Lonely Planet West Africa (Travel Guide) Paperback – September 1, 2013

Nothing to write!

I must echo the previous review. This guide is a complete waste of money. It has shrunk from over 900 pages to about 500, and much of that is back-ground and cultural information. (And it would be even smaller if they hadn't decided, for reasons unknown, to include 40 pages on Morocco -- a country which boasts its very own 500 page guidebook.)There is no coverage at all of Mali, Niger or Guinea, due to the current dangers of traveling there.And rather than, sensibly, devoting more pages and more detailed coverage to those countries that CAN be visited safely, those chapters are much smaller than in previous editions -- typically about half the size. (15 pages on Gambia; 20 on Benin vs. 30 and 40 in the last edition.)Given that West Africa is a part of the world where good travel info is hard to find on the internet (few hotels, except the top of the line ones, have websites, there are few reviews on travel sites), this is a part of the world where travelers are going to need to still rely on the printed word, and where LP could have, and should have, stepped up to the plate.If they didn't feel it safe or worthwhile to visit West Africa, they shouldn't have bothered with this new edition at all.

Planning travels, very helpful

I have to agree with the others. There isn't a lot of information in this book. Don't even buy it if your looking for information on Guinea, Mali or Niger. Those chapters only have a few pages of cultural and historical information due to "few travelers" heading to those countries.

This guidebook is a piece of crap, to be frank. LP has removed most of the useful info like most maps and dropped many smaller destinations completely. Much of the info (especially in the Ghana section) is quite incorrect. Use a different guidebook.

As someone who's been traveling to West Africa on a semi-regular basis for the past 15 years, I am quite familiar with the various editions of Lonely Planet's West Africa guide. The earlier editions used to be excellent. Subsequent editions turned mediocre, with adequate practical information but scant background information, and feeling more like a collection of individual chapters rather than a cohesive guidebook about the entire region. This edition is a huge disappointment to put it mildly. As the previous reviewer noted, it's shrunk to about half its previous size, and that only because of the addition of some 50 pages on Morocco which is not part of West Africa, and which the previous editions quite sensibly did not cover. Mali, Niger and Guinea on the other hand are no longer covered, the excuse for Guinea being that few travelers are heading to that country these days. The information on the remaining countries is quite rudimentary. In fact, for most the coverage is not more detailed than LP Africa, so there is really no reason whatsoever to buy this book.Sadly, it appears that Rough Guides will not be releasing a new edition of its excellent West Africa, so the only remaining choices are Bradt's generally excellent country guides where they exist, and (for French speakers) the individual country guides by Petit Fute.

Wow. Just WOW. If you are a lifelong traveler, there was a point that you would not have thought of leaving the country without the appropriate rendition of the Lonely Planet. Then, slowly but surely, the quality and reliability began to decline. It has taken two decades of deteriorating quality to reach this point, but there is not much lower to go than the West Africa guide. Completely lacks detail-Just barely skims over the top of the basics. Here's what we need to know: How to get places (public transportation schedules, times, trip length and prices), where to stay (which part of the city), is it safe (honest, realistic risks), and how much does it cost. Why do some countries have highlights, but none of the before mentioned information? If it is the opinion of the authors that a country is too dangerous to travel in, say it. Don't just skip-over countries and areas.

I don't know how these writers came up with the nonsense they've enclosed in this waste of paper, but it in no way matched our experiences in Ghana, Burkina Faso, & Mali. They underplay the dangers in all these countries, particularly Ghana, & puff up ideals about the cultures that just do not exist in reality. There is no mention of hijackers on the roads all over Ghana (pulling over public transports at gunpoint), but it is a well-known problem, especially at night, & we were fortunate to have other sources. Suggesting that travelers should stay with locals in their homes when invited is at best, irresponsible, & at worst, potentially life threatening. Either way, it's a good way to get yourself into an awkward & dangerous sitiation in West Africa. Shame on LP for its careless suggestions. Prices, time tables, maps & other important information are also inaccurate and greatly lacking, but the dangerous omissions are the truly remarkable ones.ALL of West Africa is dangerous & you should always be on your guard when traveling there. Don't trust people, particularly those who initially address you as "my friend"... these are just two statements I wish LP had included in this utter disappoimtment of a guide book.

I totally agree with other reviews. This edition is to me the disappointment of the year. Especially, since I was so much looking forward to getting it before my trip to West Africa in the end of November 2013, whereas now I am considering if I should leave it at home. If these kind of LP guidebooks used to be called bibles, this edition should be treated as a flyer - so thin it is and so little information it has. And the explanation for not covering (de facto) Guinea or Mali ('there are not many people going there') is probably the writer's joke (you could probably write this about most of the countries coverd by this guidebook, you'd save more on paper). I have the old edition of the LP West Africa (1999) at home and went through it last night: it was twice as thick as this one and every single page was full of information or pictures. And it covered countries like Guinea too (and I doubt there were much more people going there at that time than nowadays). Needless to say, I am now seriously considering taking with me to West Africa this old edition instead of the new one.

It was a good book n had lots of different places in it however just needed a little bit more info on Ghana

It would have been good to read the reviews before buying it. It's really poor. No information for Mali, Niger and Guinea because according to Lonely Planet only few people travel there. It's a poor excuse. What about expats living there? They use guide books as well. And there are also only few people travel Nigeria. But that's included. Moreover it was always possible to go e.g. to Bamako.Furthermore a lot of information are faulty. Examples? Here you go: There is a consulate for Burkina Faso in Cotonou (Benin republic). It has been there for ages and people are very friendly. The Nigerian embassy doesn't only issue transit visa but it takes a couple of days. The best place to stay in Grand Popo (l'Auberge) is not included. Regarding Nigeria: Flights from Benin City to Lagos have never been as high as 45.000 Naira (business class maybe but not economy class). There are a lot of other examples.It would have been wise to ask "locals" before publishing it.

I have been using lonely planets since 17 years now and I could see a dramatic drop on quality. But this one was the worst as some of the information is completely wrong. For example, they write they a trip takes 3 hours and then it takes 15. When we asked the locals they also told us that it takes 3. Once on the bus you figure out that this is not even possible. In such cases you see that the authors have just asked someone and never done the trip themselves.

I use to purchase LP's guide since about 15 years and I still consider them the best pubblication of this kind, but I was pretty disappointed with this one. Part of my job requires me to travel around western Africa and I've found almost nothing useful.