Posted by bradtpress on 25 May 2009
Tony Blair announces the launch of Bradt’s new guide to Sierra Leone!
Although the civil war’s been history since 2000, if you mention travelling to Sierra Leone it’s assumed you’re either an NGO worker or a trooper in the SAS. Even in Freetown, Europeans are inevitably greeted with the polite enquiry ‘What project?’ in anticipation of a multisyllabic acronym response starting with U and N. However, Bradt has been here before with its Mozambique and Rwanda guidebooks amongst others, proving that the right sort of tourism can be an effective means to support a shattered economy and build firm foundations for future development. Cecil Williams, manager of the national tourist board, says, ‘We need people to know that Sierra Leone is a destination that is safe, in spite of the fact we have come out of war. There’s no mayhem on the streets.’
Though the concept of leisure travel to Sierra Leone remains incredible to many, it’s worth noting that around the time Kenya’s political deadlock erupted into inter-communal violence, Sierra Leone held ‘free, fair and credible elections’ resulting in the transfer of power to a successful opposition presidential candidate. None other than Tony Blair, visiting Sierra Leone in April 2009, noted in the Guardian that ‘Bradt is bringing out the first dedicated guidebook to Sierra Leone’, and pointed out that the country ‘is thriving and tourists are returning… You can now fly here direct from Europe in six hours. Other post-conflict countries such as Mozambique and Rwanda have shown that tourism can generate revenues of well over $100m. Sierra Leone has a chance to follow in their footsteps, with tourism potentially overtaking diamonds as the country’s largest foreign exchange earner.’ Bradt’s Sierra Leone, written by Reuters reporters and former Sunday Times staffers, Katrina Manson and James Knight, sees through a long-cleared fog of war and describes brilliant white-sand beaches, warm and genuinely welcoming people, an energetic and animated local culture and a surprisingly rich wildlife. As the country’s first and only dedicated travel guide, Sierra Leone is essential reading for intrepid adventure tourists, business travellers, development workers and diplomats, as well as increasing numbers of returning Diaspora.
Katrina Manson reports for Reuters in West Africa, her work also being published by the BBC, the Independent, the FT, Spectator Business, Africa Investor and others.
James Knight is a freelance journalist who previously worked for Reuters, the Sunday Times and ITN. Together they have also co-authored Bradt’s Burkina Faso.
Title: Sierra Leone
Authors: Katrina Manson & James Knight
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Publication: May 2009
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 222 4
Posted in Press Releases | Tagged: Africa, New Titles, Sierra Leone | Comments Off
Posted by bradtpress on 11 May 2009
Africa Overland – 5th Edition
Siân Pritchard-Jones & Bob Gibbons
The story of overland travel in Africa is one of constant flux. Roads once easily navigated become impassable, borders once freely crossed are later sealed to all traffic. However, as one door closes another opens, and areas of Africa formerly off limits such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea open up. Siân and Bob’s own travels down the west coast of Africa during 2008 were directed by these tidal changes and catalysed the fifth edition of Africa Overland. The book’s packing check-list, guidance on vehicle purchase, fault-finding and terrain-driving tips offer straightforward practical advice that’ll pay huge dividends in country. In short, Africa Overland is essential reading for those planning a self-drive adventure, whether by 4×4, old banger, motorcycle or push bike.
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 283 5
Publication: Out Now!
Ethiopia – 5th Edition
Phillip Briggs
The central plateau of Ethiopia, covering half the country, is probably the largest area of fertile land in eastern Africa – hardly the endless desert still perpetuated by mass media. The new updated edition of Ethiopia covers Ethiopian Orthodox Christian heritage, including remarkable rock-hewn churches ‘built by angels’, together with the country’s great wealth of breathtaking landscapes. Details of hiking trails in the Simien and Bale Mountains offer the combination of stunning scenery and opportunities to track and observe endemic wildlife such as Ethiopian wolves, Gelada baboons and rich avifauna. Throughout, author Philip Briggs draws on a knowledge born of genuine enthusiasm to tell the good news about Africa, and to counter Ethiopia’s enduring association with famine and poverty.
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 284 2
Publication: Out Now!
Switzerland Without a Car – 4th Edition
Anthony Lambert
Let’s face it: right now cars are not fashionable. Prohibitively expensive fuel, punitive taxes and traffic-clogged roads have taken the va va voom out of motoring and left us with a resounding phut. Author Anthony Lambert, always an enthusiastic proponent of rail travel, concludes that the Swiss have it cracked with probably the world’s finest public-transport system. Lambert’s updated guide goes well beyond rail travel to include lake steamers, cable cars, postbuses, cycling routes and hiking trails in a convincing case for car-free leisure travel in Switzerland. Combine an infrastructure supported by appropriate investment with unlimited travel over most of the network via the country’s Swiss Pass scheme and you can see he may have a point.
Price: £14.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 185 2
Publication: Out Now!
Posted in Press Releases | Tagged: Africa, Africa Overland, Ethiopia, Europe, New Editions, Switzerland | Comments Off
