Central and South America by Road (Bradt Guides)

Rating:
Summary: Intro course and editorial on driving in Latin America
Review: This book attempts to fill a gap, for real travelers as well as the armchair variety (the latter will be better served). Beware that any such book will quickly become obsolete as conditions and countries' practices change.

Several years ago the publisher (Bradt) sent me a query on writing a portion of a book covering this topic, since I had ridden the southernmost 10,000 km of the Panamerican Highway and worked in part of the affected region. To cover this enormous territory a team of writers is almost essential. Bradt had the opportunity to consolidate the commentaries of several good writers experienced in this subject area, as they typically do in other guides.

But this book fell short of Bradt's usual success, and it was disappointing to see the result : too much personal opinion and railing at the darkness and local customs. For a better, more concise, and arguably more up-to-date approach to the fundamental issues of driving in Latin America, try the South American Handbook and a membership to the South American Explorers Club (SAEC), who can offer both WWW/online driving data as well as driving information packages (Bradt, this book's publisher, handles membership in the SAEC in the UK). --Andreu Bruixot