2008-06-11 Not bad, but not the best

Having visited Madagascar several times in recent years Ive used a number of guide books so I was eager to see what this new edition of the Lonely Planet Madagascar & Comoros guide book is like.

Perhaps its main advantage is its size. Its pretty small, so if baggage space is at a real premium this could be an advantage for you. However the small size comes at a cost - much of the information is not very detailed. Its largely the sort of information you might easily find out yourself travelling without a guidebook. And remember, a quarter of this book is about the Comoros - not useful if you're only going to Madagascar.
(I should mention here that I have never been to the Comoros, so if you're considering buying this for a trip to the Comoros rather than a trip to Madagascar, Im not realy qualified to review its quality as a Comoros guide.)

I was disappointed with the quality of some of the background information. Its evident that the writers are not really experts in Madagascar and there are many mistakes in the historical detail and information about the wildlife, including incorrect names for animals. On one page it says "Madagascar's wildlife is so little known that as recently as 1986 a new species of lemur was discovered". This is a laughably out-of-date comment given that there have been numerous (dozens) of new lemur species described since 1986!

All things considered, if you need something lightweight and all you want is some lists of phone numbers and addresses for hotels and restaurants, this is a useful little book. But if you need a guide that gives you the more detailed background information you need for planning a trip to Madagascar, then I highly recommend the Bradt guide written by Hilary Bradt. She is evidently a leading expert in the country and that book has contributions by countless experts on other aspects of Madagascar from its culture and history to wildlife and specialist travel advice (like travelling independently or cycling).