldhardly miss with me. Edward Fox sets out to explore the mysteries ofroyalty by visiting a half-dozen small, non-European kingdoms andattempting to meet their respective kings, with varying success. Dressed inhis official king-meeting costume of a blue Brooks Brothers suit and tie,Fox meets with royal responses that cover the spectrum: casual affabilityin Tonga, fierce hostility in Swaziland, democratic divinity on Java.Meeting King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga was a snap. Fox simply made anappointment for an interview. He could also observe the King on HisMajesty's daily royal bicycle ride cum motorcade.On the other hand,he spent weeks chasing after Sultan Qaboos of Oman as the King made toursand military inspections up and down his nation. Finally Fox gave up hopeof an interview, contenting himself with a bow and a limp handshake in areceiving line. Fox met a fair number of Yourba kings, of whom thereare roughly 700 in all of Nigeria. Having lost their temporal power to thecentral government, they are primarily leaders of traditional Yourbareligion. Yet kings are usually chosen on the basis of wealth andprofessional background, not for their knowledge of and belief in thesetraditions. The Ataoja of Oshogbo was a well-educated, devout Muslim, andthus found himself caught in a serious spiritual dilemma. Besides his ownreligious duties, his daughter was required by tradition to be highpriestess of Oshun, the Yourba Venus, and preside at the goddess's annualfestival. Another Royal Annoyance was an Austrian sculptress and sinceredevotee of the Yourba gods who, during her 40-year residence in Oshogbo hasmade the town the cultural capital of Yourba, turned Oshun's grove into asculpture garden, and erected (if you'll pardon the expression) anithyphallic statue on the palace grounds. Not the sort of decoration apious Muslim usually wants to see in his front yard. A monarch's lot is nota happy one!Swaziland turned out to be downright hostile. On hisrequest for an interview, Fox was told, "I have just been in England. Ididn't see the Queen Mother. Do you think I could have seen the QueenMother just like that?" The author's only sight of King Mswati II was atthe performance of a long, boring public ritual ("Take your hands out ofyour pockets and stand still!" he was scolded after about two hours). Buthe did manage to meet Maja II, king of the Mamba clan, whose ancestor wasgiven royal title and dignity by Mswati II's ancestor in 1819. Most Swazisdon't know he exists, and the Mamba kingship is omitted from all officialSwazi histories. Fox met Maja II at His Anonomyous Majesty's butcher shop,where they had a chat and a smoke, and Fox took a photo of the King posingbeside his pickup truck.Fox's last royal pilgrimage was to the islandof Java and Hamengkubuwono X, Sultan of Yogyakarta, whose kingship hasbecome entirely spiritual. As a disciple hoping to be accepted by a guru,Fox knew his quest would require patience. He moved into a hotel where noone spoke English, took no tourist excursions, bought no souvenirs, andsettled down to read "War and Peace" while waiting for his contacts to turnsomething up. Step by step, contact by contact, Fox closed in on his goal:a highly formal interview, with interpreter, in which the Sultan was asdemocratic as he could manage. He wasn't exactly Maja II with his pickup,but he went so far as to acknowledge and show interest in Fox's gift, whichis more than the cycling Taufa'ahau of Tonga did. Our last glimpse ofHamengkubuwono X is of His Majesty enthusiastically playing soccer in therain, and afterward handing out gifts of soccer balls and jerseys to hissubjects and fellow-players. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Indonesia    2. Nigeria    3. Oman    4. Rank & titles    5. Social classes    6. Swaziland    7. Tonga    8. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Reference - General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Swaziland    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (1)

Unique and beautifully written guide
I found this guide to be really useful, and to give me a really good sense of the places I went and the people I met.The practical info is very good, but unlike some of the other guides which focus mainly on practicalinfo, this book also gave good insights about the different peoples livingin South Africa (there's amazing diversity there, and the book helpsexplain who's who), the landscape, the history, and the animals (it has awildlife guide that is a real help).It was a lot of fun to read and keptme entertained as I was deciding where to go next.The pictures scatteredthrougout the book are also beautiful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Lesotho    5. Republic of South Africa    6. Swaziland    7. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Lesotho    2. Republic of South Africa    3. Swaziland    4. Travel    5. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. International - General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign   

Reviews (3)

A five star travel companion: full of stories...
we just came back from our south africa tour using the footprint handbook to zig zag more than 10 000 kilometres through the country. this book is a five star travel companion: very much up to date in sections like accommodation addresses, price categories, timetables - and the footprint kept us entertained as well. With little personality stories and well researched history background. the best thing for us: footprint calls it a handbook and not a guide book and that is what you need if you are self sufficient travellers like us in our vw kombi. look up the little sleepy karoo towns you are passing through on your way to major tourist destinations and even there you will find interesting details about the country. also well researched are the route descriptions if you are tending to go off the beaten track and for instance go off exploring some of the winding roads, that thomas baines designed more than 100 years ago along the garden route. if you use this book as a reference book while having your own ideas what to see and where to go, you won't get lost. instead you will get an idea what living in the rainbow nation is all about. one regret: a pity that the cool story about johnnie, the cave man, who explored big parts of the oudshoorn cango caves, got shortened in the new edition.

Footprint leaving all others behind...
It is rare to find such a well written, comprehensive and detailed guide. The maps are excellent and cover more than just the essential. Information is as up to date as you can get it - this guide gets reprinted yearly. I also understand that from the time editing is finished it appears on the shelves within 3 months. The print is smallish and the paper is thin. However, the information is absolutely incredible - about 8 times more comprehensive than its nearest rival! From hiking trails to detail on less frequented places. This is deservedly the no. 1 selling book for South Africa - probably as timetables of trains, busses and Baz Bus is published and it makes trip planning really easy. It is also not written only for budget travellers - it is a book for everyone. Highly recommended.

The best guide to South Africa
This is by far the best guide to South Africa. The information is very comprehensive, accurate and informative. The format is a sturdy hardback that's small enough to be easy to pop into your bag but won't get batteredeasily. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign