WILDERNESS TRAVEL
The Lost World: Roraima to Angel Falls   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Lonely Planet Venezuela  •   Lonely Planet
GUIDEBOOK •  2010 •  PAPER  • 312 PAGES
A compact, practical travel guide in the popular series. With a 100-page overview of the country, its history and culture, along with detailed information on where to go, and what to see, eat and do. With 67 maps and city plans and a section of color photographs. (VNZ03, $25.99)
  Lonely Planet Venezuela
In Trouble Again  •  Redmond O'Hanlon
EXPLORATION •  1990 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES • FAVORITE
O'Hanlon starts this impossibly witty account of a four-month journey into the Venezuelan Amazon with a litany of the insects, protozoa, snakes and predators that can do you harm. A comic masterpiece, the book is also noteworthy for its excellent descriptions of the wildlife, environment and peoples of the Amazon. Imagine a PBS documentary hosted by the Monty Python troupe. (AMZ04, $13.95)
  In Trouble Again
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice  •  Mark Plotkin
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1994 •  PAPER  • 328 PAGES • FAVORITE
This is the stuff of adventure movies. Like Russ Mittermeir and Wade Davis, Mark Plotkin is the student of the extraordinary Richard Schultes at Harvard University, a pioneer in the field of ethnobotany. In this marvelous book Plotkin recounts his work documenting the use of medicinal plants among remote tribes in the Northwest Amazon of Suriname, Venezuela, Guyana and French Guiana. The book is a portrait of people and their environment, a tale of adventure and -- most of all -- a moving example of science in the service of preservation. He reminds us, "every time a shaman dies, it is as if a library burned down." (AMZ15, $16.00)
  Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice
Tropical Nature  •  Adrian Forsyth  •  Ken Miyata
NATURAL HISTORY •  1984 •  PAPER  • 248 PAGES • FAVORITE
A lively, lucid portrait of the tropics as seen by two uncommonly observant and thoughtful field biologists. Its 17 marvelous essays introduce the habitats, ecology, plants and animals of the Central and South American rainforest. With a lengthy appendix of practical advice for the tropical traveler. (GPS13, $16.00)
  Tropical Nature
Venezuela Map  •   ITMB
MAP
A colorful map of Venezuela and the lower Caribbean at a scale of 1:1,750,000. It contains a detailed inset of Caracas. One Side. 30x39 inches. (VNZ02, $10.95)
  Venezuela Map
 

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Jungle Travel and Survival  •  John Walden, M.D.   • GUIDEBOOK  •  Medical doctor and frequent Amazon-traveler Walden provides useful advice on avoiding malaria, parasites, poisonous and dangerous animals, dehydration and much more in this compact guide. (AMZ73, $18.95)
 
 
Forgotten Continent, The Battle for Latin America's Soul  •  Michael Reid   • HISTORY  •  Economist editor Reid draws on his years in the cities, presidential palaces and shantytowns of Central and South America in this portrait of a region rich in oil, farmland and culture and its prospects in the face of globalization. (SAM123, $22.00)
 
 
Liberators, Latin America's Struggle for Independence 1810-1830  •  Robert Harvey   • HISTORY  •  Focused on the heroism and derring-do of seven legendary men, this epic history of colonial Latin America includes Simon Bolivar and General Jose de San Martin, in the fight for independence from Spain. (SAM35, $18.95)
 
 
Yanomami, The Fierce Controversy and What We Might Learn from It  •  Robert Borofsky   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  A study of the controversy surrounding anthropological studies of the Yanomami. (SAM67, $24.95)
 
 
Papillon  •  Henri Charriere   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  Charriere recounts in heart-stopping detail his escape from the notorious French penal colony Devil's Island in this modern classic, originally published in 1968 in the New Yorker (and made into a memorable film). (SAM83, $15.99)
 
 
The Creature in the Map, A Journey to El Dorado  •  Charles Nicholl   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  Nicholl uncovers fascinating facts about the original, ill-fated 16th-century voyage of Sir Walter Ralegh while describing his own experiences on the Orinoco river of today in this meeditative account of a quest for the golden city of El Dorado. (VNZ05, $20.00)
 
 
The Lost Steps  •  Alejo Carpentier  •  Harriet Onis   • LITERATURE  •  A hallucinatory novel of a young urban musicologist's journey to a fictional city in the Amazon basin. For those with an appreciation for demanding literature, this is a celebrated masterpiece. (AMZ18, $18.50)
 
 
The Lost World  •  Arthur Conan Doyle   • LITERATURE  •  Inspired by the magnificent landscapes surrounding the Orinoco River, Conan Doyle's classic follows an intrepid scientist into the Amazon Basin in search of prehistoric creatures. (VNZ04, $10.00)
 
 
The Mighty Orinoco  •  Jules Verne   • LITERATURE  •  Appearing for the first time in English, this 1898 novel from science fiction pioneer Jules Verne features a harrowing trip up the uncharted Orinoco, full of encounters with dangerous creatures, fearsome Indians, and infectious diseases. (VNZ07, $19.95)
 
 
Birds of Tropical America  •  Steven Hilty   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Hilty serves up essays on how to find and better appreciate the dizzying variety of birds, their habits and habitats, diversity and distribution. (CAM39, $19.95)
 
 
The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon  •  Michael Goulding  •  Ronaldo Barthem  •  Efrem Ferreira   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  This beautiful, profusely illustrated atlas of the river includes its major tributaries and 150 full-color maps. Michael Goulding (Floods of Fortune) and Brazilian biologists Ronaldo Barthem and Efrem Ferreira provide the accompanying text. (AMZ82, $39.95)
 
 
A Guide to the Birds of Venezuela  •  Steven Hilty  •  Guy Tudor  •  J.A. Gwynne   • FIELD GUIDE  •  The classic South American bird guide, revised and expanded by Steve Hilty. A bit hefty for a field guide at just over 4 pounds, but still an essential reference to over 1,400 bird species. Travelers in the Brazilian Amazon will find it especially useful. (FG13, $65.00)
 
 
Amazon Insects - A Photo Guide  •  James L. Castner   • FIELD GUIDE  •  Spectacular, weird and commonly encountered bugs, butterflies, katydids, leafhoppers, ants, bees, spiders and other insects of the Amazon basin. Geared for the traveler, this handy book features 200 color photographs and accompanying text. (AMZ63, $20.00)
 
 
Brazil: Amazon & Pantanal, Travellers' Wildlife Guides  •  Les Beletsky  •  David Pearson   • FIELD GUIDE  •  A comprehensive handbook to the flora, fauna and habitats of Brazil. The 100 color plates feature 90 species of amphibians and reptiles, 310 birds, 70 mammals, 30 insects and 50 common trees and plants. (BZL30, $29.95)
 
 
Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, A Field Guide  •  L.H. Emmons   • FIELD GUIDE  •  Compact enough to slip into your daypack, this guide to the mammals of the New World tropics features 29 color plates of more than 200 species. (GPS12, $39.00)
 
 


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