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Title: Footprint Brazil Handbook by Ben Box, Mick Day, Jane Egginton ISBN: 1-903471-44-3 Publisher: Footprint Pub. Date: February, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.57 (7 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: I detest this travel guide
Comment: I am currently traveling in Brazil with this book, and it frustrates me so much that I'm actually paying money at this internet cafe to prevent others from experiencing the same pain.
I bought this book because it was the most recent guidebook for Brazil, and because several people referred to Footprint as "the Bible for South America." I suppose that analogy is accurate--like the Bible, this book is awkwardly worded, cryptic and useless for day-to-day logistics. But I have several more specific complaints. Open to the very first page, and you encounter a theme for the entire book: a featureless, useless map and confusing editorial errors. Maps, if you're lucky enough to get one, rarely contain more than 2-3 recommended hotels and restaurants (even if the text refers to several), and almost no other landmarks like travel agents, banks, airlines, etc. As a result, we walked 45 minutes across Rio to a travel agent because a) the guidebook didn't show us the airline office two blocks in the other direction and b) the map left out a significant chunk of land--we thought the walk would be only 15 minutes. Then we paid for a taxi to a restaurant only 5 blocks away because neither our hotel clerk nor the cab driver knew the address given in the guidebook. Of course the restaurant wasn't labeled on the map, DESPITE that it was recommended twice in the text, and well within the map's margins. These things would never happen with a Lonely Planet.
In Praia do Forte, one of the only 14 places the guidebook recommends throughout Brazil, no map was given, and no address and phone number were listed for the only budget accommodation listed. As a result, we spent 15 minutes at the tourist office while the clerk called around town to see if anyone knew the hotel. We finally gave up and found our own (more expensive) lodging, only to learn that a nice hostel has been in business there for years. I could go on and on with examples like these.
Which leads me to another complaint: I no longer trust this book's recommendations. They are incomplete and in many cases wrong--more than a few times, places listed as excellent lodging/restaurants or good places to meet travelers are crummy, vacant spots.
I have two final complaints. One, the Language section is an absolute joke. For pronunciation, it basically tells you that letters are said differently throughout Brazil, but it doesn't guide you in any way. It also fails to list many common things you'll need to say as a traveler, including "yes." Unbelievable. And two, this book contains advertising!
I gave this review two stars because the book does have decent Directory sections. But of course there's rarely any indication where the locations in the directory can actually be found. In summary, using this guidebook means you'll need to visit the tourist office in every town for maps, hotels and restaurant listings... in which case you don't need this guidebook at all.
Rating: 1
Summary: Worthless Travel Handbook
Comment: I purchased this guidebook because my much trusted travel store 'highly recommended' the book. I have traveled all over the world and I have never been more frustrated, and annoyed, at a guide book than I am with this one. It has been completely worthless - from a useless and incomplete language section, to poorly edited maps (or no maps given), recommended Pousadas with no address and no phone number, to sections that go on-and-on about what to do while in a town only tell you to hunt down the local paper (which is in Portguese)to find out where to go for a "do not miss" experience. A three year old Lonely Planet has been far more useful and accurate than this latest edition. My question - who writes and edits for Footprint and what are they smoking?
Rating: 1
Summary: Stick with Lonely Planet!!!
Comment: I originally selected this guidebook because it seemed like an adequate alternative to Lonely Planet, which are great guidebooks that I have depended on for years. However, I was in search of a guidebook that's a little bit different and more detailed for my trip to Brazil. On its face, Footprint fulfilled this requirement. However, I was quick to find out that I was dead wrong. Simply put, the guidebook was a total disappointment. The writing is absolutely awful and I'm still sitting here wondering whether Footprint has an editorial staff. The guidebook literally contains sentences that are incoherent and incomplete. While it's historical and cultural description of various Brazilian cities and towns are adequate, the remaining components of the guidebook fail to meet the demands of a practical traveler. Most notably, it's departure and arrival times, and directions in getting around a specific city are impossible to understand and, in some cases, dead wrong. Thank god someone I was traveling with brought her Lonely Planet. A side-by-side comparison revealed that
my purchase of Footprint was a waste of hard-earned money.
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Title: Say It in Portuguese (Brazilian) by Dover ISBN: 0486208095 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1955 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: Lonely Planet Brazil (LONELY PLANET BRAZIL) by John Noble, Andrew Draffen, Robyn Jones, Chris McAsey, Leonardo Pinheiro ISBN: 1864501464 Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.99 |
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Title: Collins Gem Portuguese Dictionary English-Portuguese, Portuguese-English by HarperCollins ISBN: 0004724097 Publisher: HarperResource Pub. Date: 15 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: The Rough Guide to Brazil (Rough Guide. Brazil) by David Cleary, Dilwyn Jenkins, Oliver Marshall, Rough Guides ISBN: 1843530775 Publisher: Rough Guides Pub. Date: 27 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Brazilians by Joseph A. Page ISBN: 0201441918 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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