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In this issue...


 

Out Now: 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 polysyllabic acronym response starting with U and N.

Written by Reuters reporters and former Sunday Times staffers, Katrina Manson and James Knight, this new guide to Sierra Leone 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.

Click here for more information or to buy the guide.

 

Meet Sierra Leone authors Katrina Manson and James Knight

Katrina Manson and James Knight

Why Sierra Leone?

We were in Burkina Faso researching the Bradt guide to that country when one day we met a man at a bar in a live music venue who told us he'd seen the most beautiful country in the world. After much questioning, he revealed it was Sierra Leone. It surprised us as much as the next person who knows little else of Sierra Leone other than its long-running, now-finished civil war. We started researching to see if it might be true. Only when we got there did we realise how very beautiful it really is, and how much it deserved a better press.

What was the highlight of your time in Sierra Leone?

It doesn't get much better than dining on fresh fish, oysters prised from the rocks and squeezed with lime straight from the tree and sleeping under the stars on an otherwise empty beach with only the stars, the moon and the sound of the sea for company. We were also really grateful to have the chance to climb Mount Bintumani, named after a female spirit and the tallest mountain in the region.

Katrina Manson and James Knight

What would you consider the most essential item to take to Sierra Leone?

Your party frock! That's not a serious answer, but we soon realised we'd packed far too conservatively for Salone nightlife – dancing and going out are a big feature of Freetown living.

What are the first three words that come to mind when you think of Sierra Leone?

Beach, rainforest, spirit...

What can you do to make the most of your stay?

A sense of curiosity and keenness to go with the flow and fit in, as well as an effort to pick up some Krio – the national dialect formed from a series of languages, born from the multi-ethnic traders of the 1700s – really makes a difference to any visit.

Where are you travelling to next?

Hoping to go back to Sierra Leone to help launch the guidebook there, which we hope will help people in Sierra Leone see how appreciated their country is by others outside it, but the next long-term posting is Tanzania.

 

Going to Sierra Leone?
Stuff Your Rucksack with much-needed items

 

Visit StuffYourRucksack.com to find out what items are needed for charities worldwide – and to get a discount of 30% on Bradt Guides.

This month's charity is EducAid www.educaid.org.uk. EducAid promotes education among the under-privileged young people of Sierra Leone. They can make use of a wide range of donations including school equipment, stationery, sports gear, clothing, calculators and radios. Check StuffYourRucksack.com for more details.

Those not going to Sierra Leone can support EducAid with a cash donation via their website. Or see StuffYourRucksack.com for organisations in countries you plan to visit.

 

Loony June Discount
30% Off All Our Guides

 

For one month only enjoy a 30% discount when ordering our guides via our website www.bradtguides.com. Offer valid until the end of June.

Simply enter the coupon code LoonyJune when prompted during checkout.

Click here to browse our full range of titles.

 

Don't Forget...
Father's Day
17 June

 

Spoil Dad with a copy of Something Different for the Weekend or Ben le Vay's quirky Eccentric Britain or Eccentric London.

And why not treat him to a Taste of London? (see below)

 

Taste of London
18–21 June, Regent's Park, London

 

This popular event returns to London's Regent's Park this month. For three full days famous chefs from the capital's finest restaurants will be on hand to serve up their best-kept kitchen secrets while 150 top-notch food and drink producers dish out samples and top up your glass.

Visit www.seetickets.com/tasteoflondon and quote BRADT to receive a pair of Premium Tickets for £69, which includes £20 Crowns (the festival currency you can use to buy food and drink from exhibitors).

 

Win Tickets to Taste of London...
         ...plus a copy of Eccentric London

 

To win a pair of tickets to the Taste of London festival and a copy of Bradt's Eccentric London simply identify the celebrity chef pictured below right.

Who am I? The prize is two standard tickets for the festival in Regent's Park on either Thursday 18 or Friday 19 June.

Email your answer along with your name and address to info@bradtguides.com with the subject line Eccentric London Competition.

The winner will be the first correct entry drawn at random.
Closing date is 8 June 2009.


Congratulations to Hannah Theobald of London who won last month's competition by answering correctly that Ethiopia borders five other countries.

 

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New and Forthcoming Titles

Australian Wildlife

Australian Wildlife

 

Australia’s ancient continent tops the list for wildlife-seeking travellers with its unique creatures roaming diverse habitats, from eucalyptus-dotted woodlands to the awe-inspiring beauty of the coral reefs. All the essential information of a reference book – from biology to behaviour – is found in one handy, readable guide. Wildlife writer Stella Martin guides visitors though dense rainforest and across parched deserts to discover how bizarre creatures evolved in isolation.

 

» more details

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

 

This is the only guidebook in English to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Written by an author resident in the country since 1992, it offers the most in-depth coverage on the market to this mountainous land blessed with thick forests and deep river canyons, where medieval highland villages and world-class hiking vie with a cosmopolitan café culture for the visitor’s attention.

 

» more details

Croatia

Croatia

 

Bradt's Croatia guides visitors from the country's dramatic mountains to its stunning Dalmatian coast with its thousand-plus islands. This fourth edition of Bradt's Croatia further strengthens its outdoors coverage, including new hikes and information on cycling, national parks and environmental issues.

 

» more details

Estonia

Estonia

 

Discover why Miss Estonia likes antique cars, where Eiffel built before Paris, and why Edward VII could not land in Tallinn to meet Tsar Nicholas II. Offering extensive coverage of Estonia's complex cultural history alongside comprehensive practical information, Baltics expert Neil Taylor proves that there's much more to Estonia than the cobbled streets and cafés of its capital. Bradt's Estonia remains the only English-language guidebook to this Baltics destination.

 

» more details

Ghana

Ghana

 

An ideal destination for first-time visitors to Africa, Ghana is rich in little-visited national parks, forest reserves, cultural sites and scenic waterfalls. Bradt's stand-alone guide, the only one available, caters for both the budget backpacker and the luxurious resort wallower. Written by Africa expert, Philip Briggs, it covers the country with unrivalled detail and knowledge.

 

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Malta & Gozo

Malta & Gozo

 

Packed into this island nation are 7,000 years of fascinating – and visible – history, and the Bradt guide delves into Malta's temples and archaeology more comprehensively than any other guidebook. Also covering birdwatching, summer festas and the less commercialised islands of Gozo and Comino, this guidebook discovers the Malta beyond the tourist resorts.

 

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Paraguay

Paraguay

 

Bradt’s Paraguay – the only English-language guidebook to this emerging tourism destination – covers the region with unrivalled detail and knowledge. Written by an author who has lived for the last decade in the Paraguayan countryside, it delves deep into a land that has so far eluded the grasp of mass tourism, where rich indigenous culture and folk traditions still hold strong.

 

» more details

Serbia

Serbia

 

Laurence Mitchell's Serbia introduces travellers not only to rural monasteries and tranquil national parks but also to hip nightclubs and swinging summer festivals. This fully revised third edition provides fresh information to business visitors, adventure travellers and those with an interest in art, history or wildlife.

 

» more details

Slow Devon & Exmoor: Local, characterful guides to Britain's special places

Slow Devon & Exmoor: Local, characterful guides to Britain's special places

 

One in a new series from Bradt and Alastair Sawday that embraces the Slow Tourism movement connecting people, culture, places, the environment and heritage, this guide encourages visitors to slow down and discover for themselves the small, often hidden and unsung, delights of ten locales in Devon, in southwest England.

 

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Slow Norfolk & Suffolk: Local, characterful guides to Britain's special places

Slow Norfolk & Suffolk: Local, characterful guides to Britain's special places

 

Slow is a new series from Bradt and Alastair Sawday that encourages visitors to slow down and savour the best of Britain’s rural destinations. Slow Norfolk & Suffolk is written by an author who has lived for decades in this area characterised by its coastline of remote marshes, beaches, shingle banks and dunes, and a tranquil inland beauty.

 

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Slow North Yorkshire: Moors, Dales & Coast: Local, characterful guides to Britain's special places

Slow North Yorkshire: Moors, Dales & Coast: Local, characterful guides to Britain's special places

 

Written by an author who has lived in North Yorkshire for 25 years, Slow Yorkshire explores the hidden nooks and crannies of this diverse county. Covering unsung attractions from wild-food foraging to playing quoits – a local game a bit like fairground hoopla – the book encourages visitors to slow down and savour the region’s lesser-known delights.

 

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Uruguay

Uruguay

 

This is the only English-language guidebook to the small country of Uruguay. It takes travellers from the capital Montevideo to the colonial charms of Colonia, to the country’s cattle-ranching estancias and polo fields – and to the best beaches of South America, where visitors can admire the lithe physique of the Buenos Aires beautiful crowd that flocks here each summer.

 

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Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

 

Now is the time to visit Zimbabwe, and what better companion than the Bradt guide – the first English-language guidebook to Zimbabwe since the start of the political changes. Here you'll find the best of Zimbabwe's stunning landscapes and wildlife, in-depth information on the facilities, plus advice on itinerary planning and how to select a safari. Accommodation is covered with up-to-date information on everything from luxury safari camps to budget stays for younger travellers who arrive overland. For self-drivers there's detailed maps and GPS co-ordinates.

 

» more details

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