Travel to Central America

Moon Handbooks Nicaragua (Moon Handbooks : Nicaragua)

Format: Paperback
Author: Randy Wood
ReleaseDate: 09 November, 2005
Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing, Moon Handbooks
Rating:

Like Nicaragua itself--just OK
Take Granada: if you go there expecting a colonial jewel in a beautiful setting, like I did, you'll be disappointed. A solid guidebook, but I completely agree with other reviewers that the author often makes places sound better than they truly are. It is, at best, a very poor man's Spain, and that's generous. The book had me convinced I should persuade mi esposa to expatriate there. . . nope. There's a relatively small district that's quite charming, but even that is far dirtier than it should be considering it's potential for tourism, national pride, etc.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go to Granada, visit Nicaragua, or buy this book. Just don't buy all the hype this book is selling. The author creates high expectations, and if you lose sight of the fact that he's talking about the 2nd poorest country in Latin America you'll be disappointed like me. There are far, far, far better places in the world. . . maybe I'm just spoiled having visited several of them. If you set low expectations you'll probably enjoy it. We traveled on about $10/pp/day so high standards wasn't an issue, just false expectations. Happy Travels. .

"The Good Book"
But this book is quite good. Since this is the ONLY guidebook available for Nicaragua, we could have been stuck with whatever they gave us. The writing is clever, informative, and thorough. I used it every step of the way while traveling -- for sights to see, food to eat, and places to stay. It was such a companion for the trip, I just refer to it as "The Good Book. ".

A good, average guide.
I normaly purchase the DK eyewitness series, or AAA spiral guides, because of their pictures and maps. Honestly, I only purchased this book because of the lack of options in Nicaragua travel guides. But, after spending a month in Nicaragua in Jan 06, I definately recommend this book. Alot of the prices are out of date, especially in regards to the hotels and stuff. . . but the places and locations never change, and the guide is, for the most part, right on.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Central America travel books.

	Nicaragua Map (Travel Reference Map)
	Footprint Nicaragua (Nicaragua Guidebook) (Nicaragua Travel Guide)
	Living and Investing in the New Nicaragua
	Lonely Planet Nicaragua & El Salvador