The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
by Candice Millard
from Broadway
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.
The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.
After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.
From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut.
First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century
by David Lida
from Riverhead Hardcover
A panoramic literary portrait of Mexico City— a vibrant, seductive, paradoxical city now commanding the world’s attention and showing us the way to the future of urban life.
David Lida moved to Mexico City fifteen years ago in search of a kind of culture, energy, and spontaneity that he thought had been lost in his native New York City. What he found was a thriving, miraculous urban center comprising centuries of living history, even as its rapid development was making it a prominent force on the world stage. Through the eyes of an American who has become an insider, First Stop in the New World is a street-level panorama of contemporary Mexico City—from the high arts to the sex industry; from the dense jungle of urban politics to the interactions of everyday commerce; from one end of this five-hundred-square-mile city to the other. Lida expertly captures the kaleidoscopic nature of life in a city defined by pleasure and danger, justice and lawlessness, ecstatic joy and appalling tragedy—in limbo between the developed and developing worlds.
While London and Paris have become more homogenous, less captivating, and less surprising since the days when Dickens and Balzac wrote about them, Mexico City points to our urban future—if Manhattan was, as posited by Rem Koolhaas, the urban “Rosetta Stone of the twentieth century,” Mexico City will play that same role in the twenty-first. And with his personal, literary-journalistic account, David Lida will serve as the ultimate chronicler of this exciting city at a vital moment in its history.
Peru (Country Guide)
by Sara Benson
from Lonely Planet
Discover Peru
Bike, hike and ride a scary cable car to Machu Picchu on one of five alternatives to the busy Inca Trail.
Glide past manatees, dolphins, monkeys and macaws in the Reserva Nacional Pacaya-Samiria.
Swill a scoopful of chicha - saliva-fermented corn beer - to earn the respect of the locals.
Descend into the narrow, hallucinatory underground chambers of the millennia-old ruins at Chavin de Huantar.
In This Guide:
Three authors, 144 days of on-the-road research via planes, riverboats, and dozens of death-defying bus rides.
Dedicated Peru Outdoors chapter, plus expanded activities coverage throughout.
Get the inside story on the Inca world from notes explorer and author Hugh Thomson.
Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the minute reviews and traveler suggestions.
Frommer's Costa Rica 2008 (Frommer's Complete)
by Eliot Greenspan
from Frommers
Completely updated every year (unlike most of the competition), Frommer's Costa Rica features gorgeous color photos of the lush rain forest, the amazing array of wildlife, and the spectacular beaches that await you. Personally researched by a longtime resident, it's the only truly up-to-date guide that gives you such in-depth coverage of this fast-changing country, with recommended accommodations in every price category. You'll visit rugged wilderness preserves and sleepy beach towns, spectacular orchid gardens and mineral hot springs at the foot of a steaming volcano. There are adventures here to suit all ages and abilities: swooping from treetop platform to treetop platform on a canopy tour, taking a dip in a jungle swimming hole, spotting playful spider monkeys as you hike through lush foliage, windsurfing on Lake Arenal, or watching endangered sea turtles nest on the beach. With Frommer's in hand, you'll experience the wonder of Costa Rica's amazing biodiversity, as we point out the best places to see hundreds of unique, colorful species of animals and plants. You'll even get a color fold-out map!
The Machu Picchu Guidebook: A Self-Guided Tour
by Ruth M. Wright
from Johnson Books
This revised edition includes newly discovered sites. New photos and maps with full-color illustrations of real life scences from National Geographic Magazine.
Peru (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE)
by DK Publishing
from DK Travel
Whether you are planning to visit a city, a region or a country, DK's foolproof 'Eyewitness' approach makes learning about a place a pleasure in itself. All the traditional guidebook subject matter is covered-descriptions of sights, opening times, hotels, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, phrase books etc- but, with the help of specially commissioned illustrations and maps, DK makes essential information easy to access and quick to absorb. No other guides explain the history of a place as clearly in words and pictures. DK Eyewitness Travel Guides-the best guides ever created.
Continuing to expand our South American coverage, this beautifully illustrated Eyewitness guide will be the premier travel book to Peru, with complete coverage of Lima, the Amazon Basin, and, of course, Machu Picchu. Whether your interests lie in floating on Lake Titicaca, watching the condors soar at Colca Canyon or experimenting with South American cuisine, DK Eyewitness Peru will help you find the essence of the Andes.
Rand McNally 2009 Road Atlas: United States / Canada / Mexico (Rand Mcnally Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico)
from Rand McNally & Company
Guide to Costa Rican Spanish
by Christopher Howard
from Costa Rica Books
A complete guide to Spanish for Travelers. Practical Pronunciation Exercises to Help you Sound Like a Native Spanish Speaker Useful expressions for Real Life Situations That You Will Encounter. Costa Rican Slang. Practical Vocabulary, Including Business and Legal Terms. Includes an English/Spanish-Spanish/English Dictionary.
God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre
by Richard Grant
from Free Press
Twenty miles south of the Arizona-Mexico border, the rugged, beautiful Sierra Madre mountains begin their dramatic ascent. Almost 900 miles long, the range climbs to nearly 11,000 feet and boasts several canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon. The rules of law and society have never taken hold in the Sierra Madre, which is home to bandits, drug smugglers, Mormons, cave-dwelling Tarahumara Indians, opium farmers, cowboys, and other assorted outcasts. Outsiders are not welcome; drugs are the primary source of income; murder is all but a regional pastime. The Mexican army occasionally goes in to burn marijuana and opium crops -- the modern treasure of the Sierra Madre -- but otherwise the government stays away. In its stead are the drug lords, who have made it one of the biggest drug-producing areas in the world.
Fifteen years ago, journalist Richard Grant developed what he calls "an unfortunate fascination" with this lawless place. Locals warned that he would meet his death there, but he didn't believe them -- until his last trip. During his travels Grant visited a folk healer for his insomnia and was prescribed rattlesnake pills, attended bizarre religious rituals, consorted with cocaine-snorting policemen, taught English to Guarijio Indians, and dug for buried treasure. On his last visit, his reckless adventure spiraled into his own personal heart of darkness when cocaine-fueled Mexican hillbillies hunted him through the woods all night, bent on killing him for sport.
With gorgeous detail, fascinating insight, and an undercurrent of dark humor, God's Middle Finger brings to vivid life a truly unique and uncharted world.
Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands (Country Guide)
by Danny Palmerlee
from Lonely Planet
Climb the snow-capped peak of Volcán Chimborazo, the most distant point from the center of the Earth. Get up close and personal with capuchin monkeys in the central plaza of MisahuallÃ. Step back in time at Ingapirca, Ecuador’s finest example of Inca architecture. Take in the surf scene on the south coast. Sophisticated cities, glaciated volcanoes, the lush Amazon Basin – our inimitable guide gives you access to all the treasures of exotic Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands.
Go Wild – special chapter on Galápagos wildlife by noted nature writer David Andrew helps you identify the many species unique to the islands.
Venture Out – expanded focus on activities, advenÂture and ecotravel, plus a dedicated Itineraries chapter to help you explore this compact yet varied country.
Get Smart – comprehensive History and Culture chapters provide insight into Ecuador’s volatile political landscape and vital indigenous communities.
Walk The Walk – discover the colonial charms of Quito and Cuenca with our detailed maps and walking tour.
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