Costa Rica

J.H. Galloway is a professor of geography at the University of Toronto.

These welcome additions to a guidebook series devoted to the Caribbean
and Latin America follow the standard series format. Each begins with a
“Portrait” that consists of a brief geographical description, a
potted history, some comments on the flora and fauna, and a few
paragraphs on politics, arts, and culture. This introduction is followed
by practical information about banking, tipping, and so forth. The
“Outdoors” chapter covers far more than golf and seems aimed at the
physically active traveler. Following these preliminaries are
discussions of sights to see, places to stay, where and what to eat.
There is information on hotels and restaurants for all pocketbooks.
Excellent maps, attractive line drawings, and beautiful photographs add
to the appeal of these guides.

A great strength of the series is the depth of information it provides
about rather small places. Guadeloupe, for instance, is an overseas
department of France consisting of two main islands and several far
smaller ones. There are not many other sources a prospective visitor can
turn to find out about where to shop on Marie-Galante or where to stay
on the former leper colony of La Désirade. The Bahamas guide is
similarly detailed in its coverage of the less-visited islands; there
are excellent maps of the Inaguas, Cat Island, Crooked Island, Berry
Islands, and many more.

Travelers with the time and inclination to linger at each destination
probably have the most to gain from these guides.