Kenya (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Review by Vinnedge M. Lawrence for Kenya (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
Rating:
Lizzie Williams’ slim guide to Kenya seems to shortchange her own ambition. If The Rough Guide 8e requires over twice as many pages, and smaller print as well, to do this country justice, Williams’ reasonably broad coverage cannot avoid severe truncation. And speaking of justice, how may Footprint Handbooks condone pricing its 352-page Kenya on par with its 656-page Peru? The inevitable reduction in detail should not be construed as relegating this 1st Footprint edition to also-ran status among its competitors, as it features interesting and valuable insights in many of its reviews. Brevity notwithstanding, this is not the least comprehensive among guides currently available. The seven-category sytem employed as a price guide to accommodations, however, fails miserably with a majority rising into the L (luxury) class. A case in point is Williams’ notation that the five Governor’s Camps in Maasai Mara range from $165 to $500 per person per night, yet all receive her L designation (over $150). Simpler and far preferable would be inclusion of price with each accommodation. Williams is rather careless in mentioning species associated with parks and reserves. There are not “a number of Roan antelope” in Shimba Hills National Park (not a “Reserve”), as an attempted introduction was not successful. While definitely in need of improvement, Footprint’s 1st edition has commendable features and merits the effort.