Lonely Planet West Africa (ISBN 1740592492)

Book Description:
Rewarding and rugged, West Africa's 17 countries have much to offer the adventurous traveler. Laze on golden-sand beaches, trek up cool Mt Cameroon or see Saharan caravans set off from Timbuktu — this updated guide leads you through all of this alluring region. Covers: Bein, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Ashanti, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. More than 170 maps, including a colour map of the region. Full-colour Arts & Craftwork special section Dedicated sections on West Africa's music and peoples Stay safe and healthy - the lowdown on hotspots and health issues Eat your fill, rest your head - places to eat and stay, to suit all budgets

Good for a shoestring traveller, one-sided at times:
I once said I would never buy a Lonely Planet guide again, so disappointed I was with their Iceland and Greenland book which was poorly researched, inaccurate and full of rabid anti-American rhetoric. For my trip to Ghana, it was, however, a choice of only three books available: a semiprofessional Bradt's Ghana (not a guidebook really, more an amateurish newsletter), supremely boring Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. I bought them all in the name of research. I would say Lonely Planet is best of them all, although certain chapters preaching about evil ways of Western capitalism still reek of Lonely Planet's self-appointed role of bettering the world. Quite annoying, really, and in many cases hypocritical, coming from a lean-and-mean profit-making publishing house. Most facts about travel, eating, accommodation, etc are accurate and well-researched, although as usual information to someone with a bit bigger budget is very fragmented. They could give more information about useful websites for both ticket booking and accommodation. Overall, if you are only buying one book for West Africa, this is the one. If you can get two - buy the Rough Guide as well: it may be boring and cultural information reads as if it was written by your local tax office, but you will get many additional addresses and phone numbers.

From a returned Peace Corps Volunteer:
This book is practically the bible for W. Africa travel. I lived and worked in W. Africa for 3 years (2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer) and I never went anywhere without consulting LP. The information is as accurate as anything out there. It offers you suggested itineraries and "off the beaten path" suggestions as well as the traditionally touristy destinations. Many parts are less objective than other parts and the writers tend to harp on corruption. But W. Africa is a pretty corrupt place in general. If you don't like the editorial sections, skip 'em, the info you need is still there.

Best written Lonely Planet I've read:
I really enjoyed this book. I feel it is the best written LP I've ever read (and I've read and traveled with many LP titles). I used the Sénégal section and found the hotel listings current and the maps very accurate. I really liked the special boxes with additional information on dangers, scams, and personal safety. I personally witnessed many things that I had read about in this book, making me ready for would be scam artists. One guy approached me and said "Remember me from the hotel lobby?" I had to keep myself from laughing. I replied back "I think so, which hotel?" and he didn't know what to say. With LP West Africa you will be well prepared to travel in one of the hardest places to travel in the world. NOTE: The book is 4 years old and the region is even more unsafe now then it was 4 years ago. Be careful when traveling there.

SMEARED BY DEROGATORY PHRASES:
Indeed, this book ("Lonely Planet West Africa") did a good job in outlining many of the popular tourist attractions that are located in this Sub-Saharan region of Africa. I also appreciated its details on several tourists' trails, accomodations, means of transportation, and so on. However, I was very disappointed to note that (just like the "Lonely Planet Africa on a Shoestring") this book is full of discouraging comments. Some of the phrases Lonely Planet used in this book are quite offensive. For sure, most foreigners who travel to (West) African countries are not expecting to see a paradise, but that does not mean that there is no better way of presenting real and imaginary negative thoughts. This book is smeared by terms and phrases, which I consider derogatory to both (West) Africa and (West) Africans. As a result of this, I will never recommend it to anyone until there is a change of heart by Lonely Planet in subsequent editions.

Decent info, but presented awkwardly.:
This is an adequate guide, but was disappointing in a few areas. Firstly, it is not geared to someone making a comprehensive West Africa trip but rather reads like a collection of individual country guides. It's OK if you are going to just fly in a hang out in a single country, but planning cross border itineraries is a chore. There could be better integration for the area. Secondly, using the maps and references to them is a bit taxing. Place names that would likely be obsure to the reader are presented in the text without specifying country or area; the only way to figure out where or how is to scan maps randomly for some idea of specifically where they are talking about. Place names are often referred to with different spellings, or more colloquially, in the text than on the maps, making finding them once again a tiring guessing game. There is a lack of consistency. Beyond that, the maps are small and lacking in detail. In other words, you can sort it all out, but this guide makes you work harder than you should have to. You get the feeling that it needed to be proofed once more. I agree with the accusations of ethnocentrism mentioned previously, but I've grown used to it in LP guides, and in a way appreciate seeing the author's predjudices up front. Use this guide and you'll have a fine trip, I think, but you'll spend too many hours wrestling logistic details from the text when you could be perusing the fun stuff. I use LP, Rough Guide, and Moon guides alternately when I travel. Actually, I usually buy all three, study them all before departure, and take the one I think is most useful. I have not found any one brand to be consistently better or worse, it varies by area and author. In this case I think the Rough Guide is much better. It very neatly addresses all my reservations above, and with a better layout.